| “Pilot” | ||
| HIMYM episode 1x01 (1) | → | |
| ||
| First aired: September 19, 2005 | ||
| Director: Pamela Fryman | ||
| Writer: Carter Bays Craig Thomas | ||
| Barney's Blog | ||
Future Ted begins telling his two kids the story of how he met their mother. He introduces Barney, Lily, Marshall and Robin, telling his kids how Lily and Marshall got engaged and how he met Robin.
Recap
The episode (and series) begins with future Ted sitting down with his children and beginning the story about how he met their mother.
The story starts in 2005, with Marshall proposing to Lily, prompting Ted to begin a search to find his "the one". At MacLaren's, alongside Barney, Ted meets a budding news anchor named Robin, with whom he is instantly smitten. After hitting it off, and after a successful date which concludes with Robin being called away for a news story, Ted afterwards realizes that he may have missed "the signal" for him to kiss Robin. This motivates him to take the plunge and make his move on her.
He symbolically steals the Blue French Horn from the restaurant from their first date, and heads to Robin's apartment with the gang ("Suited up", much to Barney's delight). After he comes inside, things are going great until he accidentally tells Robin that he loves her, prematurely destroying his chances with her. This would lead to their awkward on-and-off again relationship for the rest of the show.
After a lingering goodbye, and with the afterthought that he may or may not have missed "the signal" (missing out for the second time on his first kiss with her and everyone in the group agrees with that), we then return to the future Ted telling his children that that's how he met their Aunt Robin.
Continuity
- Barney begins insisting that he is Ted's best friend in this episode.
- Barney breaks up words by saying "wait for it" in between syllables for the first time.
- Barney first mentions his blog.
- Barney's love of Laser tag is introduced.
- Marshall is the first character in the show referred to as "Uncle".
- Barney plays his "Have you met Ted?" game for the first time, to introduce Ted to Yasmeen, Carl's Lebanese girlfriend, and Robin.
- Ted's architecture career, Lily's job as a kindergarten teacher, Marshall studying law, and Robin's news show are all introduced.
- Marshall and Lily getting together in their freshman year of college is first mentioned.
Future References (Contains Spoilers)
- Ted saying "I love you" to Robin on the first date is referenced repeatedly in future episodes, including Purple Giraffe, Game Night, and First Time In New York.
- Marshall does the robot, a dance move that he uses on several other occasions, including in Okay Awesome and The Limo.
- Barney's "Have you met Ted?" game is adapted for other people in future episodes, including Robin in The Duel and Marshall in The Scorpion and the Toad; Barney is also seen using it on himself ("Have you met me?") and simultaneously with his brother James ("Have you met my brother?") in Single Stamina, and he teaches it to Justin and Kyle in Sunrise.
- Robin's recently dumped friend reappears in Zip, Zip, Zip, where her only line ("What's taking so long?") is the same as it is here.
- Barney's catchphrase Suit Up! is introduced. The origin of the phrase is explained in Game Night.
- Marshall says that Ted has always described his perfect woman as liking dogs, and in Cupcake, Ted claims that he's only attracted to "dog people" when Barney quizzes him on how well he knows Victoria.
- Ted stealing the Blue French Horn is referred to throughout the series, as seen in Come On, Something Blue, and Shelter Island.
- Lily and Marshall have sex on the kitchen floor again after the second time they get engaged in Atlantic City, and while testing their new carpet samples in The Chain of Screaming.
- Marshall popping the champagne cork into Lily's eye is referenced again in Atlantic City and Zoo or False.
- Ted implies having been in the top bunk when Lily and Marshall had sex for the first time, as confirmed in First Time In New York.
- In Monday Night Football, Robin is only seen joining in on the gang's annual tradition of watching the Super Bowl together in 2006, as they only met her here, in the fall of 2005, after the Super Bowl.
- Ted's first meeting with Barney is expanded upon in How I Met Everyone Else, where they do indeed meet at the urinal.
- The story of how Robin met Barney and Ted, particularly Barney saying "Oh yeah, you just know she likes it dirty", is referenced again in How I Met Everyone Else, Farhampton, and Knight Vision.
- When Ted and Barney first met, Barney says "Ted, I'm going to teach you how to live." He told Marshall about this when they first met, as revealed in How I Met Everyone Else. Barney also tells Ted that he is going to "re-teach" him how to live in Wait For It, and says it to Justin and Kyle in Sunrise.
