CBS originally aired How I Met Your Mother in the United States. Created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the sitcom premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, and remained part of the network's comedy lineup through its series finale in 2014.
CBS is easy to mix up with the show's production and syndication partners. 20th Century Fox Television helped produce and distribute the series, but it was CBS that commissioned and broadcast the original American episodes. Later reruns appeared through other outlets, including Lifetime and FX, which does not change the show's original network.
The CBS run lasted nine seasons and 208 episodes. The series centered on Ted Mosby and his friends in Manhattan, using a framing device in which an older Ted recounts events to his children. Its long broadcast life included major scheduling changes, a production shutdown during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, and a ninth season that concluded the story on March 31, 2014.