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  • One of the most popular sitcoms of the 21st century is of course How I Met Your Mother.

  • But there are quite a few things that happen behind the scenes of this hilarious show

  • that you probably don't know about.

  • Welcome to Trending 10.

  • And today we're counting down the top 10 things

  • that you probably didn't know about How I Met Your Mother.

  • Ready? Because here we go.

  • Many of the cast significant others appeared as extras on the show.

  • But it's a little inside joke the significant others were only allowed to play bizarre characters.

  • For example, Alyson Hannigan's husband played the weird Newscaster, Sandy Rivers.

  • Cobie Smulders's husband appeared as Gary Blauman

  • and Neil Patrick Harris's husband played Scooter, Lily's high school boyfriend.

  • On-screen couple Lily and Marshall had a little bit of drama during filming.

  • Marshall was played by Jason Segel who had a smoking problem at the time of filming

  • and Lily's actress Alyson Hannigan hated kissing seagal on screen

  • because it was like kissing an ashtray.

  • Segal managed to quit for a year, but eventually picked the habit back up.

  • The original cast of the show look very different from what we know today.

  • Originally Scott Foley was planned to play Ted

  • and Jennifer Love Hewitt was planned to play Robin.

  • (S)he would eventually turn down the role

  • so she could be on the new CBS show "Ghost Whisperer"

  • which unfortunately didn't go too well for.

  • There was a lot of confusion around the character Stella.

  • Pop star Britney Spears had expressed interest in being on the show

  • but the producers were actually worried that Spears would want to play Stella,

  • a character that they had big plans for and did not want Spears to play.

  • Luckily, Spears was more interested in playing Stella's receptionist, Abby.

  • The episode that Britney Spears appeared on, titled Ten Sessions, went on to be the most popular episode of the time

  • and ended up saving the show from cancellation.

  • Stella was then planned to be played by Alicia Silverstone.

  • But after Spears was recruited to play stella's receptionist,

  • Silverstone's representatives made her pull out of the show

  • in fear that her performance would be overshadowed by Britney Spears.

  • Eventually Sarah Clarke was signed on to play Stella,

  • and she ended up being the great final choice.

  • Penny and Luke had to film their scenes at the end of the show nine years early.

  • Fearing that the kids would go through puberty before the ending of the show,

  • the crew had to film Penny and Luke scenes in the finale

  • all the way back during season one of the show.

  • The two kids even had to sign a confidentiality contract which of course they honored.

  • And nine years later the world got to see the scenes

  • that the kids shot all the way back in season one.

  • Most sitcoms are recorded in front of a live studio audience.

  • But the pilot episode of How I Met Your Mother was actually recorded in a regular studio without an audience.

  • In fact the pilot episode took a whole three days to film

  • as there were far more scenes in the production team expected.

  • Once the episode was finally finished, it was shown into an audience

  • whose laughter was recorded and added to the sound mix of the pilot before aired.

  • Did you know that Conan O'Brien actually appeared on the show?

  • But he didn't appear in the way you might think.

  • You probably expect someone of Conan's caliber to have a lead role.

  • But believe it or not, Conan actually entered a charity auction to be an extra on the show and won.

  • After winning the auction, the producers of How I Met Your Mother wanted to give Conan a larger part

  • but O'Brien declined the offer.

  • Thinking that it would be much funnier if he was just somewhere in the background,

  • so on the episode "No Pressure" Conan appears in the background as a regular extra.

  • The gang likes to hang out at the bar Maclaren's.

  • But there's more real about this bar than you probably know.

  • The name comes from Carl McLaren

  • who worked as an assistant to the producers of the show for two years before How I Met Your Mother started production.

  • The actual bar is based on a New York City bar called McGee's

  • where the producers hung out while working on their previous show "Letterman" (Late Show with David Letterman).

  • Did you know that there was a real proposal on the set of the show?

  • During the filming of the season two finale,

  • one of the extras in the restaurant scene Timothy Russo proposed to a fellow extra Jannagen.

  • Russo's Brother's friends was one of the writers for the show and managed to help organize the entire thing.

  • Perhaps the most memorable character on the show is of course Barney played by the legendary Neil Patrick Harris.

  • But did you know that Neil wasn't actually the first choice for the character?

  • Barney was originally supposed to be played by Jim Parsons who many know is Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory.

  • However, had auditioned for the show, Parsons was beat out by Harris for the role

  • and a good thing he did. If things had gone differently,

  • Barney would not be the character we know and love today

  • and the Big Bang Theory likely wouldn't have Jim Parsons as Sheldon.

  • So we'll just call it a happy incident.

  • But there we go guys, that's it for our list of 10 things you probably didn't know about the hit TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

  • Got any other sitcom facts, you should have let us know down in the comment section below.

  • And if you enjoyed this video, drop a like and subscribe for more great content.

  • But alright. It's gonna be it for this one guys.

  • Thanks so much for watching Trending 10, your guide to what's viral right now.

One of the most popular sitcoms of the 21st century is of course How I Met Your Mother.

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