How I Met Your Mother is probably THE most popular sitcom of the last 20 years. In fact, we recently added it to our list of The 5 Best Sitcoms of the 2000’s. The show’s style of humour, laugh track and character setting has a distinct 1990’s feel it. This is despite the show beginning in 2005 and running through until 2014. In this article, detailing the Highest Rated HIMYM Episodes Of All-Time, we will be using stats from IMDB.
Despite the popular belief that the show diminished greatly in quality after its midway point, it is still widely praised. The show’s success is built off a tremendous cast performing, in many cases, their career defining role.
Like Friends before it, there was a point in time in which most friend groups in their 20’s or 30’s would decide which one was Marshall, which on is Lily and, most importantly, which one is Barney. That fact shows how prevalent How I Met Your Mother was within pop culture.
How I Met Your Mother has now been off the air for 7 years, however, thanks to the show’s syndication deals, it continues to get played around the world. Due to this, How I Met Your Mother’s place in popular culture won’t be fading away anytime soon.
In a future article, we’ll be running you through the best HIMYM episodes. But here, we will be counting down the Top 10 Highest Rated HIMYM Episodes of All-Time.
After an unanimous agreement that Marshall is far too good at games, he is tasked with hosting the gangs game nights. He takes this to mean that he should create his own game, which he does; MarshGammon.
Marshall uses this game to try and learn more about Ted’s new girlfriend, Victoria. It turns out that Barney has the far more juicy secret, as they find an old tape of him singing about his affections and sadness to a previous girlfriend.
Barney needs to make the agonising decision (at least in his world), of whether to give up his never ending collection of suits, or sleep with the ridiculously attractive new bartender. Barney goes through withdrawal symptoms as he dresses down to impress his new conquest.
Girls vs Suits is synonymous for featuring the shows first big musical number. Barney and the gang take to the streets with song as Barney realises he prefers his suits to the girl of his dreams (sort of). I’m not usually a fan of musical numbers in sitcoms, but this one actually hits pretty well. The set piece is another example of Neil Patrick Harris’ seemingly endless talent.
After meeting the “perfect girl”, Cathy, Ted takes her along to meet his friends. At a dinner, Ted notices a genuine frustration and hatred for her, but can’t quite figure it out. Later, after badgering his friends to provide a reason, and subsequently being warned that he won’t be able to ignore it once he knows, Ted finds out that Cathy talks…a lot.
This leads to Ted, Marshall, Robin, Lily and Barney all ‘breaking the glass’ about the various habits they all possess that are incredibly irritating.
The ‘breaking the glass’ moment has become popular in regular society. Whenever it occurs, this episode is one that regularly comes to mind
This episode introduces us to “The Blitz”. The Blitz is a person who leaves just before the night becomes awesome and ridiculous events unfold. As the episode progresses, The Blitz begins to change hands. At first, the title belongs to Steve Henry, a former college friends, before passing to Ted and Barney.
This occurs after Ted left the bar for an early night. This led to the group having a night to remember. They were joined by Ted’s arch nemesis, Zoey. The groups late night shenanigans with Zoey meant Ted was forced to spend Thanksgiving with her.
Blitzgiving is a surprising entrant into this Highest Rated HIMYM Episode list. It’s not one that is ordinarily recounted as one of the shows greatest half hours. Still, based on the numbers, apparently a great majority of people believe it is worthy of such praise.
Blitzgiving featured a guest appearance by Jorge Garcia, better known for his work as ‘Hurley’ on lost.
A personal favourite of many How I Met Your Mother enthusiasts, The Pineapple Incident is a foggy recount of a night in which Ted got blackout drunk and wound up with a woman in his bed…and a pineapple.
As the episode progresses, friends and acquaintances fill Ted in on his night on the drink.
The Pineapple Incident is one of the great How I Met Your Mother episodes. Naturally, it’s from the early seasons, where Ted’s compulsive desire for Robin & his drinking habits were more funny than sad.
I maintain to this day that drunk Ted is one of the show’s great characters. I would have loved to see more episodes where the entire gang embraced their youth while living in one of the world’s great cities.
While Robin is on a date with Mitch, a man of whom she has little feelings, the gang walk in on him completely naked. He informs them that due to his limitations in looks, charm and finances, the “Naked Man” is his last attempt at convincing the woman to sleep with him; his hail mary. Laughing it off, they later realise that the play worked and Robin did in fact sleep with him. Barney and Ted then go about trying to play with their respective dates to varied success.
The second part of an hour long special episode, The Final Page was a culmination of Barney’s most elaborate and final-ever play from his playbook. After confiding in Ted that he would be proposing to Patrice, Ted can’t help but tell Robin. This would be a big part in Barney’s final plan to propose marriage to Robin on the rooftop of the building.
Marshall and Lily realise that they are more content staying home with their newborn Baby than spending time away from him.
This is an episode that’s vigorously debated amongst hardcore How I Met Your Mother fans. Not because it isn’t a good episode (it is), but because Barney and Robin’s relationship is a source of great fan animosity in the shows later years. Despite what you think of their relationship, you can’t argue that this was a brilliantly crafted episode.
Barney, internally struggling from his relationship breakdown with Robin, uses a surprisingly brilliant set of schemes and plays in order to pick up random women. Barney shows the gang his “playbook”, and devises his most outlandish play yet in order to pick up a woman with the unsuspecting help of his friends.
There are quite a few moments throughout the show where Barney shows he has a higher than average intelligence – this is one of the better ones. Although his methods could be considered slightly sociopathic, you can’t argue that he understands his friends to the letter.
After Robin strangely refuses to go to a Mall, Ted, Lily, Marshall and Barney all try to figure out why she would feel such a way. Marshall, believing Robin is secretly married, and Barney, believing Robin once did porn, agree to a slap bet. The winner of the bet would be allowed to slap the other as hard as they can right in the face. Ted, worrying that Robin is married, goes to lengths to try and figure out the true season behind her not wanted to visit a mall.
Slap Bet is one of the episodes that would feature in both the Highest Rated HIMYM Episodes & The BEST HIMYM Episodes. Without even needing to watch the scene, the image of Marshall slapping Barney for the first time still makes me laugh.
In a reversal of the traditional format, we see the story play out through the eyes of Ted’s future wife. We had already met Tracey at this point (although Ted hadn’t from a present perspective), but this gave us a glimpse into the journey Tracey took to get where she needed to be in order to meet Ted. To say this is an episode that’ll produce some salty residue from your eyes is an understatement.
Cristin Milioti is terrific as Tracey McConnell. She brings a lot of witty banter and heart wrenching emotion to the role. You’ll be wishing she joined the show earlier.
How Does This List of the Highest Rated HIMYM Episodes rank with your personal favourites?
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