By NICHOLAS NEGRON
Contributing Writer
How I Met Your Mother is a TV series airing on CBS which premiered in September of 2005. The show will soon be in its 9th and last season come September 23rd. The show is a comedy that explains how Ted Mosbey, played by Josh Radnor, meets his wife. He tells this story to his two children. This story has thus far taken 8 seasons to complete. The narrator of this epic is older Ted Mosbey, voiced by Bob Saget.
The internet was set abuzz after the 8th season finale. After 184 episodes, “the mother” has been revealed. The actress’s name is Cristin Milioti. The mother has become a figure of wonder and mystery for fans of the show. She is often symbolized with a yellow umbrella. Without spoiling much, fans know that the mother likes making breakfast, singing show tunes, playing the bass guitar, and painting pictures of robots playing sports. There are brief moments that fans see the mother’s legs or an arm.
There is a particular scene where it is raining outside with the world being gloomy. Everyone is walking through New York City with umbrellas. The only one that stands out is the mother’s bright yellow umbrella.
Cristin Milioti has done an interview with Entertainment Weekly about the process of becoming the mother. She says “I received a phone call from my agents, and they said, ‘How I Met Your Mother would like to interview you for a possible character arc,’ and I asked, ‘What’s the character?’ And they said, ‘We don’t know.’ So I had a Skype meeting with [creators] Craig [Thomas] and Carter [Bays], and we talked maybe for a half hour. I told them about Once, and a few days later they sent people to the show. Then I was told that I was going to fly to L.A. to test for this role, but I still had no idea what it was. They were so secretive, so I had my suspicions. The day I shot [my first scene], it was really on lockdown. All the extras in that train station are producers and writers of the show.
It was so beautiful, because I got to meet everyone and they were incredibly welcoming.” Her casting may be one of the most important decisions in the history of sitcoms.
The audience had 184 episodes to imagine their own vision of who the mother was in their mind. She has become a staple in the minds of millions. Everyone had their own theory of what she looked like. They have their own theory on her personality. The only question is will the mother live up to the expectation of the world. Only time can tell.
Other than the mystery of the mother, viewers have been entertained by the many wacky sayings and mannerisms of Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris. He is the shows breakout character. Everyone cannot help but fall in love with the suit wearing, laser tag loving, chauvinist that is Barney.
Cobie Smulders plays Robin Scherbatsky. She is Canadian and is often subjected to cruel humor by Barney and others because of this. She used to be a pop star. The show has produced four music videos starring her. The four songs can be found on iTunes.
Lily and Marshall, played by Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel, are the shows married couple. Their zany antics and love for each other win over the audience and steal the show. Segel is quoted in US Weekly saying “My favorite moments have just been watching my cast mates grow up. We have been together for a decade now and a lot of life stuff has gone on for everybody,” the star said. “It’s like a real family. It’s the longest I’ve known any group of people besides my family.”
“Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit” is a song sung by Neil Patrick Harris featuring his co-stars. The song has peaked at 50 on the UK Singles Chart and 76 on the Canadian Hot 100. The musical number featured on the show has 75 dancers. The song itself has a 50-piece orchestra. The performance is one of the highlights of the shows history.
Over time many have caught on to the show. Some may have spent hours in their rooms streaming How I Met Your Mother on Netflix. Social Media such as Tumblr and Twitter have helped spread the word of the show. It has brought many late viewers in the series. Of course, the show is not desperate for viewers. The pilot episode that debuted on September 19th, 2005 had over 10 million viewers.
Today the show regularly has between 8 and 10 million viewers. How I Met Your Mother was created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. The show has been nominated for 24 Emmy’s and has won 7.
The end to a great television series is among us. There are still many questions to be answered. What is Barney’s occupation? Will Marshall and Lily move to Italy? What is the mother’s name? It is indeed one of the greatest sitcoms in television history. Humor, mystery and love make for a powerful plot. All of this is wrapped into one, what should be, simple story; the story of How I Met Your Mother.
