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On May 12, 2025, in the latest episode of the How We Made Your Mother podcast, Craig Thomas and Josh Radnor discussed Barney Stinson's "Lemon Law" and how the character was an internet meme artist and troll in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother before the concept became mainstream.
During the podcast, Craig Thomas, the co-creator of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), explained that the "Lemon Law" was a made-up concept by Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) in the sitcom.
The "Lemon Law" allowed a person to end a bad first date within five minutes for any reason, helping them avoid awkward conversation and save time.
"He [Barney] wants it to become a thing that you shouldn't have to do the dance and elaborate lies to get out of a terrible first date, you should be able to decide right away in the first five minutes, and if you say within the first five minutes, you've lemon lawed that person," Craig Thomas stated.
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Josh Radnor (who played Ted Mosby) further explained how Barney Stinson was already an internet "meme" or a "troll" before the concept became mainstream.
"It occurs to me that he was like an internet meme artist/ troll before there was such a thing... He was in the real world, he was trolling people, he was trying to create trends, he was trying to make things go viral, but like in life."
"Some people will be offended by it in retrospect," — Neil Patrick Harris reflects on playing Barney Stinson in HIMYM
In an interview with The Guardian, published on December 15, 2021, Neil Patrick Harris addressed the criticism he received for playing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, who is known for his bold, womanizing behaviour.
During the interview, Harris explained that Barney Stinson was "not all real." He pointed out that the show follows Ted Mosby narrating a story to his children and, in doing so, he is "fictionalising the narrative."
"He’s [Ted Mosby] talking about his friend who was the wing man, the buddy, the guy that was always wanting to party and have fun and make any experience an event," Harris stated.
He explained that in his view, Barney is a "weird anti‑superhero," who would "make up a story to make him succeed." Harris further expressed confusion about the practice of "re-analysing" older shows with a modern view.
"Some people will be offended by it in retrospect – and there’s not much one can do in retrospect. But the experience of making that show for nine seasons was very good energy … and there was never a sense of doing things with bad intent," Neil Patrick Harris stated.
How I Met Your Mother follows the story of Ted Mosby telling his kids how he met their mother while navigating life in New York with his close friends Lily (Alyson Hannigan), Robin (Cobie Smulders), Marshall (Jason Segel), and Barney.
Meanwhile, the episode of the How We Made Your Mother Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
