How We Got it Toupee Off | S2E21 "Something Borrowed"

Summary

How We Made Your Mother

Episode: "How We Got it Toupee Off" | S2E21 "Something Borrowed"

Hosts: Josh Radnor, Craig Thomas | Guest: Jeff Meacham | Air date: March 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas revisit “Something Borrowed,” the penultimate episode of How I Met Your Mother’s Season 2, exploring its farcical wedding misadventures, inside stories from the set, and the lasting emotional resonance of imperfect moments. With drop-ins from guest Jeff Meacham (the DJ), fan questions, and personal anecdotes, the hosts celebrate the show’s serialized secrets, behind-the-scenes laughs, and the heart that made this episode—and the series—so beloved.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Wedding Episode and Narrative Structure

• A Three-Part Finale
  The hosts explain that “Something Borrowed” is both the first half of a two-parter (with “Something Blue”), and the conclusion of a "three-part finale" that began with “Showdown.”

  “You actually get a little glimpse of this wedding. Marshall's in a hat. Very mysteriously...wait for it.” (Josh, 07:03)

• Serialized Storytelling vs. Network Pressure
  Craig shares how the network wanted more stand-alone episodes, but the writers insisted on weaving mysteries and payoffs over multiple episodes—even seasons.

  “We really looked at a season as one big organism rather than this series of standalone things...it feels very vindicating for that decision.” (Craig, 09:03)

• Payoff and Loyalty
  The episode highlights how HIMYM rewards devoted fans through hidden setups and long-term payoff.

  “The more you watch it, it's like a mystery.” (Josh, 09:53)

Behind the Scenes: On Set and Off Script

• Formative Set Experiences
  Jeff Meacham, who played the wedding DJ, recounts his first job on a multicam comedy, expressing how welcoming and fun the HIMYM set was, setting a standard he’d seek his whole career.

  “As soon as I got onto set, I was like, oh, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.” (Jeff, 02:23)

• Shooting On Location
  Marshall and Lily’s vows were filmed in Rancho Park, a rare excursion off-lot that felt like “having class outside” and brought the cast even closer.

  “I just remember it was like having class outside.” (Pam, as quoted by Josh and Craig, 19:09)

Iconic Moments & Physical Comedy

• The Hair Mishap (Reverse Mohawk Scene)
  A technical and comedic high point: Marshall’s disastrous haircut.

  • The effect was achieved with a bald cap and frosted tip wig, and Jason Segel (Marshall) did the bit in one take, to the cast’s awe.

  “It was a miracle. We did it one time.” (Josh, 34:31) “He looks absolutely unhinged when he turns around.” (Josh, 33:26)

• The Toupee Gag
  The panicked efforts to solve Marshall’s hair crisis crescendo with the use of a cheap toupee, culminating in a perfectly-timed “payoff” joke.

  “The toupee scene with the uncle is really funny… A reaction shot masterclass in this whole episode.” (Craig, 35:58) “To pay off. Hey. Boom. To pay off on every level. To pay off.” (Craig, 36:33) “How we got it to pay off, I think, is the name of this episode.” (Alec, 36:52)

Thematic Takeaways

• Embracing Imperfection
  The episode’s wedding chaos becomes a parable about accepting life’s curveballs and finding meaning in imperfection.

  “You can do all the planning…sometimes what’s right in front of you is the thing that needs to happen.” (Josh, 19:56) “Your life is happening there…if you pay attention, that’s where the magic is too.” (Craig, 20:11)

• Real-life Wedding Parallels
  Josh recounts his own wedding blizzard—planned for perfection, ultimately memorable only because of everything that went wrong.

  “It was a chaotic, stress-inducing thing that ended up…perfect and beautiful and just the wedding we wanted.” (Josh, 40:56)

• Comedy Disguising Drama A listener’s letter prompts Josh and Craig to reflect on HIMYM’s unique tone:

  “A serious drama disguised as a comedy.” (Listener letter read by Josh, 52:10) “That’s how we think of it...that’s the Trojan horse we were sneaking onto CBS in 2005…” (Craig, 52:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Hair Scene:

  "He turns around like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He was absolutely unhinged. No, it did look like someone who had broken with reality in a pretty strong way.” (Josh, 33:26, 37:10)

• On the Show’s Legacy:

  “I was in this great, great piece of art. And I didn’t know… Now all these years later, looking back, I really see: Oh my God, I was a part of something so cool.” (Josh, 12:16)

• On the Group’s Bond:

  “It almost feels like the whole group is getting married at the end of season two. They’re all just admitting that they’re the most important people to each other.” (Craig, 19:21)

• On Production Constraints:

  “Sometimes the 22 minutes is absolutely clarifying...and other times, you’re like, yeah, it’s 22 minutes. I wish we had five extra minutes.” (Josh, 22:14)

• On Comedy as Trojan Horse:

  “A serious drama disguised as a comedy. That’s the show.” (Josh, 52:10)

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Important Segments with Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------| | 02:23 | Jeff Meacham on set memories and career impact | | 06:07 | Recap and context for “Something Borrowed” | | 09:53 | Payoff and serialized storytelling | | 17:35 | Reminiscing about the bar set, time on show | | 19:09 | Filming the vows outside (“class outside”) | | 29:36 | The epic hair/shaving scene breakdown | | 35:58 | The toupee gag | | 44:06 | Fan mail about the show’s drama-comedy mix | | 46:18 | Behind the scenes: Videographer casting | | 48:07 | Fan query: Scooter’s real name continuity error |

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Fan Letters & Listener Questions

• Continuity Error — Scooter’s Name:
  Fans spotted that Scooter is called Bill in “Something Borrowed,” but Jeff in Season 8, which the hosts recognize as a mistake.

  “Of all things to fuck up, to get David Burka—Neil’s actual husband—his character’s name wrong…mea culpa.” (Craig, 48:41)

• Emotional Impact:
  A listener explains how the show’s bittersweet, earnest tone helped him through life, inspiring him to approach others with care and intention.

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Tone and Style

This episode is full of the easy camaraderie, deep nostalgia, playful self-mockery, and genuine warmth that’s defined both HIMYM and this rewatch podcast. The hosts are candid about regrets (“I always have, I like to share regrets…” Craig, 20:34), delighted by their own inside jokes (“‘How we got it toupee off’…that will be the title!” – Alec, 36:52), and eager to share fan questions and memories.

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Conclusion

The podcast’s revisit of “Something Borrowed” offers a loving, behind-the-scenes look at one of How I Met Your Mother’s funniest and most heartfelt episodes. Through anecdotes, listener mail, and a robust breakdown of favorite scenes (“the apex of this episode: toupee-off!”), Josh and Craig underscore how the show’s lasting magic lies in both its meticulous construction and its willingness to let chaos and imperfection create the most memorable moments.

