How They Got it Made [with co-creator Carter Bays]

On this week's episode of How We Made Your Mother, we welcome the most special of guests: The co-creator, co-writer, co-showrunner and Executive Producer of How I Met Your Mother, the legendary... Carter Bays!If you’ve ever wondered how you get a show on the air, especially one that is all framed as a flashback, or one that is framed as a flashback and uses even more flashbacks (and flashforwards) in that flashback, or one that is framed as a flashback and uses flashbacks and flashforwards that also has its characters evolve and change, oh and also has maybe 65 or 70 scenes per episode and sometimes will take a few minutes break from comedy to go full drama, oh and has a really long, bizarre title, oh that is being written by two guys who look young enough to be their own kids…… well this is the podcast episode for you. This is How We Got it Made.Later this week, look out for a bonus episode, where Carter and Craig talk about how they met, played music together, were hired by Letterman, and all their stops on the road to HIMYM.Spoilers: In this ep of the pod, we don't dive into a specific HIMYM episode juuuuust yet. NEXT week, we begin our official episode rewatch, starting with the How I Met Your Mother pilot. Rewatch with us and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)Substack (Join the mailing list, get announcements, and read more from Josh and Craig)InstagramHOW YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE:Donate to our ongoing campaign to support congenital heart disease researchAND MORE:Josh’s “Museletters” on SubstackJosh’s Official WebsiteJosh on SpotifyCraig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing)Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on SubstackTHANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Nutrafol: Start your hair growth journey with Nutrafol at nutrafol.com and enter the code YOURMOTHERADVERTISING INQUIRIES:[email protected] IN CASE IT HELPS:00:00 The Impact of 'How I Met Your Mother' on Personal Lives04:46 The Journey of Pitching the Show14:54 Creating a Unique Narrative Structure20:05 Casting Challenges and Triumphs30:14 The Audition Experience35:48 Creating Robin Scherbatsky44:09 The Pressure of Network Tests49:30 Listener Stories and Reflections