The End of Season 4, and Beyond: What’s to Come on How I Met Your Mother

By JD

First, sorry for not writing a recap yet. I will do it, and will return to a more regularly scheduled posting regiment.

Now that that’s out of the way I’m please to share with you some tidbits about the future of the show. I, along with other bloggers and journalists, participated in an open Q and A with Carter Bays yesterday regarding the end of this season and what’s to come in the future of the show. This is what we learned:

Season 4

  • The biggest reveal from the chat was regarding an upcoming guest star. Danny Glover will appear in the March 30th episode, though not as you might expect. “He’s not on the show, but he makes an appearance.” Also, some of our “old favorite” gueststars will return at the end of this season.
  • The finale of this season deals with the climax of the Robin-Barney saga. The finale episode was shot in January to accommodate the pregnancies of Alyson and Cobie so they already decided how it’ll end, the rest of this season will just serve as the build up to that end. When asked for specifics Carter simply said “when a boy likes a girl, there is an inevitable climax.”
  • The remaining episodes of this season will pick up some languishing story lines, most notably Ted’s romantic life. Carter tells us to expect a return of the yellow umbrella and reiterates what he told EW: the last episodes will directly address the title of the show. He also hints that some old plotlines and stories from previous seasons will return in unexpected ways.

Season 5

  • Next season will add a new dynamic to the show. Carter tells us to expect a shift in setting, a new world for some of the characters.
  • We’ll also get closer to meeting the mom (which means we don’t meet her at the end of this season.)
  • Ted will open his own architecture firm called “Mosbius”

General thoughts on the show

  • Carter was very specific is saying that fans shouldn’t worry because all the things they want to know more about have not been forgotten. The pineapple, the goat, the yellow umbrella, Victoria—all things the writers haven’t forgotten about either and may, someday, return.
  • When asked if they’d like a specific end date for the show, ala Lost, Carter says there’s “no reason to stop doing [the show] for a long time.” He even mentioned the show going into season 8 or 9. He would like to know when the finale is though, to be able to write a satisfactory conclusion.
  • The slaps are coming, but they want to spread them out. They also feel like each consecutive slap needs to be built up bigger than the one before it.
  • There’s a good chance another Robin Sparkles song will be discovered.
  • The writers all love Victoria and would love to see what happened with her.
  • The general writing process is one where they come up with a situation or climactic moment and then figure out how to get the characters from where they are to that place.
  • He confirmed, once and for all, that while certain areas of narration (sandwiches) suggest Future-Ted might be stretching the truth, they will never use this as a cheap bait-and-switch. Future Ted really is Ted, not Barney, there’s no twist coming in that sense.
  • When asked about LAME Carter said that it’s not often you see a strong, happy couple on a sitcom and they really wanted to show that that exists with Marshall and Lily.
  • When asked about if Britney would return Carter said “I don’t know, some people had heard of her when she first came on the show but her appearance made her really famous, I don’t know if we could get her anymore.”
  • There are a lot of stories surrounding parenthood that they would love to write but they decided they just weren’t ready yet to go there this season, there’s too many funny bar stories left to tell.
  • When asked why the show has had such a slow rise in popularity, Carter credits the fans for spreading the show through word of mouth, the fact that they didn’t have an incredibly well known cast or catchy premise, and that there have now been four years of solid storytelling. He is very appreciative of all the fans and says he’d much rather have a show that is organically popular than get viewers because of gimicks or flashy advertising.
  • During the first season the writers had a discussion regarding Barney and whether or not he was magical. While they decided he was a real person, he still does some pretty magical things (sweeping The Price is Right, running a marathon, hiring a wife.) The writers even played with an idea where Barney would end up being called out to the mound to pitch in the 9th inning of a Yankees game.

The last question asked was “how does it feel to work on the funniest show on TV?” to which Carter replied “I know some people who writer for 30 Rock, I’ll have to ask them.”