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[Next episode: "Something Blue" — Season 2 Finale]

Transcript

[Josh Radnor]

So I have to admit something. Even though I've spent a lot of time on tv, I'm not that great at watching tv. I get restless, I get bored. If it doesn't hook me in the first 12 minutes, I'm out. And my wife and I sometimes struggle for shows we can watch together. But every once in a while, we find a show that the two of us love equally. And it's so much fun to watch it together. We had this experience with season one of Jury Duty on Amazon Prime. It was this brilliant, hilarious, groundbreaking social experiment that celebrated goodness in the most unexpected way. So when I heard that it was finally coming back after three years, I had. I just had one question. How were they going to top that? Turns out by going bigger. Set in a courtroom in the first installment and a company retreat in the second. Jury Duty presents Company Retreat takes the experiment out of the courthouse and into a company retreat for Rock and Grandma's Hot Sauce, a beloved family business with a lot riding on this final retreat before the CEO retires. At the center is Anthony, a real temp who thinks he's just there for work, except he doesn't know the entire thing is staged. It's workplace comedy meets hidden camera. Unpredictable, innovative, heartfelt, and so, so funny. If you've ever sat through an awkward icebreaker with co workers, you're going to feel seen. And in the most delightful twist, Rock and Grandma's Hot Sauce. The actual hot sauce will actually be available on Amazon for flavors sold individually or as a collectible four pack. Watch now on Prime Video.

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[Jeff Meacham]

Hey guys, it's Jeff Meacham. I played the wedding DJ in the season three finale. I believe it was 2007. I had just moved to Los Angeles. It was the second job I ever booked out in la. First comedy I had booked, first multicam. And as soon as I got onto set, I was like, oh, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And here's why we get we get onto set, it's this, you know Wedding set. There's a lot of background, there's all sorts of moving parts. And I'm up in the kind of a bird's eye view in the DJ booth and boom, first team comes in and you guys are all carrying your. Your coffees and your sides and you're cracking jokes and having the best time together. And Pam comes in and kind of orchestrates the whole scene. Neil's character comes, stands, comes and stands next to me. And then you guys rehearse and someone just yells the words second team. And you guys just kind of funnel off together, leave, grab your coffees, and you're giggling as you're leaving. And in comes this group of people that kind of look like you, wearing chalkboards with your characters names on them. And I was like, what is this? And somebody comes over and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

They.

[Jeff Meacham]

They basically come in, rehearse, and then they leave and they get to go have the best time of their lives while these people come in and do all the blocking and get everything set with the lights, and then they come back in, tell jokes and be stars. And I was like, oh, that's what I want to do for the rest of my life. So that really was a big turning point in my life where I was like, oh, this is. This is amazing. I remember that. I remember how kind Pam was. In fact, I got. Just got to work with her again recently and how cool it was, you know, as this young 20 something, where Neil comes over and stands next to me. I was like, hey, man, I grew up watching you. You're amazing. And he's like, thanks. I was like, oh, also, do you remember on Law and Order a couple years ago where you played that kind of psycho killer guy where you lobotomize women by pouring hot water into their brains? And he was, yeah. I was like, my wife was that woman. And he was like, cool. I was like, cool.

[Alec Lev]

So there you go.

[Jeff Meacham]

Incredible show to be on. You guys were the best. And I can't thank you enough for that experience.

[Josh Radnor]

I'm alone. What a pity. I will be soon in New York City when I see you. Please permit me to tell you everything in New York City. Well, thank you, Jeff. What a. What a great note to start the show with. And what a voice he has. I hope he has his own podcast, right?

[Craig Thomas]

Killer voice. Alec has done podcasts with Jeff, right? They're buddies. Oh, Jeff, Yes.

[Alec Lev]

Jeff and I have a podcast. It's meeting Tom Cruise.

[Craig Thomas]

You can go listen to that too. Yeah, that's awesome. That's a great story, Jeff. I'm so glad that I didn't know that, like, that little. That little bit you did being in that one episode. This episode, Something Borrowed, meant so much to you and was such an early part of your journey. That's one of the many things, like you don't know. You don't know what it means in the moment. It's good to.

[Josh Radnor]

When you're starting out in a business as crazy and unpredictable as the one we're in, it's really good to have good early formative experiences where you see a functional working set where people are happy. It's fun to tell stories. It's fun to be there. So we're glad we were able to provide.

[Craig Thomas]

They're not all like that. Not every set is like that. And. Yeah, that's cool.

[Josh Radnor]

Thanks, Chef. Well, we're. We're thrilled you could join us and we're thrilled you who are listening to this could join us here today for. For another episode of How We Made youe Mother, where Craig Thomas and I talk about the TV show we made together, How I Met yout Mother. I played Ted Mosby on that show from 2005 to 2014. Craig and his buddy Carter Bayes co created the show. We did 208 episodes of the show. And we are barreling through watching them barreling. But we're watching them all again. And we're coming to the end of season two.

[Craig Thomas]

How is it possible?

[Josh Radnor]

It's incredible. Today we're Talking about episode 21, Something Borrowed, written by groovy Greg Maylands, one of our faves, who was on the show a couple episodes ago this season. And Alec, tell us historically, root us, when was this? When did this episode air?

[Alec Lev]

Yeah. Cast your mind back to May 7, 2007.

[Josh Radnor]

Wow.

[Craig Thomas]

It's a TV wedding. So it happened in May Sweeps. We could have guessed May. May was. May would have been the topmost. That would have been number one on the Family Feud. Guesses. Yeah, that's. That's crazy, man. This is a good one. This is a good one. This begins. This is kind of part one of a two parter. And Josh actually said earlier today, like, it's kind of part two of a three parter. Cause it feels like the episode showdown that precedes this has a few little nuggets planted in it about the wedding. You actually get a little glimpse of this wedding. Marshall's in a hat. In the wedding.

[Josh Radnor]

Very mysteriously, Marshall's in a hat, which is great. Led Jordana to say, why is Marshall

[Craig Thomas]

wearing a hat, in that weird hat. And you go, wait for it.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, wait for it. And also, isn't Showdown where Ted and Robin come in in their spaghetti stained clothes?

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, yes. They come in and they're covered in spaghetti sauce. And they say, we'll tell you that later. And they mean it. They mean much later because you don't find out until the episode after this. But that's why these three feel like a three part finale in a way of the season.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, again, it's mysteries. It's little mysteries woven throughout. But it also shows to me that you guys were really mapping this thing out and you were really. You wanted everything to count. You know, sometimes there's, there's dangling threads or people comment and say, why did this happen? Because in episode, you know, season seven, this happened and you couldn't account for everything. But I think you guys did an amazing job tying things up and thank you.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, we, we took it seriously. Yeah. I was very excited because my, my wife hadn't seen this one a long time. And I said, do you. Well, I guess it was in Showdown. I said this. I said, do you remember why they're covered in pasta sauce? And she's like, no, it's just. She did.

[Josh Radnor]

I didn't remember.