- Marshall injures someone by popping a champagne cork in their eye again in Dowisetrepla, where he does so to Wendy the Waitress with the "comically-large champagne bottle".
- Ted has a beard and moustache in the flashback to him meeting Barney for the first time. He is shown with a goatee in the flashback to 2002 in Double Date, and with similar facial hair in the flashback to Barney's days as Insane Duane's best friend in Symphony of Illumination.
- Barney says "This just in..." as a double entendre for sex. Lily imagines Robin doing the same thing when convincing Marshall not to tell the gang about their decision to start a family in Doppelgangers.
- In Baby Talk, Lily shoots down Marshall suggestion to name their child "Rob", revealing that the kid who "got to second base" with her and left a purple hand print on her breast is named Rob.
- A similar opening sequence appears in Symphony of Illumination, when Robin is talking to her imaginary children.
- Ted tells Yasmeen he wants a band and not a DJ for his future wedding. In Band or DJ?, however, he attempts to convince Robin to get a DJ instead of a band for her wedding, apparently because he is having trouble with the idea of Robin marrying Barney, and is equating the two decisions.
- Robin says she hates olives here, but changes her mind about them by Platonish, as a flashback shows her eating some and explaining as much, making Ted hopeful that she might also change her mind about being with him. This implies Ted no longer believes in the "Olive Theory" he explains to Robin here; indeed, it is proven false here itself when it is revealed that Marshall and Lily both like olives.
- As revealed in How Your Mother Met Me, the Mother turns 21 the day Lily and Marshall get engaged and Barney and Ted meet Robin; she celebrates it at another bar called MacLaren's, and her friend Kelly gets the two confused, running out of the gang's pub just as Barney gets ready to play "Have you met Ted?"
- Future Ted mentions that he found out years later that he could have kissed Robin after their first date, as seen in Sunrise.
Gallery
- For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Pilot images.
Memorable Quotes
| Future Ted: | Kids, I'm gonna' tell you an incredible story - the story of how I met your mother. |
| Son: | Are we being punished for something? |
| Future Ted: | No. |
| Daughter: | Yeah, is this going to take a while? |
| Future Ted: | Yes. |
Lily: Wow, you're cooking?
Marshall: Yes, I am.
Lily: Awww. Are you sure that's a good idea after last time? You looked really creepy without eyebrows.
Marshall: Oh, hey, look what I got?
(brings out bottle of champagne and hands it to Lily)
Lily: Aww, honey. Champagne.
(hands bottle back to Marshall)
Marshall: Yeah.
(hands bottle back to Lily)
Lily: No, you are too old to be scared to open a bottle of champagne.
Robin: I'm going to Orlando for a week on Friday. Some guy is attempting to make the world's biggest pancake. Guess who's covering it?
Ted: That's gonna' take a week?
Robin: Yeah, he's gonna eat it too. It's another record.
"Why are we still sitting here? Let's go, we can still make last call. What do you say, Lil? Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum? 'Cause you're a pirate?"
- —Barney can't resist joking about Lily's eye-patch.
Robin: Hold on, wait a minute. Promised you these.
Ted: Olives, thanks. I love you. What is wrong with me?
Ted: So, you're a reporter?
Robin: Well, kind of a reporter. I do those dumb little fluff pieces at the end of the news, like... Monkey can play a ukulele. I'm hoping for some bigger stories.
Ted: Bigger... Like, a gorilla with an upright bass? Sorry, you're very pretty.
Ted: She didn't even give me the signal!
Barney: What, is she gonna... is she gonna bat her eyes at you in morse code? (bats eyes) Ted... kiss me. No! You just kiss her!
Ted: Not if you don't get the signal!
(Barney spontaneously kisses Marshall)
Barney: Did Marshall give me the signal?
Marshall: No! (to Lily) I didn't, I swear!
Barney: So, Ranjit, you must have done it with a Lebanese girl...
Lily: Ok, that's my Barney limit.
Barney: ...Just once, when I say "suit up", I'd wish you'd put on a suit!
Ted: I did, that one time.
Barney: It was a blazer!
(giving a toast)
Marshall: To my fiance!
Lily: To the future!
Ranjit: To one hell of a night!
