General Questions | S1E3 "The Sweet Taste of Liberty"

Summary

How We Made Your Mother Season 1, Episode 3: "The Sweet Taste of Liberty" – Detailed Summary

In the third episode of the bonus series "General Questions" for How We Made Your Mother, hosts Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas, joined by producer Alec Lev, delve deep into the intricacies of creating the beloved sitcom, focusing specifically on the episode titled "The Sweet Taste of Liberty." Released on April 10, 2025, this episode offers fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the production process, creative decisions, and memorable moments that shaped this pivotal installment of the series.

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Opening Credits: From Concept to Iconic Memory

One of the primary topics discussed revolves around the creation of the show's opening credit sequence—a hallmark that fans instantly recognize. Initially, the creators contemplated an abstract approach, featuring random young people in New York City to evoke a sense of youthful vibrancy. However, this idea was deemed "too weird" as it didn't feature the actual cast, leading to a pivotal shift.

Craig Thomas reminisces, “We started looking at it... this is too weird. Who are these people? These aren't the same. This isn't the cast of the show.” To better capture the essence of the characters, the decision was made to use candid photos of the main cast, imparting a personal and nostalgic feel. This transition also introduced the sepia-toned color scheme, aiming to mimic the warmth of cherished memories.

The selection of the opening song presented its own challenges. Initially favoring the Replacements' "Unsatisfied," the exorbitant licensing costs led to the creation of an original band song, balancing both budget constraints and creative vision.

Josh Radnor reflects on the creative process: “We did a little pilot, right? We did a little photo shoot... you see in the main titles that Lily is holding that old disposable camera. That's literally what she gave them.”

This authentic touch not only set the nostalgic tone but also fostered a deeper connection with the audience, as evidenced by fans recreating the opening titles with their friends—a testament to its enduring impact.

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Behind the Scenes: The Rigorous Production Schedule

The trio provides an insightful overview of the show's demanding yet structured production timeline. Scripts were delivered in manila envelopes over the weekend, ensuring actors had ample time to prepare for Monday’s table reads.

Josh Radnor describes the table reads: “We would sit around a table. There was a great spread of food... It was about performance. People were listening to the script. It was like a radio play to me.”

Despite the seemingly relaxed atmosphere, Craig Thomas admits, “It always felt like a high stakes courtroom trial for the script,” highlighting the underlying pressure to perfect every line and joke.

Following the table read, the team would head home, only to reconvene for script revisions based on feedback from network and studio executives. This iterative process often extended into the early hours of the morning, showcasing the team's dedication to excellence.

Craig Thomas shares the collaborative spirit: “You guys were great, having so much fun. We had to make it as good as we can make it.”

The shooting phase spanned Wednesday to Friday, with sets rapidly constructed and dismantled to accommodate the diverse locations featured in each episode. Notably, How We Made Your Mother eschewed a live studio audience, opting instead for a more controlled and flexible shooting environment.

Josh Radnor humorously notes, “We never shot in front of a live studio audience where, you know, too many... there's no room for an audience.”

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Deep Dive into "The Sweet Taste of Liberty"

Episode three centers on Barney Stinson's outrageous antics, including his infamous scheme at the Liberty Bell. The hosts discuss the genesis of Barney's character traits, emphasizing his relentless pursuit of novelty and approval from his friends.

Craig Thomas explains, “Barney looks at every setting in the world and thinks, how do you pick up girls here?”

This episode also introduces key catchphrases like "legendary," crafted meticulously to resonate with audiences and cement Barney's larger-than-life persona.

Josh Radnor reflects on character development: “Barney has some dark sides and some troubling sides, but he really just wants to be thought of as special.”

The conversation highlights the collaborative writing process, particularly praising writers Chris Miller and Phil Lord for infusing the episode with unique humor and memorable lines.

Craig Thomas credits them: “Chris and Phil... they're the brilliant minds who brought you the Lego movies and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. They really helped define that in the show.”

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Engagement with Fans: Addressing Plot Queries and Bloopers

The episode addresses numerous fan questions, ranging from production logistics to plot-specific queries about Barney's Liberty Bell antics. Fans expressed curiosity about the feasibility of certain plot points, such as the logistics of beverage service on a flight—a detail the hosts candidly acknowledge as a minor oversight.

Josh Radnor admits, “But also, it's funny. Cut off the scene that talked about they fly. Marshall drives. He's probably getting there before, like, you could drive to Philly quicker than you could fly to Philly.”

Additionally, the hosts share amusing anecdotes about on-set bloopers, particularly during intense scenes where the cast’s camaraderie and humor shone through, enhancing the show's authentic feel.

Craig Thomas recalls a humorous moment: “Jason, during the table reads, would laugh so loud at something that it was clear. It was like, you were excited that he was laughing.”

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Final Thoughts: The Heart of How We Made Your Mother

As the discussion wraps up, Josh and Craig reflect on the broader themes of the episode and the show itself—highlighting the importance of diverse friendships and the unpredictable adventures that define them.

Josh Radnor concludes, “We need friends like that.”

This episode not only provides a comprehensive look into the making of "The Sweet Taste of Liberty" but also reinforces the show's enduring legacy in capturing the complexities of friendship, love, and life's unpredictable journey in the vibrant setting of New York City.

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Notable Quotes:

• Craig Thomas [04:10]: “We did a little photo shoot right away... you see in the main titles that Lily is holding that old disposable camera. That's literally what she gave them.”