[Craig Thomas]

It didn't register for her at all. And she was like. She didn't think it was weird. It just kind of goes by.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And then like when we watched, we watched the spoilers, we watched the one we'll talk about after this, which is Something Blue, the finale of season two, and it paid off and she was very excited because she's like, that's the pasta sauce. Okay, now I got it. She'd completely forgotten.

[Josh Radnor]

I forgot about it. And I had actual pasta sauce spilled onto me.

[Craig Thomas]

And I thought, you're the person who should have had the strongest bissel.

[Josh Radnor]

Vivid memory. Yeah, well, I, Yeah, I mean, I think that that speaks to like Carter is a crossword puzzle guy. Like me.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

But I think you both have a sense of like, puzzlementship.

[Craig Thomas]

Is that a word? Like puzzlementship. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen.

[Josh Radnor]

You like things kind of falling into place. You like, you like a good mislead. You like, what is going on? Why? Freeze frame. Let's back up. Let's show how we got there.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. You know, we love telling stories like that. It's. We, we looked at these seasons kind novels kind of like you could jump around and really everything should refer to something else. Everything should be there for a reason. If it Possibly can be. And we really looked at a season as one big organism rather than this series of standalone things, which, like we said at the beginning of season two, the network would have probably been happier at the time if we had done standalone episodes that were very digestible, that required little thought. You don't have to have seen them in any particular order. It's just not how we write. They asked us to do more of that, and we kind of said we'll try, knowing that we were not going to try and that we can't. We could only write it this way. And I have to say, rewatching it feels very vindicating for that decision because it's very fun to watch like this again. Right. It's very fun to go back and go, this is why everything was here.

[Josh Radnor]

But I think the sense of payoff that is tied to the longevity and serialized nature of the show is why people keep coming back to the show like it's some sort of holy shrine because it rewards your fidelity to it. Like, the more you watch it, it's like a mystery.

[Craig Thomas]

It is. It's little clues. I'm gonna. I know what that clue is gonna. I know what the payoff's gonna be to that clue. And people like that.

[Josh Radnor]

There's a thing, I think this is from the Bhagavad Gita. Forgive me if it's not, but there's some line essentially from, like, Vedic something where it says, the first taste of ego is sweet, but its fruits are bitter. And the first taste of God is bitter, but its fruits are sweet. And I feel like what the network was saying was like, give us fruit. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Give us the thing. And then it curdles over time because it's too easy. But what you guys were saying was like, we're give you something a little more challenging that will ultimately down the line be more rewarding for you.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it's kind of the ultimate. Wait for it. Wait for it is kind of the mantra of the series. Wait for it is the whole mantra. That is the guiding aesthetic of the whole series.

[Josh Radnor]

And the last line of this season. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Which is my favorite. Yeah, we'll get there. We'll get there in the next one. But that is one of my. Maybe my favorite ending of a season we ever did is the ending of this season. But here are. In a second to last episode, I

[Josh Radnor]

just realized my voice is sound. I just want to say that I've had this upper respiratory infection for the last couple days. Josh is powering. I'm Getting through it and it hasn't been fun, but I'm, I'm well enough to be here today and I'm thrilled to be here today. I was really, I was really taken. My wife and I watched the last three episodes all last night and I had this experience, I want to tell you this. It was during the third. It was during Something Blue and I, it reminded me of. Do you know the actor Victor Garber? Yeah, great actor. He played the, the ship's architect in Titanic and he had a long, great career.

[Craig Thomas]

Another classic architect like Ted.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And we, we did this musical together years ago called she Loves Me and we had a great experience and so we had a lot of time to, to chat. And he was in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the great Stephen Sondheim musical. And he played the young ingenue. He sings that great song Joanna. And he said they opened the show and he got an offer to do, I think this musical called They're Playing Our Song, which is a two hander musical. He got an offer to go on the road for a lot of money with a big star and he left, he left Sweeney Todd to go do this. And he thought this is a good move. It financially makes sense. And I'm just. And then he finished the road tour. Sweeney Todd was still playing. He either got asked to go see it or he just decided to drop in. He's sitting in the audience at Sweeney Todd, this musical that he was in the original cast of. And he's sitting there and he goes, oh my God, I was in this. Like he was so stunned by what he was watching and he had no sense of it being it when he was in it, when he was in it, how unbelievable it was and how it was breaking form. And it was so extraordinary to him and he couldn't believe he was in it. And I had this moment last night watching this where I was like, oh my God, I was in this. Like I was in this great, great piece of art. And I didn't know, I mean, I knew like I would tell you, like, oh my God, that's so funny. Or I think this is great. I knew I was on a clever, wonderful show that was gathering steam. I knew all that. But I didn't have a sense that I was in some sort of like iconic, generationally defining. That was our hope. But it was so hard for me in the moment to appreciate. And now all these years later, looking back, I really see like, oh my God, I was a part of something so cool.

[Craig Thomas]

Totally. It's like the best version of the it's the positive version of the frog in the boiling water.

[Josh Radnor]

Right, Right.

[Craig Thomas]

It's like our boiling water was we're on a really good show and the frog's boiling water was its death. But the metaphor falls apart at a certain point. But it's like you don't quite know what ecosystem you're in as you're making it. You don't. I'm feeling that too. I'm watching it going, this is a good show. These final three of season two and the one we'll talk about next, Something Blue, the ending of Something Blue, which we'll get to. I just remember having this feeling, editing that episode, shooting that scene of you and Neil. I'm jumping an episode here. Sorry. But having this feeling of this is working. I had a profound sense of well being with this two part finale, Something Borrowed and Something Blue. I just remember feeling like we did it. We're on the crab, as they say.

[Josh Radnor]

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

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[Josh Radnor]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radnor]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radnor]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radnor]

And now back to the show. I think that television and I would argue music. They're not opening weekend independent art forms.

[Craig Thomas]

No. It's the long tail.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. The initial sales of an album do not speak to how long or how impactful that album will be culturally. And it's the same thing with TV especially.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

Something we, we gave people a treasure trove of. I'm actually startled when I we. We've covered so much. The first two seasons have so much in them and so many. My memories are very strong of even though I forget large patches. I can't believe we have seven more seasons to go.

[Craig Thomas]

I know.

[Josh Radnor]

It's actually, it's crazy how much of this we.

[Craig Thomas]

I'm curious to see how he's strung it out for that long. Some of them are good.

[Josh Radnor]

I was looking at the bar and I was just like, oh my God. We spent so much time.

[Craig Thomas]

I know.

[Josh Radnor]

In that bar at that booth.

[Craig Thomas]

It's college. It's a decade. It's basically a decade of our life if you round up just a little. Yeah, it's crazy. But I had such a feeling of like I remembered the feeling of excitement and spark of the. Of this episode and the one that follows. Like this is a great episode. Greg Maylands did a great job writing this episode. Marshall Malise vows outside when they. When the wedding is going so terribly and they relocate outside into one of our one of like four location shoots in the entire history of How I Met yout Mother.

[Josh Radnor]

And it was at the park right across the street.

[Craig Thomas]

Right across the street. So we went.