Future Ted: (voice over about seeing Robin for the first time) It was like something from an old movie. Where the sailor sees the girl across the crowded dance floor and turns to his buddy, and says, "See that girl? I'm gonna marry her someday."
Ted: Hey, Barney. See that girl?
Barney: Oh, yeah, you just know she likes it dirty.
Ted: I'm so happy for Marshall, I really am. I just can't imagine settling down right now.
Yasmin: So, do you think you'll ever get married?
Ted: Well, maybe eventually... some fall day, possibly in Central Park... simple ceremony, we'll write our own vows... band, no DJ, people will dance, I'm not gonna worry about it!
Marshall: (rehearsing with Ted) Will you marry me?
Ted: Yes, perfect! And then you're engaged, you pop the champagne, you do your toast, you have sex on the kitchen floor! Don't have sex on our kitchen floor.
Barney: (after Robin throws a drink in Ted's face) De -wait for it- Nied! Denied!
Barney: There's no such thing as the signal! But yeah, that was the signal.
Future Ted: That, kids, is the true story of how I met your Aunt Robin.
Son: Aunt Robin?
Daughter: I thought this was how you met Mom?
Future Ted: Will you relax? I'm getting to it. Like I said, it's a long story.
Ted: You know what? I'm done being single, I'm not good at it. Look, obviously you can't tell a woman you just met that you love her, but it sucks that you can't. I'll tell you something though, if a woman, not you, just some hypothetical woman, were to bear with me through all this, I think I'd make a damn good husband, because that's the stuff I'd be good at. Stuff like making her laugh and being a good father and walking her five hypothetical dogs. Being a good kisser...
Robin: Everyone thinks they're a good kisser.
Ted: Oh, I've got references.
Ranjit: Actually, I'm from Bangladesh.
Barney: The women hot there?
Ranjit: Here's a picture of my wife.
Barney: (whispering) A simple no would've sufficed.
Robin: I love a Scotch that's old enough to order its own Scotch
Robin: I think I like your olive theory.
Ted: I think I like your new French horn.
Robin: I think I like your nose.
Ted: I think I'm in love with you.
Ted: I gotta do what that guy couldn't, I gotta take the leap!...Okay, not a perfect metaphor, cause for me it's fall in love and get married, and for him it's...death.
Barney: Actually, that is a perfect metaphor...(to Marshall and Lily who just got engaged) By the way, did I congratulate you two?
Barney: Hi, have you met Ted?
(Barney's classic wingman line)
Marshall: I'm full of surprises tonight.
Lily: So there's more surprises?! Like what?
Marshall (screaming): BOOGADABOO!!! And that's all of em!!
Barney: (answering the phone) Hey, so you know how I've always had a thing for half-Asians? Well, now I have a new favorite: Lebanese girls. Lebanese girls are the new half-Asians.
Ted: I've been there for all the big moments of you and Lily: the night you met, your first date, other first things...
Marshall: Huh-uh-uh, yeah, sorry, we thought you were asleep.
Ted: It's physics Marshall, if the bottom bunk moves the top bunk moves too.
Barney: You suited up! This is totally going in my blog!
-Barney to Ted
Marhsall: I'm sorry, Lily. I am so sorry. (To the Cab Driver) Take us to the hospital.
Cab Driver: Woah woah woah. Did you hit her?
Lily (laughs with Marshall): Hit me? Please, I'd kick his skinny ass. Marshall: It's true, she would. Lily: I mean, I love him. We just got engaged, but this guy can barely spank me in bed for fun. It's just these little love-pats. He's all like "Oh honey did that hurt?" and I'm all like "C'mon let me have it ya pansy!" Wow, complete stranger.
Cab Driver: No, no, no, no! It's OK! Go on. So, these spankings, you in pajamas or au naturale?
Barney (on the phone): Hey, loser. How is not playing laser tag? Because playing laser tag is awesome! (to a kid) Oh, I killed you, Conner! Don't make me get your mom!
Ted: Hey, listen, I need your help on something.
Barney: Okay, meet me at the bar in 15 minutes. And suit up!
Ted: I could end up marrying this woman; I want our first kiss to be special.
Lily: Aw, that's sweet. So you chickened out like a little bitch?
Future Ted: Son, a piece of advice: when you go on a first date, you really don't want to say "smurf penis." Girls don't ordinarily like that.
