A Complete List of All the ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Thanksgiving Episodes

How I Met Your Mother might not be the first show people think of when it comes to holiday specials, but the show knew how to pack a punch when it did. From emotional episodes that helped define the series to a trilogy of Slapsgiving episodes, the show knew how to keep audiences entertained and emotional. With Thanksgiving almost here, audiences can return to these classic episodes to get into the holiday spirit. 

What is ‘How I Met Your Mother’? 

How I Met Your Mother was a hit CBS television series that ran from 2005 to 2014. The show is famous for a variety of reasons.

For one, it helped give Neil Patrick Harris his first television success since Doogie Howser. On top of that, the show got Jason Segel into the comedy world that he’s still a giant to this day. 

With an All-Star cast that also featured Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, and Josh Radnor, the show was told through an unseen older Ted, voiced by Bob Saget, as he told kids about their mother. However, audiences were left wondering how the show would end as the show was known to mislead for seasons at a time.

It was a massive hit for the run’s entirety, but the Thanksgiving episodes might stand above the rest. 

Belly Full of Turkey (Season 1, Episode 9)

The vain and selfish Barney shocks everybody when he announces that he will spend the holiday volunteering to help others. On top of this, Lily and Marshall spend an eventful holiday with the former’s family, where Lily doesn’t fit in at all. It all culminates in a hilarious scene where Lily buys a pregnancy test just to make sure that they are not adding to her partner’s family. 

Slapsgiving (Season 3, Episode 9)

This incredibly memorable episode kicked off a trilogy of similar episodes in which Marshall terrorizes Ted about a bet the two made regarding slaps. Marshall tells Ted that the third and deciding slap of a bet they made will occur on Thanksgiving, but he does not tell him when it will happen. Add this to the fact that Ted and Robin.

Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap (Season 5, Episode 9)

After making an instant classic with the first Slapsgiving, Ted and Robin look forward to this year’s version of the infamous slap bet. Working as a team, Tend and Robin spend the entire episode arguing over who gets to slap Barney after everything he did. It ends with Lily’s dad coming up with an idea for a board game based on the slap bet. 

Blitzgiving (Season 6, Episode 10)

Ted decides to host his own Thanksgiving with a ridiculous turturkeykey, a turkey stuffed inside of a turkey. After coming up with the ambitious idea, he leaves the bar where his friends are eating and misses out on a great time with his friends. The group wakes up the following morning, regretting the decisions that they made. 

The Rebound Girl (Season 7, Episode 11)

In an oddly emotional episode, Marshall and Lily move into a house that Lily inherited from her brother. Furthermore, the episode features the premiere of Barney’s niece. The episode ends with a sad realization about Robin and Ted’s ability to have children. 

Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra (Season 9, Episode 14)

In the final Slapsgiving episode, the show not only continues on the tradition of the slap bet, but it also gives a backstory to it that was otherwise unseen. Part of the series’ final season, this final version of Slapsgiving gives fans a long-awaited pay off from a saga that started early on in the series.