[Josh Radnor]

It was our big field trip.

[Craig Thomas]

We had to cross our first big field trip.

[Josh Radnor]

I don't think we.

[Craig Thomas]

We drove across Pico Boulevard from the Fox lot To a park that is literally right there. Rancho park, right? That's what it's called. It's like Cheviot Hills. Rancho Park. And that is. That was our huge ambitious location.

[Josh Radnor]

We kept talking about like one day we're going to shoot in New York City. Like the whole show never happened. But we did get to Rancho Park.

[Craig Thomas]

We got to Rancho park and then in like season seven or eight, we got to Univers, the Universal lot to shoot Subway Words. And that was. That was the farthest away we ever got. We never got outside of Los Angeles. But boy, that, that park was great. And that. Yeah. I was texting with Pam earlier and she said. I said, do you remember shooting that? Was that right across the street in the park, right by the Foxhound? She said, yes, I remember. I just remember it was like having class outside.

[Josh Radnor]

That's exactly what it felt like.

[Craig Thomas]

We were all having such a good time. And she said she'd try to send some photos. I feel like if she does, we'll

[Josh Radnor]

put it in the. You know how you could kind of either get a lift down in New York street or walk it?

[Craig Thomas]

It's right there.

[Josh Radnor]

I mean, I always like walking.

[Craig Thomas]

It is a literal stone's throw away. But it looked. It's a beautiful park. It really did the trick. It felt east coast somehow. It felt very green. It felt. Did not feel like Southern California. It looked great. And that whole sequence is so sweet. Their vows and the fact that they really get married, only with this group, it almost feels like the whole group is getting married at the end of season two. They're all just admitting that they're the most important people to each other. Who cares about all that family and all the chaos within that wedding venue? Let's admit, let's agree what's important here and it's us. And I think that's great.

[Josh Radnor]

It also, I think contained within it is one of the larger lessons of How I Met yout Mother is like you can do all the planning in the world that you want and sometimes what's right in front of you is the thing that needs to happen.

[Craig Thomas]

That's your life. Your life is happening there. You think it's happening somewhere else, but it's actually happening there. And if you pay attention, that's where the magic is too. And that is what the end of that episode feels like to me. Malin's wrote a great set of vows that they're improvised vows. I feel like that was mostly Greg. Like, I just have that memory of like the script Coming in. And it was so sweet and nice. We. We probably tweaked it a little, but it was really well done.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Here's my one regret. Ready? I always have. I like to share regrets. I like to admit when I think we. We kind of dropped a ball. We were talking about how. How much we hold on to setups and payoffs. I think we dropped a setup a little bit. Not that it would have been great. I. And you. Maybe you guys talked me out of feeling bad about this one. But earlier in the season, we made a bit of hay about the fact that Lily was needed to face Marshall's family's ire for canceling the wedding months when she broke up with Marshall and delaying the wedding. And they were gonna get married in Atlantic City. And then it was like, no, we gotta go face the music. We gotta go be there. And Lily has to stand up in front of Marshall's family, and we need to see her do that rite of passage. And then we just didn't fucking show it at all. In this episode. We had a different idea. We had a different. I love what we did because what we did got them to these vows. But I feel like there should have been one beat where it was like, marshall's family, we still haven't forgiven you for breaking up.

[Josh Radnor]

Is Marshall's family.

[Craig Thomas]

Even in this episode, they're not. And I think it was probably like, yes.

[Alec Lev]

Actually, Renee Shar Charbonneau9 does ask, why weren't Marshall's family members there?

[Craig Thomas]

It was a very big episode. Again, our first location shoot, one block from the Fox lot. But believe it or not, it still costs a lot of money to relocate to one block from the Fox lot. And I think the episode probably cost a bunch of money. We weren't a huge hit yet. And my suspicion is it was like, well, we could spend a whole bunch of money to hire all those extra Erickson folks for, like, one scene. But let's not do that because it's too much money. If we thought about it at all, we may have talked ourselves out of it in that way. Retrospectively. I sort of wish we had done that just so I could have felt like we threaded that one little needle. I don't think it's important. I don't think it would have changed the episode substantively. But that was. I'm admitting that every now and again when I rewatch these things, I go, ah, we could have done that.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, sometimes the 22 minutes is absolutely clarifying, and it challenges you to be at your Most efficient, most streamlined kind of thinking. And other times you're like, yeah, it's 22 minutes.

[Craig Thomas]

I wish we had five extra minutes. And we just could have done a little sequence about that. But then it would have been whatever their love, the lovely ending of that episode would have been even more squashed and we would have had to cut other stuff that I like and I love. Scooter in this episode, Neil's actual real life partner, David Burka, real life husband now. And Jill Manganiello is so funny in this one. And just like, it's great. It's a three ring circus of madness. And I love the theme that emerges from it, but I miss that one thing.

[Josh Radnor]

I will also say not, you know, much to Jordana's chagrin, I'm not, as she says, I don't have a lot of TV stamina. Like, she. She likes to watch a bunch of episodes and we watched three last night and I was initially like, oh, my God, three. It's a lot. That's a lot. It's a big mountain to climb up. They were over before I knew. Like, this show goes down smooth. You can burn through a bunch of episodes in a very quick, satisfying way. They go down really easy.

[Craig Thomas]

They go by really, really fast. Yeah, I think I watched two or three of these last with Rebecca, and I was like, I was sad. They were over. They went by really, really fast. And in this one, I was thinking, this one did leave me wanting more. I wanted that one beat more that we didn't do. But you're right. Sometimes that challenge, painting yourself into that small corner, 22 minutes. I'd say more often than not, that was a good thing. Even though every now and again you kick yourself, you go, I wish we could have done this. But usually I think necessity is the

[Josh Radnor]

mother of mention leaning out any fat from it. You're like, you just. Unless it's hilarious, it has to go or un its plot, you know, necessary.

[Craig Thomas]

And often we would do both. When it can be hilarious and advancing the plot at the same time, that's the dream. And it forces you to do that.

[Josh Radnor]

You know, I also though this, this episode, like we talked about, like, everything in especially Lily's perfect idea of a wedding goes wrong. Like, that must have been fun in a writer's room, like, okay, perfect wedding. Everything goes wrong. Go right. Like, isn't that kind of. It's a great assignment for a writer's room.

[Craig Thomas]

All of your hopes and expectations. What's the checklist of everything you want to happen and everything you don't want to happen. And you fuck up all the things that are on the list A. And you do all the things on list B. Scooter showing up, the super pregnant harp player. She was very funny. That was a good guest performance.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. Very funny.

[Craig Thomas]

Everybody. Every, like, guest star. Guest star on the show was really, like, David Burko is really funny. Oh, my God. When he won't make eye contact.

[Josh Radnor]

When he won't make eye contact is one of the biggest laughs in the episode.

[Craig Thomas]

It really is.

[Josh Radnor]

He says, you can look me in the eye and tell me you want to marry Marshall.

