The fourth season of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

series '' How I Met Your Mother'' premiered on September 22, 2008 and concluded on May 18, 2009. It consisted of 24 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

broadcast the fourth season on Monday nights at 8:30 pm in the United States. The complete fourth season was released on Region 1 DVD on September 29, 2009. In the United Kingdom it aired on E4. The fourth season is the only season of ''How I Met Your Mother'' to be nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an annual award given to the best television comedy series of the year. From 1960 to 1964, this category was combined with the Comedy Specials (one time programs) category so that both type ...

Cast

Main cast

Josh Radnor Joshua Thomas Radnor (born July 29, 1974) is an American actor, filmmaker, author, and musician. He is best known for portraying Ted Mosby on the popular and Emmy Award–winning CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother''. He made his writing and dire ...

Ted Mosby Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children the " ...

Jason Segel Jason Jordan Segel ( ; born January 18, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', as well as for his work with director and ...

Marshall Eriksen Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Jason Segel. Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca. Character overview The s ...

Cobie Smulders Jacoba Francisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders (born April 3, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring role as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014) and as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in the ...

Robin Scherbatsky Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr. is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Cobie Smulders. Robin is the on and off love interest of Barney Stinson (Neil ...

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...

Barney Stinson Barnabus Stinson is a fictional character portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series '' How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014). One of the show's main characters, Barney is known ...

Alyson Hannigan Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress. After starting her career at age four with appearances in commercials, she moved to Hollywood at age 11 and soon got an agent. Hannigan began her film career with supporting r ...

Lily Aldrin Lily Aldrin is a fictional character in the CBS television series '' How I Met Your Mother.'' Lily is portrayed by American actress Alyson Hannigan. She is married to Marshall Eriksen and the best friend of Ted Mosby, Robin Scherbatsky and B ...

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fulle ...

(uncredited) as Future Ted Mosby (voice only)

Recurring cast

Sarah Chalke Sarah Louise Christine Chalke (; born August 27, 1976) is a Canadian actress and model. She is known for portraying Elliot Reid on the NBC/ ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'', the second Becky Conner on the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'', Stella Zinman on ...

as Stella Zinman *

Lyndsy Fonseca Lyndsy Marie Fonseca (born January 7, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career by appearing as Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', on which she starred between 2001 and 2005. Thereafter, she ...

as Penny, Ted's Daughter *

David Henrie David Clayton Henrie ( ; born July 11, 1989) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is noted for playing Ted Mosby's future son Luke on ''How I Met Your Mother'' and Justin Russo in ''Wizards of Waverly Place'', as well as starring in ...

as Luke, Ted's Son * Charlene Amoia as Wendy the Waitress *

Bryan Callen Bryan Callen (born January 26, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster. He studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Callen initiated his career as one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy serie ...

as Bilson * Jason Jones as Tony Grafanello *

Darcy Rose Byrnes Darcy Rose Byrnes (born November 4, 1998) is an American and Irish actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Abby Newman on ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', Penny Scavo on '' Desperate ...

as Lucy Zinman *

Marshall Manesh Marshall Manesh (born August 16, 1950) is an Iranian-American actor. Biography When Manesh was young, his father died; he was raised by his mother, from whom he feels he got his strength to make it in show business. He went to the United S ...

as Ranjit * Joe Nieves as Carl, the owner of MacLarens Pub * Matt Boren as Stuart

Guest cast

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

as himself *

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom ''Coach (TV series), Coach''. He also appeared in 12 ep ...

as Marvin Eriksen, Sr. *

David Burtka David Michael Burtka (born May 29, 1975) is an American actor and professional chef. He is known for his acting roles in theatre and television shows such as ''How I Met Your Mother'' and '' The Play About the Baby''. After his role on ''How I Met ...

as Scooter *

Frances Conroy Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Prime ...

as Loretta Stinson *

Erin Cahill Erin Jessica Cahill (born January 4, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jen Scotts in ''Power Rangers Time Force'', Ted Mosby's sister Heather in ''How I Met Your Mother'', and Kendra Burke in '' Saving Grace''. S ...

as Heather Mosby *

Brooke D'Orsay Brooke D'Orsay (born February 17, 1982) is a Canadian actress, best known for voicing the character of Caitlin Cooke on the Teletoon animated series ''6teen'' (2004–2010) and Brooke Mayo in the 2005 movie '' King's Ransom''. For American audie ...

as Margaret (Betty - Barney's Wife) *

Laura Prepon Laura Helene Prepon (born March 7, 1980) is an American actress. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Netflix comedy-drama ser ...

as Karen *

Kendra Wilkinson Kendra Leigh Wilkinson (formerly Baskett; born June 12, 1985) is an American television personality and model. She is known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series ''The Girls Next Door'', ...

as Herself * Kevin Michael Richardson as Stan *

Heidi Montag Heidi Blair Pratt (née Montag; born September 15, 1986) is an American reality television personality, model, singer and actress. Born and raised in Crested Butte, Colorado. In 2006, Montag came to prominence after being cast in the MTV reality ...

as Herself *

Spencer Pratt Spencer William Pratt (born August 14, 1983) is an American reality television personality. In 2007, he began dating Heidi Montag, a primary cast member of the reality television series '' The Hills''. Subsequently, he came to prominence after be ...

as Himself *

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...

as Herself *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...

as Doug Martin

Episodes

U.S. viewership

This season is currently the second highest rated season of ''How I Met Your Mother'' in terms of viewership, at an average of 9.42 million viewers. However, it is currently the highest rated in terms of the important Adults 18-49 demographic, which is what advertisers use to determine how much a 30-second advertising spot costs. Season 4 averaged 4.0/10 in terms of rating/share in the Adults 18-49 demographic.

Critical response

Season 4 received highly positive reviews and is often considered to be the best season of the series. Michelle Zoromski of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave Season 4 an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10. Michelle stated, "This fourth season seemed to settle down the chase for the titular mother. While Ted was busy dating Stella, the gang settled into many stand alone episodes which were every bit as entertaining as episodes devoted to Ted's love life," later going on to say, "A stellar Robin-Marshall episode, titled "Little Minnesota," makes it clear that these two do not get enough screen time together. With Robin homesick and unemployed (and at risk of being deported), this pairing brought out the best Robin Sparkles reference of the season, when Marshall leads a rousing karaoke version of "

Let's Go to the Mall "Let's Go to the Mall" is a song written by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for the CBS television series '' How I Met Your Mother''. The song was performed by Canadian actress Cobie Smulders in the role of Robin Scherbatsky, who has a secret past ...

References

External links

{{How I Met Your Mother episodes, 4 4 2008 American television seasons 2009 American television seasons