The cast of How I Met Your Mother led viewers through multiple seasons of hilarious escapades and heartbreaking moments, and while the How I Met Your Mother finale remains controversial, the show had enough goodwill thanks to its highly likable cast to remain a beloved sitcom for fans to look back on years after its final moments. Josh Radnor was 31 when the show premiered in 2005, which is older than his character was supposed to be: Ted was said to have been born in 1978, which would have made him 27 when the show started. This puts Robin two years younger than both Ted and Marshall, while Smulders is almost a decade younger than Josh Radnor, and two years younger than Segel.