Josh Radnor opens up about how "Right? right?" became one of the "Mosbyisms" after he used the phrase in Season 1 of HIMYM

Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas discussed one of the former’s popular phrases, “Right? Right?”, from HIMYM in the latest episode of How We Made Your Mother on April 14, 2025. The general topic of discussion was the fourth episode of How I Met Your Mother, titled Return of the Shirt.

The phrase Josh and Craig were referring to was used by Radnor’s character, Ted Mosby. It was frequently heard in episodes of HIMYM such as Monday Night Football, The Leap, Natural History, Hopeless, and more.

Josh Radnor recalled how his phrase became popular while speaking to the writer and producer of the CBS sitcom, Courtney Kang. He elaborated, saying:

“I remember I have such a strong memory, and it’s so funny that this was nearly 20 years ago Courtney. But when I walk into the bar wearing this shirt, and I think it’s Ally who speaks first Lily, I forget what she says like “Whoo, look at Mr. Shirt or something.” And I said, “Right? Right?” And I remember in the run you through you just died at that.”

Josh added that Craig considered the phrase to be funny and continued:

“We couldn’t remember if it just said “Right?” or if it was “Right? Right?” But somehow Right, Right became a kind of Mosbyism, like from that moment on it was kind of like “Right? Right?””

Craig stated that the phrase became a part of HIMYM as it was used hundreds of times and that Courtney also laughed at the phrase when she first heard it. Josh Radnor then referred to Courtney as he stated:

“You’re kind of like, ‘Is this working?’ And then you’re like, ‘Oh, the writer of the episode likes this, like that felt good. You know?”

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Craig Thomas opened up on how he had a fear of HIMYM resembling Friends

How I Met Your Mother first premiered around a month after the end of another popular sitcom, Friends, which aired on NBC. Friends also managed to accumulate a huge fanbase. Craig Thomas appeared for an interview with People magazine last month, during which he said that the team had to take additional care to ensure that HIMYM does not look like Friends from any angle.

Craig, who gained recognition as the writer of other shows like American Dad!, mentioned that they were well aware that the poster for HIMYM looked similar to Friends. This made them even more nervous. Thomas addressed how certain elements were implemented in the storyline to make it look different, and said:

“We would play with time, we would play with narrative, we would play with flashbacks and flash forwards. And our hope was that the rhythm and the storytelling style, immediately, in the pilot, indicates that whether you love or hate How I Met Your Mother, you’re not going to hold against it that it’s just trying to completely emulate Friends, because we weren’t.”

In addition, Craig Thomas expressed his love for Friends, saying that he has a lot of respect for the sitcom and that it was his favorite show during his college days. He revealed that he has met a lot of people who watched HIMYM when they were in college and addressed how he responds to them by stating:

“That’s exactly what I did with Friends, just a little mini half a generation before you, or thereabouts.”

Apart from being one of the longest-running shows, How I Met Your Mother also received multiple accolades at the Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.