The much anticipated series finale of How I Met Your Mother, “Last Forever,” airs Monday, 8:00 p.m. ET, on CBS. Here’s what the HIMYM cast and crew have to say about the hotly speculated ending.
Josh Radnor, who plays Ted Mosby, apparently knows how the its all going to turn out since 2005.
“I knew for nine years, but I didn’t know how they were going to do it until I read the final script,” Radnor told TVGuide.
“I was over the moon. I was so thrilled. I thought it was just such a great piece of writing and such a great [episode of] How I Met Your Mother. Whatever people love about the show, they'll love about the finale.”
When asked by The Hollywood Reporter to sum up the ending in one word, Cristin Milioti, who plays the titular Mother of Ted’s children, said, “Beautiful. It’s beautiful.”
HIMYM’s ending left two of the cast in tears, though.
Cobie Smulders (Ted’s long-time love interest Robin Scherbatsky) asked co-producer Craig Thomas about the ending last year, and it was too much to handle for her emotionally.
“I immediately started weeping and had to leave. Like, I had to leave. I said that, I was like, “Craig, I have to leave right now. Thank you,” and I just walked away,” Smulders tells IGN.
Smulders added, “You know, I feel it’s very beautiful and very true to life. That’s what I feel about it.”
Also, Alyson Hannigan told E! Online that “I laughed, I cried, and I was like, ‘How are we going to shoot this? I’m going to be a mess!”
“But it was wonderful, and it was the perfect way to go out, and I’m so grateful that we got a season nine to end the show the way it should be. It deserved this ending.”
Hannigan, who plays the Lily “Lilypad” Aldrin, too revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that at the final table read, “99 percent of the room was crying. That’s executives and everything.”
All the crying doesn’t necessarily hint at a morbid ending, however, as Hannigan addes that while “[they] were laughing and crying... Its not a sad show.”
Indeed, the general message is that HIMYM will end on a good note.
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said: “I think what is most important is that they have never disappointed their audience. They have been incredibly faithful to the spirit of the show, which is always balancing the hilarity and outrageous comedy with an emotional core and weaving through the romantic elements.
Tassler adds, “I think for the fans, it'll be a very satisfying ending.”
Finally, co-producer Carter Bays gives the strongest indication yet of a positive, feel-good ending.
“We love this finale. It’s the ending we’ve been writing towards for nine years now, and it says everything we’ve ever wanted to say with this show. I’m so proud of everyone involved in making it,” Bays said.
“It’s nice to hear about people watching our show to cheer themselves them up when they’re down. If HIMYM lives on as something you binge-watch over a bowl of soup when you’re sick in bed, I'd be happy with that.”
