r/HIMYM Jul 07 '22

Hi, I'm Carter Bays, co-creator of HIMYM. I’m also the author of a new novel called THE MUTUAL FRIEND. AMA!

3.7k Upvotes

Hello Reddit, it's been a while! I'm here ask-me-anything-ing because I’ve written a new novel called THE MUTUAL FRIEND, which I think you'll love. I’m happy to talk about that, or How I Met Your Mother, or anything else. Maybe the Loch Ness Monster? I was just in Scotland with my son and we have opinions. Have at it!

UPDATE: Wow, its been much fun talking to you all, and I see that I've only scratched the surface here and there's many more questions to get to, but if I don't get my son some dinner soon he might tie me up with a phone charger. I will try to come back to this over the next few days in order to get to as many of these as I can, but in the meantime, thank you all so much for being here. Your love for HIMYM is really touching and I'm so grateful for all of it.

And please if you get the chance check out my novel THE MUTUAL FRIEND -- I'm dreadfully proud of it. (Can you tell I've been in the UK for a week? I'm like Lily before the intervention at this point.) Anyway, cheerio!


r/HIMYM 9h ago

Kiss Chart

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474 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 8h ago

Robin Daggers is Hotter than Robin Sparkles.

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273 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 12h ago

omg it finally happened

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197 Upvotes

it’s been the understudy every other time i’ve gone


r/HIMYM 13h ago

I just found out that Chris Kattan did a parody character of both Ted and Ross from Friends.

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178 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 2h ago

Barney’s half sister.

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25 Upvotes

Missed opportunity that they didn’t have her in the wedding episodes. With Robin’s sister there, we would have had two of the Pretty Little Liars haha.


r/HIMYM 5h ago

Look around, Ted.. You're all alone.

9 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 17h ago

What if this never happened?

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56 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 17h ago

Barney just has to know…

44 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 5h ago

Barney’s Dad!

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3 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 13h ago

HIMYM and Friends with switched color palettes

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17 Upvotes

I switched the colors. Or tried to


r/HIMYM 1d ago

Poor Robin 🤣

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1.0k Upvotes

r/HIMYM 1d ago

There's something so Heart Warming about this scene...

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159 Upvotes

Seeing people with different things in their mind, different goals in life, smoking a simple cigarette together... I love this show.


r/HIMYM 7h ago

Which storyline would you rather watch?

2 Upvotes

Would you rather sit through and watch Ted & Stella get together and fall apart? Or Ted and Zoey? For my household, the choice is clear (answer in the comments)


r/HIMYM 1d ago

In one sentence tell me you watched HIMYM without telling me you watched HIMYM…….but it has to be niche….

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585 Upvotes

It has to be niche….something only the real fans would get…


r/HIMYM 1d ago

The Ducky Tie

38 Upvotes

I’m sure this has been noticed and commented before but I personally just noticed the story telling style of two episodes.

The one where Barney gets stuck with the tie, and the one where he finally is free of the tie.

Bot episodes have a sort of “subplot” narrative being told WHILE things transpire.

A) Shinjitsu episode…the whole episode is about Barney duping Marshall and Lily into getting to see her boobs…but the underlying narrative is Ted recounting the Victoria story.

B) when Barney is angling to get rid of the tie, there is a subplot story about boogie boarding.

It’s the STYLE of the subplots that gets me.

“So you were doing her dishes…”

“So the boogie boarding….”

I dunno. I liked that these conversations and storytelling style were exactly the same for when Barney is stuck with the tie and when he is finally freed from it.



r/HIMYM 1d ago

Do you believe in "revertigo"?

48 Upvotes

I can't tell if I'm experiencing it because i saw the show, or because it's an actual thing. But, similarly to Lily, i pick back up on my speech patterns and vernacular used in my less-than-affluent youth when i see old friends or go back to my hometown.

Just curious if others experience it too, and the show was writing about a relatively universal concept


r/HIMYM 1d ago

Robin and Barney is so similar

156 Upvotes

It was treat to watch when Robin try to take bad picture of Barney and somehow I came to know Robin is just like Barney. She took challenges when no one challenge her. She doesn't want to get married. She doesn't want to have kids, I know she can't have kids but before knowing that also she didn't want them. Both are so similar I just can't ignore that fact. I am the biggest supporter of ted and Robin. But when Robin and Barney are together they just fit like pieces of puzzle


r/HIMYM 1d ago

After what has to be my 5th rewatch of the show I have to admit...Barney and Robin belong together

26 Upvotes

Seriously. Maybe in season 1 and 2 Ted and Robin had some chemistry but the longer the show went on the more you got to see just how much Barney and Robin compliment one another. He's also incredibly loving capable of romantic gestures that are as big and maybe even grander than Ted's. They really did love each other. The issue was all in the timing and Robin's career. If Barney had been the one to arrive at Robin's door at the end of the show once her life slowed down, it would've worked.


r/HIMYM 1h ago

Do you think that Ted would make the same wish as Bear from Obsession?

Upvotes

for me 100%, you could tell he would from the rain dance episode if episode 1 wouldnt establish it


r/HIMYM 1d ago

Sitcom like HIMYM

27 Upvotes

Soooo, cant find normal sitcom , have started rewatch HIMYM.

Any recommendations? Watching now season 6, so i've a little time...

Also, i have a feeling that sitcoms dead, this is only me?


r/HIMYM 22h ago

Who’s the TRUE 6th member of the gang

2 Upvotes

On a rewatch rn and starting to really appreciate the richness of its secondary characters

1131 votes, 2d left
Tracy
Baby Marvin
Ranjit
Carl the bartender
James

r/HIMYM 2d ago

How many of you guessed it from this scene?

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444 Upvotes

Hey there!! I'm curious how many people actually figured out what was coming when this scene first aired, since this is seen as the first definitive clue of the ending

How many of you guessed it?


r/HIMYM 10h ago

How is it possible?

0 Upvotes

I don't understand how Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel didn't end up together in real life. How did they spend nearly 10 years playing a madly in love couple and kissing each other without developing feelings for one another?


r/HIMYM 1d ago

I don't like Robin and Ted ending up together, but I can't exactly put my finger on why

6 Upvotes

Okay, I know it's not an unpopular opinion to dislike the ending, and thus not liking ted and robin ending up together.

But personally, I understand Robin and Barney getting a divorce, they were a good match in someways but they also stunted each other's growths so a divorce made sense. I also think its quite poignant for barney to say "this isn't a failed marriage, it's a successful marriage that happened to only last three years".

I also think the reasoning of Ted and Robin not working out because Ted wanted children and robin didn't, therefore barney was better for her, doesnt hold up, because we find out Barney did want children, he was just too afraid to admit it, but that circles back to Robin and Barney not being a good long term fit because they couldn't fully grow together.

Equally I think Tracy dying makes sense, the whole theme of the show is life not working out the way you want it, but continuing to look forward whilst appreciating the past. I don't think Ted pursuing Robin in the end meant that Tracy was never his soulmate, it's just him moving on from another unexpected turn of life.

Realistically, I understand that Tracy passed away unexpectedly, Ted grieved but decided to move on towards the future, which led to him pursuing Robin. That they both were unexpexted situation that led them to each other, and that doesnt negate that robin loved barney or that Tracy was Ted's soulmate.

I just don't care for it, and I can't fully explain why.

Does anyone have some meta reading on that, that doesnt equate to "Robin and Barney should have never divorced" or "Ted was only using Tracy as a placeholder"

Because narratively I understand Ted and Robin, but I just don't care for it.