Summary

• Shows like How I Met Your Mother thrive on fun characters, great chemistry, and a reliable level of appeal to viewers everywhere.
• Despite the controversial final episode, HIMYM remains beloved even a decade after it ended, highlighting its enduring popularity.
• With a variety of streaming services available now, there are still many shows like HIMYM out there waiting to be discovered by viewers.

Shows like How I Met Your Mother will always remain popular thanks to the mixture of fun characters with great chemistry, and a level of reliability with its target audience. When HIMYM initially went off the air in 2014, it left a sitcom-shaped hole in the television schedule for many fans. The thirst for good, light-hearted comedies that deal with the topics of friendship, love, and, to an extent, family, is never-ending. But thankfully for viewers everywhere, television and streaming services are the gifts that keep on giving.

Even with the controversial final HIMYM episode, there was enough goodwill to allow it to remain a beloved favorite a decade after it ended. With that said, there are many shows like How I Met Your Mother are still out there for viewers to discover. While, in the past, there were only a handful of networks to supply the desire for bingeable sitcomes, there are now several streaming services to add to the still thriving networks for anyone looking for a show like How I Met Your Mother to add to the queue.

15 Scrubs (2001-2010)

9 Seasons, 182 Episodes

The fact that Scrubs aired for nine years and is almost 200 episodes strong speaks volumes of how much people loved the show. After it concluded in 2010, it seems like Scrubs managed to evade a lot of radars, even though it's widely regarded as a hilarious and out-of-the-box series. Following Zach Braff's character J.D. a doctor as he navigates life and learns about love and friendships, this show is made for fans of How I Met Your Mother. It's a very similar show but with more surreal comedy at its core.

Scrubs is available to stream on Hulu and Peacock Premium.

14 Two And A Half Men (2003-2015)

12 Seasons, 262 Episodes

Two and a Half Man aired for twelve seasons and picked up two Golden Globe Award nominations, a testament to the show's quality and original comedy style. The show originally starred Charlie (Charlie Sheen) as a successful jingle writer and his brother Alan (Jon Cryer) as a struggling chiropractor. The "half man" is Jake, Alan's son. With a great supporting cast, HIMYM shares the same humor as Two and a Half Men, and even when Ashton Kutcher replaced Sheen, the show was one of the most watched on television.

Two and a Half Men is available to stream on Peacock Premium.

13 That 70s Show (1998-2006)

8 Seasons, 200 Episodes

Before he joined the cast of Two and a Half Men, Ashton Kutcher was one of the main stars on That 70s Show. The sitcom ended in 2006, a comedy that spends its entire time following a tight group of friends as they learn what growing up means in the spheres of family, love, and friendship. The show was also a love letter to life in the 1970s, with plenty of callbacks and a great music soundtrack. It compares well with shows like How I Met Your Mother if Ted and his friends met in the 1970s while still in high school.

That 70s Show is available to stream on Peacock Premium.

12 Sex And The City (1998-2004)

6 Seasons, 94 Episodes

Sex and the City is about a group of friends comprised of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda, four women in their mid-30s to early 40s who live in New York City and remain close as they try to find love in the big city. At its heart, the show is about friendship and the message is that soulmates can be the closest of friends. While How I Met Your Mother is about 20-somethings in New York City, a younger era of friends, both shows feature people who support each other as they search for love in their lives.

Sex and the City is available to stream on Max.

11 The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

6 Seasons, 148 Episodes

The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is the TV show that helped Will Smith move out of his musical career and into his role as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. While Smith mostly played a version of himself on the show, his supporting cast made sure that it was always about more than just The Fresh Prince. Smith is Will, a young man who moves in with his uncle in Bel Air after his mother is worried about the violence in his hometown of Philadelphia. The show is more about family than friends, but the humor remains similar.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is available to stream on Hulu, Max, and Paramount+.

10 Friends (1994-2004)

10 Seasons, 236 Episodes

Friends follows friends who live in New York City while working, dating, falling in love, getting married/divorced, and having each other's backs every step of the way. The show romanticizes friendship and has arguably the most popular will they/won’t they relationships ever put on screen. While the show isn't completely original, as it borrowed heavily from Living Single, it is easy to see Friends influence on shows like HIMYM that came later, including a very similar group of friends on How I Met Your Mother.

Friends is available to stream on Max.

9 Seinfeld (1989-1998)

9 Seasons, 180 Episodes

Seinfeld is another spiritual predecessor of shows like How I Met Your Mother and many sitcoms that lean into a semi-surrealist vein of comedy that has come out in the last few decades. Created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, the show often described as “a show about nothing” follows a group of friends — Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer — as they navigate everyday life in New York City and discuss life in general.

It's relatable, sometimes even painfully so. Unlike How I Met Your Mother, it doesn't care about continuity, character development, or romance. Seinfeld is a darker, cynical cousin of Friends and HIMYM. But while it may not give you the big emotional payoffs that HIMYM does, it will deliver hilarious and expertly crafted episodes with the type of humor no one sees on shows that are on the air today.

Seinfeld is available to stream on Netflix.

8 Happy Endings (2011-2013)

3 Seasons, 57 Episodes

Happy Endings is the same type of show as How I Met Your Mother, featuring a group of friends with close, often stressful relationships. Happy Endings starts with Dave and Alex, the two friends who brought the group together, breaking up on their wedding day, and the first season deals with the aftermath of the breakup.

However, the show eventually evolves into the classic “friends hanging out” sitcom, following the various adventures these characters find themselves in their personal and professional lives. Happy Endings was praised for its warm-hearted comedy, earning both critical acclaim and a fan following, but it only lasted three seasons before ABC took it off the air.

