General Questions | Instagram Live 2/4/26

Summary

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How We Made Your Mother – General Questions | Instagram Live 2/4/26

Podcast: How We Made Your Mother
Hosts: Josh Radnor & Craig Thomas
Producer: Alec Lev
Date Recorded (IG Live): February 4, 2026
Release Date: April 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

This relaxed, fan-driven Instagram Live episode celebrates the enduring impact and behind-the-scenes magic of How I Met Your Mother, featuring hosts Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby) and series co-creator Craig Thomas, with producer Alec Lev moderating. Across an hour, they field questions from a global audience, reflect on long-term storytelling, reminisce about the making and legacy of the show, and share some personal and funny stories—plus, they give heartfelt advice and a few meta insights about rewatching the series in a new stage of their lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Podcast’s Origins & Interactive Format

• Josh recounts how showing HIMYM to his wife, Jordana (a first-time viewer), sparked the podcast idea. Craig agreed, and they brought Alec on board immediately, showing their chemistry and willingness to “just do it” (34:04–34:13).
• The podcast structure highlights fan involvement, with each episode starting with a fan voice note and ending with a fan letter (05:48). Submissions focus on “specific stories about your life” and how HIMYM intersected with viewers on a personal level (07:09).
• Their main goal: to honor both the comedy and the show's emotional impact, including its value during hard times (08:11).

2. The Global Reach and Fan Community

• The IG Live draws fans worldwide—Germany, the Philippines, France, India, Brazil, Romania, Iran, Utah, etc. Hosts express joy and humility at the show's international resonance (10:33–11:11).
• “Iran. Love to the people of Iran.” — Josh Radnor (11:08)
• There’s playful banter about odd Zoom/IG backgrounds and New York apartment realism (12:20–12:44).

3. Apartment Realism in Sitcoms

• HIMYM's apartments were intentionally smaller and a little darker than Friends to modestly reflect real NYC spaces, but set limitations for shooting still made them unrealistically roomy (12:44–13:43).
• “You could land a plane in that apartment.” — Craig Thomas on Friends (13:00)
• Fans point out eagle-eyed catches (like the unexplained couch switch between seasons), and the hosts appreciate how quick fans catch those details in the streaming binge era (13:36–13:54).

4. The Butterfly Effect and Show Biz Coincidences

• Much discussion centers on how small, casual choices (in both life and TV writing) have huge ripple effects—mirrored in fans’ stories and their own careers (38:02–38:57).
• Josh shares a story of happening to accept a casual invitation and ending up meeting his wife, paralleling the show’s unplanned, meaningful turns (38:02–38:56).

5. Long-Term Storytelling: Planning and Serendipity

• Writers tracked long-term setups and payoffs via lists and whiteboards (47:07). Some story arcs were meticulously planned (like season-long gags), while others like the infamous sofa swap were continuity slip-ups fans spotted.
• “We were maybe better at some of the long-term stuff than occasionally screwing up something like fumbling a really easy pass.” — Craig Thomas (47:07)

6. Legacy: Impact and Surprises of Rereading/Hearing the Show

• The hosts are deeply touched by stories of HIMYM helping fans through life changes, hard times, and even parenting—shocked by how far the show’s influence stretches (25:41–26:47).
• “We missed New York the second the plane’s wheels set down in Los Angeles.” — Craig Thomas (26:47)
• Both Josh and Craig express how rewatching the show has allowed them not just to relive memories but to feel genuine pride and gratitude rather than worry or detachment (53:36).
  • “I forgot that it was a really good show. And I forgot that people love it for a reason… I can fully embrace it.” — Josh Radnor (53:36)
  • “I watch the show and I feel its spirit and its energy and its heart, it feels like something that is its own thing.” — Craig Thomas (55:53)

7. Personal Anecdotes & Quotes

• Proposals: Josh has participated in several fan proposals at shows and through the podcast—showing the personal connection fans feel (23:07–24:14).
• Fan Callbacks: The “Major General” runner and salute is irresistible—now popping up in the most surprising life moments, like during childbirth (36:39–37:32).
• Music & Late Bloomer Inspiration: Craig lauds Josh’s musical talents (which began after age 40), leading to an uplifting discussion about taking up new passions later in life (29:07–30:15).
  • “I would also like to make a pitch for doing something that you think you’re too old to do…” — Josh Radnor (29:07)
• Ben Lee Connection: A cold call from musician Ben Lee, who was a fan of the show, unexpectedly set in motion Josh’s songwriting career (31:58–32:08).

8. Callbacks, Quotes, and Running Gags

• The famous “people will dance” mantra, from the pilot, has become meaningful for both Josh and fans (“I don’t have to worry about it… People will dance.” — 51:00–52:26).
• The “major” salute running gag infects even milestone moments in fans’ lives, to Craig and Josh’s delight (36:39–37:32).
• The podcast origin story: “May every project you think about happen as effortlessly.” — Josh Radnor (34:13)

9. Meta-Commentary/Inside Baseball

• The hosts reflect on being conflated with their characters, the challenges and joys of identity and artistic pride (53:36).
• They acknowledge frequent fan questions on lore—for example, how the writers tracked all the show’s little details, with a blend of tech, memory, and happy accidents (47:07).

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Notable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

On the Show’s Emotional Impact

• “There’s people who were going through really hard times and How I Met Your Mother was… their lone source of kind of comfort and laughter during really hard life transitions…” — Josh Radnor (08:11)
• “We like episode specific questions… the letters or voice notes you could leave us just like… the personal touch. We are so moved hearing those stories.” — Craig Thomas (07:51)

On HIMYM’s Realism and Continuity

• “You could land a plane in that apartment.” — Craig Thomas on Friends (13:00)
• “They got a couch delivery in the brief four minutes while Marshall was crying…” — Craig Thomas (13:50)

On the Ripple Effect of Choices

• “The butterfly flaps its wings and then someone makes a major salute when a baby’s being born… Good chaos.” — Craig Thomas (37:44)

On Unexpected Connections

• “He [Ben Lee] cold calls… and that outcome leads to you two [Josh & Ben] in Brazil, and someone’s proposing in Brazil because Ben Lee cold called our office at the start of season two. That’s fucking crazy.” — Craig Thomas (32:08)

On Taking Risks at Any Age

• “I would also like to make a pitch for doing something that you think you’re too old to do…” — Josh Radnor (29:07)

On Rewatching with Fresh Eyes

• “I forgot that it was a really good show. And I forgot that people love it for a reason… I can fully embrace it.” — Josh Radnor (53:36)
• “The spirit of the show… it just is this thing in the world that really belongs to the fans now.” — Craig Thomas (55:53)

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Highlighted Timestamps

• [05:48] – Fan involvement & how to participate
• [10:33] – “Love from Germany…”; the show’s global fan base
• [13:00] – Set design realism vs. expectations (Friends vs. HIMYM)
• [23:07] – Stories of live proposals (at gigs and through the podcast)
• [36:39] – Most memorable running gags and fan use of the “Major General” runner
• [38:02] – Chance decisions and their outsized impact (“the butterfly effect”)
• [47:07] – Tracking long-term payoff jokes and story continuity
• [53:36] – What most surprised the hosts about rewatching the show
• [55:53] – Letting go of obsessive detail and embracing the show’s spirit

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Audience Participation and Fan Cultures

• Fans from around the world, and even fans skipping classes and karate lessons, tune in and share stories—showing the show’s enduring cross-generational, cross–cultural impact (46:11, 49:27).
• “We approve. We’ll write you a note.” — Josh, on fans skipping class for the IG Live (46:18)

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Closing Reflections

• Both hosts express newfound pride and joy in the show’s staying power and its power to comfort, inspire, and connect people around the globe.
• The hosts commit to continuing fan engagement and promise more surprises and answers to ongoing podcast mysteries (like fan proposals).
• There’s a push for community spirit, encouraging fans to share the podcast, participate via letters and audio, and, of course, “spread the word.”

