The single greatest mystery of “HIMYM” is how Ted ended up with a pineapple after the wildest night of season one. Unfortunately, we may never know the truth about the appearance of that spikey fruit. On the bright side, we can rest assured that Ted has been vomit–free since ’93.
Relevant Episodes: “The Pineapple Incident” (1x10), “The Limo” (1x11), “The Wedding” (1x12), “Game Night” (1x15), “Third Wheel” (3x03), “Rabbit or Duck” (5x15) and “Mom and Dad” (9x10).
Even though the thought of Robin being a secret porn star was exciting to the Barneys among us, the real reason Robin hates malls is so much better. If you haven’t tried to make “Let’s Go to the Mall” your ringtone at some point in the past eight years, you are not a true “HIMYM” fanatic. This Canadian pop classic should be every tween’s personal theme song. “Tori” and “sorry” rhyme, as do “coat” and “about” because, well, it’s Canada. Only “The Beaver Song” can rival “Let’s Go to the Mall,” which reminds us of the importance of friendship and math. “Sandcastles in the Sand” and “P.S. I Love You” come in at third and fourth place in Sparkles hits only because they’re a little angstier than necessary when talking about fake Canadian pop stars.
Relevant Episodes: “Slap Bet” (2x09), “Sandcastles in the Sand” (3x16), “Little Minnesota” (4x11), “As Fast As She Can” (4x23), “Glitter” (6x09) and “P.S. I Love You” (8x15).
One of the best things about the creators of “HIMYM” is their effort to make these characters and their lives exist in the real world as much as possible. In that noble pursuit, any character that makes a website, gets a real website. The two best manifestations of this are mysteriousdrx.com made for Ted’s Wesleyan radio alter ego and puzzlesthebar.com, made for the best bar that almost existed.
Relevant Episodes: “The Bracket” (3x14), “Everything Must Go” (3x19), “Not a Father’s Day” (4x07), “The Possimpible” (4x14), “Old King Clancy” (4x18), “As Fast As She Can” (4x23), “The Sexless Innkeeper” (5x04), “The Playbook” (5x08), “The Wedding Bride” (5x23), “Subway Wars” (6x04), “The Stinson Missile Crisis” (7x04), “Disaster Averted” (7x09), “Tailgate” (7x13), “The Magician’s Code: Part One” (7x23), “Nannies” (8x03), “Lobster Crawl” (8x09), “The Poker Game” (9x05) and “The End of the Aisle” (9x22).
One of the reccurring elements from season four onward is the gang’s intervention banner, which they use any time they stage one. Some interventions are serious, others not so much. Throughout the years, they even throw a “Quinntervention” and an intervention intervention (for having too many interventions). Regardless of what it’s for, if you see this sign in an episode, you can be sure it’s a good one.
Relevant Episodes: “Intervention” (4x04), “Right Place, Right Time” (4x22), “Oh Honey” (6x15), Legendaddy (6x19), “The Broath” (7x19) and “The Over–Correction” (8x10).
“The Wedding Bride” is the fictional movie that Tony writes about Stella and Ted’s engagement. In a few episodes, we catch snippets of the amazingness that is this fake film. We know that the movie is successful because of a sequel called “The Wedding Bride Too,” and a subsequent threequel. The movie has emotional significance for Ted beyond his failed relationship with Stella. He says “I love you” for the first time to The Mother outside a theater playing a sold–out show of “The Wedding Bride III."
Relevant Episodes: “As Fast As She Can” (4x23), “The Wedding Bride” (5x23), “No Pressure” (7x17) and “Vesuvius” (9x19).
