How I Met Your Mother is a show that hasn't exactly aged well — take this list from BuzzFeed, for example — but those that got to enjoy the series when its off-putting jokes were more widely accepted still hold some nostalgia for a project that certainly had its endearing moments and bouts of brilliant storytelling. Those that can look past the obviously archaic sexism and fatphobia might still find an enjoyable appearance within Ted Mosby's journey, as he struggles through various heartaches en route to his eventual wife, the titular mother. There are also plenty of jokes that actually are timeless and won't cause a viewer to cringe into their couch and immediately turn off their television.
For those fans that want to revisit their earlier days vicariously by delving back into How I Met Your Mother's many hilarious seasons, but don't want to waste time with heavy plot movers or filler, there are several notable episodes that are good for casual viewing and laugh-out-loud comedy. They can also mostly avoid the offensive material lurking underneath the seemingly wholesome gang of 30-somethings living their best lives in New York. After all, there's nothing more jarring than hearing a 2000s-era joke when wanting to just have a good time and settle down with something that's supposed to be comforting and delightful. Here's a comprehensive list of the best episode in each season of How I Met Your Mother.
Season 1, Episode 7: Matchmaker
Season 1, Episode 7: "Matchmaker" revolves around Ted Mosby's attempts to find his soulmate with the help of an incredibly successful matchmaking service. Unfortunately, his best fit happens to already have a boyfriend, wreaking havoc for Ted, the matchmaking service, and its creator, Ellen Pierce. While that central plot line does allow for plenty of shenanigans and laughs, it's not the reason that the episode is the best in its season. Rather, the secondary arc that follows Marshall Eriksen and Lily Aldrin's battle with a strange creature in their apartment is what raises this episode's hilarity to its pedestal status. Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan do a fantastic job selling the fear that their characters felt when encountering the famed "cockamouse," giving viewers the heebiejeebies and plenty of gut-busting laughs along the way.
Season 2, Episode 17: Arrivederci, Fiero
Marshall attempts to send his old car, a Fiero, off into the sunset with a wondrous ceremony once it reaches its 300,000th mile traveled. Unfortunately, the clunker breaks down before it can reach its predestined milestone. The gang then tries various different ways to help aid Marshall's car into its swan song, each more funny than the last. The true shining moment of this episode is between Barney Stinson and Ted, when the latter tries to teach the former how to drive, as he grew up in New York City and never saw the need. As a grown adult who's never operated a motor vehicle, Barney is outrageously scared and cautious, leading to one of the most hilarious exchanges in How I Met Your Mother.
Season 3, Episode 8: Spoiler Alert
In this episode, called "Spoiler Alert," Ted brings a new girlfriend to meet his friends, who aren't exactly impressed. While Ted's infatuation with the girl blinds him to her flaws, the rest of the gang unapologetically point them out to him, causing the facade to crumble and ruining any chance of a meaningful relationship. From there, an angered Ted points out some of his friends flaws, causing a domino effect that sees the entire group ribbing on each other about their annoying quirks. This makes for some truly entertaining television and also causes viewers to evaluate their own friends and their existing flaws.
Season 4, Episode 14: Three Days of Snow
"Three Days of Snow" follows the romance of Marshall and Lily, who have built a tradition over the years of picking each other up from the airport following any solo trips, with gifts in hand from both parties. As they've grown older, though, the pair decide that the tradition can be inconvenient and that there are more efficient ways to get one another home from the airport. They quickly regret that decision and both go to great lengths to try to meet their once disavowed custom, culminating in a surprise to Lily from Marshall that would make every hopeless romantic shed tears. The side plot that sees Barney and Ted try to run a bar inside Ted's apartment provides the comedy necessary to balance out the tenderness of the rest of the episode.
Season 5, Episode 23: The Wedding Bride
In "The Wedding Bride," Ted is infuriated when he goes on a date to the cinema and finds out that the movie is a misinterpretation of his failed marriage with his former fiancée, Stella. In it, Ted is shown as an over-the-top, borderline cartoonish villain with a signature catchphrase to match, and Tony, Stella's ex-husband who reunites with her before her and Ted's wedding leading her to leave Ted at the altar, is the ultimate protagonist. What makes this episode hilarious is how much the rest of the gang loves the movie and teases Ted about it.
Season 6, Episode 13: Bad News
This episode starts with a tone familiar to the rest of the series, including plenty of laughs to keep the audience engaged. Marshall and Lily worry about their fertility after failing to conceive a child for a short time. This leads them to see a specialist who looks exactly like Barney, causing Marshall to have doubts about the validity of the entire visit. The entire saga with the fertility doctor and his resemblance to Barney is hilarious, as is Marshall's quest to provide a sperm sample while his parents continually interrupt him.
But the beauty of this episode isn't in its comedy, but rather, in its tragedy. The episode ends as Marshall finds out that there's nothing wrong with either of his or Lily's fertility. He excitedly awaits for Lily's arrival to share the good news, but Lily has more pressing matters to share with him: the sudden death of his father. Jason Segel does a masterful job showing the heartbreak of a man not ready to say goodbye to his father, making for one of the most emotionally draining episodes in all sitcom history. The scene in question is even more impressive when factoring in the fact that Marshall's reaction was entirely unscripted and improvised by Segel, according to Cheat Sheet.
Season 7, Episode 19: The Broath
"The Broath" takes place shortly after Barney starts dating Quinn, a stripper at one of his favorite clubs. The gang, especially Ted, is fearful that Quinn is trying to take advantage of Barney, particularly because she was doing so before they entered into a serious relationship. Unbeknownst to Ted and the rest of their friends, Barney and Quinn concoct a plan to get his friends to see the error of their ways in meddling in their relationship, by leading them to believe that Quinn is a master manipulator who's submitting Barney to her will. The episode ends when Barney and Quinn reveal their plan after getting Ted and the rest of the gang to take an oath, or "Broath," to never meddle in their relationship again, which involves some pretty hilarious rituals.
Season 8, Episode 12: The Final Page Part 2
This episode features the engagement of Barney and Robin Scherbatsky, after an elaborate scheme in which Barney convinces Robin that he plans on proposing to her nemesis, an overly kind coworker by the name of Patrice. In attempts to get Barney not to propose, she reveals her feelings for him. All the while, everything falls into place for Barney, who enlisted Patrice to help him propose to Robin. This installment is the culmination of a relationship that seemed predestined and slowly built chemistry through eight and a half seasons.
Season 9, Episode 16: How Your Mother Met Me
Despite not being the last episode in the series, "How Your Mother Met Me" is the closest to a payoff that loyal viewers of the show would get after nine seasons. Akin to the title, the installment shows the inevitable meeting between Ted and Tracy McConnell, the mother of his children, through her perspective and reveals all the little entanglements that they had with each other before their predestined encounter. Through the course of just one episode, the show runners were able to show just what a perfect match Tracy is for Ted. Even though Tracy didn't get enough screen time overall, as a singular character or as Ted's love interest, this particular episode was done perfectly.