The Limo (How I Met Your Mother)

Trying to avoid the usual letdown of New Year's Eve, Ted rents a limo for the group. Robin has plans with her boyfriend, Derek. Ted, Lily, Marshall, and Barney plan to attend 5 parties before midnight, finding the best party to be at. The group goes to party 1, picking up Ted's coworker, Marybeth. Barney also finds a date named Natalya. Lily complains that her shoes are hurting her feet, but the group disregards this and heads to party 2.

Disappointed with party 2, the gang heads to party 3, leaving Natalya behind. Robin calls Ted and asks if they can pick her up. Robin joins the group, and Ted suggests they go to Gray's Papaya. Lily returns to the apartment to change her shoes, intending to meet the group later.

The limo heads to party 3 when Marshall sees Moby out the window of the parked limo. Moby then rides to his party with the group. Marshall leaves the limo to find Lily. The group heads to Moby's party but discovers that he is not Moby. As they drop off Not Moby at his party, Marshall's phone, which was accidentally left in the limo, rings. Barney answers the call from Lily and tells her that Marshall is looking for her at party 3. Lily then sees Not Moby walking into the party and flees. When she rejoins the group, they realize Lily accidentally went to party 4. The group heads to party 3.

The limo gets a flat tire, prompting Marybeth to leave the group. With 15 minutes until midnight, the group begins walking to party 3. As Lily tries to find Marshall, Barney tells Ted to stop trying to improve New Year's Eve. Just before Ted gives up, they hear Marshall, who runs to the limo. He reveals that when he could not find Lily at party 3, he walked to party 4. Marshall then went to party 5 and convinces the group that it's the best party, and they head to it. The Limo is stuck in traffic; the group accepts they will not make it to party 5, so Ted opens a bottle of champagne and pours everyone a glass. Derek appears at the limo's window. As the countdown begins, everyone in the limo is paired off except for Ted, who leaves the limo. Robin follows him, and they kiss.

The episode is a bottle episode meaning it is set in one location.{{Cite web |last=Kurland |first=Daniel |date=2015-04-14 |title=When 'How I Met Your Mother' Got Ambitious with Form |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/when-how-i-met-your-mother-got-ambitious-with-form.html |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Vulture |language=en-us}} The episode was reportedly one of the most difficult of the season to film.{{Cite web |date=2018-12-28 |title='How I Met Your Mother' Was the Only Show Brave Enough to Say That New Year's Eve Sucks |url=https://decider.com/2018/12/28/how-i-met-your-mother-new-years-eve/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Decider |language=en-US}}

The episode features principal cast members Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan as Ted Mosby, Barney Stinson, Marshall Eriksen, Robin Scherbatsky, and Lily Aldrin respectively. Additionally Bob Saget voices a future of Ted, but goes uncredited.{{Cite web |last=Hedash |first=Kara |date=2021-02-13 |title=How I Met Your Mother: The Reasons Why Bob Saget Voices Future Ted (Not Josh Radnor) |url=https://screenrant.com/how-met-mother-bob-saget-voice-future-ted-why/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Screen Rant |language=en}}

The guest cast includes Lyndsy Fonseca and David Henrie as Ted's children and Marshall Manesh as Ranjit, All three of whom reprise their roles from earlier in the season. J. P. Manoux appears Eric who the group mistake for the musician Moby.{{Cite web |last=Hedash |first=Kara |date=2020-11-16 |title=Community's Season 3 How I Met Your Mother Character Reference Explained |url=https://screenrant.com/community-how-met-mother-character-reference-fake-moby-explained/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116213630/https://screenrant.com/community-how-met-mother-character-reference-fake-moby-explained/ |archive-date=2020-11-16 |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} James Tupper also guest stars as Robin's boyfriend Derek.

The episode features the Bon Jovi song "You Give Love a Bad Name".{{Cite web |last=Kurland |first=Daniel |date=2015-04-14 |title=When 'How I Met Your Mother' Got Ambitious with Form |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/when-how-i-met-your-mother-got-ambitious-with-form.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Vulture |language=en-us}}

"The Limo" was first aired in the United States on CBS on December 19, 2005.{{Cite web |title=9 Things 'How I Met Your Mother' Got Right About New Year's Eve In "The Limo" |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/131682-9-things-how-i-met-your-mother-got-right-about-new-years-eve-in-the-limo |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Bustle |language=en}} It was watched by 10.36 million viewers.{{cite web|url=http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=122805_05|title=December 19–25, 2005 weekly program rankings|access-date=December 19, 2010|work=ABC Television Group|archive-date=March 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329105959/http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=122805_05|url-status=dead}}

For his efforts on the episode, Director of Photography Chris La Fountaine won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series.{{Cite web |last1=Nordyke |first1=Kimberly |date=2006-08-22 |title=HBO's arts the real deal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hbos-arts-real-deal-138488/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Complete list of 2006 Emmy winners |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-emmynomslist2006-story.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Baltimore Sun}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb episode|0606114|The Limo}}

{{How I Met Your Mother episodes|1}}

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Category:How I Met Your Mother season 1 episodes

Category:2005 American television episodes

Category:New Year television episodes