9 Ted Mosby truths even ‘How I Met Your Mother’ diehards may have missed

Josh Radnor nearly did not portray Ted.

Jason Biggs declined the role.
The entertainment provided by Amira Dughri/Halfway Crooks.

At least two different actors reportedly declined the role of Ted Mosby on “How I Met Your Mother” before Radnor was cast in it.

On an appearance of SiriusXM’s “The Covino and Rich Show” in 2021, “American Pie” actor Jason Biggs stated that declining the part is his “worst regret.”

According to E News, the part was reportedly offered to “Scandal” actor Scott Foley before Radnor.

Future Ted’s voice alters in the final episode.

Bob Saget provided the narration for “How I Met Your Mother.”

Rich Fury/Getty Photographs

Bob Saget provided the voice of Future Ted (the show’s narrator) throughout the majority of “HIMYM.”

In the series finale, however, “Last Forever, Part 2,” Radnor played both Ted and Future Ted.

Some of Ted’s assertions may be unreliable.

How I Met Your Mother stars Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor.

Fox’s Richard Cartwright

Since Ted narrates the story, the audience learns about the events and characters via his perspective.

However, this also suggests that Ted is a potentially untrustworthy narrator. Future Ted is even written to be confused or forgetful about some events or people’s names in various episodes.

In 2018, Neil Patrick Harris told DigitalSpy that he believed the unreliable-narrator theory to be likely accurate, particularly in regards to Ted’s exaggerations regarding his character, Barney.

Actually, the character is based on a real person.

Carter Bays was one of “How I Met Your Mother’s” showrunners.

Phil McCarten/Reuters

The creators and writers of “HIMYM” were Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, but they did not create the plot from scratch.

Bays made it obvious in a 2008 interview with Cleveland Magazine that he based Ted on his own experiences.

Thomas and Bays also met and became friends during their freshman year at Wesleyan University, just like Ted and Marshall.

Ted and Radnor also share a similar trait.

Josh Radnor on the television series “How I Met Your Mother”

CBS

Ted is from Shaker Heights, Ohio, the same hometown as Bays, according to the show.

Radnor grew up in the same state as the character, as he was raised outside of Columbus, Ohio.

In response to a question about his resemblance to the character, the actor told The New Potato: “We look a lot alike. Each of us is an optimist. Both of us place a high value on friendship.”

However, in terms of distinctions, Radnor said, “I do not use the phrase “I love you” on first dates. I have an allergy to “Love Actually.” I lack a pair of red cowboy boots.”

Barney’s many jokes about Ted are based on actual incidents.

A frequent humor on “How I Met Your Mother” is “Have you met Ted?”

CBS

Bays and Thomas did not create the classic “Have you met Ted?” line from Barney.

During a 2014 “Ask Us Anything” session on Reddit, Bays revealed that the quote originated from their former supervisor on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Justin Stangel.

“You’d be hanging out with him in a pub, having a conversation, when a female would walk by, and he’d ask her, ‘Have you met Carter?’” he wrote.

He has some knowledge of sign language.

Barney was unaware of Ted’s sign language skills.

CBS

In two consecutive episodes, Ted uses American Sign Language to speak with another character (ASL).

In the fifth episode of season three, titled “How I Met Everyone Else,” Ted recalls the first time he met Barney. He was at the pub when he was lured into Barney’s scheme to pick up ladies and had to pose as his deaf brother, whom Barney had announced.

Barney was unaware that Ted knew ASL, so Ted instructed the woman to give Barney a bogus number.

In “Spoiler Alert,” the eighth episode of season three, Ted speaks in ASL with his ex-girlfriend Cathy’s new fiancé.

Ted may have gotten together with Victoria.

“How I Met Your Mother” stars Ashley Williams as Victoria.

CBS

Although the show’s makers had planned out the first season’s conclusion, they also had a contingency plan in place in case the show was canceled prematurely.

During the same 2014 AUA Reddit thread, Bays reportedly stated that Victoria would have been the mother if the show had been forced to finish early.