[Craig Thomas]

It is such a stupid joke. And he leaned into it with such exquisite earnestness.

[Josh Radnor]

But, you know, also, David, like, I know he went to University of Michigan for musical theater, which is a great, like, one of the best in the country. Like, sometimes when an actor has, like, Roger Bart. Remember, like, when he was on season nine, Like.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

Certain actors who have either a dance background or a musical theater background, sometimes they can lean into physicality. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

You see David's dancer. The dancer movement.

[Josh Radnor]

It was so funny, and it was so, like, committed to fully inhabited. Yeah. Scooter is a. Scooter is an animated character. He is like. Scooter is absolutely from the world.

[Craig Thomas]

He wandered out of, like, the Simpsons or something. He came from somewhere else.

[Josh Radnor]

He's Disco Stu or something.

[Craig Thomas]

Staggered into this show. David is having a lot of fun with that.

[Josh Radnor]

I also love. I mean, just the. The. The. The scene with him and Neil, if, you know, you know, is so funny just because they're so funny. They're such strangers to each other.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Josh Radnor]

Until.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. And I love how Joe, you know, Brad on the show really likes Scooter until he realizes he's Scooter.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

You know, once he knows he's Scooter, he's, like, instantly wants to go kill him and tackle him.

[Josh Radnor]

Funny how Brad is so open to being, like, a hired goon. Like, he's like, tell me who to tackle.

[Craig Thomas]

He really seems like he's being paid. He seems like he's Frank Sinatra's bodyguard.

[Josh Radnor]

I love that, you know, Brad, especially in this season, became like, he's just in the constellation of kind of peripheral characters that you can always depend on to be funny.

[Craig Thomas]

He instantly has presence. Like, he can come in and matter by being on there for three seconds and. Yeah, it's great.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. There's a lot of classic door slamming and popping into rooms, in and out of rooms really quickly.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. It's shot out of a cannon. Until then, it Slows. It earns that slower ending outside, I think that was us going. We have this location shoot. We have a fucking jib like a crane. And we are going to milk the beauty of the fact that we're in this beautiful park, having this beautiful scene. And I love. Yet again, the softer side of Barney comes out. Barney is the first one crying at the wedding.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. Okay, so the first half of this are. It's really like a Lily, Barney, Robyn thing in the bride's suite. I mean, it's so great how Barney discovers this superpower. It's for the bride.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. That was very fun. That was very fun.

[Josh Radnor]

And there is, you know, having. Having been married two years ago, like, there is something about the power of the bride on a wedding day is like no other thing.

[Craig Thomas]

The groom has nothing of a fraction of it. The groom barely rates compared to the power of the bride. And that's how it should be for the bride is that. Those are the three magic words.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's so funny how he tests that and uses that. He's such an asshole to the bartender

[Craig Thomas]

at first, you know, he really is. I was on.

[Josh Radnor]

I was team bartender in that scene. I was like, stop being such a douche.

[Craig Thomas]

He was douching out super hard at the bartender. Yeah. But Barney finding that new toy. It's basically like a little kid finds a dangerous new toy, like a toy he's not supposed to have, that he could break, that's expensive, and he just starts going bananas with it.

[Josh Radnor]

That's that whole story at the beginning of the episode when she says, oh, the Lesnar's canceled, or whatever. And Robin's like, Lesner is more nervous. And she tries to explain it to Ted. And what does he say?

[Craig Thomas]

He says, yeah, this is now one

[Josh Radnor]

of those times, sweetie. That whole run really made me laugh.

[Craig Thomas]

That's a great run. Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And I love the line. Did he look like a guy who tried to be an umpire and failed?

[Craig Thomas]

He did.

[Josh Radnor]

He did.

[Craig Thomas]

Lily.

[Josh Radnor]

Hallie had a reaction to Scooter that made us laugh so hard. I don't remember what it was, but she just had a face that was just so funny. But look me in the eye. Like I said, maybe for me, the biggest laugh of the episode.

[Craig Thomas]

It was so funny. And also it's a great thing. The other great thing about Scooter coming in is Scooter thinks he's the main character in that episode. Like, I always love that feeling of, like, this. This. He's in his movie. He's in the.

[Josh Radnor]

He's in the Graduate.

[Craig Thomas]

He's.

[Josh Radnor]

He's Benjamin Braddock in the Graduate in

[Craig Thomas]

the climactic scene of the movie in his mind. And Lily's just like, no, no, no, just get out of here. No, that's never gonna happen. Yeah, it's. It's funny and heartbreaking.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Poor Scooter.

[Josh Radnor]

I love when Lily says, oh, grow up, Robin. Of course I want a perfect wedding.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah, I know. It goes a long time. That bit where Lily's like, I don't care. It's all good. I've got Marshall. Nothing else matters. And it's like, no, I'm. Who am I kidding? It fucking matters. You know what I mean?

[Josh Radnor]

But then we swing over to Marshall and the disastrous.

[Craig Thomas]

How have we waited this long to get to this? Josh, I feel like you said to me, this is the hardest you've ever laughed or the most. You've almost lost it.

[Josh Radnor]

This is the most I've had to suppress a laugh.

[Alec Lev]

So the main question that we get from the Internet on this one is Scotty Ross. We could read his. He says, we all probably want to know, was Jason's hair really shaved down the middle or was that Hollywood magic? I've paused and zoomed in on that moment, and I just don't see a skull cap. And of course, the other big question is, Josh, were you really laughing?

[Josh Radnor]

All right, we'll answer both of those questions. Okay? One thing I did want to say. So we get the scripts that you. You sent out, right? But also remember, the costume department gets the script. The hair department gets the script. Makeup, props, all the, you know, set dressing, because they have to read the script through their lens of, like, what do we need to do now? The hair department on this got a real assignment, right? So they need. They need to give Marshall frosted tips, and they need an effect where he takes a razor and does a reverse mohawk. Like a landing strip in the center of his head on television. Like, not like. No. Like, they have to figure that out, right?

[Craig Thomas]

It has to look like it really happened. It's not that you don't see the result of it. You see it.

[Josh Radnor]

So my memory. And we can call, you know, Tina or whoever was doing. But was Tina on this second season?

[Craig Thomas]

I think she was, yes, because we saw her.

[Josh Radnor]

Oh, we saw her. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, she was in.

[Josh Radnor]

So I think what they did was they. They bald capped Jason. Right?

[Craig Thomas]

They bald.

[Josh Radnor]

That's.

[Craig Thomas]

That is what they did. They bald capped Jason. And it look. It looked fucking great.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, they bald capped Jason with, like, some Stubble. And then they put on a frosted tip wig, right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, exactly. So his real hair is bound down under really tight under something that looks like a pale scalp.

[Josh Radnor]

But I remember we obviously could not rehearse this other than kind of miming through it.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. They must have made at least two. Cause if they fucked up, they must have had at least two, maybe three of that.

[Josh Radnor]

But.

[Craig Thomas]

Right. You only have a.

