How I Met Your Mother: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

In the end, though, How I Met Your Mother's sixth season remains its strongest, serving as the perfect encapsulation of what the show is all about. It is here that the show stretches its legs and decides to throw more drama into the mix, and the way in which they do that is to focus on the gang and their families.

Season six features the death of Marshall's dad and his heartbreaking funeral, and Barney's rocky reconnection with his own estranged father. These storylines offer up the strongest performances the show has ever seen thanks to Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel, as well as guest star John Lithgow.

Audiences are also offered the chance to see Ted finally make his mark on the Manhattan skyline, fulfilling his architectural dreams as he battles his feelings for newcomer Zooey, and also features some solid laughs thanks to episodes such as "The Perfect Cocktail" and "Subway Wars."

How I Met Your Mother is at its best when balancing the laughs with the tears, and never are there more tears and more moments of emotional heartache amongst the humour than in season six, the best season to ever come out of this truly wonderful show.

Best Episodes: Bad News, Last Words, Legendaddy, The Perfect Cocktail, A Change of Heart, Subway Wars