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed

In Casting/Gueststars, Neil Patrick Harris, Season 4, Season 5, Show Analysis, Show News | Friday, March 6th, 2009 02:01 pm GMT -4 | By JD
« - »

38 Comments to “The End of Season 4, and Beyond: What’s to Come on How I Met Your Mother”

  1. HIMYM Season 4 Episode 16 – Sorry Bro | be awesome instead |  Monday, March 9th, 2009 11:08 pm GMT -4

    [...] details. Nothing more on the Robin/Barney story line but we will get more on that according to an open Q&A with Carter Bays (possible spoilers).  Overall the whole show was kinds of misdirection. I mean, we start off with learning more [...]

  2. alp |  Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 12:30 pm GMT -4

    do you know when the 5. season gonna start ? and I think ted's wife is who ted crashed with in the bar on st. paddy's day ! remember ?

  3. Dory |  Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 04:31 pm GMT -4

    Please don't end it.I love this show.

  4. Karen |  Thursday, May 7th, 2009 05:38 pm GMT -4

    Love this show, can't get enough of it!
    I'm glad to know there will be more seasons coming.

  5. Mnkfmdas |  Friday, May 8th, 2009 05:01 am GMT -4

    TlCjPE comment1 ,

  6. Zukini |  Friday, May 8th, 2009 11:41 pm GMT -4

    The television series "How I Met Your Mother" is among the best sitcoms out there, but it has the potential to be the BEST. IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHO IS CAST AS THE MOTHER. Linda Cardellini, star from ER and Freaks & Geeks, is PERFECT for the role. Watch her in Freaks & Geeks and discover just how perfectly natural she is for the most playfully beautiful romance on television. No other actress will give "How I Met Your Mother" the emotional climax that it deserves.

  7. bill |  Monday, May 11th, 2009 05:45 pm GMT -4

    to Phil's comment….Victoria left for Europe in Season 1 for a two year culinary scholorship, which means, that technically, sometime during season 3 she would have "returned" to NY. The timing means that she could have been at that party…

  8. stu |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 04:07 pm GMT -4

    it's a story ow how ted Met the mother, not how he got together with her. so ted has already met victoria, i doubt she's the mother, i don't think we're gonna see the mother until the very end of the show. at least i hope show. the show needs to end with the lines "and that's the story of how i met your mother." nothing more!

  9. liz |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 05:22 pm GMT -4

    Friends was great from the beginning until the end, but it sill is a challenge…

  10. Kal |  Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 11:41 am GMT -4

    I agree with Alp, that the mother is going to be the woman that Ted bumped in to at the Paddy's day party, "Sorry didn't see you there".

    But we now know the mother is in Ted's Teaching class, which is a solid for once. But season five i think is going to be about, ted's transition into teaching, whilst still looking for the one. i think we'll find out who the mother is in season 6, if the show lasts that long, which lets be honest is going to, too many people love it.

  11. kunal |  Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 02:58 pm GMT -4

    I do love HIMYM…..its rock u must continue for Season 5…. & for more Season

  12. suraj shenoy |  Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 08:04 pm GMT -4

    so when is the season 5 gonna be out?!? i'm waiting

  13. Alex |  Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 03:52 pm GMT -4

    It won't be out for a while, i'd expect it to start again in September but both Cobie and Alyson are both pregnant so they won't be filming till both of them are ready to come back to the show! All i know is my Summer is going to be Empty without it

  14. Parikhit |  Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 05:14 pm GMT -4

    I always kept wondering as to how did the pineapple turn up ! And Victoria returning, can't wait for that as well. A new setting?
    Also, when will season 5 begin, I am unable to wait !

  15. Joshyboy |  Thursday, May 21st, 2009 11:52 am GMT -4

    Personally, I think the mother has already been shown.
    In "No Tomorrow" he bumps into a random woman, then they share a meaningful stare and say sorry. And he said that she was at that party as well…! Spoiler ;]

    I hope victoria isn't the mother.. She's hot but it doesn't seem dramatic enough.

