It’s hard to argue against the massive impact How I Met Your Mother had on pop culture in the late 2000s. Hailing from a true golden age of network sitcoms, How I Met Your Mother was something close to Friends for millennials. It shared a lot in common with the iconic show, too: set in New York City, the show centered on a group of 20-something friends just trying to make it work in life and love.
However, while Friends has arguably stood the test of time—save for a few dicey story lines and jokes—How I Met Your Mother hasn’t aged as gracefully. From Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) “charming” sexism to straight-up racism, large parts of the show indulged in some of the worst of the edgy humor that once dominated the 2000s. And though there are a lot of gems throughout the show’s history (especially those earlier seasons), some episodes were so bad that their quality is still hotly discussed to this day.
10
“How I Met Everyone Else”
Season 3, Episode 5
The early seasons of How I Met Your Mother are true television gems. However, they’re not without their flaws, and that is more than apparent in “How I Met Everyone Else.” Ted (Josh Radnor) introduces his newest girlfriend (Abigail Spencer) to the gang, with Future Ted referring to her only as “Blah Blah.” You know, since she was so unimportant that he can’t remember her name. Everyone quickly determines Blah Blah to be crazy when she becomes increasingly unhinged over Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) continued presence in Ted’s life.
Barney explains that Blah Blah is on the wrong side of the Hot/Crazy scale. According to him, someone who is crazy has to be equally hot to compensate for it. It goes without saying that Barney’s way of measuring the women he dates is deeply sexist, especially when he explains their hotness is influenced greatly by how skinny they are. Thick thighs save lives, Barney.
9
“I Heart NJ”
Season 4, Episode 3
Ted begins to feel the strain of commuting back and forth from New Jersey to Manhattan just to visit his then-girlfriend, Stella (Sarah Chalke). He recounts the events he’s missed while traveling, including Robin getting promoted, and Barney dressing as a lesbian in order to pick up a lesbian at a lesbian bar.
The scene is short, but the episode is tainted by Barney’s bizarre insistence on luring a lesbian into sleeping with him. It’s in bad taste, like many of the LGBTQIA+ jokes sprinkled through How I Met Your Mother’s run. The show did not handle anything related to the community well, and often made jokes about transgender people for a cheap laugh. On a lighter note, however, Ted’s insistence that Stella move to New York is baffling, especially considering she has a child who can’t be uprooted like that. That guy is addicted to fumbling every hot girl he dates.
8
The Naked Man
Season 2, Episode 9
The gang learns a new pick-up technique when Ted walks in on Robin’s date stark-naked in their apartment. According to man, Mitch (Adam Paul), he uses the move while women are distracted in the hopes of surprising them enough that they’ll want to have sex with him. He claims it works two out of three times. It apparently does on Robin, who Marshall (Jason Segel) dubs a “slut” for exercising autonomy over her own body.
The lack of consent, the surprise nudity, the way Marshall calls Robin a “slut”…nothing about “The Naked Man” is particularly appealing, and it leaves audiences with the impression that stripping naked in a virtual stranger’s home is acceptable behavior — at least, according to How I Met Your Mother. In reality, the move sounds like a sure-fire way to get kicked out of your date’s apartment, get the cops called on you, and definitely not get laid.
7
“Ducky Tie”
Season 7, Episode 3
Nothing says respecting women like two men making a bet to let one see the other wife’s breasts, right? Well, that’s exactly what Marshall and Barney choose to do when Barney’s boasting over his apparent ability to cook teppanyaki-style. Marshall calls his bluff: if Barney can prove he really can cook, then he’ll let him see Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) boobs. If he can’t, he has to wear the horrid ducky tie Barney keeps bullying him about.
Marshall’s willingness to trade Lily’s consent away over a stupid bet is pretty uncharacteristic of him, considering his otherwise respectful, wife-loving persona. Everything takes on an extra layer of ick when it’s revealed Barney engineered the entire scenario in order to push Marshall to make that exact bet on his wife’s behalf. Lily does end up flashing Barney to distract him in the end, but the whole thing just comes off as cringe.
6
“Mystery vs. History”
Season 7, Episode 6
Ted’s attempt to date someone without looking them up online first goes disastrously wrong when his date, Janet (Amber Stevens) turns out to be an incredibly accomplished woman. This proves to be an issue for Ted, who is intimidated by her success and is absolutely awful at hiding it. He even goes as far as assuming she’s secretly a man just to justify her success. Janet leaves the date, and Ted says he wishes the gang hadn’t filled him in on who she was.