• Josh Radnor [07:31]: “My memory is... like you grab like a little bit of melon, maybe a bagel, a little schmear bagel. You sit down, you just be so relaxed.”

• Craig Thomas [10:20]: “I was wildly nervous for all 208 tables.”

• Josh Radnor [30:01]: “One, because you had to... I have the gig. It's been on the air, the ratings are good.”

• Alec Lev [24:31]: “How many takes did it take for you and Neil in the police room scene? Or how hard was it for you to not break on set?”

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How We Made Your Mother continues to engage fans by unveiling the creative processes and heartfelt stories behind every episode, solidifying its place as a cherished companion for enthusiasts of the iconic sitcom.

Transcript

[Craig Thomas]

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[Alec Lev]

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[Josh Radner]

How are we splitting the bill?

[Craig Thomas]

Um, evenly.

[Alec Lev]

Well, I only got soup.

[Craig Thomas]

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[Alec Lev]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Alec Lev]

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[Josh Radner]

Hey, I'm Josh Radner and I am joined, as ever, by my dear friend Craig Thomas.

[Craig Thomas]

Hello, Josh.

[Josh Radner]

Hello, Craig. It's great to see you again. This is a bonus episode of how we made your mother and it's something we like to call general questions.

[Craig Thomas]

General questions.

[Josh Radner]

So we're joined also by our pal and producer, Alec Lev. Hello, Alec.

[Alec Lev]

Hello, Josh.

[Josh Radner]

Hello. Do you have any general questions for us?

[Craig Thomas]

Lay them on us, my man. Let's do it.

[Alec Lev]

All right.

[Josh Radner]

You missed your salute, Craig.

[Craig Thomas]

Sorry.

[Alec Lev]

Awful.

[Craig Thomas]

That's why I was never in the army. I never will be in the army. Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

Hi, guys. This week, people are curious, I would say in the large, about how TV kind of gets made. There's a lot of.

[Josh Radner]

And by the way, this is about episode three, Sweet Taste of Liberty. These are questions about episode three, right? It is.

[Alec Lev]

That is correct. There were a lot of questions about Liberty bells and licking things. And we're going to focus more on the. The production side of things. I'm just going to give you a couple examples, but then I'm going to kind of broaden out the question. So, lj. No. LJ Spectrum asks, how far into filming did you create the opening sequence and bar photos? Was it specifically for this episode? And then turned into the opening montage? How did you do that? And then Oscar Calvager says, just out of curiosity, is this the same basement we see later on at Stella's house? So just thinking about how. Yeah, I don't know the answer to.

[Craig Thomas]

That or I've never actually seen this show. I don't have any. I have no answers to any of this.

[Alec Lev]

I heard it. Obviously, we have viewers who know a lot more than we do. Um, but I think what this is going to is just kind of how. How do you make a. A, a television show? And I think if we can Walk through one thing that will answer a lot of people's questions, and maybe we could do it him. Style of. How did Craig see a week of production? And how did Josh see a week of production?

[Craig Thomas]

How.

[Alec Lev]

How was this show made?

[Josh Radner]

Please, can I go back to a thing? Cause I actually. I really like. The first question is about the opening credit sequence.

[Craig Thomas]

Me, too.

[Alec Lev]

Great, great.

[Josh Radner]

So. So. And we can get back to this, Alec, because I like this too. But. But Craig, where did. The idea for the opening credits is kind of like friends pictures kind of popping up.

[Craig Thomas]

That was from the beginning. That was when we were, like, writing the pilot. When the pilot got picked up, we always had that idea. This is a weird thing that I don't think I've ever talked about for a minute. We played car. I remember Carter Bayes. I think it might have been his concept to begin with. And the way he wanted to do it at first was pictures of just young people in New York, not even our cast. Like, this very abstracted idea of, like, you're just seeing young youth in New York. It could be anyone. You're just seeing, like, this pastiche of New York City and people out, and it's just them and their friends, blah, blah, blah. And I think we gamed it out and we started looking at it. We're like, this is too weird. Who are these people? These aren't the same. This isn't the cast of the show. And that was how we learned. I mean, it was sort of a little too artsy of an idea, maybe. And then we realized, let's get the cast to do this. But if I remember correctly, Josh, I think we did the. We did a little pilot, right?

[Josh Radner]

We did a little photo shoot.

[Craig Thomas]

We did a photo shoot right away.

[Josh Radner]

Like in the booth, kind of like candids. I remember. Did Jason hold the camera? Was it like a selfie?

[Craig Thomas]

I think sometimes you guys were selfieing, and I think sometimes literally, Pam Freyman, our director, I think was, like, shooting it on what at that time was like, a crappy disposable camera. These weren't phone pics, right? And you see that Lily. It dates the show so much. But you see in the main titles that Lily is holding that old disposable camera. That's literally what she gave them.

[Josh Radner]

Placed on tables at weddings. You know, those are still in use ironically. Where'd the color scheme come up with, like, that kind of sepia tone? I really like the kind of reds and yellows.

[Craig Thomas]

And we said we wanted it to feel like memories, like these sort of old tinge. Sort of like sepia tone. Sort of like just this feeling of these exist as memories in someone's mind. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And when did you guys hit on using the solid song or the end of hey, Beautiful?