Happy Endings is available to stream on Hulu.

7 Modern Family (2009-2020)

11 Seasons, 250 Episodes

Modern Family follows three generations of a diverse family living in suburban Los Angeles. Just like HIMYM is a hilarious take on friendships, this show is a hilarious take on the many relationships within the very different generations of a single family. With so many different characters and households, Modern Family has something for everyone. The light-hearted humor, the witty approach to serious topics, the wacky and relatable characters, Modern Family has got it all, providing 11 seasons and 250 episodes of solid laughs.

Modern Family is available to stream on Hulu and Peacock Premium.

6 Parks And Recreation (2009-2015)

7 Seasons, 126 Episodes

A good number of sitcoms rely too much on cynicism, which while a good source of comedy, can also be exhausting. If you prefer characters who are mostly kind, like in shows like How I Met Your Mother, Parks and Recreation is that show. It is mostly a less cynical take on The Office.

Parks and Rec is a satirical comedy set in the Parks Department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The series revolves around the department’s Deputy Director Leslie Knope, a perky over-achiever, and her diverse team of co-workers. The show is known and beloved for its relatable characters, as well as well-portrayed and healthy romantic relationships, which should appeal to fans of How I Met Your Mother.

Parks and Recreation is available to stream on Peacock Premium.

5 The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019)

12 Episodes, 279 Episodes

Opinions on the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory are divided, but even the hardest critics have to recognize the show’s success. The Big Bang Theory relies on the tried and successful sitcom formula with a group of young, aspiring individuals experiencing the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives. The twist in this one is that the majority of the TBBT cast are geeky, socially awkward scientists, with the waitress/aspiring actress Penny being the odd one out.

Naturally, the show is jam-packed with all sorts of nerdy references, as well as a lot of science jokes. While it doesn't thrive on big emotional arcs like HIMYM, it does have its moments. Although the show takes place in Pasadena instead of New York and substitutes a comic book store/university cafeteria for a bar, it fits the bill for those who miss TBBT.

The Big Bang Theory is available to stream on Max.

4 Chuck (2001-2012)

5 Seasons, 91 Episodes

While not a sitcom, Chuck is still an excellent blend of comedy and drama, and is somewhat of an underappreciated gem that seems to resonated with many fans of How I Met Your Mother. Starring Zachary Levi as the titular Nerd Herd employee-turned Intersect, aka CIA/NSA asset, the show is known for its quirky humor, pop culture references, exciting spy adventures, and heartfelt storytelling.

The episodes usually follow the adventures of the spy trio, Chuck, Sara, and Casey, Chuck’s family, Ellie and Awesome, and Chuck’s Buy More friends, Morgan, Jeff, and Lester. The writers expertly navigate between comedy and profound emotional character arcs, with lots of touching moments, with a good dose of bromance and friendships. Chuck has all the hallmarks of shows like How I Met Your Mother.

Chuck is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Max.

3 New Girl (2011-2018)

7 Seasons, 146 Episodes

New Girl is a spiritual successor to shows like How I Met Your Mother. The series follows a thirty-something teacher named Jess who moves in with three male roommates — Nick, Schmidt, and Winston — after finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman. With a mix of comedy and drama, New Girl shows us how these four characters, plus Jess’s best friend Cece, deal with all the trials and tribulations in their period of extended adolescence.

The premise is very similar to that of How I Met Your Mother, and the characters are as funny as they are endearing. While Schmidt stands as the fan-favorite, much like Neil Patrick Harris’s Barney Stinson, the show is at its best when they're all on the screen together. New Girl also has interesting romantic subplots between Nick and Jess, as well as Schmidt and Cece, so HIMYM fans should be pretty happy with this one.

New Girl is available to stream on Hulu and Peacock Premium.

2 Community (2009-2014)

6 Seasons, 110 Episodes

Community is a cult classic that should attract any fan of shows like How I Met Your Mother. Following the adventures of a gang of eclectic misfits at Greendale Community College, this relies heavily on meta-humor and pop culture references and often shoots off in unexpected and experimental directions. For example, a stop-motion animation episode or a Law and Order homage episode, just to name a few.

Like in HIMYM, the writers expertly craft elaborate storylines with perfect comedic timing and a healthy dose of resonant emotional moments. While Community does not deliver HIMYM-level romantic subplots, its earnest portrayal of diverse characters and friendships makes it a worthy recommendation for HIMYM fans. Expect brilliantly written storylines, meaningful character development, tons of big laughs, a good chunk of life lessons, and more pop culture humor.

Community is available to stream on Netflix.

1 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021)

8 Seasons, 153 Episodes

How I Met Your Mother was excellent at blending comedy with serious moments. That is also what Brooklyn Nine-Nine did in every episode. The show revolves around a group of detectives in Brooklyn’s 99th Precinct. With a diverse cast of characters, outstanding performances across the board, exceptional writing, and pitch-perfect comedic timing, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of TV’s best comedies. The characters are hilarious, relatable, and likable.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine characters include Jake Peralta as a somewhat childish, but talented, detective, Raymond Holt, the Precinct’s robotic Captain, Rosa Diaz, the scary and tough detective with a sweet side, Amy Santiago, the neurotic over-achiever, Gina Linetti, the egomaniacal and sarcastic civilian administrator, Charles Boyle, the hopeless romantic and clumsy idiot, and Terry Jeffords, the adorable giant. It is a perfect show for anyone who misses shows like How I Met Your Mother.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is available to stream on Peacock Premium.