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Final Notes

• Jordana, Josh’s wife, is missed by fans for her unique first-time viewer insights; the hosts promise to try and bring her back to the podcast (57:35).
• The episode closes with gratitude for the show's production team and all the fans who make the ongoing podcast experiment possible.

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To connect or contribute your own story:
Visit howwemadeyourmother.com

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“People will dance.” – How I Met Your Mother
(51:00–52:26)

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Transcript

[Josh Radnor]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radnor]

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[Craig Thomas]

For a limited time, get 15% off your first order. Using code get [e-mail] again, that's promo code. [e-mail] for 15% off your first order. Greg.

[Josh Radnor]

Josh, you know I have a sweet spot for style. Can I describe it to you?

[Craig Thomas]

Please?

[Josh Radnor]

Here's what it is. I want to look great.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

But I don't want to look like I put any effort into it at all.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yes.

[Josh Radnor]

Do you know what I'm saying?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. That's the dream.

[Josh Radnor]

That's what you want.

[Craig Thomas]

That's what you want.

[Josh Radnor]

I just want people. Oh, this. I just rolled out a bit. I don't know, it doesn't even. Oh, I just grabbed it off the, you know.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I do know. I do know. I never, I almost never look that way because it looks either like I tried zero or I tried really, really way too hard.

[Josh Radnor]

I would say comedy writers, out of all of showbiz, probably need the most fashion help.

[Craig Thomas]

Would you say, A, how dare you? And B, yes.

[Josh Radnor]

And also, forget about A, how have you been? How have you been getting help lately?

[Craig Thomas]

So here's what's been really, really helpful. Quince. Quince has come into our lives because of this podcast and it's a thing of beauty. We have gotten a couple batches of really, really nice things from quints. One, in the winter, and now it's springtime. And what I the problem I tried to solve with the stuff I chose for quints, they let us choose a few items. I just feel like I have nothing that looks what you just described. I have nothing in my spring and summer wardrobe that looks kind of like I didn't try too hard, but it looks nice. It's just like I just have crappy T shirts or like really uncomfortable, like button downs that are for like a fancy event that I don't look that good in. This hits exactly the sweet spot you're talking about, Josh. Very comfortable. Like, just like a, a black polo shirt. Like a navy blue button up. Like staple. Like classic things that go with everything. They can look a little.

[Josh Radnor]

Go with everything. Swap them out with everything.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it goes with everything. And I got like several things like that that I'm just going to be wearing all spring and all summer. So. Thank you, Quint.

[Josh Radnor]

Thank you, Quint. Refresh your every day with luxury you'll actually use head to quince.com/your mother pod for free shipping on Your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. We love Canada on this podcast, don't we? That's Q U I n c e.com/your mother pod for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com/your mother podcast.

[Alec Lev]

The following episode of How We Made youe Mother was recorded live on Instagram on February 4, 2026.

[Josh Radnor]

I'm alone. What a pity I won't be soon in New York City when I see you. Please permit me to tell you everything in New York City.

[Alec Lev]

We live. We are live on Instagram.

[Craig Thomas]

It's happening.

[Josh Radnor]

Hi.

[Craig Thomas]

It's all happening.

[Josh Radnor]

Hi, Craig Thomas.

[Craig Thomas]

Hey, Josh Ratner and other people that we don't know.

[Josh Radnor]

Hello, people who are joining us. I'm Josh Radner. This is my friend Craig Thomas. Craig co created a show called How I Met yout Mother with Carter Bayes that I was on for nine years. I played Ted Mosby on that show. We're doing a podcast now called How We Made youe Mother where we're rewatching all of the episodes. My wife Jordana had never seen the show, so she wanted to watch it. And I called Craig and I said, look, I'm gonna show my wife this show we made. Do you wanna do something a little more formal on the record? Maybe we can revisit it and talk about it. And that's what we've been doing. We're two seasons deep.

[Craig Thomas]

It's crazy. We haven't, not all of the second season has dropped yet, but we are. What, Alec, would you say, like, early middle season two is currently dropping week? Something like that? Producer Alec Lev here.

[Alec Lev]

That's right.

[Craig Thomas]

So we're in it. We are deep into season two and we want to do these ig live sometimes just to help get the word out and find more people. I had this experience where I went into the How I Met yout Mother bar in New York City. It is the bar of how much yout Mother because it's where Carter and I used to go to drink after taping Late show with David Letterman when we were in our 20s, when we were writers for that show. And I had the experience recently of going in there and the bartender at the bar, who's very nice, who I've known 13 years, said, oh, you're doing a podcast? She's like, irish, you're doing a podcast. I didn't know. I'm like, if the bartender at the How I Met yout Mother bar doesn't know we're doing a podcast, we are shitting the. Something is going wrong here. So I was like, we got to get the word out more now.

[Josh Radnor]

Also, though, we should be clear, there's a lot of people listening to the podcast. It's just relative to the world of How I Met yout Mother fans.

[Craig Thomas]

There's more.

[Josh Radnor]

There's more people that we think would be enjoying this thing we're doing, Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. To be clear, we're happy with it as it is. We just want it to be bigger. And we want your questions, we want you to tell a friend. And it's very interactive. It's very fan Forward.

[Josh Radnor]

This podcast, we started every episode with a voice note from a fan about what How I met your mother means to them. We end every episode with a letter, a written letter from a viewer or fan. And if you want to participate in that way, go to how we made your mother.com h w m y m.com go to contact and just follow the directions. You can either leave us a voice note or an email, and maybe there's a good chance your. Your letter might end up on the air.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

What do we. What would you say guiding people? Like, what do we respond to in terms of the letters?

[Craig Thomas]

Like, well, we ask. We ask episode specific. Right. Every week, Alec Lev, you are posting things that say, do you have any questions about. For example, this week is Monday Night Football. That season two episode, Monday Night Football. Did you have any questions about that?

[Josh Radnor]

That's the one where they tried not to learn what the. Who won the Super bowl for 24 hours so could watch it together.

[Craig Thomas]

The Sensory Deporator 5000, which is a device a lot of people wish they were wearing every day as the news rolls in. But we won't go there.

[Josh Radnor]

I bet you could market. I bet we could sell in the whim Yam gift shop. We could sell sensory deprivator 3000 just.

[Craig Thomas]

Here's your 2026 sensory deprivator. We'll see you in 27.

[Josh Radnor]

We'll see.

[Craig Thomas]

Check in again how it's going. Yeah, yeah. So we ask episode web. So the more. Alec, I have a feeling this would be your answer. The more specific, the better the questions. Yes.

[Alec Lev]

So quite right. So what happens is before we do an episode, we. We asked for. We asked for episode specific questions, but for those letters that people are writing in, that can mean that that's an episode specific. Yeah, I think I would say that. I mean, we get. We have thousands. We get thousands of these, these letters and our co producer, Doug goes through them and finds them and our social media producer, Emily, she goes through them and to find them. And I think that we look for specific stories about your life. You know, we know you love the show. Everyone loves the show. How did it intersect with your life?

[Craig Thomas]

What does he mean in your life? What does hymn mean to you? Yeah, that's a good point, Al. Got the big difference there. We like episode specific questions to do in our sort of general questions. General questions in the episode about the episode. But the letters or voice notes you could leave us just like. Yeah. The personal touch. We are so moved hearing those stories. Right, Josh? That's. That's like our favorite.

[Josh Radnor]

I mean, a lot of people, there's a lot of like, romantic connections people make when they realize someone is a How I Met your Mother fan, and then they immediately have something to kind of connect on. There's people who were going through really hard times and How I met your mother was like the. Their one, their lone source of kind of comfort and laughter during really hard life transitions and things. You know, parents getting sick or relationships ending or all kinds of things. So, you know, we don't. We love the big comedy moments of How I Met yout Mother. And we talk about them and we laugh about them, but we also honor that in addition to how hilarious How I Met yout Mother is, it really. It breaks your heart, makes you cry every third or fourth episode. So we also want to honor that. That's kind of part of the emotional connection people have with the show, you know?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, that's our favorite part to hear about.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. Craig, do you think you and I are going to be able to have dinner tomorrow night? We have a dinner schedule. I just want to check.