[Craig Thomas]

I think we. For a minute, we wanted to use. I've never said this either. I think we wanted to use a replacement song. The band, the Replacements. Carter and I are huge fans of the Replacements. Carter turned me into a Replacements fan and we were talking about using. I think we're going to use the song Unsatisfied, like, and literally, I think we cut a version of the main titles that was pictures of total strangers set to the replacement song Unsatisfied. That looks like it's just the opening titles to an entirely different show called Unsatisfied. It was utterly confusing and it was a complete failure. But it's what taught us that we needed it to be our cast. And the idea of photos and memories like that, that was always the idea, but we had to do a bad, like, misguided version of that to get to what it became.

[Josh Radner]

And isn't Barney's last name after a guitar? Like Replacements?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, Barney Stinson. Stinson. Tommy Stinson is the bass player for the Replacements. And that is a shout out to the Replacements, who again. And we really wanted Unsatisfied to be the song. And then we got the bill for what that would cost every week. And then we said, what if we put our own band song on there and we get that money? And they said, what? About one tenth of that money said sold?

[Alec Lev]

Craig, did you need to get approval at this point? Did the studio or network have to look at that title sequence and go, yes or no?

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yeah, that thing is tested and gamed out and sent up and down the chain. It's the branding of the show, right? It's like the brand that has become so iconic. And what's amazing about it now is I see people online, I see people on socials like them and their friends are literally shot for shot recreating the How I Met yout Mother photos from the opening, from the main titles. And they're doing it with their own friends. And I find that so moving and poignant. Like, we've passed this baton onto this younger generation who are now, like, enacting it. And it's their way of saying, we're making our own memories now, I think. Which is a story that, Josh, you've told, too, about a fan told you said to you, I realize I am living these Memories now. And that's. I love the idea that like young people watching the show are creating that themselves.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah. So speaking of memories. So, Josh, So at this point we're in week three of, of producing this show, obviously spread out over time between the pilot and the second episode. But what was your week like, at least in this first season? How did that script first come to you? On what day? Rehearsal, blocking. How did it look for you?

[Josh Radner]

My memory is. And Craig, maybe like we would get an envelope over the weekend.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Like so, like on a Sunday, I think maybe sometimes Friday.

[Craig Thomas]

Sometimes Friday.

[Josh Radner]

But hard copies in a, in a manila envelope kind of like waiting at your door.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And you'd read. And that was the table script. That was the script we were going to read Monday at like 10am Correct. So the actors would come in at 10am on Monday. We'd sit around a table. There was a great spread of food. All the writers were there, producers, the, the department heads would come to that.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. And we sit around the exact.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, the studio exacts. Network exacts. We would sit around and it was, it was not a high pressure. I never felt beyond maybe the pilot table read. That was always like the chillest, low pressure kind of thing. So we'd read the script, Pam would read the stage directions and you and Carter would flank Pam. I remember.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And.

[Craig Thomas]

And by the way, just to say counterpoint, I was wildly nervous for all 208 tables.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, you were okay.

[Craig Thomas]

Miserably anxious. I'm shocked that you were in. But think about writer brain. Think about writer brain versus actor brain.

[Josh Radner]

But table read is all about the script. I mean, it's about performance. It's about script. People were listening to the script. They weren't even watching us read it.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Radner]

They were listening to it in the air. It was like it was like a radio play to me.

[Craig Thomas]

It always felt like a high stakes courtroom trial for the script. And like the script, the script might be like executed at the end of like I was. I, I always felt a bit in my stomach. It was great when it went great.

[Josh Radner]

But what's the thing where writers will write down if they think a joke is good, but it was. Do they just write P for performance?

[Craig Thomas]

Like P's Punch it. P. P means punch. In writers speaking.

[Josh Radner]

Where you say that was the actor's fault, not mine.

[Craig Thomas]

I don't know that there's a universal code for that.

[Josh Radner]

I heard there was something where you write in like bad line reading, like good joke or something.

[Craig Thomas]

Like where you're like we should save that. That's also writers being dicks. Right. Like, it was. It was definitely the actor's fault. Like, I don't know about that. And some writers do that.

[Josh Radner]

So we would read it. Would we be done by 10:45? No later than 11?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

We go home for the rest of the day. The actors leave.

[Alec Lev]

Can I just say one thing about the table read? Sorry. As someone who just sat in on some of them, you. You say it wasn't for the actors and for the script, certainly for me, who had no stake in this whatsoever. It was such a joy to listen to the radio play version of it because you guys. Maybe because the pressure was so low. You guys were so loose.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, you guys were great, having so much fun.

[Alec Lev]

And it's the one time where the show is not about the. What becomes the great direction, the great production, the great sound. It's just about the five of you talking to each other.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

And it was hysterical. It was always.

[Craig Thomas]

It was. And to be clear, it was great vibes. I was anxious. Cause I'm crazy and I'm a writer and I'm neurotic about the writing being good enough. But the vibes were great in the room. I've never been to better table reads than. How much better table reads. You guys were great at it. Loose and funny. It was great. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And I wrote you this little ditty to sing to you in New York City. We'll be right back.

[Alec Lev]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

We help you save offer valid through 4 2. Selection varies by location while supplies last. And now back to the show. I always loved the table read. I always loved. You know, you grab like a little bit of melon, maybe a bagel, a little schmear bagel. You sit down, you just be so relaxed and Especially the more you do it. You're so relaxed at the table.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. You guys were uniquely relaxed and had fun with it in a way that's not always true, to be honest. You guys were really good at that.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. And then, well, at some point you stop feeling like you're auditioning. Yeah. And you're like, I have the gig. It's been on the air, the ratings are good.

