How We Met NPH Pt. 2 [with Neil Patrick Harris] | S2E20 "Showdown"
How We Made Your Mother
Audacy & Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas
4.8 • 922 Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Josh and Craig continue their conversation with Neil Patrick Harris, reflecting on their working dynamic during How I Met Your Mother and how Barney and Ted’s very different roles on the show sometimes created a strange but productive tension between the actors. They talk candidly about early insecurities, the pressure of carrying different storytelling responsibilities—Josh often delivering the emotional core while Neil chased the biggest laughs—and how that contrast ultimately helped create the chemistry that defined the show. The discussion then shifts to the Season 2 episode “Showdown,” including Barney’s obsession with The Price Is Right, Ted’s struggle to write a best-man speech for Marshall, and memorable bits like Marshall’s belief in ghosts, Lily and Marshall’s intense co-dependence, and the absurd sincerity of Barney asking Bob Barker if he’s proud of him. Along the way they swap behind-the-scenes memories—from Neil’s obsessive continuity tricks for the editors to subtle moments that planted the seeds for Barney and Robin—and reflect on how, years later, they can finally look back at the experience with perspective, affection, and a deeper understanding of what each of them was bringing to the show. Â
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Transcript
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| 0:24.6 | Last week on How we made your mother i always kind of felt that that my performance annoyed you josh what i'm alone what a pity i won't be soon in New York City when I see you. |
| 0:43.3 | Please permit me to tell you everything in New York City. |
| 0:50.3 | Tell me more. |
| 0:52.3 | Because honestly, because of it, like more because of this conversation that we're having, because I was |
| 0:57.6 | literally, I was rarely at work too cognizant, as laser focused as I was of like the comedy |
| 1:06.6 | turns and like doing that stuff. |
| 1:09.2 | I was very indifferent to the heart and the pathos of it, |
| 1:12.6 | because I wasn't written that way. |
| 1:14.6 | And I know that that was your job, right? |
| 1:17.6 | Yeah. |
| 1:18.6 | And so I remember often days when we were filming, and I sense sort of frustration from you |
| 1:26.6 | because, like, you wanted the scene to be, like, |
| 1:30.3 | a good scene. |
| 1:32.3 | And I was looking at you like, motherfucker, I'm doing spit takes. |
| 1:36.3 | Like, we're on, like, this weird sitcom between two things. |
... |
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