In 2005, How I Met Your Mother was the new hot TV comedy that swiftly took over for Friends as that show about a group of twentysomething-year-olds living in New York. HIMYM ran for nine seasons, culminating, unfortunately, in what is without question one of the most hated series finales of all time.
That aside though, the show has gained a cult following. It had an awesome cast of characters, an interesting concept, a myriad of running gags, tons of HIMYM-isms, Neil Patrick Harris, and a truckload of legen – wait for it – dary guest stars. We've decided to rank the top ten.
JORGE GARCIA
The Lost star Jorge Garcia also came by the How I Met Your Mother set for two guest appearances. Garcia portrayed Steve “The Blitz” Henry, a friend of Ted and Marshall from college. The nickname “The Blitz” was given to him because he’d always leave a party early and miss out on some kind of an adventure.
In the season six Thanksgiving episode, appropriately titled “Blitzgiving”, the Curse of the Blitz passed from Steve to Ted, then to Barney and then back to Steve again. After getting rid of the curse, Steve makes the coolest Lost reference by saying, “I was on that island for what seems like an eternity, I’m gonna enjoy things on the other side”.
BOB BARKER
Growing up without a father, Barney would often question his mother Loretta about him. His mother not wanting to engage in long explanations figured it’d be harmless to simply point to whoever was on TV at the moment and so Barney ended up going through life believing that The Price is Right host, Bob Barker, is his father.
In the season two episode “Showdown”, Barker guest-stars as himself when Barney decides to go on the popular game show to meet his daddy. Funnily enough, Barney ends up winning a bunch of prizes, showing Bob pictures of himself in the midst of answering a question (or as he calls it spending quality time with his dad), but not actually confronting the host, proving that he perhaps never truly believed Loretta’s lie.
KATY PERRY
In seasons six, Katy Perry guest-starred in one of the seasons best episodes titled “Oh Honey” as the eponymous Honey. Well, at least that’s what the group decided to call her because of her gullible nature. Honey was introduced to the group by Zoey, Ted’s secret crush at the time, and was supposed to go on a date with Ted. Though that didn't quite work as planned.
The extremes of Honey's gullibleness are impressive indeed. The episode references the Nigerian Prince scam by having Honey say the following, “Maybe I should feel weird about giving a stranger my Social Security Number, but the guys is a Nigerian Prince”, prompting us to go oh honey. And that’s just one of her highlights.
TIM GUNN
Project Runway’s Tim Gunn is yet another celebrity who played himself on How I Met Your Mother. Gunn made his first appearance in one of the show’s most beloved episodes “Girls vs. Suits”, where Neil Patrick Harris basically puts on a musical and it’s awesome.
When Barney is forced to choose between his suits and a hot bartender he decides to start dressing casually. However, the horror of having to wear regular clothes proves too much for Barney and he sneaks into the restroom to put on a suit. He accidentally rips it and then rushes the suit to his emergency tailor, TV's Tim Gunn. Gunn informs Barney that the suit couldn’t be saved, but offers him the chance to donate the suit’s “organs”, aka buttons, to save another suit.
JAMES VAN DER BEEK
James Van Der Beek, who’s best known for portraying Dawson Leery on the teen drama Dawson’s Creek, made several guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother as Simon Tremblay, appearing first in the music video for Robin Sparkle’s song "Sandcastles in the Sand". Turns out he and Robin dated for a whole Canadian summer, which is to say a week and a half, after which he dumped her for a girl with a pool.
When the two met again years later, it was clear to everyone that Robin was the winner. Well, everyone but Robin who still melts around him like a school girl and fails to notice that he is no longer cool at all. Sure enough, they start dating again. As punishment for not learning from her mistakes, Robin gets dumped again for the same girl who now bought a jacuzzi. But don't worry, she got even by stealing Simon's wedding cake.
WILIAM ZABKA
According to Barney Stinson the real Karate Kid isn’t Ralph Macchio, but William Zabka, the actor who portrayed Johnny Lawrence. Just a side note, other heroes Barney considers bad guys include Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker, so yeah.
Anyway, for Barney’s bachelor party, the Bro Mitzvah if you will, the gang decides to give their friend everything he ever wanted for the occasion, which included an appearance by the Karate Kid. Lo and behold, William Zabka does indeed come to the party, albeit disguised as a clown. Once they troll Barney by making him think they mistakenly invited Ralph Macchio, Zabka finally reveals his face much to Barney's delight. Zabka made a few more appearances in seasons eight and nine and even became Barney’s best man, although only briefly.
WILL FORTE
Comedy veteran Will Forte, known for Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and The Last Man on Earth, turned in a hilarious performance as Randy Wharmpess.
When Barney and Ted have one of their many falling outs, Barney decides to find himself a new bro, a rebound bro if you will. Enter, Randy Wharmpess, Barney's colleague who by his own admission sees Barney as a god. However, as it turns out, Randy gets nervous around women and proves to be a horrible wingman. Watching his many failed attempts at flirting with girls is both amusing and painful. Fun fact, in the future, Randy would go on to start his own beer brewery and name his beer – we kid you not – Wharmpess.
BRYAN CRANSTON
In season two, the Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston made two guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother. Cranston portrayed Ted’s jerk of a boss Druthers, aka that guy everyone loves to hate. He designed a building that looked like a certain part of the male body you really wouldn’t want your building to look like and he was the only one who couldn't see it.
Luckily, others did and his project was rejected. In the true TV plot fashion, Ted then became Druthers' boss. Druthers, on the other hand, kept being demeaning towards Ted, and everyone else. Long story short, Ted ended up firing Duthers on the same day his wife filed for divorce, his pet dog died, and he (arguably) had a heart attack.
JENNIFER LOPEZ
When Barney sets his sights on Anita, the author of the self-help book titled “Of Course You’re Still Single, Take a Look at Yourself, You Dumb Slut” (whoever came up with this title is a comedic genius), he’s met with a firm “no”. Determined to seduce Anita, portrayed by Jennifer Lopez, he plans a Super-Date meant to encompass the obligatory seventeen dates they need to have before he can get lucky.
Interestingly enough, by the end of their little dance, Barney is the one saying “no” while Anita keeps making offers he can’t refuse. She drives Barney so crazy that he winds up diving into the Hudson River.
KYLE MACLACHLAN
The star of Twin Peaks, Kyle MacLachlan, guest-starred on several episodes of How I Met Your Mother as George van Smoot, who insists on being called The Captain. The Captain was a boat enthusiast, and the husband of yet another one of the girls Ted was certain was The One. MacLachlan delivered a hilarious performance as the quirky billionaire with the eyes of a serial killer.
Even when he smiled his eyes looked as if he was about to go on a killing spree, which terrified Ted and everyone else. Although the Captain was supposed to be somewhat of a villainous character, he was so damn funny and well-acted that it was hard to hate him.