[Craig Thomas]

I was worried that I was waking up a little congested. And I know there is a young one in your Home now. So I'm taking that.

[Josh Radnor]

Can we clarify that that's a child of mine and not some weird thing that's going on, by the way?

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, we have to clarify. We have to clarify exactly the moment where we need to clarify that in American history, the baby that you have created with your wife is in your house. And so I will update you if anything changes, but I'm feeling okay.

[Josh Radnor]

I appreciate you trying to keep my house safe. We just got through about our first bout of sickness in the house.

[Craig Thomas]

I know you guys were at risk.

[Josh Radnor]

No fun.

[Craig Thomas]

That's why I would never forgive myself if I introduced a new cold into your. Did Jordana get it too eventually, or just you?

[Josh Radnor]

Ah, she did not, but me and the boy did. So anyway, Alec, where are people tuning in from? What are we feeling? Who's saying hi?

[Alec Lev]

They are definitely coming in from around the world. You caught me cold there. I don't have anything coming yet. I don't know yet.

[Josh Radnor]

We are on a different app, so we're not seeing all the questions. Craig and I are filtering them for us.

[Craig Thomas]

And we should say this. We did this at noon today, hoping we would reach some people in some different time zones. The other couple of IG lives we've done have been at 8pm Eastern Standard Time, New York time.

[Josh Radnor]

Only European insomniacs could tune into that.

[Craig Thomas]

So we got some very, very interesting questions. Right.

[Josh Radnor]

All right.

[Alec Lev]

I can give love from Germany and watching from the Philippines and Bonjour de la France and many people just testing my knowledge by. By. By texting flag emojis. And I. I don't.

[Josh Radnor]

You're gonna fail that.

[Craig Thomas]

And they pop up so tiny. You're squinting at a flag.

[Josh Radnor]

You're like, you gotta screenshot it and then blow it up. And then.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, we have a couple of Indias and Brazil and Romania and Georgia. Don't know which one, but Georgia, Ecuador, Iowa, Italy. Oh, my goodness, they are coming in here. So Iran, Utah.

[Josh Radnor]

Iran. Love to the people of Iran.

[Alec Lev]

Yes. Amazing. Well, we have. Questions are pouring in. Please, folks, do send us your questions now. We actually have Josh and we actually have Craig right here to answer them for you. Josh, several people are a little concerned with the fact that you now seem to be in a closet rather than in a living room. And they're just simply asking, where is Josh?

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, this is my wife's office. There's like a kind of therapist chair here. It's bigger, I think, than is. I'm not in a. I'm very claustrophobic. I would not be in a do well in a closet. So I'm in my wife's office. But the house is a little full today. There's a lot buzzing around. So this was my only private space. But thank you for your concern.

[Alec Lev]

Reporting in New York City.

[Craig Thomas]

That is a spacious office, by the way.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, I saw some tweets. Someone said, people in New York City, be like, you want to come over tonight and sit in my other chair?

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. Yeah. The How I Met yout Mother apartment. Not as egregious as Friends, but still unrealistically big for New York.

[Josh Radnor]

Yes, probably. Well, you got it. You got it right. With Lily's apartment, when she had to hide the wall bed.

[Craig Thomas]

Or when More accurate.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, Ye.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, that is way wildly more accurate.

[Josh Radnor]

You know, a lot of people. I mean, this is maybe like insider showbiz, but the reason it's really hard to do honest New York apartments is cause you have to fit a whole camera crew in there. It's really deep.

[Craig Thomas]

It's so hard to shoot.

[Josh Radnor]

It's really hard to shoot.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

That's why we basically tried to make it smaller than Friends. We were just like we said to Senator Steve Olsen, friends has been yelled at about this for our entire adult lives. Can we not. Let's not be egregious.

[Josh Radnor]

But also, wasn't Friends downtown? And you guys are up where we were, Upper west side.

[Craig Thomas]

This was Upper West. Yes. It was a little bit of a. It was easier to go smaller in that regard. And I think Friends always said, like, it was like their aunt's apartment or there was some, like, way they tried to speak to it, but it was. You could land a plane in that apartment. It was gigantic. And Ted and Marshall, we were like, let's not make it like, it can't be perfect. It has to be a little dark. In fact, in season two, we actually brightened up the paint a little bit. Cause we thought we made it too dark in season one. At the end of season one, someone was like, maybe the network. They're like, it's a little drab in that apartment, but it's real. And they're like, let's get more ratings. What was the thing in Chinese?

[Josh Radnor]

We didn't notice that the couch switches from season one to season two, but it's a direct pickup.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

So they come in from literally going downstairs, and they come back, and there's a new couch. And no one comments on it.

[Craig Thomas]

No one comments on it, except.

[Josh Radnor]

Except the fans who now go episode to episode quickly. So they catch It.

[Craig Thomas]

They got a couch delivery in the brief four minutes while Marshall was crying

[Josh Radnor]

on the stoop with someone brought in a new couch. Marshall was actually crying. He was actually crying because he missed the old couch. That's what a lot of people don't understand.

[Craig Thomas]

Well, they put it out on the Bermuda Triangle in front of the apartment, which we get to later, and it disappears like that.

[Josh Radnor]

Goes away really quick. Yeah. And I wrote you this little ditty to sing to you in New York City. Will be you right back. If you've been reading the news lately, Craig, you. You've been known to read the news.

[Craig Thomas]

I read the news from time to time.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. Yeah. You've probably been seeing stuff about GLP1s, which is an astonishing weight loss medication, I understand. I saw this statistic recently that 1 in 8Americans have already tried this.

[Craig Thomas]

Wow.

[Josh Radnor]

And I was thinking, you know, as we get older, I remember my dad used to say this thing. He said, you get. You gain £10 every decade.

[Craig Thomas]

He'd say, that's terrifying.

[Josh Radnor]

And I was like, oh, this old man, he doesn't know what he's talking about. He was 100% correct, by the way.

[Craig Thomas]

I'm doing the math for myself, and that's absolutely what it is.

[Josh Radnor]

Absolutely. He was just stating facts. But what do you do? What do you do for an old dad like me? I just had a baby who's showing evidence of maybe being an early crawler, and I see that I'm.

[Craig Thomas]

It's.

[Josh Radnor]

He's gonna be tough to keep up with. And I. What do I do? I don't know. I'm not saying. I just. I'm gonna have to make some decisions about how to slim this thing down.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Well, you have what you have. You have options. You have options your dad did not have for.

[Josh Radnor]

That's true. That's true.

[Craig Thomas]

So let's check this out. This is what I. This is hot off the presses. You ready for this?

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

There's a new option that makes it feel way more approachable. A daily GLP1 pill instead of starting with a self injection. It's the First FDA approved GLP1 pill for weight loss, and it's available through RO at one of the lowest costs out there. You can get started on the starter dose for $149, plus Ro's membership, which includes 100% online care, unlimited provider messaging, dosing support, and side effect guidance. The whole process is online. And if you're eligible, you can start in as little as a week.

[Josh Radnor]

I believe Serena Williams is enjoying this product Is that correct?

[Craig Thomas]

One of my all time heroes.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And by the way, by the way, just to say it, big How I Met yout Mother fan. She's tweeted about it. I sent it to you. I have a screen grab of it from 10 years ago. It's very sad.

[Josh Radnor]

Her husband, I believe, whose name is Alexis, used to write me on Twitter and say that people said he looks like me all the time.

[Craig Thomas]

Maybe that's why she likes the show.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, he said he felt like that was a compliment, which was very nice of him to say. Go to Rock to see if you're eligible for the new GLP1 pill on Ro. That's Ro Col Co your mother. To get started on Roe, go to Ro Co Safety, Roe Co Safety for a boxed warning and full safety information about GLP1 medications. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. Grief can feel so lonely. But talking about it and listening to others share their experiences helps. It's probably the only thing that's really helped me. On my podcast. All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life altering losses. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Craig, I've been struggling and I gotta talk to you about it.

