How I Met Your Mother: biggest series finale since Friends?

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Those looking for a ‘Friends’ reunion don’t need to look any further, since its biggest inspiration ‘How I Met Your Mother’ finally came to an end in an exciting series finale. Both shows had several similarities. Both were based on New York and focused on the lives of young, close friends dealing with day-to-day situations in their personal and professional lives.

Almost every character on ‘HIMYM’ seemed like a version of their ‘Friends’ counterpart in an alternate universe. The only difference was that it was narrated by former ‘Full House’ star Bob Saget as a retrospective of how his younger self found ‘the mother’. The show starred Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders in their respective lead roles

Most television audiences remember the series finale of Friends with fondness of how it wrapped up different stories of the characters and created new beginnings. It was closure for not just the fans but also for the cast who had spent ten years in their respective roles on a weekly basis. 

The last season added the character of the mother Tracy McConnell, played by Cristin Milioti. The finale focused on how the main character Ted Mosby played by Josh Radnor eventually meets and marries ‘the mother’. 

Similarly to Friends, it wraps up sub plots such as the relationship of the witty ladies man Barney Stinson played by former ‘Doogie Howser’ Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders’ character ‘Robin’. Alyson Hannigan, famous for her starring roles in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ show and the ‘American Pie’ film series, stays on as Lily, the loyal wife of Jason Segel’s character Marshall.

The series finale has been the most talked about since Friends, especially on social media platforms. Fans have been discussing the finale. A simple Google search even reveals a petition for the show’s producers to change the ending. Without giving anything away, an alternate ‘perfect’ ending to the finale season was filmed.

Cast members including Smulders have reportedly stated that they are content with how everything is wrapped up in the broadcasted ending, breaking tradition by giving fans a glance to the future, the fate of the mother and ‘Aunt Robin’. One of the scenes filmed during the shoot of the first season nine years ago has been featured in the ending. Radnor, however, was reportedly more content with the alternate ending instead of the one they had shot during the first season.

The alternate ending is expected to be available on the series DVD set. For those who have not seen the finale yet, we will not spoil it but it is worth watching for long time fans of the series. It may bring back memories of the now-classic series of finale ten years earlier. At least we finally met ‘the mother’!

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