‘How I Met Your Mother’ says goodbye after nine years

This week saw the season finale of the hit television show, How I Met Your Mother.

The show ended after nine years and 208 episodes. The comedy featured Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson, Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby, Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen, Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky, and Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin. The show started in September 2005. In its fourth season, it won an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination.

New ideas were brought to the table each year and new storylines emerged. Co-creator Craig Thomas, who is currently working on a sequel called How I Met Your Dad, told the LA Times, "'HIMYM' has always been unafraid to explore real emotion, and I think it's that fact as much as any joke we've ever written that has helped us connect to our audience. We wanted this finale to show what really happens to people over the course of 17 years."

Fans won’t have to say goodbye forever, as they can catch old episodes in other formats. Co-creator and executive producer, Carter Bays, told TVGuide.com, "I think [that] the best format for this series is ultimately as a download or a DVD — a binge-watch."