Fifteen years ago, in 2005, the world was introduced to Ted Mosby, Lily Aldrin, Marshall Eriksen, Barney Stinson, and Robin Sherbatsky. These five friends in their mid-twenties living in New York City and navigating the worlds of love, relationships, and career came to fill a gap Friends had left in the hearts of many. And although the shows did have plenty of similarities, How I Met Your Mother has enough uniqueness to be able to stand on its own two feet.
The first season of the show was received with open arms by audiences who were already fans of the genre and premise. Largely focusing on establishing each character and their specific traits and relationships, season one of How I Met Your Mother was a solid jumping board for the eight seasons that would follow. In this article, we take a walk down memory lane and revisit the best episodes of that first season that hit our screens so long ago - or so it seems.
Purple Giraffe (8.2)
"Purple Giraffe" was the second episode of the first season, effectively setting the events of the show in the motion. After becoming completely infatuated by Robin in the pilot, Ted is willing to do anything it takes in order to get the girl.
His strategy is to throw a house party and invite her, but when she can't be there, Ted just throws another party. Surprise, surprise, Robin can't attend once again...and once again he throws another party. It's the famous episode of the 72-hour party that paved the way for viewers to understand the over the top romantic and pushy nature of Mosby.
The Limo (8.3)
It became a ritual for How I Met Your Mother to write and produce episodes that would catapult the core characters into the adventures and feelings inherent to big holidays. From Christmas to the Super Bowl, Ted, Robin, Lily, Barney, and Marshall went through them all, time and time again.
In "The Limo", we follow the gang during their first Ney Year's Eve together, as Ted rents a limo for them to enjoy. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and we get to see a Moby look-alike, as well as the introduction of the iconic driver Ranjit.
Okay Awesome (8.3)
"Okay Awesome" marked the first time Lily and Marshall decided to do more adult and grown-up things, moving away from the crazy partying and drinking the rest of the gang indulges in. While they opt for a night of wine-tasting, Ted, Barney, and Robin head out to the hottest club in town.
From Marshall and Lily realizing that being an adult and doing grown-up things is actually boring to Ted coming to terms with the fact that he hates nightclubs, this episode is jam-packed with laugh-inducing moments. But the best of all will always be Barney spending the entire night grinding on a girl he later finds out he's related to!
Pilot (8.5)
The first-ever episode of How I Met Your Mother was a gold mine, simply because it introduced the audience to the characters that they would fall in love with and end up growing up alongside of for nine years.
We meet newly engaged Marshall and Lily, who are deeply in love with each other, the womanizer Barney, hopeless romantic Ted Mosby, and career-driven Robin. But let's not forget that the peek of this episode is, and always will be, Ted saying "I love you to Robin" during their fist date.
Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M. (8.5)
The show was always excellent at providing the audience with valuable life lessons. Some were better than others, but they always managed to stay imprinted in the minds of viewers. One such lesson came to us towards the end of the season - the fact that nothing good happens after 2 A.M.
At this point, Ted is in a long-distance relationship with Victoria but finds himself fighting conflicting feelings after Robin invites him over in the middle of the night. In the end, nothing good happened, as Ted ended up cheating on Victoria.
Drumroll, Please (8.7)
Speaking of Victoria, she was quite the influential character during the first season of How I Met Your Mother, and ended up coming back towards the end of the show. The writers had actually planned for her to be the mother in case the show wasn't picked up for more seasons.
"Drumroll, Please" did a wonderful job of introducing the relationship between Victoria and Ted, making her a likable character from the get-go.
Mary The Paralegal (8.8)
When Barney sets Ted up on a date so he has someone to take to Robin's award show, epic comedy ensues. The entirety of "Mary the Paralegal" spins around the mystery of whether Mary, Ted's date, is actually a paralegal or an escort. She isn't, even though Barney went above and beyond to completely fry Ted's brain.
Come On (8.9)
"Come On" marked the very end of How I Met Your Mother's first season. The main storyline focuses on Ted making one last attempt at winning Robin's heart through one of his insanely romantic gestures.
On the other end of the spectrum, Lily has to make a decision about her future and ends up leaving New York, and Marshall, behind, in order to pursue her dream to become and artist.
Game Night (9.1)
Hearing about Barney Stinson's past is always a good experience. What led to him becoming the man he is, treating women as disposable, and avoiding human emotions at all costs?
Well, during "Game Night", audiences finally got a glimpse of it and realized that Barney used to be a sensitive man who loved a woman who broke his heart. The episode is both funny, illuminating, and heartbreaking.
The Pineapple Incident (9.2)
And the best episode of the whole season simply had to be "The Pinneaple Incident"! After Ted gets extremely drunk, he wakes up with an unknown girl in his bed and a pineapple on his nightstand.
Even though the girl eventually helps him piece things together, no one knows where the pineapple came from. And this remained, and continues to remain, one of the biggest mysteries in television history.