[Craig Thomas]

Please. I'm here.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, I've just been. I've been carrying around these bulky drinks.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And I've been cleaning melted candy out of my pockets for far too long. But I have a solution.

[Craig Thomas]

What's the solution? I need to know.

[Josh Radnor]

I've discovered Fruity Rainbow five Hour Energy Shots.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, my God. By the way, I did notice the melted candy in your pockets. I didn't say anything, but I'm glad you finally kind of owned it. Yeah. Well, check this out. You chose correctly because these little bottles are wild. Fruity Rainbow five Hour Energy Shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with that signature tasty caffeine kick. If you're a fan of sweet fruity candy, who isn't? But without the sugar crash. Because, yep, these puppies have zero sugar. You got to try this.

[Josh Radnor]

Five Hour Energy is giving caffeine a serious flavor upgrade. Five Hour Energy shots now come in 17 flavors, so there's something for every mood. But this fruity rainbow one is definitely having a moment.

[Craig Thomas]

It is. Plus, it's big flavor in a tiny bottle. Just 2 ounces. Super portable, easy to toss in your bag or pocket. No sticky wrappers no bulky drinks.

[Josh Radnor]

Just grab and go get candy flavored chaos with fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. And now back to the show.

[Alec Lev]

All right, we could shout out Turkey and Argentina and the Netherlands and Albania and Mexico. Amazing. Here, Craig, here's one for you. How do you feel about the Late show franchise ending?

[Craig Thomas]

About. About what?

[Alec Lev]

About the late.

[Craig Thomas]

The Late show franchise. About col. About. Oh, my God, I feel terrible about it. I feel.

[Alec Lev]

Tell us a little about why this question was directed towards.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, okay, let me. Yes, that's why it took me a second because it was like, what's my right? I am Carter Bayes and I used to write for Late show with David Letterman, the host before Stephen Colbert. Who Carter and I grew up in the 80s idolizing Dave. He had a really crazy late night show on at 12:30 on NBC that was like a mad scientist comedy lab. And then it moved to while we were in college. He moved to more the 11:30 slot, a bigger audience on CBS and the show became a little less insane, but still great. Dave's 11:30 legend. We were 22 and we got hired to write for Dave Letterman. It was amazing. And so we took a lot of pride. We were there four and a half years. It launched our entire career, changed our life completely. Thank you, Dave and everybody that worked there. And then Dave passed it off to Stephen Colbert. And the idea that that franchise is ending perhaps with a bunch of asterisks attached to it that have to do with free speech and things we won't get super political about on our IG Live, it's sad to me. Why is that show going away? What are the forces behind that comedy needs to survive? We need a climate where people can tell the truth through comedy. That's what comedy's there for. That's why we have free speech. If there's any part of that show going off the air that's related to these issues, which a lot of people think is the case, that bums me out. Even more than just it bums me out. The idea of the institution of the Late show that I worked for going away. You walk past that spot in Midtown. I spent Carter and I spent almost five years exactly in that spot on 53rd and Broadway. The big marquee, the writer's office is up above it. It's an institution. There's something cool about. Almost like it's like your college going out of business. That's what this feels like. It feels like your university. You're gonna go to the spot where your college campus was and it's just gone. And that was our kind of our comedy grad school. And every time I walk by the Colberg show, I smile because I remember I'm happy there's still that show, a version of that show happening there. And yeah, I feel sad. I feel sad about it going away.

[Josh Radnor]

And also without you guys having written for David Letterman, there's no How I Met your Mother. I mean, it's a direct line from Wesleyan to letterman to stage 22 on the Fox lot.

[Craig Thomas]

And How I Met yout Mother, a straight line. There's no world How I Met yout Mother would have happened without us being in that spot for four and a half years. Around the block from McGee's, the how I Met yout Mother bar where the bartender hopefully will now know we have a podcast.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

And if you're just.

[Josh Radnor]

If you're just joining us, Craig and I host a podcast. We're re watching How I Met yout Mother from the start. Please join us. It's called How We Made youe Mother. Whim Yim we call it. And you can just go to how we made your mother.com and it'll direct you to all sorts of options for listening to the podcast on however you like to listen to podcasts.

[Alec Lev]

Patrick Felton w asks a very timely question, which is, I realize now by the time the rest of the world hears this Instagram Live, this Instagram Live where you are all asking us questions that will appear as a podcast in a couple of months. But he'd like to know about the proposal that started out just this week's episode and says, have you had a message of how the proposal worked out on the last episode of Qim Yam. And all I can announce is that for those listening live, you. Yes. And stay tuned in just a couple of episodes where you're going to hear the. The outcome of that wedding proposal. We just got. We just got some news this very morning with some photos attached to it.

[Josh Radnor]

Okay. I've been on a TV show, How I Met yout Mother, where there was an actual proposal.

[Alec Lev]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Josh Radnor]

I've had three, maybe four proposals at music venues where I've been playing shows.

[Craig Thomas]

Wait, that you've been proposed to or someone else?

[Josh Radnor]

I've gotten a couple of those. But no, people, you know, ask, you know, they're gonna. They propose at the show. I brought one couple up on stage actually. In Buenos Aires. No, not in Buenos Aires, sorry. In Sao Paulo. When I was playing with Ben Lee. We had a proposal on stage.

[Craig Thomas]

That's amazing.

[Josh Radnor]

And then now in the podcast, like in this podcast. So, yeah, stick with me, folks. If you're. If you're looking to partner off.

[Craig Thomas]

Clearly. Yeah. That's in this week's episode, right? The one that's out right now, the Monday Night Football episode. Right. That episode begins with a fan message that ends with a proposal. And. Yes. So stay tuned, tune in, and you will hear the answer to everything about that. We were blown away. And Alec is a very. Alec, you're very clever. You like springing things on Josh and I. You don't always tell us about. What do you have up your sleeve when we're recording the podcast. You blew our minds with that. So, yeah, tune in and we will.

[Josh Radnor]

We often haven't heard the audio message, nor have we. I mean, you sometimes send the C block letter over to us, but most of the time we're reading it cold, which actually, I think really helps us respond pretty authentically in the moment, you know?

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, right. None of that has anything to do with the fact that I haven't prepared until about one hour before the show starts.

[Josh Radnor]

I was letting you off the hook, man.

[Craig Thomas]

I was giving you edit this part out. What are you doing? Throwing yourself under the bus? You're the guy that can edit that out. You're the guy. You can make.

[Alec Lev]

No editing yourself. No editing. A couple of just lovely notes here that we're getting here. Anna Gi says, do you maybe love your character Josh? So much I named my baby after him.

[Josh Radnor]

Evelyn.

[Alec Lev]

Evelyn.

[Craig Thomas]

Dr. X. Dr. X, baby Dr. X.

[Alec Lev]

Here's one where, I mean, you guys obviously, over the. Over the decades now, have heard so many of these kind of comments, but I know that on the show often you'll slow down and you'll go, hey, you know, when we sat down to do this show, did we ever imagine. So just real, real basic it. Melita says we raised our kids and taught them life lessons from the show. I mean, was that ever something. Craig, you're in Carter, sitting around drumming up your pilot here. Could you imagine that this is that you're that Melita, two decades later are gonna raise their kids and teach them life off.

[Craig Thomas]

I'm still dealing with how old that makes us. I'm not over us being super old part. When that wave of nausea passes, I'll be able to appreciate this more.