[Craig Thomas]

It would be really hard to recast me at this point. Yeah, it would be really weird. It's season eight.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

So, so, so then we leave, but you guys stay and rewrite the script the rest of the day based on. Yes.

[Alec Lev]

Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yes, we would. You guys would be like, great. I had breakfast. I'm going to go, I'm going to go work out. I'm going to go do think, like, all right. We're going to be here till two in the morning tearing our hair. That hair out. We would stay and Monday nights were not always super late for the writers, but yeah, we would, we'd be there. We'd be there for dinner, we'd be there going line by line, making it as good as we could, knowing there was a run through for the next. More the next.

[Josh Radner]

Well, we would get a script maybe that night. Sometimes early, sometimes late. Sometimes I'd wake up Tuesday morning and just see the manila envelope by my phone.

[Craig Thomas]

God bless the PAs. God bless the PAs. Driving those scripts around LA like Little Miss Elvis leaving them at your doorstep.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. Wasn't it also funny? I hope Jason won't mind me saying this, but sometimes Jason, during the table reads, would laugh so loud at something that it was clear. It was the first time he was reading this.

[Craig Thomas]

It was very clear. And it was weird because it was like, oh, that was great. It's a real compliment to the work. I maybe should have read it by now, but. Okay, like, you were like, you were excited that he was laughing.

[Josh Radner]

He was clearly discovering it in the moment, what his character was doing and.

[Craig Thomas]

Giving a great, authentic giving great, like, cold read. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. He's amazing. He knew he could do that. But yeah, that was. I guess that was a thing. Yeah. But always a very generous laugh.

[Josh Radner]

You'd get the script and it. It would have asterisks on the. It would be a different color pages. Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And then you get the script and had asterisks where all the changes had been made.

[Craig Thomas]

Revision marks for the changes.

[Josh Radner]

Right. So did you ever.

[Craig Thomas]

Did your heart sink when you, when you found one that was like just machine Gun fire, asterisks all the way down. You're like, ooh, well, late night this is gonna be.

[Josh Radner]

Sometimes it was. It was really like, you guys cracked it. Like you solved the thing.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. No, and other times.

[Josh Radner]

Other times, there were a few episodes where I felt like you guys were really chasing it. Like, really, you had. You wrote three scripts in three days. You know, did you ever get one?

[Craig Thomas]

And you're like, really? No asterisks here. You're sticking with that one. You thought that was good on Monday.

[Josh Radner]

Totally. But there were.

[Craig Thomas]

Why is that clean?

[Josh Radner]

There were also. You go through and you. You kind of feel like, oh, maybe I. Oh, I blew that joke. And now that joke is gone. Like, sometimes you would get self conscious.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, wow, okay, well, like, I thought.

[Josh Radner]

I didn't blow that joke. Why is that joke gone?

[Craig Thomas]

That almost. I would say nine times out of 10, it's just writer self hatred. It's just writers going, the joke was no good. If you, like, slightly fumble the joke. But it was good. We knew it. We would leave it in. I think it was probably much more direct.

[Josh Radner]

It was never. It was never super shocking. Most of the time it was an upgrade. Like, it was really especially so. So we would get the script. You drive back to the Foxhot, like around, I don't know, nine or ten, we'd start, I think we started a little earlier on Tuesday night, I think, rehearsing.

[Craig Thomas]

Rehearsing till kind of lunchtime. Run through. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

So that's just Pam and the cast and, you know, the props. They're all kicking around. The stage is buzzing, but you basically, like, we all plop down in the living room. We'd read the script, we'd read the rewrite. Pam would have us read it, and then she would get us on our feet and we'd start staging it. Sometimes you or Carter were there for that initial one if there were like a lot of rewrites, but mostly you just let us do it, right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, absolutely. We didn't want to be. We didn't want to be in the way, overthinking the words. You guys had to get it in your bodies and start moving it through space and stuff.

[Josh Radner]

So Pam would stage the whole thing for, you know, then we'd have lunch. And then after lunch, the stage would. All the writers, studio executives, network executives, all the department heads, everyone would descend upon the stage and we'd do a run through at around 12:30 or 1.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And we'd run through the whole show. And I remember Pam would say, all Right, follow me down to the bar.

[Craig Thomas]

Lined up on the stage, on stage, all the sets. And then we'd walk set to set and the show had so many cuts that sometimes people were like, God, there's a lot of walking in there, all the little cuts. And sometimes Pam would say, we're not moving. We're just going to stay here, pretend this is the bar. We're going to sit down. It's just two lines. We're going to sit down, pretend these two chairs of the bar. That took like a year or two to figure out that we needed to like. Because by the end of some of these executives, by the end of the run through, some of these executives were like sweating. We want them to be happy.

[Josh Radner]

They had their cardio in at our.

[Alec Lev]

Run throughs to picture what we're talking about here you have a very large stage, stage 22. And just imagine just what you've. Everyone listening has probably seen a set of television but you have the hero set of the couch. But then just imagine this in the Gigantic Wear Warehouse 10, 12, 15 of these little sets. You've got the dentist office. You got this, you got that, you got the small things which have been.

[Craig Thomas]

Built in a day, a couple days and then have to be dismantled and replaced with another set often from Wednesday to Thursday, once it's shot out on Wednesday. So it was really our crew, our production crew was unbelievable.

