12 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching How I Met Your Mother

Today, a How I Met Your Mother rewatch could strike even long-time viewers of the show very differently compared to when they first saw the sitcom. Beginning in 2005 and ending in 2014, How I Met Your Mother was indeed a product of its time. As Ted, Barney, Lily, Marshall, and Robin approach their 30’s while living and working in New York City, their adventures – in hindsight – come with more than a few harsh realities.

While the How I Met Your Mother spinoff How I Met Your Father does a fine job of continuing the story, loyal audiences will always come back to the original sitcom. However, for those planning a How I Met Your Mother rewatch, viewers should be warned that there are some jokes, storylines and characters that won’t sit well with them this time. Here’s everything viewers might’ve forgotten (or overlooked) about the iconic 2000s/2010s sitcom.

Related: What The Cast of How I Met Your Mother Are Doing Now

12 Is The Slap Bet Funny Or Necessary?

HIMYM has sweet friendship scenes and one of the most memorable parts of the friend group’s time together is their Slap Bet. This begins in season 2 and when someone loses, they get slapped in the face. It starts when Barney Stinson and Marshall Eriksen bet on the secret that Robin Scherbatsky is keeping from them. Is it actually hilarious, though, that friends hit each other when they lose a bet? This doesn’t seem like it needed to be included in the sitcom, which is plenty funny on its own. During a How I Met Your Mother rewatch, this aspect seems especially harsh and violent.

11 The Slutty Pumpkin Character

Ted constantly wonders about Naomi after seeing her in a pumpkin costume in season 1 at a Halloween party on the roof of his apartment building. However, instead of calling Naomi by her actual name, Ted refers to her as “Slutty Pumpkin,” even in season 7 when the two meet again and date. Calling anyone a “slut” because of the way that they’re dressed, whether on October 31st or any other time of year, is terrible. It certainly wasn’t a polite way for Ted to treat someone who he claims to be interested in learning more about and getting to know.

10 The Fat Jokes

Fat jokes are never funny, but they are part and parcel of a How I Met Your Mother rewatch session, especially with Barney. In one scene in the season 4 episode “As Fast As She Can,” Barney says “A check so fat, after you have sex with it, you don’t tell your buddies about it” and Robin adds “when it sits next to you on an airplane, you ask yourself if it should have bought two seats.” There are so many other subjects that the characters could talk about, and it’s a shame that the sitcom has so many lines that don’t celebrate body diversity. When looking back on the series, these statements definitely stand out.

9 An Offensive Game About Models

There are many fan-favorite HIMYM quotes, as the sitcom often sees Ted talking about seeking out love and the other characters often wonder about life, fate, and other serious topics. But there are also some upsetting scenes and quotes that are tough to watch during a How I Met Your Mother rewatch. In season 6, Ted tells Barney that there are models in a building’s lobby and there is a rumor that “one of them is a dude.” Ted asks if Barney is interested in a game called “Who’s hot and Who’s Scott?” There is no reason why Ted and Barney should play this offensive game.

8 Barney Pretends Mary Is A Sex Worker

Ted and Barney are always kidding around and trying to get a rise out of each other, but sometimes, it goes too far and becomes inappropriate. In the season 1 episode “Mary the Paralegal,” Barney acts like a woman named Mary is a sex worker as a prank on Ted.

This storyline is awkward to watch as Ted says that he doesn’t sleep with sex workers, but he has a connection with Mary, so he feels unsure about how to proceed. The sitcom has countless episodes about Ted’s romantic life and the dates that he goes on, so this character seems unnecessary.

7 The Over-The-Top Jokes About Canada

It makes sense that Robin’s friends would find it humorous that she used to be a pop singer named Robin Sparkles. The hit song “Let’s Go To The Mall” is fun, cheesy, and hilarious, and anyone would understand poking fun at this. But Barney takes teasing Robin too far and is too intense about making fun of Robin’s Canadian roots. In one scene, Barney asks “Why are you guys even a country?” which seems unnecessary. Apart from being offensive, these hacky jokes can ruin a How I Met Your Mother rewatch session.

6 Lily’s Sexuality

Lily Aldrin changes on HIMYM but one thing that unfortunately never changes is how the show treats her attraction to women. Viewers know that Lily is bisexual, but the series approaches this as a joke and often uses the fact that Lily finds Robin to be attractive as a punchline. The characters kiss in the season 9 episode “Rally.” It’s a shame that Lily’s sexuality isn’t given more respect and this is one tough reality of going on a How I Met Your Mother rewatch. Lily and Marshall Eriksen’s relationship is sweet and healthy, but Lily has another part of herself that she isn’t allowed to talk about.

5 The “Woo Girls”

In the season 4 episode “Woooo!” Robin is miserable and goes out with Lily and Lily’s teacher friend Jillian, who yells “Woooo!” when she drinks. The characters make fun of her and refer to certain women as “Woo girls” who consume too much alcohol and behave in a wild manner. While the characters on How I Met Your Mother are beloved for their sense of humor and ability to poke fun at themselves, it’s not particularly funny when they constantly make fun of strangers. Lily and Robin could get to know Jillian instead of laughing at her, especially given the fact that they often say that they have a difficult time making other pals.

4 “Crazy” Jeanette

Ted begins dating Jeanette Peterson in the season 8 episode “P.S. I Love You.” Robin knows that Jeanette has stalked people before, and Ted’s pals don’t like Jeanette at all. Before long, the show portrays Jeanette as an obsessive, intense person who Ted shouldn’t be with.

Jeanette is a brief How I Met Your Mother love interest, and she isn’t given proper treatment as everyone refers to her as “crazy.” Ted also becomes annoyed by Jeanette and their relationship is viewed in a negative light. When she could’ve been a compelling addition to the show, Jeanette is just a standout problematic character that can complicate a How I Met Your Mother rewatch weekend.

3 Ted’s Love Theory

Also in season 8, Ted says that when he wants to ask someone out, he could be a “Dobler or Dahmer,” as in the kind Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything or serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. This is a terrible and offensive theory for Ted to have. While viewers know that Ted wants to find love and he thinks about who his soulmate could be all the time, and his love story with The Mother is a common thread throughout the sitcom, referring to Dahmer doesn’t need to happen. There are so many other things that Ted could say about love and dating, and it seems odd that he would go this route.

2 Barney Secretly Recorded Women Having Sex

One of Barney’s common activities is to secretly tape his sexual exploits at his apartment. This is obviously a criminal act, not just in New York, but in the entire U.S., and everywhere else in the world where women are protected by such laws. Even if it wasn’t illegal, this makes every How I Met Your Mother rewatch harder – a damning characteristic that makes Barney a literal menace to every woman he is sexually attracted to.

1 Barney Constantly Lied To Obtain Sexual Consent

Indeed, Barney Stinson was no saint, and he always bragged about the elaborate lies he told in order to get women into bed. This isn’t technically a crime. However, Barney didn’t just lie about his job or his age in order to convince women to sleep with him. He literally lied about everything he could possibly lie about, wore costumes, assumed different characters, constructed complex false narratives, and even did so while also putting some of the women he had sex with in physical danger. This is perhaps the most difficult part of any How I Met Your Mother rewatch, as a character like Barney definitely won’t fly in the Me Too era.