[Josh Radnor]

But it's like you and Carter are like the new Dr. Spock. Like, he's teaching a generation how to parent their children.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, yes. That's exactly what we thought we were up to when we were drinking at McGee's around the corner from Letterman in 1999. We're like, someday kids will be taunt by whatever bullshit we're coming up with. Yeah, it's stunning. It's stunning.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, also, Craig, you know, we talked, especially in first season about that. You guys were 29 when you started writing this show, right? 29 to 38. But you were writing this older man's voice who was 20, 25 years older than you. But you had to imagine a kind of wiser, older version of yourself to write that part.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, right. Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

So I remember you said. And maybe Carter said this when he was on, but you guys were kind of trying to write a comforting voice for yourself, like imagining. What would you want to hear your older self say about these years?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, 100%. I think we were cosplaying wisdom, you know, and we were like, it's fake it till you make it. How do I hope I'll look at this time? How does younger me hope older me will frame this and make sense of this? And again, I know I've said this before, but like, we. We missed New York so much. We did our twenties in New York writing for Dave Letterman. We moved to la, did How I Met yout Mother. And we missed New York the second the planes wheels set down in Los Angeles. All due respect to Los Angeles, we miss New York terribly. 911 had happened not that long before our move. And I feel like we missed a New York that was like before that horrible tragedy. And like something about that sequence of events and these huge leaps we were taking in life and a leap away from a really hard time for New York City. It all colored how we wanted to look back. We began looking back at a very young age because it felt like a chapter had ended at that moment. We moved in 2002 to Los Angeles like six months after 9 11. And I think that really there's something about that moment in time that informed the idea of how will we look back from the future at now? And I think that injected some. Something into how much mother that might not have been there otherwise.

[Alec Lev]

We have Mbeth G78 just wants us to know that her sister's apartment in Queens is 500 square feet.

[Craig Thomas]

There's a lot smaller than that one too.

[Alec Lev]

Benny Believe says thank you for your music, Josh. It really means so much more to people than you think. And greetings from Germany.

[Josh Radnor]

Oh, that's so kind of you. Thank you.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I feel like Josh, first of all, Josh does the theme song of this podcast. That's Josh's Song nyc. And yeah, for anybody that's like new to the podcast and maybe new to the idea that Josh does music. Go look him up on Apple Music. Go look him up on Spotify. It's just gem after gem after gem. Brilliant melodies, brilliant lyrics, and this guy didn't pick up a guitar to How Much yout Mother ended like. It's. It's unbelievable what you did in that span of time to arrive at the place where you're the songwriter and singer that you are. It's really great. I'm not just saying that everybody needs to go. Go look at, look that up right now if you haven't.

[Josh Radnor]

That's so kind of you, Craig. I would also like to make a pitch for doing something that you think you're too old to do, that you always get a sense that you want to do. And, you know, I always. I was, you know, I was an obsessive music fan along with Carter and Craig. I recommended a lot of songs and bands that got onto the show.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And. But I always. Whenever I would watch music, it was almost like I loved it so much that I felt like I could do it. And then I started writing songs with my friend Ben Lee. And now and I started playing guitar basically at 40, 41, maybe. And it's just been such a joy in my life to pick it up later. And, you know, I think I had this idea that you had to start it when you were 12, 15, have the band in your parents garage, and I just did it in a different way. And it's just been. It's been a real source of joy in my life. So thank you for that, Craig. And.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, I mean, it's. You're legitimately really good at it. It's really great that you picked this extra artistic tool up and you didn't decide for no reason. Right. We all talk ourselves out of shit. I'm too old to do this. No, you're great at it. You picked it up at 40 and you're amazing.

[Josh Radnor]

I'm so good at it that Jenna Fisher retroactively thought I was playing guitar in 2006 when she did the reading

[Craig Thomas]

at my house, but I was going backwards in time. Little shout out to Ben Lee. I don't know if I've ever even told you this, Josh. Stop me if I have or don't, because we'll just talk and this will be content for Alec to Monetize later. But Ben Lee, at the end of season one of How I Met yout Mother, the show is a baby show. I think we were launching season two somewhere in between. Cause I remember the office we were in when we got this phone call. It was the season two we moved into. We must've been launching season two. The phone rings, and it's our assistant. They go, it's Ben Lee calling from Australia. We go, what? We don't know Ben Lee. He's great. We're fans of him. And, like, he's just. He was cool and like, we didn't know him. And they were like, are you sure Ben Lee is calling for us? Is there some other extension here on the Fox lot he might rather talk to than us? Like, no, he's calling for you. And we got on the phone, he just goes, I just wanted to tell you how Mitch Mother is kind of hitting right now in Australia. And we're loving it. I'm loving this show so much. It really speaks to me. The tone of it, the heart of it, the music of it. He didn't know you yet. I don't think. Josh. This is 20 years ago, this story. And he just reached out. I don't remember.

[Josh Radnor]

I remember it's slightly different. Did you guys try to get a song of his and his label? I think he was maybe with Warner Brothers at the time. Like, his label, like, priced him out. Like you guys couldn't afford the song.

[Craig Thomas]

I don't remember.

[Josh Radnor]

I thought. And I'll check with Ben, but I

[Craig Thomas]

think he cold called us. I don't think.

[Josh Radnor]

No, I think he cold called you to say, I'm sorry they didn't give you that song.

[Craig Thomas]

If they had asked me, oh, maybe

[Josh Radnor]

I would have told them to give it to you. And then you guys invited him to set right when he was back in la.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Josh Radnor]

To come to set and, like, just see how we made the show.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And that's when I met him. And that's the whole reason I'm a songwriter, is because I became friends with Ben and we started writing songs together.

[Craig Thomas]

Isn't that crazy? So he cold calls. Cause he just. How much Mother spoke to him in some way. And somehow that goes. That outcome leads to you two in Brazil. And someone's proposing in Brazil because Ben Lee cold called our office at the start of season two. That's fucking crazy.

[Josh Radnor]

I know, right?

[Craig Thomas]

I'm so glad I ate so many gummies right before we started this because this is hitting me. So

[Josh Radnor]

you always wanted to Hit it. At the 26 minute mark of the inspiration.

[Alec Lev]

I am hitting it.

[Josh Radnor]

It's just right when you want to. Yeah,

[Alec Lev]

J.D. shaman is. Is just shouting us all out here. He wants to say, also, look up the solids while you're looking up Radner and Radner and Lee. He also says, alec, thank you for steering the Whimium ship. You're welcome. And I'll also say, by the way, just sort of side note to say this publicly, as they say that I remember very clearly when I was. I was rehearsing, I was directing this one woman opera, and I was in my. My mother's apartment and the woman who was the singer was. Was sitting on a couch and my phone was in front of her and she. It rings and she goes, josh, Radner is calling you. And I guess she didn't know that there was already connection. I was like, oh, that's. Even though, Josh, we were friends, that was a rarity.

[Josh Radnor]

Like, that's not a big deal. I said, let it go to voicemail.

[Alec Lev]

No. But I scurried over, picked it up, and very quickly, you pitch doing this and asked me to come on board. And to this day, I am forever grateful for being able to.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, I called. I mean, this is the quickest podcast origin story in the world. Jordana said, I want to watch your show that I've never seen. That was a decade of your life. I called Craig. Should we do a podcast? Craig said, yeah, of course. Let's call Alec. We literally just called you.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, we added you into the call

[Josh Radnor]

and you said, yes. And then, oh, wow, we're doing it.

[Alec Lev]

I didn't know that that was.

[Craig Thomas]

It was all on one call.

[Josh Radnor]

It was all, may every project you. You think about happen as effortlessly.

[Craig Thomas]

Amen. Amen.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, well, thank you. It's.

[Craig Thomas]

It's not the TV development process, certainly. This is the brilliant thing about podcasts. You just do it.

[Alec Lev]

I mean, you know, I don't know how much you'll have to say about this, but JIC 2012 probably speaks for many who asked, what do you guys think of Jason and Kobe getting together on shrinking? What a wild connection that is.

[Craig Thomas]

So Kobe is on shrinking. And I heard Jason's daughter, the Jason's character's daughter is trying to get into Wesleyan on shrinking. It's like, yes, the computer simulation that runs life is running out of ideas and just recycling ingredients now. No, it's cool. It's so. It's very cool. It's very cool to see them together. And it just feels like something comforting.

