It is hard to believe it now but How I Met Your Mother teetered between renewal and cancellation in its first two seasons. On Monday it wrapped up its ninth and final season and it did so as primetime's third highest rated comedy. While the very title of the show placed the focus on the story of how Josh Radnor's Ted Mosby met the mother of his children, it soon became clear that the focus was more on the lives and friendship of Ted and his friends. It was in that element that the show excelled and found its audience of diehard fans, all thanks to its incredibly likeable cast. Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris were no strangers to television after their previous successes in Buffy and Doogie Howser, M.D. respectively, with Hannigan also coming off the back of the American Pie series. They were rounded out with relative unknowns Cobie Smulders and Jason Segel who have both launched into big Hollywood roles since making their name in the CBS sitcom. Now that the series has reached its long awaited conclusion, it is the perfect time to take a look back at the greatest episodes of its nine year run. Thanks to the controversial nature of both the finale itself and its implications on developments throughout the series history, the episode and the events of it are not being factored into this list. As you might expect, spoilers are contained within, so if you still haven't seen the show to its ending consider yourself warned.
