How We Blah Blah [with Gloria Calderón Kellett] | S3E5 "How We Met Everyone Else"

June 15, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The episode "How We Met Everyone Else" is one of the show's most beloved installments, and in this conversation, writer Gloria Calderón Kellett, along with Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas, unpacks why it works so well. The episode is built around a simple but powerful conceit: Ted has forgotten the name of a woman he briefly dated, so he calls her "Blah Blah" when telling his kids the story. That gag, which landed when someone in the writers' room suggested making her actual name Blah Blah, became the key that unlocks the entire episode. It reminds the audience that this is a story being told twenty-five years in the future, by a middle-aged narrator whose memory is fallible. As Calderón Kellett puts it, "It's so smart because it reminds you this is a story being told... keep a little asterisk by all these details because this is available memory documentary."

The "Filling in the Lore" Episode

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What you'll learn

1 (03:20) **Podcast welcome and fan message** - Josh and Craig open with a listener story about how HIMYM and the podcast helped a couple fall in love
2 (04:14) **Guest introduction** - Gloria Calderón Kellett joins to discuss the episode she wrote, “How We Met Everyone Else”
3 (05:27) **Episode praise and “Blah Blah” origin** - Gloria explains how the name “Blah Blah” was chosen to emphasize the show’s unreliable narrator and future storytelling frame
4 (06:54) **Filling in the lore** - The group discusses the episode’s role in delivering origin stories for every main character and paying off earlier throwaway lines
5 (09:52) **Sandwiches introduction** - The marijuana euphemism is created here and becomes a long-running series element
6 (10:45) **Blah Blah plot driver** - Ted’s new girlfriend hates their “how we met” story, prompting the group to share their own flawed meet-cutes
7 (11:52) **Abby Spencer’s performance** - Gloria and the hosts recall how the guest star took over the booth scene and earned a star turn

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Josh Radnor Craig Thomas

Show Notes

Josh and Craig are joined by writer and producer Gloria Calderón Kellett to discuss “How I Met Everyone Else,” one of the most mythology-rich episodes of the series. Gloria shares the origins of fan-favorite ideas like Blah Blah, the sandwich euphemism, the Hot/Crazy Scale, and the various “how we met” stories that flesh out the gang’s shared history. The conversation explores the episode’s use of Ted as an unreliable narrator, the challenge of building authentic long-term relationships through Marshall and Lily, and the many real-life experiences that inspired the show’s stories. They also reminisce about working with future filmmaking superstar Phil Lord, Abby Spencer’s memorable guest appearance, the early days of the writers’ room, and how HIMYM captured a generation’s experiences with friendship, dating, and growing up. The episode closes with a heartfelt listener letter about a mother who bonded with her sons through the show over many years, underscoring the lasting emotional impact of both the series and the podcast.

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