Yes, while How I Met Your Mother might be a pretty light and funny affair, there are some dark secrets behind the hit comedy.
And today, luckily for you, we’re going to explore them.
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Today, we read dark secrets
About the TV show How I Met Your Mother (henceforth known as HIMYM). I know, who would’ve thought such a wacky comedy would have dark secrets, but that’s the best part about reading Diply.
You learn something new every time.
1. Jason Segel’s Smoking.
Apparently, Jason Segel was an avid smoker during the time HIMYM was on the air, much to the dismay of his co-star and frequent kissing partner Alyson Hannigan.
She tried to get him to quit but ultimately failed.
2. Jennifer Love Hewitt.
We all know that Cobie Smulders killed it as Robin, but did you know the role almost went to Jennifer Love Hewitt ?
She gave the role away to instead star in The Ghost Whisperer . Ooh, spooky.
3. Britney Spears Vs. Neil Patrick Harris.
NPH, the man behind the legendary Barney Stinson, didn’t want Britney Spears to be on the show.
He thought that having guest stars for the sake of guest stars would be detrimental to the fans.
4. Alicia Silverstone dropped out of the show because of Britney.
Speaking of Ms. Spears, the reason we didn’t get an Alicia Silverstone ( Clueless ) cameo is that she was afraid she would be overshadowed by the pop star.
You see, Alicia was supposed to play Stella and Britney was supposed to be her assistant.
5. Cobie Smulders had cancer.
During the run of the show, too. And in the eyes of the fans, she was fine.
She didn’t reveal that she battled with ovarian cancer until after the TV show’s run.
6. Jason Radnor is allergic to dogs.
Okay, so it’s not exactly dark.
But it’s pretty dark for him since the creators didn’t know about it and had dogs on set.
7. Yellowface.
Yes, there was a… problematic episode of this otherwise really funny sitcom.
The episode is kind of forgettable anyways (minus this very rememberable moment) but essentially the cast has fu-man-chus and yellow painted skin.
8. The failed spinoffs.
There have been at least two that I know of, both have a title that are pretty similar too.
Both starring women, the sitcoms would have the same basic outline as How I Met Your Mother but were going to be called How I Met Your Dad and How I Met Your Father .
Obviously, it would’ve taken the women’s perspective.
9. Josh Radnor has a huge deck.
I’m talking monstrous! This thing was so big that his neighbors sued him over it.
After refusing to tear it down, he was sued again and lost a whole bunch of money.
10. Neil Patrick Harris’ disrespectful cake.
We all love seeing NPH and his family on Halloween, however, there’s one story about a Halloween we’re glad we missed.
Apparently, NPH got a cake depicting the corpse of recently dead singer Amy Winehouse. Yeesh!
11. Jason Segel and The Finale.
Apparently, Jason Segel hasn’t even seen the finale.
He wants the show to live on in his own mind, even though he knows how it ends.
12. Alyson Hannigan and The Finale.
Lily, on the other hand, is very adamant about how she doesn’t like the finale.
Alyson Hannigan thinks the whole thing was confusing, and she also hated seeing Barney get married.
13. The character Ted is actually based off of one of the writer’s own experiences.
In an interview , Carter Bays explained how their very own small relatable moments, like being single in the big city, influenced the script and characters.
14. There was a real wedding on the show during Season 2.
The now-husband somehow convinced the writers to write the proposal into the season finale’s script. He had to convince his then-girlfriend that she was going to be an extra in the show.
How on earth do you top that?!
15. If the show was cancelled early, Victoria would have been the mother.
Fearing the worst during the pilot , the writers and producers actually wrote and filmed the finale eight years before the actual finale, which would peg Victoria as the “mother.”
16. Jim Parsons actually auditioned to play Barney.
In an interview on Live with Kelly and Michael , Parsons recalled his failed audition. He didn’t feel that he could portray the “big lug of a guy” that the script had envisioned Barney to be, so he ran out of the room and, of course, ended up landing it big on The Big Bang Theory.
17. Neil Patrick Harris made way more than everyone else.
This was due to Barney Stinson’s popularity, and honestly, I can’t blame the creators for wanting to keep him on.
Numbers wise , the rest of the cast made about $120,000 per episode while NPH made $210,000.
18. The Alternate Ending.
Everyone remembers the backlash that accompanied the ending to the HIMYM series, however there was another planned.
Essentially, Ted gives his kids the quick version of the previous nine seasons, then it cuts to when Ted and Tracy first meet. The episode ends with the train arriving.
