The seventh season of the American television comedy series How I Met Your Mother was announced in March 2011, along with confirmation of an eighth season. The seventh season premiered on CBS on September 19, 2011, with two episodes airing back to back, and concluded on May 14, 2012.
Contents
Cast
Main cast
Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby
Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin
Bob Saget (uncredited) as future Ted Mosby (voice only)
Recurring cast
Kal Penn as Kevin
Lyndsy Fonseca as Penny, Ted's Daughter
David Henrie as Luke, Ted's Son
Becki Newton as Quinn Garvey
Nazanin Boniadi as Nora
Chris Elliott as Mickey Aldrin, Lily's father
Ellen D. Williams as Patrice
Ashley Williams as Victoria
Alexis Denisof as Sandy Rivers
Vicki Lewis as Dr. Sonya
Martin Short as Garrison Cootes, Marshall's boss
Frances Conroy as Loretta Stinson
Wayne Brady as James Stinson
Bill Fagerbakke as Marvin Eriksen Sr.
Ray Wise as Robin Scherbatsky Sr., Robin's father
Suzie Plakson as Judy Eriksen
Cristine Rose as Virginia Mosby
Joe Nieves as Carl
Chris Romano as Punchy
Marshall Manesh as Ranjit
Guest cast
Jimmi Simpson as Pete Durkenson
Jeff Probst as himself
"Weird Al" Yankovic as himself
Katie Holmes as Naomi/Slutty Pumpkin
Christina Pickles as Lily's grandmother
Teresa Castillo as Maya
Jerry Minor as King Charles
Ernie Hudson as himself
Will Sasso as Doug Martin
Lindsey Morgan as Lauren
Rachel Bloom as Wanda
Conan O'Brien as a background bar patron (uncredited)
Francesca Capaldi as Young Lily
Rob Huebel as Mr. Flanagan
Ratings
As of December 21, 2011, the 7th season was averaging a 5.3 rating / 14% share among adults 18–49, ranking as the 5th highest rated comedy series among adults 18–49.
On April 8, 2012, the New York Times stated that the 7th season ratings had reached a series high, marking a 20% increase in ratings among adults 18–49.
Reception
Season seven of How I Met Your Mother received mixed reviews from critics. Alan Sepinwall gave the season a mixed review and criticized the flash-forwards throughout the season saying, "the show is just much, much stronger when its stories dwell on matters of the present or the past, and where the writers don't have to act like magicians trying to keep the audience from figuring out how the trick works. And the finale affirmed that belief for me. The parts that had little or nothing to do with things to come were quite good; the parts that were all about the future made me roll my eyes and ask, for the umpteenth time: 'Really? This is where you're going with this?'". Ethan Alter, of Television Without Pity, gave the season a lukewarm response. In his review of the season finale, he criticized the Robin-Barney storyline throughout the season, writing "So after an entire season, we're basically right back where we started, with the writers having taken 24 episodes to stage a reveal that could have happened in the first five minutes of the premiere and had the exact same impact."