Season one of How I Met Your Mother has a lot of laughs and goofy moments (like all of the seasons and basically every episode) but there are really only a few things that you need to know.

Important Episodes

• Episode One is HUGELY Important! (You should probably watch it).
  • Unlike a lot of pilots, this one isn’t terrible and it tells you a lot of things that you need to know.  Marshall proposes to Lily in the first episode, which is the catalyst for Ted’s search for “the one.”  He then sees Robin across a crowded bar (MacLaren’s) and the two go out on a date.  They hit it off, but Ted goes overboard and says I love you, which obviously kills the mood.  As a result, the two decide to be friends.
  • Episode 12: The Wedding and Episode 13: Drumroll Please (These episodes are important for Ted and Robin so here’s how they go):
    • Ted invites Robin to be his date to a wedding.  She says yes but later can’t go because she gets an offer to anchor the news
    • Ted goes to the wedding alone and has a super romantic night with a girl that he meets named Victoria (she made the wedding cake), and the two then begin to date.
    • The TWIST: Robin sees Ted with Victoria and gets jealous because she realizes that she has feelings for Ted (Oh Snap!)

• Episode 15: Game Night
  • This episode is not only funny, but it shows us how Barney became, well, Barney.  Way back when (when Barney was 22) he was a loving, crunchy-granola-hippie, and shockingly a virgin.  And to make it all even funnier, in order to find out how one of Barney’s ex-girlfriends caused him to become the man he is today, each member of the gang has to tell Barney their most embarrassing moment before he will spill the beans.
  • Barney Suits Up: http://www.hulu.com/watch/20085
  • Blooper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWVQHqIVWVA&feature=related
  • Episode 16: Cupcake
    • All you need to know is that Victoria gets a fellowship at a culinary school in Germany.  She moves, but she and Ted decide to start a long distance relationship
    • Episode 18: Nothing Good Happens After 2 AM
      • There are funny moments in the episode (Marshall, Lily, and Barney meet Korean Elvis) but the important part is that when Robin invites Ted over to her apartment late at night, Ted lies and says that he broke up with Victoria when he hadn’t.  Robin finds out, and Ted loses both girls.
      • Episode 22: Come On
        • SEASON FINALE!  Basically, Lily wants to go to art school in San Francisco right on her and Marshall’s wedding date because she has gotten a major case of cold feet.  So Lily and Marshall break up 🙁  On a happier note, Ted and Robin finally get together 🙂

Just Plain Funny

• Episode 3: Sweet Taste of Liberty
  • Barney and Ted go on an expedition to Philadelphia and end up licking the Liberty Bell
  • Episode 5: Okay Awesome
    • Ted, Barney, and Robin go to a club while Marshall and Lily try to throw a “mature grown up party.” But they both realize how lame it is and end up jumping out the window of their apartment (which is not on the first floor btw) to escape it
    • Episode 17: Life Among the Gorillas
      • Marshall begins working at Barney’s corporation and starts becoming a shallow jerk.
      • Episode 19: Mary the Paralegal
        • Barney pays for a prostitute to be Ted’s date to Robin’s award show so Ted can make Robin jealous.  The prostitute (Mary) is going to claim that she is a paralegal.  Despite being initially put off, Ted starts to fall for her.  TWIST Mary really is a paralegal; Barney lied to Ted to mess with him.

A rough overview of the season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHQibR6Yhc

The video yearbook of season one if you are so inclined (it is twenty minutes long, but they interview the cast and creators): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK3mpTgurCw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFiAPeNwR3I&feature=plcp

Episode List and Summary (if you want to know what happens in absolutely every episode): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460649/episodes?season=1