[Josh Radnor]

We only had to do it once. It worked so well.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it looks so good. We did it once. God, I wonder if they only had one. But I bet they made.

[Josh Radnor]

I'm pretty sure we did it once because it was like. And the other thing that was so hard for me was because I knew he nailed the effect. So I felt like if I am laughing, I don't want to ruin that take because that's a huge reset. Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Right. Yes.

[Josh Radnor]

That would take an hour to reach out.

[Craig Thomas]

And also, you just watched a guy hit a half court basketball shot exactly like he. That could have fucked up so many ways. And we would have been like, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. You know, like, trying to preserve it if we could. But he nailed it. It was. It was magical how.

[Josh Radnor]

Well he made me laugh. And I don't remember if he did this in rehearsals, but the way, you know how Jason would kind of do like Fozzie Bear. Yeah, like, that was kind of a bit.

[Craig Thomas]

His whole life is him doing Fozzie Bear.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, he was like. He was a Fozzie Bear. Afic Fozzie. And he kind of.

[Craig Thomas]

He grab.

[Josh Radnor]

I remember he grabbed it and he went like a. Like it was a muppety sound that he made as he runs the razor through his hair. Right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

And just this insane thing. And when he did it, I was so shocked. One, that it worked. Two, how ridiculous it was and how hilarious it was. And I was like. I had this. I was not acting in that moment. No, what I was doing was going, oh, my God. Because also there's something unbelievably hilarious and upsetting. Like there's eight different emotions going on.

[Craig Thomas]

It's psychotic. He looks so fucking crazy, dude. The look at his face is so crazy.

[Josh Radnor]

And he turns around like Jack Nicholson in the Shining. Like, he looks absolutely unhinged when he turns around.

[Craig Thomas]

Unhinged is the word.

[Josh Radnor]

And this was his solution to the cool guy tips.

[Craig Thomas]

How was. What was his plan? How was that going to dig him out of that hole? So I was watching it with my wife, Rebecca, and I rewound and watched it again two more times. I Think I watched it three times total because of you. Not, like your laugh was so genuine and funny.

[Josh Radnor]

You're shocked.

[Craig Thomas]

You're playing six things on your face, including, I, Josh Radnor, don't wanna ruin this take. That's also there. But there's other layers to it, too. And it's so genuinely. You're horrified. But, you know, it's the funniest thing ever, too. Like Ted. I mean, Ted knows it's the funniest thing ever. Josh does also. But everything about that reaction shot is just pure joy to me.

[Josh Radnor]

But part of the joy and the challenge of it was we had never actually done it. It was like a stunt. We did one time. We did it one time.

[Craig Thomas]

You look like Christmas morning. You look like a kid on Christmas morning.

[Josh Radnor]

It was a miracle. It was a miracle.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, it was a miracle. It should not have gone that well. It does not usually work out like that when you have.

[Josh Radnor]

I also. I remember in. I think it was even the table read. But when the hairdresser says to him, you want some cool guy tips? And he says, I don't know if I need any tips on that.

[Craig Thomas]

I'm pretty cool.

[Josh Radnor]

But that really made me laugh.

[Craig Thomas]

How about the good? The good. Not even the good, actually place the good. Backstreet place.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. And this old man, he must admit, fell in love with you.

[Craig Thomas]

New York City and now commercials. Protein is now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good.

[Josh Radnor]

You can add protein cold foam to

[Craig Thomas]

your favorite drink or try one of

[Josh Radnor]

our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

[Craig Thomas]

End of commercials. Back to show.

[Josh Radnor]

But also then Ted and Barney's attempts to help him through his career. Oh, my God.

[Craig Thomas]

Neil's take behind in the deep background behind over Jason's shoulder when he's trying to act like it's good. No, the toupee is good. The toupee is gonna work. Yeah, sorry, I'm jumping into the toupee. Oh, my God. A reaction shot. Masterclass in this whole episode.

[Josh Radnor]

The toupee scene with the uncle is really funny.

[Craig Thomas]

That was really funny. And he played it great.

[Josh Radnor]

I mean, that guy just like. Where would you find that that would work?

[Alec Lev]

It was also long.

[Josh Radnor]

It was long.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, my God.

[Alec Lev]

See that? Really short scenes. You gave yourself the time with that guy.

[Craig Thomas]

And now to go back. Now to go back on my earlier statement. If we had a whole bunch of Ericksons running around to tend to. I don't know if you get the wig got right. Something's gotta give in 22min. Like, these are the trade offs.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, it has to be long enough and complicated enough for Barney's snatching of the thing to pay off, Right?

[Craig Thomas]

To pay off.

[Josh Radnor]

To pay off. Hey. Boom.

[Craig Thomas]

To pay off on every level. To pay off. We should just end the recording right here, Alec.

[Josh Radnor]

This is the apex of this episode two payoff. That is unbelievable.

[Craig Thomas]

Actually, it's unbelievable. That was as magic as Siegel shaving. The perfect landing strip. Yeah, yeah. It was.

[Alec Lev]

How we got it to pay off, I think is the name of this episode.

[Craig Thomas]

Okay. We just came up with it. That will be. When you click on the episode, that's what it will be called. Fuck. That was that. It really was. When he turns around and he briefly is weirdly calm about it, for one second, he's like.

[Josh Radnor]

I felt like this was the solution.

[Craig Thomas]

I solved it as if he solved his whole life. I can finally see what life. The point of life is. He had this weird clarity to him.

[Josh Radnor]

No, it did look like someone who had broken with reality in a pretty strong way. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And out of body experiences being had there, and it's. Oh, my God, the toupee is amazing.

[Josh Radnor]

I remember feeling like Jason had some. I mean, we can ask him about this, but I remembered thinking like, he loves this. Like, he loved getting to do this. Like this insane.

[Craig Thomas]

It's like the home run hitting contest in baseball. Just watching people just put him. Put him over and over again into deep left center. Like that's. That was Siegel in that whole. This whole episode.

[Josh Radnor]

He's hilarious. I really do. I know it was 19 years ago, which is astonishing to think about, but I have such a strong memory of watching Jason go.

[Craig Thomas]

You've talked about it. I want to say, like, not on the pod between us. You've talked about that moment so many times. And I remember you just talking about the look in Jason's. The look in his eyes, the look in his face when he turned to you, that it was terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Cause Siegel's 6 foot 4, and now he's turning around and he looks like. Like Doc Brown on meth.

[Josh Radnor]

He looks like Colonel Kurtz. Colonel Kurt in Apocalypse.

[Craig Thomas]

He's very. Apocalypse Now.

[Josh Radnor]

It's like he really has been in the jungle way too long.

[Craig Thomas]

So long. He's gone. Yeah. His brain is gone. He's detached from reality.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. It's. Oh, my God, it's so good. And it's such a great problem that they have to solve. And the fact that it takes them that long to get to a hat Is really funny. But no one thinks of hats.

[Alec Lev]

Can I just say that I. What made me laugh the hardest also. And you always talk about, you know, Jack Handy getting a joke down to one word, right. Jason just says hat.

