How I Met Your Mother (often abbreviated to HIMYM) is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, and concluded on March 31, 2014. The series follows Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his group of friends, Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). As a framing device, Ted, in the year 2030, recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meeting their mother.