To call Ted weak is an understatement. Janet is wealthy, altruistic, smart, and gorgeous, and for some reason Ted’s ego can’t handle it. Janet is an absolute catch who would have only enriched Ted’s life. A more emotionally mature version of Ted would have been able to accept (or even celebrate) a woman having more success and money than he does. Instead, Ted loses out on a great girl. Skill issue.
5
“Bedtime Stories”
Season 9, Episode 11
Season 9 of How I Met Your Mother had a lot of ups and downs — mostly downs. The show chose to take a big creative swing with “Bedtime Stories,” in which Marshall attempts to lull his son, Marvin, to sleep by speaking only in rhymes. In fact, the entire episode is spoken in rhymes, with Marshall recounting several stories to his son over the course.
“Bedtime Stories” isn’t particularly offensive, thankfully, but it is a polarizing episode for viewers. The rhyming shtick is either considered fun or loathed entirely, but even those who enjoy a fun gimmick have to admit 22 straight minutes of a tv sitcom only speaking in rhymes is exhausting to watch. A final season may not be the place to experiment so heavily with gimmicks, especially when every minute is leading towards a story’s ending. Audiences want growth — not tricks.
4
“Baby Talk”
Season 6, Episode 6
As every new parent knows, the worst possible thing in the world is having a girl — or so Marshall says. In “Baby Talk,” Marshall’s terror over potentially having a baby girl leads him to imagine his potential future daughter being hit on by Barney. Also, she’s a stripper. Elsewhere, Ted tells Robin she was too independent and assertive when they dated, and he needs to feel needed in relationships. Barney informs Robin he loved those traits in her when they dated.
It’s hard to know what to unpack first: the weird gender stuff, or the other weird gender stuff. Instead of wanting to raise a girl and teach the men around her how to treat women properly, Marshall instead just pictures all the ways she could be objectified sexually. It’s a very odd message to send to prospective parents. And Ted, who really can’t handle women being their own people, admits he needs women to need him in turn. It’s a perfect example of how ill-suited he and Robin were for each other, and how ridiculous her eventual divorce from Barney was.
3
“Stuff”
Season 2, Episode 16
Ted and Robin’s newly minted relationship is put to the test when Ted reveals a lot of the stuff he has been gifted to him by his ex-girlfriends. This makes Robin uncomfortable, and after the group all declare Robin correct in feeling that way, Ted agrees to get rid of it all. Robin then reveals all five of her beloved dogs were gifts from her exes. Ted loses his mind over this and Robin eventually gives the dogs away to her aunt.
If a man ever demands you get rid of your dogs to make him comfortable, get rid of the man — not the dogs. It’s crazy for Ted to ask Robin to give away living, breathing animals, especially since Robin’s dogs are so precious to her and such a part of who she is. Stuff is one thing. Dogs are another. Looking back, Ted is the ultimate red flag in this episode, and it’s a miracle this whole mess ends with them not only staying together, but moving in together.
2
“Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra”
Season 9, Episode 14
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No one does a Thanksgiving episode like How I Met Your Mother (except Bob’s Burgers, perhaps). The show’s hilarious tradition of turning Thanksgiving into “Slapsgiving” continues in the ninth season, where Marshall prepares to deliver the seventh of the eight slaps he won in a Slap Bet against Barney: the “Slap of A Million Exploding Suns.” He reveals he trained for a year to deliver the blow, and tells the story of his journey via a series of “flashbacks” of his friends in imaginary scenarios.
The episode features an offensive mix of Asian stereotypes to depict Marshall’s journey. The show went as far as having the entire cast dress up in Asian garb and speak in accents, which outraged social media users and prompted an apology from the show’s creators. Sure, it was 2013, but it’s hard to accept that someone on the creative team didn’t know better.
1
“Last Forever, Parts 1 & 2”
Season 9, Episodes 23 & 24
Very few series finales are as hotly debated — or as universally decried — as How I Met Your Mother’s series finale. After a mere single season properly featuring the titular mother, played by Cristin Milioti, an older Ted is encouraged by his kids to seek out their Aunt Robin. Why? Because their mom had actually died six years earlier, and they knew he’d secretly been in love with Robin the whole time. Ted follows their advice and arrives at Robin’s apartment carrying the iconic blue French horn.
Disappointed doesn’t begin to cover the emotions around How I Met Your Mother’s swan song. The entirety of season 9 was structured around a period of just 3 days in the main characters’ lives, all occurring in the lead up to Barney and Robin’s wedding. In the finale, audiences learn that the two divorced after 3 years. This revelation is one of many that make the whole last season feel like a waste of time. From the ham-fisted way Ted and Robin were forced back together, to Tracy dying of some mysterious illness, the finale of How I Met Your Mother is an insulting bad end to a show that was so beloved by its viewers.