[Josh Radner]

The only sets that were there and never got touched were the bar and the apartment.

[Craig Thomas]

That's it.

[Josh Radner]

Those two were always there. And hilariously like, if you don't like they're, they're right next door to each other. Like they're literally like butted up against each other walkway.

[Craig Thomas]

You know, you could basically walk from one end to the other. Yeah, it's right there, right there. But everything else would change out. And yeah, the run through would move to these sets and sometimes the sets were only half built but we'd be pretending they were fully built on the. During the run through. And yeah, it was a lot of work.

[Josh Radner]

So we would do the run through and you'd hear what was working, you'd feel what wasn't quite working. And then you guys would huddle up with the network and studio executives. Right. And the writers.

[Craig Thomas]

Yep.

[Josh Radner]

We would go home. We would be home. We'd. I'd leave at 1 or 1:30 on a Tuesday and have the rest of my day.

[Craig Thomas]

My day was just beginning. Yeah, yeah. We'd be given notes by our, the executives and often very, very smart notes. We really, we gave Ourselves the most notes, you know, we went back. There was stuff we wanted to change. Like we'd stay late. Not because it was like considered a disaster, just because we were like, cameras roll tomorrow morning. Let's use this time. Let's make this as good as we can make it. And that was it. We'd go rewrite till late at night. And that script would go out at three in the morning on a Wednesday and it would get to you.

[Josh Radner]

And the production assistants would drive it to our house.

[Craig Thomas]

They would drive it to your house. And maybe later in the run we finally went. Email attachments exist. It's not 1925. We could. But I remember somewhere near the end going like, Maybe these poor PAs don't need to be driving.

[Josh Radner]

It was for many years a hard copy show.

[Craig Thomas]

It was a hard copy most of the run. Most of the. I think even at the end when we said we're going to switch to emails, I think a few people, a few holdouts were like, I still want it driven to my house. I like getting the hard copy.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And the PAs were like, Ah, God damn it.

[Josh Radner]

So then we, you guys would rewrite all night. We'd get the new script. So Wednesday morning, you, you know, sometimes you're. Before I left the house, if I had some time, I would look through and you're kind of look. Just looking at the starred changes because that by that point you know the script pretty well and you're just looking for what's changed because you're going to have to shoot it maybe that day. So we come in Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We blocked and shot the entire show. A lot of people don't know this. I don't know if we talked about this. We never shot in front of a live studio audience where, you know, too many.

[Craig Thomas]

Where would you put the bleachers? There's too many damn sets. There's no room for an audience.

[Josh Radner]

So. So for three days we would make the show Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And also this is another reason why sitcoms, if you can get one, it's a great way to raise a family because you get one week off a month. We only would do three weeks on, one week off.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Which was pretty cozy, pretty civilized compared.

[Craig Thomas]

To the hours that other the writers also worked that week. You son of a bitch.

[Josh Radner]

Sorry. Sorry.

[Craig Thomas]

I remember one time, I don't. Was not you, but somebody. It was the summer. It was the end of a summer when we were all coming back to start shooting, you know, mid August or late August, whenever we started back up and I remember one of. One of you guys, one of the actors. It wasn't. You asked me, like, you know, what did you do? I was in Europe. I was here. What did you do all summer? And I was like, we wrote this shit. That's what we did.

[Josh Radner]

We.

[Craig Thomas]

I have not seen the sun. I look pale. I look like sick. E.T. at the end of the movie. I don't. I have not been outside during daylight. But I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

[Josh Radner]

No, I always came back refreshed. Always.

[Craig Thomas]

You guys always came back looking so beautiful and tan, and we were, like, haggard, limping into the start of the marathon. Yeah, but it was. It was. No, it was. It was awesome. And we. We would always come in six, eight scripts ahead, and we'd bust our asses during the summer. And we got little. We got a little Six week, four week, six week in the spring off the writers day.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a chance on set because sometimes. Mike Shea, our first ad, who's a gem. Hello, Michael, we love you, if you're listening. But he would talk us through the schedule, and he'd say, you know, if we can do some really good professional acting on Thursday, we can be out by lunch. No, we say out by lunch. No, but I start. I remember I started a chant out by lunch, and we would all just like, turn into Lord of the Flies.

[Craig Thomas]

Out. But obl.

[Josh Radner]

We called it obl.

[Craig Thomas]

And you did.

[Josh Radner]

Some days. You know, some days we did work until late, late, late. But.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yeah, and those outside night shoots, you guys had some very late nights. And we shot the. We shot a lot of scenes in this TV show, and it was. It was a Wednesday to Friday was huge for a lot of you guys.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Most weeks.

[Alec Lev]

And talk a little bit about New York Street. The one thing that. The other main area, that is not.

[Craig Thomas]

Inside stage 22, it's smaller than people think. New York street, what was on the Fox lot, I guess it's now. The Disney lot is tiny, right, Josh? It's like a little block. Little block with a little mini turn in it.

[Josh Radner]

It's like almost like two Ls put together.

[Craig Thomas]

Two Ls? Yeah. And we milked the shit out of that thing for nine years to make it look like so many different parts of New York. By the end of it, it was like, there's no molecule we haven't shot.

