How I Met Your Mother, or HIMYM, which first aired in 2005, has received 28 Emmy nominations, winning nine. While season 9 is currently underway, its predecessor averaged over 8 million viewers per episode according to Nielsen ratings, so it's fair to say the sitcom has been a great success and still is eight years on from its inception. However, it's noticeable how similar the format is to another long-running and very successful sitcom Friends. While the latter aired their last episode in 2004, sitcoms can be planned for years prior to their eventual commission to a TV network, and with this in mind, many feel a number of ideas were certainly thought of from watching the popular series. Writers of course will never openly admit to having copied core ideas for a show, but here are five examples of striking similarities giving evidence to potential plagiarism from the aforementioned.