How I Met Your Mother: When Josh Radnor reflected on fan backlash over his character, Ted Mosby

It's been over a decade since the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother wrapped up. Even though there has been a mixed response regarding the series' finale, fans remain obsessed with the show. The show's popularity even prompted the makers to produce a podcast in 2025, called How We Made Your Mother. It is hosted by HIMYM's co-creator, Craig Thomas, and the series' protagonist, Josh Radnor, who played Ted Mosby. The podcast takes the listeners on a journey of behind-the-scenes moments of the sitcom, diving episode by episode, featuring guests, and answering fan comments.

For the uninitiated, How I Met Your Mother delves into the life of Ted Mosby, a hopeless romantic and a terrible decision-maker. In the sitcom, Ted narrates his memories to his children and walks them through his love life, friendship, and, most importantly, how he met his wife and their mother.

However, by the end of the series, Ted became one of the most unlikable characters of How I Met Your Mother. His inability to move on from his past relationships, self-centeredness, and struggle to learn from past mistakes were a few of the reasons. While some fans defend Ted, others criticize him and the character's decisions throughout the series.

In How We Made Your Mother Podcast Season 1, Episode 5 'Okay Awesome,' Josh Radnor expressed his views on his character Ted Mosby. Eventually, he addressed the backlash and explained that Ted's action was the script's demand, and not his personal choice. Moreover, he was obliged via contract and was not involved in the writing process of HIMYM.

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Josh Radnor on playing Ted Mosby in How I Met Your Mother: Backlash and behind-the-scenes truths

There are very few protagonists who face such backlash as Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. Josh Radnor, who portrayed the role, recently opened up in the sitcom's podcast and addressed the issue. Radnor pointed out that he was simply following the script and was bound by a contract. He told,

" How I Met Your Mother was a really scripted show. That's why when people wanna get mad around something Ted did, I was like dude, I was contractually obligated to do those things. Like this is my job. This is my job to be truthful and bring this stuff to life."

The 50-year-old actor who had won the Sundance Film Festival award for writing and directing Happythankyoumoreplease (2010 dramedy movie), clarified that even though he likes writing scripts, he was not a part of the HIMYM writers' team. He continued,

" And it wasn't my job to hijack the script and say you know what I think should really happen because I write my own things. Jason and I actually had a talk a bunch of times. We love writing scripts. We didn't think we'd be particularly good How I Met Your Mother writers, like it came from the minds of Craig and Carter and the writing staff."

Radnor clarified that How I Met Your Mother existed in a unique world, with its own logic and tone. As actors, it was their job to immerse themselves in that world, but they didn't control the plot or the characters' decisions. It was purely the decision of the creators and the writers' team.

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" It was a very singular world that had its own rules and its own logics, and we were just inside that, but we weren't the puppet masters."

Also read: 'How I Met Your Mother' was never just about Ted’s romance — Here’s what you missed

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