[Josh Radner]

But you know what? I always liked shooting on New York Street. It always felt like a field trip.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yeah, me too. It did. It felt special, like.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Field trip. That's exactly right.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. We're getting out of school. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And also I always. They always would offer to give me a ride, but I always liked walking down to New York Street. Like, it felt like a nice little. Just head clearing.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. And it was a nice little walk, five, ten minute walk to New York Street. And it was right up at the front of the Fox lot. And you'd be standing in this little cute, like sort of Little Italy, like, block. Right. It was obviously Mulberry Street. And then you'd look. This cognitive dissonance would happen where you'd look one direction and see New York in the other direction and see like palm trees and a blue sky, people walking by. It was always very strange. You sometimes lost track of where you were. Sometimes I felt like I was really there in New York. It was a great. We really made the most of that little street. My God.

[Josh Radner]

But there was something about New York street that. That made me feel like old Hollywood. Like Cecil B. DeMille.

[Craig Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Josh Radner]

Like there was something so grand and fun and fake, but not fake about it. Like, it was really cool.

[Craig Thomas]

I loved it. It felt like PB's big adventure. Like that big chase through the blot where it was like it gave you the Hollywood you wanted as a kid.

[Josh Radner]

To think you were going to be.

[Craig Thomas]

Part of one day.

[Josh Radner]

Exactly.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

That's also where Todd runs down the street. But we'll get to that later in.

[Craig Thomas]

I don't remember that character.

[Josh Radner]

Move on.

[Alec Lev]

We're going to get to that. We're going to talk about that. Amazing. Thank you for that. That is illuminating. I think of how this goes and I want to. We'll keep going back to that sort of big. I want to ask about the writers room. I want to ask about all sorts of things. Let's do a few. Question number two, I guess there's a couple of. Yeah, exactly. Just quick ones here. A lot of people have questions about where ideas come from. And obviously there's the simple answer of, well, we're writers, we think of. Not me. We think of them. We come up with ideas, then we rewrite them on a piece of paper. You, however, Craig, have said many times that you took from people's lives, whether the. From the writers themselves who said, oh, this happened to me, or from your friends and you told them about it or you didn't tell them about it. We'll. We'll get to that as time goes on. So there's a category of question that is how did you come up with so Many people want to know about the idea of picking up girls at the airport. Do you recall where this notion came from?

[Craig Thomas]

If you're implying that I did this, the answer is no.

[Josh Radner]

I'm not implying.

[Craig Thomas]

I literally think it was just a pun that we liked in the writers room. I think it was just. It was just the reveal that he's going to pick up girls. It just worked. It was just a great little wordplay joke, and we did it. There was no real story. Every now and again, something's just funny that was just funny. It made us laugh, so we did.

[Josh Radner]

Also feels like Barney looks at every setting in the world and thinks, how do you pick up girls here?

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Josh Radner]

And he just has a scheme for every one. And this is his airport scheme.

[Craig Thomas]

This is his airport scheme. And he's apparently been doing it long enough that there's a ton of security camera footage of him there doing it. Yeah. And I loved. I guess the emotion I liked behind it is just how pathetic it kind of is. My favorite thing about Barney and rewatching it is just like, he's such a broken man. You know what I mean? He's just like, in this episode, too, he's just like, go along with my idea, Ted. Show me that I'm important, me that I'm special. I find it so poignant and moving in a way, to watch how needy Barney is in these early episodes. More so than I remember. I haven't watched these ones in a while. I'm just like, he just wants Ted to think his idea is cool and go along with it. That's it. He just wants Ted's approval.

[Josh Radner]

I had the experience watching it where I felt like, I wish Ted was a little more game, and I wish Barney would be a little less excited.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

I know that that's where the drama comes from. But just, like, watching almost like me or this avatar of me, I was like, you should go along with this. This could be fun. Like, just relax.

[Craig Thomas]

Right?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Not when he's drinking Mike's hard lemonade in the basement. You know, at that point, he's over it. But, yeah, I mean, I think. I think.

[Craig Thomas]

I think we got there more later. I think we got there more later.

[Josh Radner]

We got there more later. He realizes some of the best nights of his life are created by this madman, and it's better to just go along with them.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah. What I was struck with was, is Barney successful at doing this? Like, that's what I feel like later in this series, you get the sense that he is. He is he does get the ladies, but in this one, I was like, oh, early on, it's possible he doesn't. It's possible these are all just games.

[Craig Thomas]

In episode one, he's playing laser tag with preteens. In episode two, he seems to hook up with one girl in those series of parties. In episode three, he's just back to just not really. Not really scoring any with any ladies. He's not really doing anything that impressive.

[Josh Radner]

Sometimes you see him with an actual woman, but a lot of times it's just a story he's telling.

[Craig Thomas]

I think it's. Yeah, 85% invented.

[Josh Radner]

I would guess that 75 to 80% of his stories are either fabricated or a kernel of truth, you know?

[Craig Thomas]

Kernel of truth.

[Alec Lev]

Of truth. Kernel of truth.

[Craig Thomas]

That's the bonus one. That's the bonus one. We got there, Remember, we initiated general knowledge. We said, we're going to get to this one and it fucking happened unplanned.

[Alec Lev]

Welcome.

[Craig Thomas]

That was just too. That was so.

[Alec Lev]

You are lucky you are listening.

[Josh Radner]

I feel my way to that. Just intuitively.

[Craig Thomas]

Kernel of knowledge.

[Josh Radner]

Kernel of truth.

[Craig Thomas]

Kernel of truth. Kernel of knowledge. Yeah, those are good. Those are good. When you find those in nature, it's just so good. Okay, what else? I forgot what we're talking about. The next question.