[Craig Thomas]

We thought of Native American headdress before we thought of hat.

[Josh Radnor]

It's real sweet when that. The guy with the. Was he on a lawnmower or a wheelbarrow?

[Craig Thomas]

Like wheelbarrow or something? Yeah, the garden. The very convenient gardener.

[Josh Radnor]

But that's also. There's magic. Like, it's an enchanted universe. The universe of heaven.

[Craig Thomas]

It is. The universe smiled upon them because they did the right thing. They left the bullshit chaos of the idea of what the plan was gonna be. See aforementioned point of entire series. And then they embraced what moment they were actually in and what their life actually was. And the universe gave. And he had a guitar angel Gardner, who was clearly a ghost. I'm surprised Marshall didn't say, like, I think this guy was.

[Josh Radnor]

This is a good one. I think that's the grandpa.

[Craig Thomas]

That's the grandpa. That's the grandpa. He took. There we go. Oh, he. He left the barn like Marshall said. He's not gonna just.

[Josh Radnor]

Well, also, when. When we filmed this 19 years ago, I had never been married. I had never had a wedding. My wife and I had a wedding two years ago, just two years ago, and we. It was a winter wedding. And upstate at this beautiful venue called Cedar Lakes Estate. And we had everything obviously planned out perfectly. And there was a blizzard, A blizzard. Like a proper blizzard. And we were supposed to get married outside. Now, we didn't know it was gonna be a blizzard. We thought it would be a light flurry. So we decided to keep the wedding outside until we were married in a blizzard. Now, the photos are extraordinary and the video that we got is extraordinary. And people who were at this wedding said this was one of the most memorable things there. But one third of the guests were stranded that were not supposed to stay on the property, but they had to find places for everyone to sleep. I mean, it was a. It was a chaotic, stress inducing thing that ended up, in the last analysis, to be perfect and beautiful and just the wedding we wanted and just the wedding we needed and got.

[Craig Thomas]

But yeah, look, people remember a wedding that they had to resort to cannibalism at.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, that's.

[Craig Thomas]

That's one that sticks in your head.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, it was. It wasn't quite the Donner Party, but it was close. And no, the venue was incredible. They got people things to sleep in and toiletries. Like everyone Was very well taken care of. Yeah, yeah. But it was.

[Craig Thomas]

No, it's great. It's great.

[Josh Radnor]

You know, we said afterwards that a wedding is a dress rehearsal. That is the show.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

It is not something that you can perfect. And in some ways, you wouldn't. You would mistrust a perfect wedding. It's over determined. Like weddings, where I remember I had a meditation teacher who said, we love children because they're a bundle of mistakes. Like, if a child came out wearing a tux and speaking perfect English, he'd be like, that's a demon. That's a demon child. You know, like, we love seeing them stumble and not, you know, and mispronounce words and say things. So there's something about even a wedding where, like, there's gonna be those toasts that you're like, I wish they wouldn't have said that. You know, like, there's just so many things about a wedding that are. It's perfect chaos. It's like, it's an imperfectly perfect.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah. And it's a good exercise in memory, too, right? Because Marshall and Lily and the show future Ted, we don't even see Marshall and Lily's wedding. We spent an entire season talking about Marshall and Lily's wedding, and we breeze through it in a series of quick farcical cuts, right? We see the improvised thing. The more beautiful improvised thing is what we take the time to see. And then the finale of the season, we just see the aftermath, the reception, and we earn flashbacks there. We never really see much. We actually see little glimpses of it later in series. We go back and we showed some of, like, other glimpses, I think. But I love that idea, Josh. I love that idea of, like, the thing you think it's supposed to be. It's not. And that's a lesson. That is the life lesson of the whole show. And I love that we don't even see the wedding. We have a lot of examples of that on the show.

[Josh Radnor]

I loved me and Jordana's wedding, but no less moving was a couple days before the wedding, going to city hall, we got married with our friend Jacob, who actually introduced us as our witness. And we did it for, like, insurance reasons, for something like we wanted to get her on my insurance. But so I got married a couple days before, and just the three of us at city hall with this officiant. I found it so moving. It was like the boiled down essence of the thing without any of the pomp and circumstance.

[Craig Thomas]

It's very similar to this and also I bet it took a little pressure off of, like, when that blizzard really started going where you thought you're like, well, fuck it, we are already married. And that's the gift that Marshall and Lily gave themselves. Well, I mean, in a way, Ted gave it to them. Cause I think Ted is the one who says.

[Josh Radnor]

He was the one who suggested it.

[Craig Thomas]

So do it here. Like, Ted. That's why. That's why Ted is. That's why Ted is Ted. He said, let's do it here. And he was right. And that's the thing they all remember.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. I mean, sometimes he's the, no, it has to be like. When it's about him, he's like, no, it has to be like this and plan. But for other people, he can really improvise and see it, see an opportunity.

[Craig Thomas]

It's Ted becoming able to do the latter for himself. That is, in a way, what we're investigating. Over nine seasons, but we'll get there.

[Josh Radnor]

What was it Lily says? Robin says, first lie of the marriage. That was fast.

[Craig Thomas]

That was fast. Yeah, the smoking. She said, did you. She kisses him. One little package, she goes, did you smoke? No, the other way around. He says, did you smoke? First lie of the marriage. That was fast.

[Josh Radnor]

It's a great callback, though. The. You know, should we do it in the bathroom? And you see, Ted, please don't.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, the tag is so.

[Josh Radnor]

Which is such a great callback to the bed. Callback to the bunk bed.

[Craig Thomas]

It's the bunk bed callback, which is a joke from the pilot that we then saw earlier in season two. We acted out a joke from the pilot, and now we've called it back. So that's the third gift of that one joke from the pilot. It's fantastic, man. Can you, you know, use all the buffalo. Use all.

[Josh Radnor]

I actually was wondering. I was like, I don't remember filming that. I was like, were those my legs? I don't know.

[Craig Thomas]

I know.

[Josh Radnor]

It was my voice.

[Craig Thomas]

I have a feeling that you were all in. I feeling you were all in.

[Josh Radnor]

And they were like, this is a prop toilet. Who gets this? That's an Arrested Development reference.

[Craig Thomas]

You're look, he. Josh's method. He's method. If he was gonna dump me. That's right.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. You hire me, you better be prepared.

[Craig Thomas]

One take. It's like the Mohawk. We also had one take for that. For other reasons.

[Josh Radnor]

Welcome back.

[Craig Thomas]

Back.

[Josh Radnor]

We are finishing our discussion on episode 21, Something Borrowed. Alec, what do you have for us? Is this. Are we still calling this. General questions.

[Craig Thomas]

General questions. I Hope we are, because we committed just now.

