I can't watch re-runs of that show because of how badly they botched the ending.

Every single episode arc except for the 'its a penis!' episode leaves me sitting there going "who !@#$ing cares? - none of this even matters..."

As you noted - all they needed to do was cut to black before the final 3 minutes and then re-run the credits.

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This was all it took. But they decided early on that they'd shot those scenes when the kids were younger and they HAD to use them despite the fact that the character arcs clearly made them out of place as the show developed.

I've never seen a show set nearly a decade of good will on fire in 3 minutes like that. They could've ended the show with a homicidal maniac breaking into the house, tying up ted and making him watch his children be sodomized and it wouldn't have been orders of magnitude worse than it was.

Exactly - the entire latter half of the series established - REPEATEDLY - that Robin was not the right person for Ted. Ever. In any way, in fact. They almost overdid it.

And sure, maybe 50 yr old Ted was a changed man - but we didn't see any of that. It wasn't part of the show. It didn't matter. So why is this sudden flip at all relevant to the series and how did it contribute to it?

It's Game of Thrones levels of awful.

I get to the point where I wonder why there has to be big ass finales. Maybe just end the show, and let the characters live there lives.

The alternate ending remains the best.

Taking Ted on a 10-year journey to meet the mother only to then guy punch everyone by revealing he lost her just 10 years later was… just not good.

I think it was an attempt to repeat the amazing dramatic impact of Marshall finding out his dad had died (which remains one of the best-executed, creative, heartbreaking and still funny episodes of TV I’ve ever watched).

I got a ton of joy and entertainment from this show. I was in the exact age/life band as the gang when the show started - many-times-weekly drinks at the same bar with the same cast of characters.

And then life happened. Marriages. Kids. And things changed. The time we had for each other dwindled, even as the love we have for each other stayed the same.

I think it’s the hardest thing about being a grown-up.

One reason that I avoided the show for so long was that only two of the five characters were engaging.

Barney was very entertaining, though of course you have to have someone like him be slightly off to the side.

Robin was interesting with her weird back story. I liked her.

Ted was a little annoying, but tolerable as the straight man glue of the show. He was neutral.

Lily was annoying, as was her relationship with Marshall. There was nothing very realistic about her. The more I watched, the closer she moved to tolerable, but she never quite got there.

Marshall - everything about that simpering wimp was intolerable, and he never got better.

However, the writing was pretty good and the premise was pretty good, so after watching a few episodes I developed the habit.

That's pretty much exactly how it should have ended. (I'm talking about the video, not the child sodomy.) I was watching and my heart grew three sizes as I watched Ted find his true love and live happily ever after. I had a tear in my eye and was thinking, "Wow, this wasn't what I expected, but it was great."

And then the last three minutes happened, and I was left staring at the TV like I had just watched the sodomy ending.

In part, I think my disappointment was that I adore that Milioti actress. She's got those eyes that cure all that is wrong with the world. So after the whole series, finding someone with those eyes was the perfect ending, and I liked the concept that Robin may have been great, but she was always one step too far. That's a good novel concept to end the series on.

But no - they killed Milioti and went with the trite ending.

If you haven’t seen it, watch her perform the song Falling Slowly. It’s from a play she was in the adaptation of.

Absolutely gorgeous song and she’s amazing.

Re: Robin and Ted, yeah it was frustrating that they spent the whole show showing/explaining why she and Ted didn’t work and then put them back together at the end.

Just awkward and silly.

I saw an earlier post in this thread that she was the woman who mesmerised me in the Ford Edge commercial. I need to hunt down more stuff that she's done. She might actually make my laminated list.

Ironically for me personally, first time I saw Miloti was as an 'influencer' on 30 Rock, and it was one of the worst characters in the show's history.

Had to work to forget that role as I started enjoying her in other things.

How I met your Father has Hillary Duff. Who needs to be plowed by me so hard.

I am not watching that reboot.