As the 2025 TV schedule continues to pick up speed, I'm thinking about that fact that it's been over a decade since fans said goodbye to Ted Mosby and co. (Not to mention it's been a year since the fictional tragic milestone of Tracy Mosby/McConnell’s [Cristin Miloti] passing.) The actor who played How I Met Your Mother’s biggest hopeless romantic, Josh Radnor, just jumped back to watch the beginning. During this endeavor, he found himself shouting at a pivotal moment, and I'm right there with him.
Josh Radnor and show co-creator Craig Thomas discussed the aforementioned sitcom's pilot during the How We Made Your Mother podcast (which is on YouTube). While chatting, Radnor revealed he was unsure where his fictional counterpart towed the line between hero and hopeless romantic goofball. He also noted that he loved the initial deep spark between him and Robin but realized exactly where Mosby stood after his preemptive confession, saying:
I was so into him being with Robin when he goes up in the suit, and it’s really quite sexy for primetime, just in terms of the way they’re looking at each other. There’s real bedroom eyes… And the moment he — I knew it was coming — but the moment he says, ‘I think I’m in love with you,’ I almost was like Barney, Marshall and Lily. Like, ‘What!?’ It was such a bad move and, of course, it sets off the entire series, so it needed to happen. But it was such an ill-timed, ill-informed move. So I was actually crushed by that in a way that I was like, ‘Okay. This pilot's working.’ Like, if you're mad at him for ruining that…
That moment after Robin and Ted’s date in the pilot really sets off the entire show, as the Liberal Arts alum states. It was such a stark response (and something of a novelty for TV at the time) compared to the rest of their evening. I can still picture it clearly. But the exchange did illicit a lot of discourse among viewers when it premiered, and all the goofs that Mosby made following it. Still, that sentiment sparked a true butterfly effect and cemented this series as one of the best bingeable sitcoms (and it can be streamed with a Netflix subscription).
Still, even though the moment was heartbreaking for everyone involved, I somehow do think Josh Radnor's response was particularly visceral. As he relived the 2005 episode, apparently he outwardly berated Ted during his viewing. And Thomas chimed in to confirm:
I think you texted me that night. You were like, ‘I'm yelling at Ted on the TV right now with Jordana.’
The error of Ted Mosby's sentiments still sting for me, as a fan. However, anyone who’s watched the entirety of the show knows that the two eventually end up together after Tracy’s sad passing. Although, that’s a whole other hotly debated storyline that still has fans divided. Needless to say, Mosby is a character that will continue to find a balance between hero and lovable goof.
Josh Radnor’s rewatch might motivate me to dive back in myself. But I do know that I’d probably be yelling myself over some of Ted’s antics and possibly quoting Barney when reacting as well.
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