How I met your mother was one of the best sitcoms ever. One that made us laugh a lot, made us cry on some special episodes, and where we loved hanging out with Ted (Josh Radnor), Robin (Cobie Smulders), Marshall (Jason Segel), Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) ). We saw their lives for 208 episodes. There are many great ones; we could probably make a top-50 of the best, all of which have something great to offer, but we’ve decided to list the top 10. As old Ted would say: Children, let me tell you the story of the best How I met your mother best episodes, ranked:
10 Perfect Week – S5 E14
Barney’s character and his lothario ways are one of the things that has gotten worse since the show’s end. That said, this episode may have a crude premise, but it’s very funny. Since the whole gang is having a terrible week, Barney is about to make a perfect week (seven girls in seven days). Neil Patrick Harris mastered playing a bastard with charm, and this episode is the perfect example of that. There are many baseball metaphors to talk about Barney’s streak, including cameos from sportscaster Jim Nance and baseball player Nick Swisher that make the whole thing even funnier.
9 Swarley-S2 E8
HIMYM has introduced many ideas about dating over the years. Women with crazy eyes is one of the more absurd ones. Although, it makes for a fun episode featuring the character of Morena Baccarin. This episode is also the one where Marshall and Lily get back together, after Marshall tries to date other women (with crazy eyes), and realizes that he loves the craziest woman of them all, his one true love: Lily. There is also a joke about it friendsand hanging out at a bar, with some similarities and differences between both shows, and the name Swarley, a fun running gag for the entire episode, which creates a lot of demeaning names for Barney.
8 The Pineapple Incident – S1 E10
Ted wakes up after a drunken night to find a girl in his bed and a pineapple on his nightstand. With the help of his friends, he must find out what happened. This episode was the one that made a lot of people aware of the show and that we had to watch it. It makes brilliant use of non-linear storytelling; it has a lot of great jokes, great drunken acting from Josh Radnor, and ends on a sour note, because the consequences of his blackout are all too real. We’ll never find out why there was a pineapple there; one of the few mysteries never revealed over the nine seasons, in what was the show’s most-watched episode ever, save for the series finale.
7 Pilot – S1 E1
Not many shows start out as fully formed, with their personality and confidence as the pilot of HIMYM. It’s one of the best ever, with inventive narration (old Ted voiced by Bob Saget), a twist at the end of the episode (Aunt Robin and not the mother), and comically revealing who the show’s five lead roles are and their dynamics. It also already has some running gags that the show will use forever, such as “Suit up!” “Have you met, Ted?”, and “Legen – wait for it – dary”.
6 Legendaddy – S6 E19
In the final seasons, Barney tried to meet and reconcile with his lost father, “Uncle Jerry” (John Lithgow). This is the episode where they finally hang out, and Barney tells the gang how fun and crazy his dad is. The truth is that Jerry is just a crippled suburban dad. The final scene on Jerry’s porch where Barney yells that if he was just a suburban dad why couldn’t it be his, still leaves us with tears in an incredible performance by Neil Patrick Harris.
5 Last Words – S6 E14
Another episode about dads, and another true HIMYM showed that the heart and emotions could do with the best of them, and gave us an episode with humor channeled to an emotional conclusion. Marshall’s father has just passed away and the entire gang travels to Minnesota to support his friend at the funeral. Jason Segel gives one of his best performances ever on the show, devastated at the idea that he will never see the man who made him who he is, and he also jokes with his family about it. Crocodile Dundee 3.
4 Game Night – S1 E15
Marshall wins at every game, so the gang decides he must invent his own game: Marshgammon. While playing this new game, Barney has the group tell some of their most embarrassing stories, finally telling his own origin story, and how he went from a lovely, long-haired hippie to the clad lady man we’ve known all along. Everything about old Barney is hilarious, as is his transformation from Darth Vader to present-day Barney. The embarrassing stories also cause Ted to tell Victoria about Robin, a piece of information that will forever be a rift between them.
3 How I Met Everyone – S3 E5
The use of flashbacks has always been one of the greatest comedic gifts the show has ever had, and this episode is the perfect example of that. Ted has a new girlfriend, Blahblah (he can’t remember his real name all these years later), and the gang explains to her how they all met Ted. This episode also kicks off “eating sandwiches” as a euphemism for smoking weed (incredible acting by Jason Segel throwing a literal sandwich in an ashtray), and the hilarious Robin’s 16 nos when Blahblah thinks she and Barney are on it. be dating.
2 How your mother met me – S9 E16
The best thing the show has done in its final season was to create a mom who was as good as anything Ted had said about her over the years. Cristin Milioti was a great addition to the cast; she had chemistry with everyone involved and was able to create a fully realized character that was perfect for Ted. This is Milioti’s episode through and through, as we discover her entire life and how she ended up at Robin and Barney’s wedding, where she was to meet Ted. The episode features a lot of jokes, close encounters with Ted, and a lot of running gags. It also shows heartbreak, as the mother lost her boyfriend (and she thought, the love of her life) on his 21st birthday. The entire episode can be seen as her journey to get over it and open her heart to new Ted-sized possibilities. Her sad, tender ukulele rendition of “Le vie en Rose” is still chill inducing.
1 Slap Bet – S2 E9
This is the best episode of the show in its best season. “Slap Bet” tells the story of why Robin doesn’t like malls, and the whole gang wants to know the reason. Marshall and Barney take a guess as to why Robin did porn; the real reason is much bigger and more surprising than we could have imagined. The slack bets would continue throughout the show, as did Robin Sparkle’s (and even beyond). Since then, we can’t go to a mall without smiling. This episode was a fun way to explain the universal idea of really getting to know your significant other while showing the dynamics of the whole group and how to embarrass your friends with love and the occasional slap.