The narrator, who was supposed to be an older Ted Mosby, was voiced by Bob Saget.
There's a reason the voice of future Ted sounds so familiar. Josh Radnor played Ted on the CBS show, but the late Bob Saget was cast to do the "future Ted" voice-overs that narrated the series.
Jim Parsons was almost cast as Barney.
Jim Parsons played Sheldon on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" instead. Chuck Lorre Productions
Before Neil Patrick Harris landed the role, Jim Parsons auditioned for Barney on the show. But there are no hard feelings from the "The Big Bang Theory" star.
"Look, it all worked out fine … Neil's better for the part, let's be honest," Parsons said on a 2015 episode of "Live With Kelly," according to Yahoo.
Jennifer Love Hewitt almost played Robin.
Jennifer Love Hewitt opted for a role on "The Ghost Whisperer." Real-life Canadian Cobie Smulders eventually snagged the part of Robin, but only after Jennifer Love Hewitt turned it down.
According to E! News, cocreator Craig Thomas wrote on Reddit that Love Hewitt decided to do CBS' "The Ghost Whisperer" instead of "HIMYM."
Britney Spears saved the show from low ratings.
Britney Spears helped bring in new viewers. CBS
The pop singer guest-starred as Abby the receptionist on season three, episode 13. According to E! News, cocreator Carter Bays told Reddit that she helped bring in new viewers and saved the show from low ratings.
"By golly she put our show on the map. It can't be overstated," Bays wrote. "Britney Spears rescued us from ever being on the [renewal] bubble again. Thanks Britney!"
The show's creators are in a real-life band, and they wrote and performed the series' theme song.
Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are in the band The Solids. The theme song of "HIMYM" is known for its infectiously catchy tune, and it turns out the show's creators had a big hand in creating it.
The song, "Hey Beautiful," is by the band The Solids, which Bays and Carter are both members of. Bays does vocals and guitar, and Thomas plays the drums.
Harris made it his mission to get Barney and Robin together on the show.
Neil Patrick Harris was in favor of the characters getting together. Ron P. Jaffe/Fox
Smulders was apprehensive when there were initial chats about the characters getting together, but Harris actively tried to make it happen throughout filming.
"I'd try to do little things in our scenes together where I gave her an extra look and an extra glance or would stare only at her during a whole scene just to see if anyone was noticing," Harris told The Fan Carpet of his own personal mission to get Barney and Robin together.
Ted probably made Barney sound worse on purpose to make himself look better in the end.
Ted is telling the story to his kids, so he can stretch the truth a little. CBS screencap
In 2018, Harris agreed with a popular fan theory in an interview with Digital Spy.
The theory speculated that Ted made Barney sound extra sleazy and womanizing in his story for his kids because he didn't want them to judge him for falling for Barney's ex-wife, Robin.
"I think that that's very accurate," Harris told Digital Spy. "Given the story structure, and with [Ted] telling the story to his kids, everything was able to be overdrawn."
"The Bro Code" really exists.
You can buy your own copy of "The Bro Code." 20th Century Fox. You can buy the series-approved version of all of Barney's rules, and it's even "written" by Barney Stinson himself.
The characters' favorite bar was named after the cocreator's assistant.
McLaren's name has a special significance. 20th Century Fox. Bays told TV Squad that his assistant, Carl McLaren, lent his name to the bar, McLaren's, and to its bartender, Carl.
The fictional bar is also based on a real establishment in New York City.
McLaren's is modeled after McGee's pub in NYC. Richard Cartwright/CBS.
According to the New York Post, McLaren's is modeled after a pub in New York City called McGee's.
Bays and Thomas reportedly spent a lot of time in the real-life establishment when they were both writing for "The Late Show With David Letterman" earlier in their careers.
Some fans found out who the mother was on Facebook before they had a chance to watch the episode.
The post spoiled the plot for a lot of people. CBS
According to The Obsessive Viewer, the official "HIMYM" Facebook page posted a photo of the mother right after the episode that revealed her identity aired.
However, not every fan was able to watch the episode live, so they had the series-long plot point spoiled for them if they scrolled past the post.
The actors who played Ted's kids knew how the show was going to end for years.
All of the kids' scenes were filmed early on in the series.
According to CBS News, the final scene of Ted's kids learning that Ted still loved Robin was filmed in 2006 to ensure the actors playing the kids still looked the same.
That was only a year after the show premiered and eight years before the finale aired, so several precautions were taken to keep the ending a secret.
David Henrie and Lyndsy Fonseca, who played the kids, had to sign non-disclosure agreements, and only one camera operator was allowed in the room while they filmed the final scene.
There was almost a spin-off starring Greta Gerwig.
Greta Gerwig is now a successful actor and director. How I Met Your Mother screencap
"How I Met Your Dad" was in the works after the "HIMYM" series finale, but it was ultimately scrapped in 2014 due to creative differences between the writers and CBS, according to Deadline.
The unaired pilot starred Greta Gerwig as Sally, a recent divorcée on the hunt for new love.
Over seven years after the "HIMYM" finale, a sequel series starring Hilary Duff premiered on Hulu.
Hilary Duff stars on the series.
After the failed "How I Met Your Dad" spin-off, Deadline reported in 2017 that a "How I Met Your Father" series was in development. But it took a few years to get it off the ground.
The Hulu sequel series stars Hilary Duff as Sophie, the leading Ted-like role, who is telling her son the story of how she met his father.
