How I Met Your Mother - Josh Radnor on Filming the Last Table Read

The cast of How I Met Your Mother at PaleyFest on 3/15/14. Josh Radnor describes the strong emotions that came with the closing days of the show. More specifically, their final table read together.

[Namokham]

why is this show such underrated??
i mean its the best sitcom i ever watched

[ZehraDimlioglu]

wow I didn't know he is such a good speaker and a story-teller. I could listen to him all day without getting bored.

[JugCityKid]

The ending was just too sudden for me. Ted finally got his happy ending of finding the one. Then she died 2 mins later and moved onto Robin. Reastically, they probably spent a good 20 years together but for me it felt like 5 mins, idk

[bmvthemoviefanatic]

And Tracy just like: And you killed me off! What a load of ---

[vdhpneee]

I am emotionally traumatized by watching this ending. Spending 9 seasons waiting for Ted to finally let go of Robbin and find his true match a lovely girl with a bright personality and an emotional back story only to find out that Tracy dies in a very young age and Ted goes back to Robbin who never really viewed him for what he really was but what he really did when she needed him the numerus times she screwed up.

[atiyaha]

I don't know why this is posted now. I love this show to bits though

[itamy]

The title should have been "How I Am I Back To Square One". LoL

Honestly, I have no issues with the ending. Because that was the most realistic ending. And that is what life is. My problem is the title. The mother seemed hardly important, IMO. Had it been a different title, audience would have not been this much disappointed because they never would have hoped in the first place! In the entire show they tried to tell how significant the mother was for Ted simultaneously they kept dropping hints here and there about Robin & Ted. What happens? Mother comes and dies. Ted goes back to Robin where it all started. In the end I felt like Ted was actually looking for his children's approval to go back to Robin, the love of his life. Hence he narrated the entire story to them. I have no issues with that. Just the title could have been something else.

[ThomasEvansHD]

The thing that bothers me is people are always saying it was a very real ending, which in some aspects, yes, it is, but in other aspects it really isn't.The mother dying, yes, it's real. Totally. That happens to some very unfortunate people. But getting back with Robin, that isn't "real" by any means. You don't fall in love, have two beautiful children, a house, a life, and an entire goddamn marriage with someone then go back to your ex. It makes me view the Ted Mosby character as almost insane. His speech on love with Jeanette on the bridge in central park was beautiful. Because he is right, love is eternal, never disposable. But to go back to your ex after EVERYTHING Tracy and Ted had together... that just isn't real. They tried too damn hard to tie the first and last episode together. Love never truly dies but letting it go can and should be treated as a beautiful, natural thing.

[shivanshkhare]

Actors of this show actually don't have a bond like friends' actors. That is so amusing to see. They worked for so many years together still they feel awkward with each other. I guess emotions only work in tv shows not professional lives . 😅

[PaulCherwonka]

I've mentally blocked the HIMYM ending, to end such a good show on that note, was really out of place. But heck, some folks liked it, so who am I to judge.

[EntertainerOnline]

The ending would be justified in case it was not so hurried up.

[maxgreenberg]

I do have a problem with people saying how the show resembles normal life. Yes people and loved ones die early at times, but that’s extremely bad luck. To me the show wants us to believe that’s routine, and it’s just not. Very far from it actually. I also thought it was callous how they made ted spend next to time mentioning the mother’s death. That should make someone grieve like they never have before, and it also felt like they spent little time talking about that to make ted seem like “eh whatever I still have feelings for my ex and will get back with her after all this even after I was in a relationship with a lady for several years and had kids with her” and that’s just wrong

[GoranNewsum]

1:25 When he says Kleenex, he means facial tissue! Am I the only one who was mad at this!

[hankshuler]

Just rewatched the show on Netflix again and now realised how bad the original ending was even more than before. People who claim it's realistic is crazy. Yes people die but that doesn't mean it's normal for them to die young. Ted and Robin never had that good a chemistry anyway and their relationship had so many bumps and ultimately failed. To try and force them together is just not normal. Ted had incredible chemistry with Tracy and the alternative ending with the yellow umbrella was arguably the best scene in the whole show. Barney and Robin also had clearly better chemistry together too, it was believable for them to get back together. The show runners did an amazing job for 9yrs but the original one was such a mistake, just tried to be too clever. Ended up stupid. I must thank them for the much improved alternate ending to rectify that mistake nonetheless.

[MrZawdin]

why are you releasing this in 2017? That aside, the final episode was not everything we love about HIMYM and i think you know that Josh. Not your fault, but still.

[sabrinal]

the ending was the worst thing to ever happen to this show. they spend 9 years developing ted as a character (him getting over robin and trying to find another woman) and also developing barney as a character (him committing to one woman) and in the last episode they just go back to who they both were in season 1 episode 1.

[BytownParanormal]

Good show, I skipped the dumb finale story, never saw it. Wise choice

[kennethgreifer]

I was disappointed that the mother was not Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy the Vampire Slayer because one of the stars of the show was on that show. I thought it would have been a funnier ending, but it wasn't really a funny ending, sort of. It was like real life with a sad ending. I don't watch comedies to be sad. I like comedies to be funny, so you can escape from reality and laugh at life. I can't watch the reruns anymore because I am sick of watching people go through a million relationships, especially in a small group where they fall in love with each other and then they break up and get back together a hundred times. It is a funny show anyway, but I just can't watch their relationships. I had the same problem with the show Friends.

[DaveCM]

When you read the last episode, why didn't you realize how badly it sucked and completely stupid it was and demand a rewrite?