Podcast Summary: How We Made Your Mother

Episode: How To Play Xing Hai Shi Bu Xing | S2E8 “Atlantic City”
Hosts: Josh Radnor, Craig Thomas, with Alec Lev and guest Kate Micucci
Release Date: December 15, 2025

Overview

This episode of How We Made Your Mother dives deep into "Atlantic City," episode 8 from Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother. Hosts Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby) and series co-creator Craig Thomas, with series editor Alec Lev, reflect on the challenges and joys of making a rare "road trip" episode that takes the whole gang out of their usual haunts in New York to gamble, get married (or not) in Atlantic City, and confront the emotional ripples from Lily and Marshall’s broken engagement. The conversation takes listeners through memories of frantic last-minute rewrites, the meta realities of making sitcoms in the 2000s versus today, gambling misadventures, comic set pieces, and a special guest appearance by Kate Micucci (the Atlantic City registrar), who recalls her brief but memorable part in the episode.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Context and Challenge of "Atlantic City"

• Episode Background

  • "Atlantic City" is a road trip episode where the gang attempts to get Marshall and Lily married quickly to avoid dealing with the drama of family after their breakup.
  • Writer Maria Ferrari, at the time a writers’ assistant, penned the episode—a feat increasingly rare as showbiz changes reduce traditional paths to staff writing positions.
  • The episode first aired November 13, 2006.

• The Difficulty of a New Format

  • Craig: “I think we didn’t know how to write an episode where the whole gang’s like, let’s go to a whole different city and keep everyone’s little thread alive…” [09:04]

  • The entire writers’ team felt “at sea”—mirroring the episode’s ending—having to manage all five core characters outside their familiar environments, juggling b-stories and comedic beats without the comfort of the apartment or bar sets.

  • Josh: “It’s almost like taking your family on vacation and you’re like, I don’t know how to do anything.” [13:19]

The “Classic TV” Conversation: Old Models vs. Streaming

• The hosts lament the shifting landscape of TV, the narrowing of writers’ rooms, and missing the creative muscle (and pressure) that 22-24 episode seasons provided.

  • Josh: "I think that a lot of times we try to pull apart television or we pull apart the model of how things have been done. And for a while it looks like, oh, we discovered a new way. But what you’re seeing is all these different streamers... are just going back to the model…because there was something satisfying." [05:03]
  • Craig: “Podcasting is radio…We’re just slapping names on shit. Like, it’s new. It’s not new.” [05:59]

Writing Process: Rewrites, Panic, and Structure

• The crew details the weekly grind—table reads, relentless notes, late-night rewrites—especially sharp in this episode due to unfamiliar terrain.

  • Josh, on frantic rewrites: “Now my memory of this one is that there was more massive rewriting being done on this episode than anyone I had remembered up until that point.” [08:51]
  • Craig, on lost structure: “We didn’t have everybody, all five characters, a beginning, middle and end... I like to think that was rare.” [11:40]

• The emotional core—Lily trying to escape the pain and judgment of family over her breakup—is what finally “locked in” the episode, discovered only late in the rewrite cycle.

Favorite Moments & Comic Set Pieces

• Barney and the Chinese Gambling Game

  • A highlight was the running gag of Barney playing an elaborate, nonsensical Chinese gambling game, understood only by him and Marshall.
  • Craig: “‘The name of that game in Chinese translates in English to Deal or No Deal, the show we were losing to in prime time...That was an inside joke...’” [27:08]
  • The creators delighted in how much effort went into making something so “meticulously planned to make no sense.” [55:49]

• Visual Gags & Mannequin Moments

  • Ted’s simple plot: being attracted solely to Robin in a bikini t-shirt, enhanced by eating licorice—a nod to actor “business” like Brad Pitt always eating on film.
  • Radnor: “It’s satisfying to watch someone want one thing, you know, because we’ve all been mono focused.” [23:32]

• Pedicure Scene & The Power of Unity

  • Josh: “There’s something funny when all five are united in…getting a pedicure together.” [17:54]
  • They reflect on the rare joy of having the gang simply enjoy being together, which is often sidelined in favor of conflict or A-story drama.

• Cracking Jokes on Atlantic City

  • Ted on the city: “There’s a rotting orca on the beach…” [18:59]
  • Craig: “There’s also something adventurous and weird and great about it.” [19:31]

Real-Life Memories and Behind the Scenes

• The cast’s own early Vegas trip, where Cobie Smulders (Robin) improbably won big at the roulette table, echoed the on-screen camaraderie and luck (“…she hit the roulette wheel. And I remember her face. Like, we all cheered in a way that we…would get excited…” [17:03]).

