‘How I Met Your Mother’ Star Josh Radnor Calls Show’s Title ‘A Fake Out’

Josh Radnor the star of How I Met Your Mother sounded off on the controversial ending just a day after the divisive series finale was met with shock, horror, and content from fans all of the Twittersphere.

Radnor, who plays the title character Ted Mosby let Vulture in on a few of his thoughts in regards to the run of How I Met Your Mother, including why he’s more than okay with the series finale. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the series finale of the CBS sitcom, this is your time to click out of this before it’s too late.

As we all know the two big shocking twists that were teased, turned out to be that “The Mother” aka Tracy McConnell, played beautifully by Cristin Milioti had been dead for six years when Ted started telling the story to their children. The other twist is that in 2030 after getting permission from his children, the show ends with a much older Ted outside of Robin’s house with the blue french horn, more than hinting that with the pressure of raising children off the table (something Robin never wanted), the two could have one last shot at ending up together.

As it turns out Radnor knew about the ending when the creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas told him years ago, but still wasn’t sure how it would all come together.

“Especially after Cristin, because she was so wonderful and the fans seemed to really take to her. So I asked them, ‘Are you guys still doing that?’ And they said yeah.”

Radnor explained his take on the series finale by calling the title a fake out.

“I thought the title of the show was always a bit of a fake-out. It was more of a hook to hang the thing on. Really it was more about these are the crazy adventures and these are the lessons I had to learn before I met your mother.”

Radnor added that the show’s misdirection is in fact the heart of the series.

“But, also, part of the DNA of the show is they lead you one way and then they pull you back. You think you’re watching one thing in an episode and then it turns out you’re watching something completely different. I think that the twists in the finale were in keeping with that.”

Of the less than enthusiastic reaction from the fans of the show, Radnor explained the range of emotions that he’s witnessed.

“There are so many opinions floating around. There have always been people that thought that Barney and Robin were perfect together, there have always been people that thought it didn’t make sense. There are people that wanted Ted and Robin to be together. There are people that thought they didn’t work together. So I just feel that part of the divisiveness and part of the anger and also part of the enthusiasm all speaks to something really great.”

“I think when the dust settles people will feel pretty complete.”

What did you think about the series finale of How I Met Your Mother?

[Image Credit: 20th Century Fox Television]