[Josh Radnor]

You know what I was thinking about when I kept seeing previews for it? I was like, in the kind of constellation. So you have these five characters and how I met your mother. So, like, me and Barney had a ton of stuff. Me and Marshall had a ton of stuff. Me and Lily had a ton of stuff. Lily and Robin had a ton of stuff. Lily and Barney had a ton of stuff. Marshall and Barney had a ton of stuff. The two characters I would say that had the kind of least, definite least were Marshall and Robin.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, we missed a bet there.

[Josh Radnor]

Right?

[Craig Thomas]

We should have done more with them. They're great together, but it's cool.

[Josh Radnor]

It's cool that they're now, like, getting to work together in that way.

[Craig Thomas]

Not that they weren't on set every

[Josh Radnor]

day in the booth together at the

[Craig Thomas]

same time, but there weren't like, road trip movies of the two of them too much. There was one where they bonded over this Minnesota bar and they had to have a Canadian bar and a Minnesotan bar and feeling displaced.

[Josh Radnor]

Didn't they also have, like, they were impervious to the cold together.

[Craig Thomas]

They were impervious to the cold. Yeah, we found those little overlaps. But I, I, I do feel like we could have done more there. So maybe the universe is evening it out now in some way. So thank you, Jason Siegel, for doing that, correcting that error on our part.

[Alec Lev]

I'm, I'm, I'm. They're coming in here. Here, here's one. Are there. I mean, obviously our fans. Your fans use. There are so many, so many lines, so many quotes that people use in their daily life. They tattoo them. They use them in their wedding proposals. And are there any quirks or callback jokes or lines that you find yourself using in real life? I mean, they must come up. But are you affected by him lines in your daily lives as the fans are?

[Josh Radnor]

I will say the Major General Runner is like, impossible. Once you have that in your mind.

[Craig Thomas]

Once it's in.

[Josh Radnor]

Once it's in, you cannot erase that one. Like, you can't. Eternal sunshine that out of your head. Yes, I, Yeah, we did. We talked about this on the show. That I got a letter from a couple that were huge How I Met yout Mother fans. And they were having a baby. And she was at the end of something like a 28, 36 hour labor. And the OB GYN who was delivering her baby, it was literally like the baby's like, almost. And she said, the OB GYN said, you know, push, you're having a major contraction. And she turned to her husband, and

[Craig Thomas]

she gave him the salute. Oh, my God.

[Josh Radnor]

Right as her baby was being born. We talked about this first season. Do you not remember this?

[Craig Thomas]

No, you did, but it's blowing my mind all over again. I forgot.

[Josh Radnor]

Like, that kind of thing is so fun. Like, when we hear things like that, we're just like, that's an unbelievable thing. And also, like, that kid, that's part of his birth story forever and ever

[Craig Thomas]

and ever and again, to trace, I think our theme of this particular episode, IG Live, whatever we're doing here, is the butterfly flaps its wings, and then someone makes a major salute when a baby's being born. The chaos theory is like, that is the theme of this episode. I mean, good chaos.

[Josh Radnor]

It also speaks to the theme that. Do you know how I accepted an invitation very casually in 2022 to join my friend Jacob at a thing, and it's where I met my wife.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

So, but, like, the casualness with which I said yes to the invitation is. I always look back on it. It's like, I didn't be like, this is going to be a very momentous weekend in my life. Like, and, and, and. And in some ways, I think, like. Cause we talk a lot about the, like, life philosophy on the show because the show itself is packed with life philosophies. But it's like this kind of idea. Yeah. Okay. There's big struggles and setbacks and failures that actually get you maybe where you need to be. But at the same time, a lot of life is just an accumulation of, like, pretty casual moments that end up being very consequential.

[Craig Thomas]

Only in retrospect.

[Josh Radnor]

Only in retrospect.

[Craig Thomas]

Consequential.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Alec Lev is the originator of the Major General Colonel of Truth salute. And he and his friends did that in high school. Right. Maybe even earlier than that. Alec. And then I. You met me in college, I started doing it. Like Josh said, once it's in you, that's it. It's like a vaccine. It's just in your bloodstream forever. It's been injected into you.

[Josh Radnor]

And Craig, also one of the great comedy thiefs of our time.

[Craig Thomas]

I have no problem stealing other people's material.

[Josh Radnor]

Be careful. You say a funny thing around Craig, it's gonna end up in a book or on a TV show.

[Craig Thomas]

I definitely did that to Alec. I don't remember if I asked you permission, did I, Alec? I'm not. I think with that one, I did. A lot of times I didn't.

[Alec Lev]

No, I think you knew that I was. No I think you knew that I would be overjoyed.

[Craig Thomas]

I think I knew you would be overjoyed.

[Josh Radnor]

Did Carter also know it? Did Carter do it?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I think we. I think we had Carter doing it too, because we all went to college together. Carter, Alec and Al went to Wesleyan to bring Wesleyan back full circle. And we, yes, we were all doing that. And then we put it on the show and now here it is, like, you know, during a birth story of someone, someone's first moment in the world.

[Josh Radnor]

Do you know what? I. It's not so much catchphrases or runners, but there's certain things that I think about that I think are so smart. And we haven't. We haven't even gotten close to this episode. I don't know where this episode is, but the one where James Van Der Beek played Robin's, like, high school crush. Her boyfriend. Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

The idea that, like, if you loved someone when you're 14, 15, 16, no matter what they become or how they look later in life, you will continue. Your heart will pound when you see them. Like, they will continue to see. And I just thought that was such a smart observation about youth and, like, first love and how, like, there's certain things like that that come back to me and I think, God, that was smart.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. My most recent thing like that. It's kind of the same theme. And was it literally the same episode? Revertigo. Was that in that episode?

[Josh Radnor]

Oh, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

What was that senior moment? The idea that old people from your past bring out a completely old version of you. It just comes back out. Like, Lily just like completely reverts when this friend of hers comes from her. I think it might have been in that same episode, like, brought out something

[Josh Radnor]

different in its head. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

I thought of it recently because I had a couple times. I'm 50 now and I've had a couple times where I hung out with people from my 20s and 30s and we went out and like, had a big drinking night. A big drinking night is a lot less than it used to be for me, but it still doesn't take much. And the way I felt sick for like 72 hours after, like, my revertigo, which were like, oh, we'll party like we used to. Oh, God, it's so bad. It hurts so much. And I remember in like a three day hangover after one of those nights, I thought, this is. It was revertigo. The revertigo did me in. I acted like I just was 28 again. And guess what? I'm 50. So that was my most recent himeism that came into my head. I was like, I should know better.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And this old man, he mustered me, fell in love with you.

[Craig Thomas]

New York City and now commercials.

[Josh Radnor]

When thinning starts, it's not just your hair that takes a hit. It can change how you feel day in and day out. And there's so much noise out there, gimmicky products, conflicting advice, expensive clinic visits. It's hard to know what actually works. That's why HIMS makes it simple to take control of hair regrowth with personalized care that fits your life all online.

[Craig Thomas]

And this is one of those things that we. We're old guys, right? We're looking back on our misspent youth making a TV show. But if, you know, if we could do it all over again and go back in a time machine. Alec, we know you. You don't have a. I wouldn't say you have a huge amount of hair. You have a good look, you keep it tight, it works for you.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

But when you were losing your hair in your 20s, 30s, you didn't have hims. You didn't have something great like hims that could have given you that choice. And now it's available to people who aren't old like us, Correct?

[Alec Lev]

Absolutely. I would say that in my 20s, what did exist was very complicated.

[Craig Thomas]

Right.

[Alec Lev]

It felt like this. All these products I had to do. And I was gonna say it wasn't available online. I don't think there was online.

[Craig Thomas]

It was a lot of, like. It was a lot of, like, tonics that were sold by, like, traveling salesmen who also had a circus.

