What is the bar in How I Met Your Mother?
Quick answer
The main characters of How I Met Your Mother spend much of their time at MacLaren’s Pub, a bar on the ground floor below Ted and Marshall’s apartment building in Manhattan. They nearly always sit in the same booth. The bar was inspired by McGee’s, a real pub in Midtown Manhattan that the show’s creators visited.
Key facts
- Bar
- MacLaren’s Pub
- Network
- CBS
- Years
- 2005–2014 (9 seasons, 208 episodes)
- Creators
- Carter Bays and Craig Thomas
The gang
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Ted Mosby | Josh Radnor |
| Marshall Eriksen | Jason Segel |
| Lily Aldrin | Alyson Hannigan |
| Robin Scherbatsky | Cobie Smulders |
| Barney Stinson | Neil Patrick Harris |
Bob Saget voiced future Ted, who narrates the whole story to his children in 2030.
The real bar
Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas used to drink at McGee’s on West 55th Street when they worked on Late Show with David Letterman. They modeled MacLaren’s on it. McGee’s later decorated its walls with the show’s memorabilia, and fans still stop by.
Running jokes born at MacLaren’s
- Barney’s “Suit up!” and his playbook of schemes
- The Slap Bet between Marshall and Barney
- Debates about Robin’s secret past as Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles
- The yellow umbrella, a clue to the mother’s identity
How the story ends
The show’s title promises the story of how Ted met his children’s mother, Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti), who wasn’t fully revealed until the final season. The finale, aired in March 2014, divided fans sharply because of its twist ending.
Spin-off
How I Met Your Father (2022–2023), starring Hilary Duff, used a similar format, with some original characters appearing and scenes at a reimagined MacLaren’s.
Other sitcoms also built stories around a hangout spot; see the coffee shop in Friends and the sitcom with Sheldon Cooper.
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