While How I Met Your Mother was, in essence, the story of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his search for love, no character on the beloved TV sitcom had a more engaging and transformative arc than Barney Stinson. In fact, Neil Patrick Harris’ now iconic character underwent a huge personality change even before the show’s main timeline begins.
For one of the best HIMYM episodes, Season 1’s “Game Night,” co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, with writer Chris Harris, envisioned a shocking origin story for Barney, and looked to none other than the Star Wars movies for inspiration. If this seems like an unlikely choice of a film to model a sitcom episode after, I find your lack of faith disturbing. Allow me to explain…