Guest Star Corner — Kate Micucci’s Memories

• Kate Micucci’s Perspective (audio segment starts around [43:29])
  • On being cast: “...I only have, like, a minute to show what I can do and hopefully bring it for everyone who’s hired me. So yeah, it is always a little bit stressful when you have just a few lines.”
  • On getting recognized: “People will come up to me and they’ll say, I love your episode of How I Met Your Mother… that’s a testament to your show and how wonderful it is and how loyal your fans are.” [46:10]
  • She credits her friendship with writer Gloria Calderón Kellett for the cameo.

Writing as Memory & Metanarrative

• The structure and modal jump-cutting of HIMYM are mirrored in the podcast’s own reflection—memories are non-linear, highly selective, and rooted in emotional resonance.

  • Josh: “It really does have the feeling of looking through an old photo album and being like, oh my god. Totally forgot about that night…” [59:55]
  • Craig: “Memory is really strange, which I suppose is the premise of this entire show, but we’re experiencing it as we talk about the show on a podcast, which is even weirder. The meta levels are stacking up.” [28:54]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Writing Gauntlet

  • Craig: “Did that ever alarm you guys as a cast, Josh, when you would see when you’d go to bed and the script hasn’t shown up…?” [09:04]

• On Atlantic City’s Unique Mood

  • Barney (as quoted by Josh): “‘Ah, AC. Always in decline, never hitting bottom. Good to see you, old friend.’” [18:45]
  • Josh: “Atlantic City is the not Moby. To Vegas is Moby... It’s not even close.” [53:57]

• On the Show’s Emotional Center

  • Josh: “A person often meets their destiny on the road they took to avoid it.” [35:10]
  • Craig: “They’re literally in international waters. That’s how far they’re trying to run away from the thing they’re trying to avoid.” [36:05]

• Single-Entendre/Airplane-style Comedy

  • Josh: “I love when How I Met Your Mother falls into these old timey Three Stooges kind of grout. Like Marx Brothers rhythms, but like craps. Not that nervous. No, I meant you want to play craps.” [25:19]
  • Craig: “That’s like a Naked Gun joke… The single entendre.” [25:51]

• On the Value of “Filler” Episodes

  • Craig: “If this was a 10-episode, 12-episode season, you’re not going to have Atlantic City in here.” [38:16]
  • Josh: “If someone’s expecting this in their inbox, or you better get moving… There’s something about the 22, 24 episode order that both has you lean into absurdity…” [37:37]

• On Guest Acting

  • Josh: “Guest starring is the hardest thing, like dropping into this organism that's already up and functioning and just coming in…” [47:06]

• On Memory as Storytelling

  • Craig: “You don’t. Your memories aren’t like. Here’s the entire conversation we had, right? You remember a snippet. You remember one little bit, and then it jumps ahead…” [51:01]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 02:51 | Intro to the episode, writing staff, and episode set up | | 03:43–05:03 | How the writers’ room ladder has changed, TV industry talk | | 06:51–08:02 | “Atlantic City” episode summary and themes | | 08:50–14:05 | Table read process, frantic rewrites for this episode, production panic | | 15:19–17:49 | Finding the emotional center, Lily’s journey | | 17:54–19:43 | Favorite comic moments: pedicures, jokes on Atlantic City | | 21:22–24:43 | Ted’s “bikini t-shirt” subplot, prop comedy | | 25:19–27:41 | “Single entendre” gags; elaborate bar game as “Deal or No Deal” reference | | 29:44–32:24 | Craig searches for old scripts and outlines; what changed from outline to screen | | 36:05 | “International waters” as escape metaphor | | 37:09–39:47 | The challenge and value of 22/24-ep seasons; structure of the show | | 43:29–46:47 | Kate Micucci's audio segment on her guest role | | 47:49–58:07 | General Q&A: Cheers, extras, gambling, improvisation | | 58:25–59:55 | Song choice: "Sink to the Bottom with You" and its meaning in the episode’s context | | 59:55–61:16 | Reflection on the show as a time capsule and photo album | | 61:24–62:02 | Quoting Isaac Dinesen: “The cure for anything is saltwater...” |

Closing Reflections

The hosts emphasize the rare, irreplaceable connections forged by collaborative storytelling: “Not many people have this much of their, you know, 30s documented,” marvels Josh [59:55]. “It’s a living photo album of us at a time in our lives that’s pretty extraordinary.” “Atlantic City,” while at first glance a comedic detour, emerges on reflection as an experiment in format, tone, and depth—a heartfelt testament to the value of resisting formula just long enough to rediscover what makes a group (or a show) a “family.”

For Further Exploration

• Music Note: “Sink to the Bottom with You” by Fountains of Wayne provides a poignant end, resonant with Marshall and Lily’s journey.
• Call to Listeners: The hosts invite fans to share their own “How I Met Your Mother” memories at howwemadeyourmother.com, underscoring the show’s enduring, deeply personal impact.