[Alec Lev]

We do have. We do have a couple of questions. I've asked a bunch of them during the. The. The show. Here we have one little silly one. I also just want to put on the record that I really felt like Todd should have played the videographer in this show. And I'll tell you why. Because I was actually the videographer during this episode. I made a behind the scenes feature which we're going to talk about in our next episode. And at the time, I was like, can't you just put me in? Like, oh, you were already Todd? And I was like, well, maybe Todd is so pissed that you guys got Van Smooth that he. I couldn't quite put it together, but it really felt like I was standing

[Craig Thomas]

there with the camera already. The one thing Alec, we knew about Todd is that he fucking hated these people for getting the Van Smooth house. Now he's video their wedding.

[Josh Radnor]

Come on. A bridge too far.

[Craig Thomas]

Come on. Show some commitment to your character versus just your desire to be on camera.

[Alec Lev]

No, I just want my. Look, I still get checks for $46

[Craig Thomas]

called Integrity every three months.

[Alec Lev]

And I go out to half a dinner with it.

[Josh Radnor]

Here's. You remember there was a bar in the Valley called Residuals? Do you remember? Yes.

[Craig Thomas]

Where all the checks up on the wall, right? Like $0.01, $0.35.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah. You could bring in your residual check. I think if it was under $5 or $10, you could exchange it for a drink and they would put the check on the wall.

[Craig Thomas]

I think that's still there.

[Alec Lev]

That's amazing. I get one cent from Showtime. I get the one cent.

[Craig Thomas]

Residuals Tavern still going. Residuals Tavern. Studio City opens today. Opens at noon today. All right.

[Alec Lev]

That's amazing.

[Craig Thomas]

Go bring your residuals.

[Alec Lev]

Yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Alec, go in there with your $46 check.

[Alec Lev]

No, I was in. I was in the cold open of a Showtime show and I get a $0.01 check for that.

[Craig Thomas]

All right, well, I think any residual gets you a drink now. I love the Renowned just making up with their policy. I don't know if that's true.

[Josh Radnor]

They're like, that's not how it works. Get out of here.

[Craig Thomas]

Stop. We're going to be sued for residuals.

[Josh Radnor]

What's the question?

[Alec Lev]

We have a lot of folks on Instagram and on our website who are just like, they're so happy this podcast exists because they do have these, like, nitty gritty detail questions, and they're like, oh, my God, I get to actually ask this. So this is not profound, but Craig Eddie underscore. Did that ask. Asks says I have a question that has burdened me for years. In this episode, we discover that Scooter's real name is Bill. And it's not just a minor detail, there's a whole running joke around it. But later in season eight.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh no.

[Alec Lev]

Discover that his name is Jeff.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, no.

[Alec Lev]

Was this a mistake or is there some sort of story behind.

[Craig Thomas]

Would be a. It would be a flat out mistake. I. This is the first.

[Josh Radnor]

First.

[Craig Thomas]

This is how I find out. I enjoy saying that when it's possible. This is a good way to say it. This is how I find out. If we did that, we fucked it up. Oh my God. Is that for sure true? Can we get some verification? We get some evidence and I've asked him for it.

[Alec Lev]

I've asked him for the evidence. So while we're doing some other stuff, I'm going to check if he has responded to me.

[Craig Thomas]

Of all things to fuck up to get David Burka, Neil's actual husband's character's name wrong. Of all the ones to fuck up.

[Josh Radnor]

I will say though, if I was in the right and it was a vote between Bill and Jeff, Scooter seems like a Jeff more than a Bill.

[Craig Thomas]

I don't know how, but I don't know why. But you're right. Somehow it's true. I hope we didn't fuck that up, but if we did, boy, you know, mea culpa. What can we say?

[Alec Lev]

Or maybe it's just that old. No, no, no, it's that Ted in 2030 just.

[Josh Radnor]

Oh yeah, he forgets. Yeah, it's a lapsing memory.

[Craig Thomas]

That's our get out of jail free card. Okay, so, yeah, it was intentional. We were just trying to make it the real thing in 2030. How you don't remember when name anymore. Phew. Saved it. By the way, Alec, I just realized Todd could have been in the episode because Todd could have been fucking up the videography on purpose because he's their enemy and that would have fit.

[Josh Radnor]

He's a saboteur.

[Craig Thomas]

So I'm going to go. He would have been one of the saboteurs. I'm deeply sorry. You're right, I'm wrong. You know what? This whole thing, I fucked everything up. I fucked Scooter's name up. I fucked that up. Look, just.

[Alec Lev]

You owe me $46. All right? We got a great letter. Josh, this one came to you.

[Jeff Meacham]

You.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A wonderful letter that I received that I asked if we could read on the air and he said sure he would be honored. Also, if you would like to send us a letter about your relationship to the show, how it's affected you and what it's meant to you over the years, or if you want to drop us a voice note that maybe we could read at the end or play at the beginning of the show, go to our Squarespace created website, Synergy. How we made your mother.com h w my m h. You got it dot com. Go to contact. And it should be pretty clear from there because Squarespace makes everything pretty clear. And Alec did a great job with that. Here is today's letter. Hi, John. Josh. I wanted to say thank you. I watched liberal arts in 2015. That's a movie I wrote and directed and recommended it to my friends. When they saw the movie, they went, that's Ted Mosby Shantanu. And I had no idea who that was. After about a year of wondering whether I should even start watching movies or TV shows, I was completely new to cinema. I thought, you know what? Let's give How I Met yout Mother a try. All caps. It was unbelievable. I'd never seen someone disguise such a serious drama as a comedy like that.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radnor]

After the show ended, I watched the cast interviews, the bloopers, basically anything I could find. That's when I started hearing your thoughts on fame, happiness, and humanity. Apart from my dad, I have two male role models. One is you, and the other is Matty healy from the 1975. Thank you for showing me that my thoughts are not who I am. Am. My actions are. I had to limit my social media usage to 2 days a month to really live by that. Watching the world split itself into left versus right. I've realized it's better for me to just shut up, do my job, and take care of the people around me. I want my music, the art I'm building, to not be about that divide. I want it to be for everyone. I now spend a lot of effort trying to understand someone's intent before I say something. Something. It's tough to do in my head, but I'll be okay. I know. Happy. Thank you. More, please. Shantan. Thanks.

[Craig Thomas]

That's lovely.

[Josh Radnor]

That's wonderful. You know, I really love this observation. A serious drama disguised as a comedy.

[Craig Thomas]

That's the show.

[Josh Radnor]

I thought that was a really wonderful observation.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, me too. I love that way of framing it. That's how we think of it. And I, I, that's. That's the Trojan horror we were sneaking onto CBS in 2005. Among a lot of other sitcomier sitcoms. I would say I don't even mean that as an insult. They just were. They were just different tones and we were kind of. We were our own little thing and that's what we were. So thanks for seeing it.

[Josh Radnor]

Yeah, thanks so much. I am guilty. Please acquit me. All sins are forgiven in New York City.

[Alec Lev]

How we made your mother law in 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 Jenna 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 made your mother.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 Muse letters 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 radio writer.com and you can subscribe to My own Dead Fathers 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.