HIMYMCo-Creator Says the Show's Team Was 'Very Aware' and 'Nervous' About 'Seeming Too Much' LikeFriends(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ in 2005.Photo:Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty

Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty

WhenHow I Met Your Motherpremiered in 2005, co-creatorCraig Thomasknew that the series was bound to draw comparisons to another hit sitcom about a group of friends dating and mating in New York City.

“A lot of shows before us had tried to replicateFriends, and not succeeded,” Thomas tells PEOPLE. “So, there was a long trail of failed attempts to harness whatFriendswas.”

The Emmy-winning NBC series ended its 10-season run in May 2004, a little over a year beforeHow I Met Your Motherpremiered on CBS. Thomas, who co-createdHow I Met Your Motherwith Carter Bays, notes that while the two shows didn’t overlap,HIMYM’s creative team was “very aware of not wanting to seem like we were apingFriends."

The cast of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and the cast of ‘Friends’ in 2005 and 1994, respectively.Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty; Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty; Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

“Of course we knew that the poster for the show was going to look like aFriends-esque show,” he says. “We were nervous that it would seem like we were trying to be too much likeFriends.”

“The way we tried to differentiate ourselves immediately was just to show that we had this different storytelling structure,” Thomas explains.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ in 2005.CBS via Getty

CBS via Getty

“We would play with time, we would play with narrative, we would play with flashbacks and flash forwards,” Thomas explains. “And our hope was that the rhythm and the storytelling style, immediately, in the pilot, indicates that whether you love or hateHow I Met Your Mother, you’re not going to hold against it that it’s just trying to completely emulateFriends, because we weren’t. We were hoping not to do that.”

Thomas, however, is quick to note that he’s a “huge fan ofFriends.”

“I went through college watchingFriends,” he says. “When people come up to me and say, ‘How I Met Your Motherwas my college show, we all watched it together every week,’ I’m like, ‘That’s exactly what I did withFriends, just a little mini half a generation before you, or thereabouts.’ ”

“So, I hugely love and respectFriends,” Thomas adds, “but I really didn’t want to seem like we were yet another show trying to be that.”

Thomas and Radnor will look back at the series through a different lens beginning March 10 with the debut of their rewatch podcast,How We Made Your Mother.

source: people.com