[Alec Lev]

Yes, yes. It was that Paul McCartney video.

[Josh Radnor]

They were always bursting into song.

[Alec Lev]

Right.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

Yes. I definitely. If it were as simple as this, I mean, of course I would have done this.

[Josh Radnor]

But you've committed. You've been with this Telly Savalas look for a long, long time.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

So I don't know, but if you ever decided you wanted to sprout more

[Alec Lev]

hair, I think podcast listeners would be confused if I started all of a sudden to have a full head of hair.

[Josh Radnor]

But I'll.

[Craig Thomas]

Listeners, though, like, listeners. They can hear your hair. I'm confused by this.

[Josh Radnor]

I would love it if just week to week, you just had more and more hair, Alex. And we didn't comment on it.

[Craig Thomas]

I know. Well, so if you're too young to know who Telly Savalas is with our hip Kojak reference, we just made you have a choice to use hims that. That we owed that us old guys didn't have. And that is a cool choice to have.

[Josh Radnor]

HIMS offers access to a range of prescription hair loss treatments with doctor trusted ingredients that can stop further hair loss and regrow hair in as little as three to six months. Everything's 100 online with personalized treatment plans, flexible subscriptions and 24,7 provider support so you can get started without putting your life on hold.

[Craig Thomas]

So for simple online access to personalize and affordable care for hair loss, ED, weight loss and more, visit hims.com your mother that's hims.com your mother for your free online visit hims.com your mother featured products include compounded drug products which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness or quality. Prescription required. See website for full details, restrictions and important safety information. Individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride.

[Josh Radnor]

Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts, so let's take a minute to go over some of my faves.

[Craig Thomas]

Snapple real fact 1978 More than 40 buildings in New York have their own zip codes.

[Josh Radnor]

Snapple realfact 1667 Lovebirds are actual birds.

[Craig Thomas]

Snapple realfact 2002 On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building officially opened in New York City.

[Josh Radnor]

Snapple RealFact253 the first TV remote control introduced in 1950 was called Lazy Bones.

[Craig Thomas]

So grab a Snapple, take a second and enjoy the moment because let's be honest, this might be the most refreshing part of your day. Snapple, make your break more interesting. All right. Now let's get back to the show. End of commercials. Back to show.

[Alec Lev]

Sorry, Sicily Sorrow says, I'm skipping class right now so I can watch this.

[Josh Radnor]

So we approve. We'll write you a note.

[Alec Lev]

Okay, I'm gonna say that for the end. We've gone on, we've gone over this a little bit on the, on the show, Craig, but I know people always are curious. And how did you manage playing cards for life? Asks how did you guys track all the little details and stories happening over all the years? It always impressed me me especially those long term payoffs. If you could say a little about that and about, I would say, like what's the, on balance, how many things were long term payoffs that you really planted or that you years later were like, hey, here's an idea of how to Bring something back we never planned on bringing back.

[Craig Thomas]

Right. A lot of the long term payoffs were planned. We love that kind of long term thinking. But then we would like fuck up the sofa, right? Where from the end of season one and beginning of season two, the sofa changes in the span of 30 seconds. And you'd be like, oh yeah, we forgot about that. But we're planning this other thing that's gonna pay off in season four, so that'll be cool. And I think we were maybe better at some of the long term stuff than occasionally screwing up something like fumbling a really easy pass. We would go for like the Hail Mary, but like, you know, 80 yard touchdown pass and fumble like the little handoff. And like we had a funny record of sometimes screwing up very easy things. But yeah, a lot of those long term things were planned. Our writer's assistants kept a running list of things that we planted that we have to pay off later. And that was a running file in the writer's room. And sometimes we'd write something up on a board to remember it future selves. We have to pay this off at the end of the season. Sometimes we'd not think of it at all ahead of time. And we just realized, wait, we can kind of retroactively create a setup payoff situation if we do X, Y and Z. And we always loved when things echoed and resonated and came back around, even in this conversation, in this ig live of this today's episode is like, there's so many things in life that have setups and payoffs, even if they only make sense later. And one thing, the dominoes kind of fall in a certain way and you look back and you go, how did they fall exactly that way? And it changed my life. So yes, you have to. Sometimes you plan those things, but sometimes you just go with them. You stumble upon it and you go, great, that's going to make us look smart if we, if we own that and retroactively create a payoff to something we didn't even mean as a setup.

[Alec Lev]

Josh, we've got a message to you, by the way. Just say hello to Nelson. I hope he's not too jealous of the baby.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, good question.

[Josh Radnor]

He's jealous. He's adjusting. I mean, he's not like, he's not a brat, you know, so he's not going to, but he's got a little more of a hang dog. Look, we went out for a family walk this morning and took the ball and we're throwing it in the park and he was, you know, he was having a great time. So I think we just need to. We always try to remind ourselves like. Like Nelson needs. He was. He was our only child for a while, you know.

[Alec Lev]

Dominic. Another ongoing theme of today, Dominic Barboa says, I'm skipping. I'm skipping my online karate class for this.

[Craig Thomas]

Everything about that. That raises more questions than it answers, but I like it. We could guide you through some karate to close.

[Josh Radnor]

Why don't we just. Let's just do some slow, elegant movements. Everyone could probably use a little bit of a physical between the two of us.

[Craig Thomas]

We can come up with some karate on the fly, Right?

[Alec Lev]

Jonathan Zubia wants us to know that he found a baby. A baby bird in the alley. There might be some slim pickings on this week's.

[Josh Radnor]

Is.

[Craig Thomas]

Is that. Because that. If there's a photo that accompanies that statement, don't open it, Alec, because that's. That's the dong. That is 100% a dong reference. That's a punchy dong reference if I ever heard one. And well played, sir, but please don't send the photo.

[Alec Lev]

Oh, we've been asked about any progress on the people will dance merch. We love this idea, don't we?

[Craig Thomas]

We do.

[Alec Lev]

Let's work this out right here on the pod. Craig, what do we think the legal ramifications are of us creating.

[Craig Thomas]

It's always good to be recording your conversations about legal things. So this is indeed the off the

[Josh Radnor]

record between the three of us. And however many people are listening.

[Craig Thomas]

My lawyer is furiously texting me not to answer that question, Alex. So I'm gonna.

[Josh Radnor]

It'd be hilarious if they shut us down for taking three pretty common words from one episode of a show. They're like, no, Disney owns that phrase. What a weird thing. Yeah, but I. Yeah, I mean, people will. Dances from the pilot of How I met your mother where Ted is being asked, you know, Marshall has just gotten engaged to Lily. And he says, look, it's not like I, you know, think about my wedding all the time. And then he goes into this incredibly detailed list of what he needs from his wedding, which culminates in band. No, dj. People will dance. I'm not going to worry about it. And I shared that this had become a kind of mantra for me of, like, faith that things will work out. Like, people will dance. Like, I don't have to stress of it. I don't have to sweat over it. I don't have to worry about it. And I've had a number of people say they either got it tattooed, or they'll come up to me at a show and say, will you write people will dance so I can get it tattooed? And then we came up with this idea that we wanted to do some merch that just said people will dance. And it's very. If you know, you know. But also, there's something about the phrase itself, people will dance that is, like, inherently makes you feel good and optimistic, right? Like, yeah, people will dance. Like, dancing is a sign of exuberance and joy, and it's gonna happen. So. Yeah, well, let's.

[Craig Thomas]

Let's hope there isn't.

[Josh Radnor]

We'll talk to John Morrow about the font.

[Craig Thomas]

Let's hope it's not. People will sue if we make T shirts.

[Alec Lev]

I think also. And Josh, you've mentioned this on the. On the podcast that you created one of your. A company. You named it. You named your company People Dance. I feel like that gives us legal. Legal footage.

[Josh Radnor]

If you're a fan of my corporation and you want to wear a shirt that shouts it out.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, celebrate.