[Alec Lev]

Well, Josh, I think people really loved the interrogation scene because there were multiple questions. And I'll.

[Craig Thomas]

That scene is so funny.

[Alec Lev]

It's so good. I'll credit Mad Candy. What? Oh, Mad. Mad Candy Hatter and Hazard Hansen for questions like this. How many takes it. How many takes did it take for you and Neil in the police room scene? Or how hard was it for you to not break on set? People obviously love bloopers. They also just love hearing about the notion of bloopers. And so hard to fashion a real question around this. But it looked like you were having fun. Were you. Were you breaking a lot?

[Josh Radner]

I think that that's a pretty strong blooper presence in episode season one Bloopers. Yeah, because Neil, he definitely was making me laugh with we are international jizz.

[Craig Thomas]

Just doubling and tripling and quadrupling down on that. That really made me laugh watching it out.

[Josh Radner]

I do remember in the run throughs and even when we were shooting it, the thing about the shirt, you know, the untucked shirt and his looks to me. And I felt like. I felt like we were like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello road trip movie. It was just like. It felt like we were a new kind of like classic vaudeville team. Definitely where we were Just had a bit, and he had his character, and I had my character. I, I. You know, it's. It was really interesting to see Ted. Like, in the first two episodes, Ted is the driver. Like, he's got his foot on the accelerator.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Josh Radner]

And in this one, he's a reactor. Barney is the driver.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

You know, and I think I was. I was really trying to navigate how to be like. I think if I was directing myself again, I would have been like, lighten this up. Like, it's a little. Like, I was a little too bummed, and I just wish I had had, like, a little smile.

[Craig Thomas]

I think it's a great look. We can fix it in post. It's not too late. We can get back in there.

[Josh Radner]

I think I was too bummed out by him, and I think I should have just been like, you know, some.

[Craig Thomas]

Of that's the writing, though, as you point out, because we could. We could have written. I agree with that. I agree with that as a writing note, too. Like, we could have. And I think we found that. I think we're like, ted, we found it as we went on, where we went on. But it's a little exaggerated in this.

[Josh Radner]

One, because you had to. You had to figure out, why do they keep hanging out with this guy?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, well, the, the last line of the narration of the episode does sort of stick to that, which is great. And that was. That was the question we were trying to answer in the episod. It was like, why do they hang out with this guy? And that was the answer at the end of that episode.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

But I remember Chris and Phil, Chris Miller, Phil Lord, wonderful writers who wrote that episode. They would refer to it as. The way they. When they went off to script, they said, we're going to write this as a Barney cartoon. That was the phrase that always stuck in my head. We're going to write a Barney cartoon. They're the men, the brilliant minds who brought you the Lego movies and Cloudy, the Chesapeake balls. They are cartoon guys. They are animation guys. And they said, is it okay if we push Barney to this place of being this cartoon? Ted gets sucked into it. And it's like he's sort of the voice of reason within. He's sort of the human being interacting with an animated character. And they push that. They sort of. That's where we first got legendary. That's where we got the lactose intolerant joke. That script is where we got all that stuff. And Barney climbing out of the suitcase that he zipped himself into on the Baggage claim. And apparently that worked. Apparently that got him the girl. But is that actually the truth? Who knows? I do want to know the backstory of what he said to the woman about why he was inside the suitcase.

[Josh Radner]

Is like, that's the beginning of his, like, master of disguise.

[Craig Thomas]

Absolutely. And they really. They ran with that. They just ran with. Make it a cartoon.

[Josh Radner]

It was also great. How you guys be to pay off legend. Wait for it. And I hope you're not lactose intolerant, because the next part of this phrase is dairy or whatever. I don't know if I misquoted that.

[Alec Lev]

Right.

[Josh Radner]

But you said legendary about 12 to 15 times to set that up. Like, it was literally just. It's really staying legendary to set up that last punchline.

[Craig Thomas]

It really is. It's all there to get to that joke. Yeah, it's all there to get to that joke. And then that became this catchphrase for Barney that sort of echoed through eternity, but it was really. Yeah, you're right. We wrote that as setups to get to that one joke, and then it took off.

[Josh Radner]

Cause, I don't know. He said legendary in the first two episodes. Did he?

[Craig Thomas]

He definitely didn't. He definitely didn't. Because I feel like Chris and Phil brought that in with them by writing their Barney cartoon. I feel like that was very much them. And that lactose intolerant joke was very much. I mean, their names are on the script, obviously, but it's very. Also very collaborative. But they really came in with a lot of that sort of, like, fun Barney speak. They really helped define that in the show, and I'll be forever grateful to them for that.

[Josh Radner]

Didn't they also bring in the term mind hole?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I think mind hole. They had their own language. Chris and Phil had their own language. There's a few lines in that episode where I'm just like, only Chris and Phil, where he's like, barney asks the guy, do you ever touch the Liberty Bell? And the guy goes, only all the time. That's like the phrase only all the time. I'm like, that's Chris and Phil. I can't tell you why. Only all the time. I love it so much.

[Josh Radner]

Can I say, I know there were a lot of questions about licking the Liberty Bell. And we don't know. I don't know where that came from. But I did write a tweet, I think, years ago. This is many years ago, while the show was still on, where I said, I'm genuinely curious. How many security guards at the Liberty Bell have Had to stop Kim Yim fans from trying to lick it or throwing them out for licking it. Because there had. There, There had to have been an increase at the very least in attempts from 0% to semi to, like. Yeah, a couple. They have to. Right. Like, I'm so curious. We should get Liberty Bell security guard as a guest.