    Also, they have to wrap this show up within the next few seasons because Teds getting older and his kids look about 18 / 20 anyway, so he's got to knock someone up pretty soon.

    God I love this show though,
    Its clever and funny, unlike fraiser.. which tries to be both and fails pretty horrificly.

    Only pain is I reckon it's gonna be into early 2010 that we see HIMYM return, because of the pregnancies, and maternity leave blah blah blah.

  16. JustinDickinson |  Thursday, May 21st, 2009 12:43 pm GMT -4

    Both actresses have had their children. The start shooting for next season in August.

  17. designerdrug |  Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 05:05 pm GMT -4

    pineapple incident haha! no more victoria or stella! the show continues in the saga of searching for the mother. they should be clearly be out of the deal. and yeah, how about the yellow umbrella?

    a lot of clues is out to watch now :-)

  18. samantha |  Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 01:28 pm GMT -4

    at the first season told us that mother was robin!! why now the try to give us new mum???

  19. HBK |  Thursday, May 28th, 2009 06:15 pm GMT -4

    are you out of your freakin mind?i dunno if you're serious about your comment or just trolling around in here,but i've watched the show since the beginning,hundreds of times (literally) and I can still perfectly recall some of the dialogues and all of the stories from each of the episodes,from seasons 1-4 and I can assure you that the show NEVER, EVER implied that Robin was the mother..in fact if you watched the very first episode of the very first season,Future Ted clearly stated,or implied that Rpbin is NOT the mother..

  20. dbp92 |  Thursday, May 28th, 2009 11:50 pm GMT -4

    J.D. how do you get all this information, this is soo helpful.

  21. dbp92 |  Thursday, May 28th, 2009 11:53 pm GMT -4

    yea hah literally there has been no mention of Robin being the mother, in fact the complete opposite has been said.

  22. JustinDickinson |  Friday, May 29th, 2009 03:08 am GMT -4

    I've been lucky enough to have a direct connection to Carter Bays and the publicity people at CBS and Fox. I try hard to find out what I think you guys want to know!

  23. Landfill |  Thursday, June 4th, 2009 04:49 pm GMT -4

    I hope we meet the mother because the last three seasons have been building it up quite a bit and it's starting to get repetitive. From this article it sounds like they're going to change some settings which will be a breath of fresh air for the show.

  24. tpfc |  Thursday, June 4th, 2009 11:42 pm GMT -4

    I think the mother could possibly be the woman Ted bumps into in "No Tomorrow". We should all know by now that very little happens in this show for no reason. I wonder however if they already have Ted's wife cast? Perhaps they will super-impose the new actress into a flashback of that scene from St. Patty's Day, (like they did with Brittany Spears when she confronts Lily about Barney.)

  25. tpfc |  Thursday, June 4th, 2009 11:43 pm GMT -4

    Also, does anyone know the release date for the season 4 dvd set?

  26. [tr] tv dizilerinde son durum : bunyamin VICIL |  Friday, June 5th, 2009 05:31 am GMT -4

    [...] Bays ile yap?lan bir söyle?iden 5. sezonun nas?l i?lenece?i konusunda baz? cevaplar da ?urada ç?km??. 19 May?s’ta BCS yeni sezon anla?mas?n? yapt?klar?n? [...]

  27. Zoheb |  Friday, June 5th, 2009 06:55 pm GMT -4

    Plz dnt evr end dis Series……..evn if it becomes Crap later on….i wanna c it till Season 100….ha ha….atlst til i m Alive…..
    HIMYM IS D BEST SERIES EVER…..
    Whooo-haa
    :-P

  28. Mike |  Thursday, June 18th, 2009 03:17 am GMT -4

    i don't know i love the show but i seriously thought we would find out who the mother was next season i don't it seems like they are streching it really far. Still a huge fan of the show but i would just like to met the mother by the fifth season finale even if they aren't dating by the end of season 5

  29. mike |  Thursday, June 18th, 2009 03:19 am GMT -4

    i'm think the setting change will have to do with ted's job change so maybe it will be more on campus or something

  30. legendary |  Monday, June 22nd, 2009 12:44 pm GMT -4

    i loooov how i met your mother, and i'd like to watch it for as long as possible! i don't care that we don't know the mother yet, it'll come, i just loove the show, it's hilarious!! :)

  31. Dana |  Thursday, June 25th, 2009 09:11 pm GMT -4

    Season 5 starts on September 21.