Ted: That was not the signal!
Ted's Voice-Over: I asked her about it years later, and, yes, that was the signal.
Robin: My friend just got dumped, so tonight all men are "the Enemy".
Ted: If it would make your friend feel better, you can throw a drink in my face.
Robin: She would love that!
Ted: Marshall, remember this night. When you're the best man at our wedding and you give a speech, you're gonna tell this story.
Barney:Why does he get to be the best man ? I'm your best friend!
Notes and Trivia
Goofs and Errors
- In the scene with Marshall and Lily with the champagne bottle, the first scene shows the bottle covered in foil, but in the last where Marshall uncorks it, there is no foil.
- In the scene where Ted meets Robin, Robin first has her hair covering her ears, but in the next shot, she has her hair behind her ears.
- In the scene where Robin was covering the "jumper story", instead of saying Metro News 1 she says Metro 1 News.
- As in other early episodes from the first season, Robin's surname is pronounced Sher-BAT-sky instead of Sher-BAH-tsky.
- In Barney's first scene, when he's getting a shave, the barber was holding and using the straight razor incorrectly. It's fairly useless to move the razor in the opposite direction of the blade edge but may have been done for safety reasons.
- When Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Barney are watching Robin report on her show, she closes her story saying, "Reporting from Metro 1 News, back to you, Bill." Instead of saying Metro News 1, she says Metro 1 News, differing from the name she had previously called the show earlier in the episode.
Allusions and Outside References
- When Ted sees the blue french horn, he calls it a "Smurf Penis," which he tells his son is typically a bad idea on a first date. The Smurfs were a fictional group of small sky blue creatures who live somewhere in the forests of medieval Europe. They began in a Belgian comic strip in 1958, but gained the most popularity from the Hanna-Barbera television series, which ran from 1981 to 1989.
- Intrestingly, Neil Patrick Harris (Barney) starred in The Smurfs movie, only 6 years later.
Music
- Otis Redding - Cigarettes and Coffee
- The Pretenders - Back on the Chain Gang
- The theme song for the show is 'Hey Beautiful' by The Solids, which includes writers/producers/co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.
Other Notes
- In his audition, which included the laser tag scene, Neil Patrick Harris did the dive roll that he does in this episode. Alyson Hannigan, who was in the next room during Harris's audition, asked Harris to bump the wall when he did the dive so that she knew that he had done it. Harris misjudged the space and he hit the wall harder than he intended knocking himself out.
- The champagne that the group drinks at the end of the episode was real champagne, but the actors (including Marshall Manesh, who plays Ranjit, who doesn't drink alcohol because of religious reasons) didn't know that fact until they drank it.
- This is the only episode (except for Game Night, Last Words, Hopeless, 46 Minutes and How Your Mother Met Me) to forgo the traditional opening (the yellow-tinted montage of the photographs containing all five main characters). Instead, you see a series of non-tinted photographs of Ted, Marshall, and some unnamed female friends.
- This episode features an audio commentary by show creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas , Director Pamela Fryman and cast members Josh Radnor , Jason Segel , Cobie Smulders , Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris .
- It is revealed that in college, the bottom bunk was Marshall's and the top - Ted's.
Awards
- This episode was nominated for the 2006 Excellence in Production Design Award for Television - Multi-Camera Television Series.
- This episode won the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series.
Guests
- Saba Homayoon - Yasmin
- Marshall Manesh - Ranjit
- Joe Nieves - Carl
- Jack Shearer - Cab Driver
- Monique Edwards - Producer
- Sarah Loew - Dumped Friend
- Gary Riotto - Waiter #1
- Tony Rossi - Waiter #2
- Randy Spire - Boyfriend (uncredited)
Reception
- The episode received generally favorable reviews, garnering a score of 69 from Metacritic.[1]
- Nielsen Media gave it a viewership rating of 5.2/8 for households with 3.3 rating for adults age 18-49.[2]
- The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8 out of 10 stars. "Based on this great first episode, we see a lot of potential for this series!"
References
External Links
- Pilot at the English Wikipedia
- Pilot at the Internet Movie Database
- Pilot at TV.com
- Pilot Transcript at TV Transcripts DB
← Previous episode — |
Pilot (all episodes) |
Next episode → Purple Giraffe
|