How I Met Your Mother: 10 Hidden Details About MacLaren’s Pub You Never Noticed

Every great sitcom tends to have a hub. An area where the group hangs out a lot together, and where a lot of the jokes and story development take place. For instance, in Friends, that happens to be Central Perk. In How I Met Your Mother, that location is MacLaren’s Pub.

The group spend an incredible amount of time inside the pub, creating some amazing memories. This location plays host to some of the show’s funniest and most memorable moments, so you would think that fans would know every little detail about this place.

However, that isn’t the case. Because so much of the focus takes place on just one booth, a lot of the hidden details are glossed over by many fans. But fear not, as we have you covered in this list, with 10 hidden details you missed about the pub.

10 No Boogie Boarding

One hidden detail that many fans miss is the ‘No Boogie Boarding’ sign that remains in front of the bar from the seventh season onwards, which is in relation to what the group does outside of the pub during Hurricane Irene, which is a story we get told on the show.

While fans notice the sign during that particular episode, what you might not notice is the fact it sticks up there throughout then until the very end of the show, proving how serious the pub was about the situation.

9 Tracy Visits The Pub

That’s right, the mother had actually been inside MacLaren’s Pub before, with this being the location that she found out her partner, Max, had died. While it isn’t too detailed, it is an interesting fact that she came incredibly close to meeting Ted so much earlier.

The duo, who would eventually end up having a family together, came incredibly close to meeting countless times throughout the show, with this being just one of many examples of that happening.

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8 Neil Patrick Harris

Actors taking various props from shows and movies they are part of is nothing new, especially when they run for the length of time that How I Met Your Mother did. However, the props that are normally taken tend to be small ones that can be displayed in a home.

However, something many fans won’t know is that Neil Patrick Harris actually took the famous booth that the group sits in. He has it featured inside of his home where he has his own bar, with the booth sitting proudly nearby.

7 Bones

How I Met Your Mother became one of the most popular television shows around during its run, and because of that it’s no surprise that it popped up elsewhere. However, this could easily be missed by even the most eagle-eyed fans.

The bar actually appeared in the background on the set of Bones on episode three of the fifth season. Along with that, the stairs to the apartment were shown, giving fans of the sitcom a funny Easter egg to enjoy.

6 The Booth

One of the big talking points about the show that many people discuss is how they managed to sit in the same booth every single time. Well, the writers actually wanted them to move around throughout the show in order to make it more realistic.

However, that idea was scrapped due to filming issues, as it is much easier to get shots and have things prepared if the booth was kept the same at all times. Because of that, the group was simply given the same booth each time.

5 Conan O’Brien

You might be wondering how on earth you could miss someone like Conan O’Brien. He’s an incredibly tall man with bright red hair, yet that’s exactly what many fans did as the popular chat show host made a very brief cameo appearance on the show inside MacLaren’s Pub.

Conan wanted to just be an extra, which is why he has no lines and is just seen at the back of the bar having a conversation. It’s a very easy moment to miss unless you’re looking specifically for him, but he does appear in the background of “No Pressure,” getting touched on the shoulder by Barney.

4 Inspiration

Most of the time when sets inside a city are created, they are either using real buildings or they are based on something that exists. For MacLaren’s, it is the latter. The pub’s appearance is actually inspired by the famous McGee’s Pub in New York City.

McGee’s actually went ahead and embraced it when fans started turning up at the pub to try and enjoy the real thing. The pub started hosting How I Met Your Mother viewing parties and even put food on the menu such as the ‘Slapsgiving Mini Pizza,’ which was inspired by the show itself.

3 Hot Dogs

Remember the scene in MacLaren’s Pub where Lily eats an insane amount of hot dogs? She does it as a challenge and smashes it out of the park, only to stand up and instantly have a huge belly, showing the aftermath that the eating challenge has created.

Well, this was done for an Easter egg moment as Alyson Hannigan was actually pregnant in real life. Because of that, there was no need for a suit or extra padding, they just used her already pregnant belly to play along with the joke.

2 Background Friends

Keen-eyed viewers might notice that there is a very familiar couple in the background of many scenes in MacLaren’s Pub, and that’s because just like our main group, they also frequented the bar regularly. It was a smart move by the show to have another set of ‘regulars,’ and throughout the series, fans could follow their journey as well.

During the course of the show, the couple in the background goes from just chatting away to getting engaged, to then having a baby, celebrating their kid’s graduation, to the wife mourning the loss of the husband. It’s an incredible Easter egg, but it is one many people missed out on, as they’re busy focusing on the main characters.

1 The Name

You might think that the name, ‘MacLaren’s Pub’ is just a totally random one that was plucked up out of nowhere, but that isn’t the case. A lot of How I Met Your Mother’s biggest fans have no idea how the name came by, but it is all down to one of the associate producers of the show.

His name is Carl Maclaren, hence how the pub got its name. To add to this interesting Easter egg, this is also how the pub’s bartender, Carl, ended up with his first name as well. It gave two very obvious nods to someone who played a big part behind the scenes.

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