  32. Dana |  Thursday, June 25th, 2009 09:14 pm GMT -4

    Ted refers to Robin as "Your Aunt Robin" many many times. Nobody calls their mom "Aunt."

  33. James |  Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 01:45 am GMT -4

    Victoria cant be the mother, at the st patrick's function the voice over mentioned at the end that he never met "her" that night even though she was there, and was lucky he didnt because her first impression of ted wouldnt of been good…..victoria has already met ted. this is why i agree with other comments that the girl he bumped into has a good chance of being the person.

  34. dude |  Friday, July 10th, 2009 01:34 pm GMT -4

    isnt it obvious
    the girl ted runs into for like 2 seconds in the episode with the saint patricks day party
    that has to be the mother

  35. Linus |  Monday, July 20th, 2009 01:24 pm GMT -4

    Smallville, and Charmed both lasted for 8 seasons, with Smallville casting for Season 9 so I wouldn't be surprise if HIMYM goes on for 8 seasons. I love the show, a co-worker introduced me to a few episodes and then I was hooked lol!!,

  36. suited up |  Monday, July 27th, 2009 05:06 am GMT -4

    seinfeld? sex and the city? buffy? fraiser?

    i would love HIMYM to go down as one of those classic shows that everyone will remember!!

    yeah i agree that the decline is bad toward the end, but i still think that they have loads of potential. Plus, i hate shows that end too soon – eg Arrested Development

  37. suited up |  Monday, July 27th, 2009 05:11 am GMT -4

    in that episode Ted is walking toward the bar at one point and he bumps into this chick and says 'oh sorry' and she goes 'dont worry about it' or something similar.

    She is in jeans, with long brunette hair and a patterned shirt. There is no reason for that 'bump' to be in the episode at all, it doesnt play into any of the other jokes or storylines.

    My money is that is the Mother.

  38. ianne |  Friday, August 14th, 2009 02:53 am GMT -4

    i don't watch smallville, but even tho charmed lasted 8 seasons, the storytelling started to become stale as early as season 4. same goes for will&grace, dawson's creek, ally mcbeal, gilmore girls, etc. though i know some fans of these show will beg to differ, i personally feel they lasted long enough and even way pass syndication, but the storytelling goes downhill towards the end.

    but there are other great examples, such as buffy (7 seasons), and actual sitcoms such as Friends (10 seasons), seinfeld (9 seasons?), even scrubs (8 seasons).

    i really hope HIMYM will fall under that latter category of sitcoms that lasted 8-10 years but ended while on top.

    i think HIMYM has good six to seven seasons in it (like originally planned) if they want to leave while on top, but could last eight to nine seasons if they want to drag it out, but no later than that coz the kids have to be born by then. the daughter is 16 in 2030, and if ted is going the traditional route, the daughter has to be born in 2014, so he had to marry the mom some time in 2013, and i'd say he'll date her a year at least before marrying her, so he have to meet her sometime in 2012….which will be season 7 during the spring, or in season 8 during the fall and marry her in the end of season 8 (2013). but that if he is going that way. he could very well meet, marry, and knock her up all in the same year. hehe.

Leave a Reply

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. If you want your own picture instead of the monster, register for free at Gravatar with the email address you use to comment.


or you can…

Subscribe without commenting

Mondays at 8:00pm on CBS

stay informed

Categories

How I Met Your Mother