[Craig Thomas]

Alec. Alec, you're not a lawyer, correct? You're not, in fact, a lawyer. So we're not. I just want.

[Alec Lev]

Not a good lawyer, Let me tell you that much. By the way, Mark Rampage. Shout out to. To Mark, who says, I'm in my film class watching this.

[Craig Thomas]

Well, we can't condone that, can we? We can't encourage that kind of rap. Scallionry. Yeah, we're honored. We're honored.

[Alec Lev]

And as we. As we close this out. Close this out, I always like to find two sort of bigger questions here. So let's. Let's go with this one, which is. Elizabeth G. Waram asks what has surprised you all the most about re watching the show so far?

[Josh Radnor]

I would say just how good it is. Like, I had a. You know, if you've listened to me on other podcasts or even listen to this podcast, you'll know that I had and continue to have, although it's really dimming considerably, a somewhat conflicted relationship with being conflated with a character or being called a character's name that's not my real name. Like me being very clear that I'm an actor playing a role, but other people saying, like, you are this person and you have to be this person, and I refuse to accept you as anyone but this person. And it was all very. In terms of identity, it was very destabilizing. And so I think psychologically, I had to create some dis. I was trying to create some distance between myself and the show. And I forgot that it was a really good show. And I forgot that people love it for a reason. And, you know, I didn't even watch all the episodes when they were on the air. I probably saw like 40, 45% of the episodes like throughout the run. So I'm seeing some of these episodes for the first time and I'm able to, all these years later, somewhat dispassionately watch it and objectively see that this was a great show that I was a part of. I'm really proud to be a part of the show. My wife even said that when How I Met yout Mother fans come up to me and want to talk about the show. She said, since you've been doing the podcast, you're a lot warmer. And I think it's also because I understand what they're enthusiastic about. And I'm not thinking that they're assaulting me or being, you know, making me, putting me in some strange box. They just want to talk about this thing that I was a part of that they really love. So I've been able to become a fan of the show, which is a very cool thing. And it's really helped contextualize the show in my life as this really special thing that I was a part of and not something I need to run away from, but something I can fully embrace.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I love. I'm so happy for you that you are getting that. I'm so happy for you. I really am. You deserve to feel that you were really good on that really good show. And my answer is the same answer. Just sweating over every detail in the moment. 20 years ago, 15 years ago, all through the whole show. And then looking back at these episodes. And I'm not worried about the sound mix. I'm not worried about whether scene six had a good enough blow at the end of the scene. I'm not worried about.

[Josh Radnor]

Wait, what?

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, is the C story. A blow is a joke at the end of a scene. It's comedy writer speak. Please don't sue me. I'm not creating an unsafe work environment here. And you know, I'm not obsessed with. I just think that C story in that one episode wasn't as good as it could have been. No, it just. All of that's gone. And even if I see something that could have been better, it's like, it's so. It's not even a blip on the radar for me now. The spirit of the show. I watch the show and I feel it's spirit and its energy and its heart, it feels like something that is its own thing. It's not. My identity is not riding on it. Your identity is not riding on it. It just is this thing in the world that really belongs to the fans now. And we get to watch it kind of as fans now too. And that's wonderful.

[Josh Radnor]

And also not breaking it apart into small pieces with which we obsessively examine each piece, even though we're kind of doing that on the show. But really we made a nine year movie. Like we made this big, huge, sprawling story that people just love and watch over and over and over again and gives them so much comfort and joy. And I just feel like there's something about looking at it as a big. Almost like a triptych or something, like a story that winds around all the walls and you just move from panel to panel.

[Craig Thomas]

There's.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And it doesn't live or die on one of those panels. It is the whole thing. And I see it as the whole thing now.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And that's.

[Alec Lev]

That.

[Craig Thomas]

That is a great feeling and it's not one that I fully had at the time.

[Alec Lev]

Well, for final word here, just for. For you, Josh. Barry L. Kumahua says, by the way, Josh, we missed Jordana's questions and observations. Wishing good health for Jordana and the baby.

[Craig Thomas]

Jordana is the most popular part of this podcast. That's what we've learned. That's what we've learned.

[Josh Radnor]

She's. I mean, like she's killing it on her IG live right now. Like you.

[Craig Thomas]

She always. That's such a power move. She always launches a meeting.

[Josh Radnor]

She schedules them at the exact same time as ours.

[Craig Thomas]

And that it's. That it's double the number of viewers, listeners is. That is heartbreaking to us. No, Jordana is great. She has been busy with this, this little human. Yeah. So there is that.

[Josh Radnor]

We're trying to pull her out of retirement. Yeah. But I'm so glad people loved her. Questions and observations from a clinical psychologist who's never seen how I met your mother, who also happens to be married to Josh.

[Craig Thomas]

With a catchy name like that, how can we not bring that segment?

[Josh Radnor]

I know, but we've heard so consistently from people who miss it.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh my God. Every. Every time, every week.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. So I'll, I'll pass on the. She'll. She'll be. She's very touched by it.

[Alec Lev]

And to. And to end that. And that message from Barry says wishing good health for. For Jordana and the baby from Indonesia.

[Josh Radnor]

Oh, wow. So beautiful. Alec I couldn't help notice we didn't hear from Eliza, who claims she was named after my grandmother Rose.

[Craig Thomas]

It's not an IG live if we

[Josh Radnor]

don't get one of those comments where is Eliza Rose?

[Craig Thomas]

But never the answer. Never the answer to what it means. All right, it's going to keep going. It's a series long mystery. Maybe at the end of the podcast

[Alec Lev]

we'll find and an answer to several people's questions. Yes, the audio from what you've just experienced will be available as a podcast episode several, I want to say months from now, weeks, months from now. So this will, this, this will be here. So if your question was asked and you want to prove that to to other folks, it will, it will be. It will, it was recorded and you will have access to that in a couple months. So that's that's our Instagram live for today.

[Craig Thomas]

Thanks everybody.

[Josh Radnor]

Great time. So much for tuning in. And if you're loving the podcast, please spread the word. I am guilty. Please acquit me. All sins are forgiven In New York

[Alec Lev]

City, How We Made youe Mother is hosted and executive produced by Josh Radner and Craig Thomas and is presented and distributed by the Office Ladies Network and Odyssey. This episode is also executive produced by Jennifer Fisher and Angela Kinsey. The show is produced and edited by me, Alec Lev, and our co producer is Doug Matica. Our audio producer and mixer is Alex Reeves at Point of Blue Studios. Our digital content producer, AKA Gen Z Master, is Emily Blumberg. Artwork by John Morrow. Please follow rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or your podcast player of choice. It really does help the show. Our theme song is New York City by our own Josh Radner, with additional music by Craig Thomas and Andrew Majewski. Special thanks to Lola Kennedy and Elliot Connors. Visit how we madeyourmother.com to learn more and click on the contact page to send us an email or a voice message. Your stories and questions are an important part of the show. Subscribe to Josh Radner's newsletters on Substack and check out his music and everything [e-mail] order Craig Thomas's debut novel, that's Not How It Happened, wherever books are sold, and check out his other published writings at craig thomas writer.com and you can subscribe to My Own Dead Father's Society, also on Substack, to learn more about how you make a difference, this show's ongoing campaign to raise money for congenital pediatric heart disease research. Check out the Make a Difference tab at the top of our website, people will in fact dance.

[Josh Radnor]

The real question it just hit me. Am I in love with you or just New York City?

[Alec Lev]

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[Craig Thomas]

Your next chapter in healthcare starts at

[Josh Radnor]

Carrington College's School of Nursing in Portland.

[Craig Thomas]

Join us for our open house on Tuesday, January 13th from 4 to 7pm you'll tour our campus, see live demos,

[Josh Radnor]

meet instructors and learn about our Associate

[Alec Lev]

Degree in Nursing program that prepares you

[Craig Thomas]

to become a registered nurse. Take the first step toward your nursing career. Save your spot [e-mail] events. For information on program outcomes, visit carrington.edu sci.