The fourth season of the American

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 ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' 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 (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

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 Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Cast

Main cast

* Josh Radnor as

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 ...

* Jason Segel as

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 ...

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 series ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014) and as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in th ...

as Robin Scherbatsky *

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 List of awards and nominations ...

Barney Stinson Barney 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 fo ...

Alyson Hannigan Allison Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974), known professionally as Alyson Hannigan, is an American actress and television presenter. She began her film career with supporting roles in the comedy films '' Impure Thoughts'' (1986) and '' My Step ...

as Lily Aldrin * Bob Saget (uncredited) as Future Ted Mosby (voice only)

Recurring cast

Sarah Chalke Sarah Louise Christine Chalke (; born August 27, 1976) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring roles as the second Becky Conner in the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'' (1993–1997), Elliot Reid in the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Sc ...

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 h ...

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''; Justin Russo in ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' and its sequel '' Wizards B ...

as Luke, Ted's Son *

Charlene Amoia Charlene M. Amoia is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Wendy the Waitress in the sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother''. Her film credits include ''American Reunion'' (2012), ''Authors Anonymous'' (2014), ''Sniper: Speci ...

as Wendy the Waitress * Bryan Callen as Bilson * Jason Jones as Tony Grafanello * Darcy Rose Byrnes as Lucy Zinman * Marshall Manesh 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, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he held th ...

as himself * Bill Fagerbakke as Marvin Eriksen, Sr. * David Burtka as Scooter *

Frances Conroy Frances Hardman Conroy (born March 15, 1953) 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, a ...

as Loretta Stinson * Erin Cahill as Heather Mosby * Brooke D'Orsay as Margaret (Betty - Barney's Wife) *

Laura Prepon Laura Prepon ( ; born March 7, 1980) is an American actress and television director. 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 Net ...

as Karen * Kendra Wilkinson as herself *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Stan *

Heidi Montag Heidi Blair Pratt (née Montag; born September 15, 1986) is an American reality television personality and singer. In 2006, Montag came to prominence after being cast in the MTV reality television series ''The Hills (TV series), The Hills''. Th ...

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 ...

as himself *

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

as herself * Will Sasso 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'' is an American video gaming 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 district and is headed by its former e ...

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!"

References

External links

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