[Craig Thomas]

Can we invite. Did. Can we invite any fans to write us? You know, write. Write us if they ever got.

[Josh Radner]

If anyone ever licked the Liberty Bell. We want to hear from you.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. I feel like I've saw some tweets at some point where people claim to have actually done it. Like, they knew somebody that worked there, and they, they had their. They wanted to go do the How I Met yout Mother thing, and they did it. I feel like I saw a couple of people that did do it somehow.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

I feel like, I mean, we both would have to. And so wouldn't want to ask for proof.

[Josh Radner]

Well, I also think it's another. Like, Barney is addicted to novelty. Right. Like, he's addicted to newness and weirdness, and no one's ever done this before. And won't we. Like, he's a pioneer. Right. Like, he wants to come up with the weirdest stuff.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

So he can say, we did this first. Yeah. You know, I think that's quite a charming, if reckless quality of him.

[Craig Thomas]

You know, it's very. I found it very endearing because it's like, you know, Barney. Barney has some dark sides and some troubling sides, but he really just wants to be thought of as special. He wants to be important to his friends.

[Josh Radner]

And also, that epic part of that story did not involve having sex with women. It involved licking the Liberty Bell. Like this very strange out there thing.

[Craig Thomas]

It's not always hooking up. Sometimes it's just doing something that nobody else has ever done. Yeah, I like that too.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Lev]

Well, we've answered many people, of course, pointed out and enjoyed pointing out this is the birthplace of legendary. So thank you for covering that with a credit, I guess, to Chris and Phil for, for that. Finally, fans do love pointing out breaks in logic all these many years later. And I, I filter those out because, you know, you're, you're just writing a TV show. But I, I, I enjoyed that. Sarah Frazier, 44, did say, how was there time for a beverage service on a flight from New York City?

[Josh Radner]

That's actually a great question. I was prepared to be annoyed by this question. And I'm like, sarah, great question.

[Craig Thomas]

That's a good one. They were circling for a While. Because they couldn't.

[Josh Radner]

But also, it's funny. Cut off the scene that talked about they fly. Marshall drives. He's probably getting there before, like, you could drive to Philly quicker than you could fly to Philly.

[Craig Thomas]

It's totally true. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Busted. They busted us on the drink service. We. We'll take the hit on that one.

[Alec Lev]

And that's it, folks. Thank you so much for sending in your. Your questions there on Instagram. We're going to keep on soliciting those from you on Instagram. So if you want to sen. Your questions, do go there and send them to us. Any final thoughts on this bonus episode of whatever the name of this is? I don't keep names of things in my head. Sweet taste of Sweet Belle. Sweet taste of liberty. Jesus.

[Craig Thomas]

Sweet taste of liberty. Yeah. I don't know. It was a fun one. It was a fun other move. It was the one where we started to discover Barney a little more. I love how the first two. The first two really felt like an hour to me. Didn't we talk about that, Josh? It really felt like they just belonged together. It was like an hour long story about this guy named Ted. And then this is the episode where it's like, also, there's this speed. There's this other move. And this other move of this show will be this crazy guy. Barney drags people on these insane adventures. And obviously, we're trying to, like, pair up Lily and Robin and sort of show that, like, our ladies will hang out. They're just becoming friends. So I liked that it was showing.

[Josh Radner]

Other moves also as the show. The show starts here, and it keeps widening its spotlight.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

You know, and you're like, carl the bartender's over here, and Wendy the waitress is over here. And these people. Hammond Druthers is over here. Like, it keeps spotlighting different and it keeps expanding its universe in a really cool way. And this was definitely where, I think you. I think you're right. You had to explain, why do they hang out with this guy? And it's because they never know where the night is. And also, you know, Ted's insistence, like, I just want to be with the same bar, same drink, same cozy friends right below my apartment. And he's. He nudges him out of his comfort zone, and it's like, we need friends like that.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Barney has value. He's a good friend.

[Josh Radner]

I am guilty. Please acquit me. All sins are forgiven in New York City.

[Alec Lev]

How we made your mother is hosted and executive produced by Josh Radner and Craig Thomas. The show was produced by me, Alec Levi and our co producer is Doug Matica. Our audio producer and mixer is Alex Reeves at Point of Blue Studios. 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 NYC by our own Josh Radner. Special thanks to Lola Kennedy and Elliot Connors. Visit How we make to sign up for our Substack mailing list and for links to our social media. You can also 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 muse letters on Substack. Read Craig Thomas's published [e-mail] and you can subscribe to My Dead Father Society, all also on Substack to learn about how you make a difference. This show's ongoing campaign to raise money for congenital heart disease research. Check out the Make a Difference tab at the top of our website. This episode was made possible by the support of Backyard Ventures Marketing provided by Tink Media. People will in fact dance the real.

[Josh Radner]

Question it just hit me. Am I in love with you or just New York City.

[Alec Lev]

This weekend only at Macy's. It's our lowest prices of spring. How low? Diamond rings, pendants and earrings only $399 originally 1500 ninja blenders now 89.99 and $395 men's designer suits only 99. So if you're wondering why you should shop Macy's lowest prices sale, well, the name pretty much says it all. It's our lowest prices for one weekend only. Starts tomorrow at Macy's. Savings off already reduced prices.

[Craig Thomas]

Exclusions apply.