<P> How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom written and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas . It was first aired on September 19 , 2005 on CBS with a thirty - minute pilot episode , and finished its planned nine - year run on March 31 , 2014 after 208 episodes . Set in present - day Manhattan , the series follows the social and romantic lives of Ted Mosby ( Josh Radnor ) and his four best friends , Marshall Eriksen ( Jason Segel ) , Robin Scherbatsky ( Cobie Smulders ) , Lily Aldrin ( Alyson Hannigan ) , and Barney Stinson ( Neil Patrick Harris ) , as Ted seeks out his future wife ( Cristin Milioti ) . The show tells this story through the framing device of `` future '' Ted ( Bob Saget ) as an unreliable narrator who is recounting to his son and daughter the events that led him to their mother . In Seasons 1 -- 8 , episodes are typically set to a similar timeline as its real - world airdate , with the season finale generally taking place in the spring and the next season premiere in the fall , usually with a quick recap of the events that took place during the summer . The final season ( season 9 ) deviates from this format by taking place immediately after the end of the previous season and encompassing only the weekend of Barney 's and Robin 's wedding . The series finale covers several years that follow . </P>
<P> How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom written and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas . It was first aired on September 19 , 2005 on CBS with a thirty - minute pilot episode , and finished its planned nine - year run on March 31 , 2014 after 208 episodes . Set in present - day Manhattan , the series follows the social and romantic lives of Ted Mosby ( Josh Radnor ) and his four best friends , Marshall Eriksen ( Jason Segel ) , Robin Scherbatsky ( Cobie Smulders ) , Lily Aldrin ( Alyson Hannigan ) , and Barney Stinson ( Neil Patrick Harris ) , as Ted seeks out his future wife ( Cristin Milioti ) . The show tells this story through the framing device of `` future '' Ted ( Bob Saget ) as an unreliable narrator who is recounting to his son and daughter the events that led him to their mother . In Seasons 1 -- 8 , episodes are typically set to a similar timeline as its real - world airdate , with the season finale generally taking place in the spring and the next season premiere in the fall , usually with a quick recap of the events that took place during the summer . The final season ( season 9 ) deviates from this format by taking place immediately after the end of the previous season and encompassing only the weekend of Barney 's and Robin 's wedding . The series finale covers several years that follow . </P>
how many episodes are there in how i met your mother
how many episodes are there in how i met your mother
208
208