How We Met NPH [with Neil Patrick Harris] | S2E20 "Showdown"
How We Made Your Mother
Audacy & Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas
4.8 • 920 Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Josh and Craig are joined by Neil Patrick Harris to revisit How I Met Your Mother Season 2’s “Showdown,” the episode where Barney appears on The Price Is Right believing that host Bob Barker might be his father. Neil reflects on the lasting cultural impact of Barney Stinson, the freedom the show’s unusual hybrid format gave actors to experiment with comedy, and the physical-comedy influences—from Buster Keaton to Cirque du Soleil—that shaped his performance. The conversation dives into Barney’s mix of bravado and vulnerability, how the writers gradually revealed the emotional core beneath the suit, and why the character’s deep loyalty to his friends often drove the story more than his playboy antics. They also share memories of filming on the real Price Is Right set, discuss how the show’s early “on the bubble” years kept everyone creatively hungry, and explore the idea that the heightened moments of the series may represent Ted’s exaggerated memories rather than literal reality. And we end on HWMYM’s first… cliffhanger!
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Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, it's Craig Thomas. |
| 0:02.0 | I wrote a book and I want you to know about it, but instead of watching me or listening to me, be self-promotional in a blatant and uncomfortable way. |
| 0:11.0 | I was delighted by this book. It is super page tourney. It is like breathlessly and hilariously plotted. |
| 0:20.0 | The interiority was just as rich and as fun as the plot twists. |
| 0:25.6 | His many years of crafting great narratives on television came to bear on this. |
| 0:30.6 | Your gifts as a novelist are just abundant. |
| 0:33.6 | I was so delighted by it. It's incredibly vivid. |
| 0:36.6 | You're really seeing it as you read it. Even if you were my mortal enemy, I would be forced to, I love you dearly. You're one of my best friends, but I would be forced to concede that you had written a great book. |
| 0:48.3 | That is amazing. I wish that could be a blurb on the book, even if Frank Thomas was my mortal enemy. You will not be disappointed if you pick up this book or listen to this book, so check |
| 0:58.5 | it out. |
| 0:59.5 | And speaking of listening to this book, there is a mini How I Met Your Mother reunion |
| 1:03.8 | in the audiobook of That's Not How It Happened. |
| 1:06.7 | Listen to Kobe Smoulders. |
| 1:08.0 | And so began the surreal, unholy process of my husband adapting my book, my life, into |
| 1:14.6 | a screenplay. |
| 1:15.6 | Here is another voice you may recognize, Josh Radner. |
| 1:19.6 | Right now, I was in that pocket. |
| 1:22.6 | And as a writer, that's about as close to heaven as it gets. |
| 1:26.6 | Okay, self-promotion over. |
| 1:28.3 | Now to this week's episode, it's a big one. |
| 1:31.3 | Ladies and gentlemen, how we met Neil Patrick Harris. |
| 1:35.3 | I'm alone. |
... |
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