As families sit down after stuffing themselves with scrumptious suppers throughout the final week of November, lighthearted entertainment, such as How I Met Your Mother, emerges as the most sought-after element to accompany them. Ted Mosby‘s nine-season quest to tell his kids about meeting their mother included five Thanksgiving-themed episodes that simultaneously manifested the allure of the holiday, personifying it through the gang’s friendship, their penchant for drama, and running gags.
Unlike sitcoms that confine Thanksgiving to dinner tables, How I Met Your Mother used the holiday as a backdrop for everything from psychological torture via slap countdowns to curse-passing shenanigans and family reconciliations. Here’s every HIMYM Thanksgiving episode ranked by IMDb, celebrating the moments when Marshall, Lily, Barney, Robin, and Ted turned Turkey Day into legendary television.
In India, How I Met Your Mother streams on JioHotstar, while in the United States, all episodes are available on Hulu.
1. Season 6, Episode 10: Blitzgiving
- Year of Release: 2010
- IMDb Rating: 9.0/10
Ted leaves the bar early to prepare for the Thanksgiving feast, replacing Lily as the host. He has full faith in his gimmick, a small turkey stuffed inside a larger turkey, which he names “turturkeykey,” but nevertheless chases an epic night with the gang. The story introduces yet another original gimmick from the How I Met Your Mother creators’ playboy with the Blitz curse, where one person can’t help but miss every exciting event. The phenomenon transmits via Ted’s college friend Steve Henry to Ted, who becomes the personification of FOMO.
Ted watches helplessly as his friends party with both the former Blitz and his nemesis Zoey, experiencing wild adventures he’ll only hear about secondhand. When Barney gets cocky about avoiding the curse, he inadvertently becomes subject to the same, leaving moments as salacious as a girl’s dress ripping apart or Zoey in her underwear. The episode also capitalizes on Lost references that resonated when that show was still a cultural phenomenon, only to tie it all together with Season 6’s main storyline in the final minutes.
2. Season 3, Episode 9: Slapsgiving
- Year of Release: 2007
- IMDb Rating: 8.9/10
Marshall and Lily host their first Thanksgiving as a married couple, but the husband is more interested in psychological warfare than turkey. He creates a slap countdown, renames the holiday “Slapsgiving,” and spends the episode terrorizing Barney about when the third installment of their “Slap Bet” deal will land. Ted and Robin confront each other alone for the first time post-breakup holiday together, as the writers introduce yet another iconic running gag, the mock salutes. Meanwhile, Lily unravels in the kitchen as nobody helps with dinner, leading her to issue a ruling as slap bet commissioner that temporarily halts the countdown.
The episode’s genius lies in Marshall’s composition of “You Just Got Slapped,” a song that melodizes the extravaganza beyond simple farcical comedy and into something theatrical. Jason Segel’s performance becomes Neil Patrick Harris’s living hell as long-term payoffs from earlier seasons make viewers feel like insiders on shared jokes. Ted and Robin’s awkward attempts at friendship add genuine emotion, proving Marshall’s faith in Slapsgiving right.
3. Season 5, Episode 9: Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap
- Year of Release: 2009
- IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
Marshall gifts his fourth slap to either Ted or Robin, leading to a civil war over who gets to smack Barney so hard it echoes through the apartment. The slap storyline intersects with Lily’s estranged father, Mickey, arriving unannounced for dinner, forcing Lily to confront her “dead to me” list and decades of abandonment issues. Mickey’s lifetime of failed board game inventions, particularly the word plays and commercial reels, introduces comic relief in the most original sense possible for a sitcom.
The sequel doesn’t match its predecessor’s innovation but still delivers solid entertainment when watched back-to-back with the original Slapsgiving. Chris Elliott’s presence as Mickey not only adds emotional complexity to what could’ve been just another silly episode about hitting Barney, but also adds yet another recurring character that would introduce viewers for half a decade until the narrator finally divulges how he met his kids’ mother. Lily’s realization that cutting people out over petty things leads to regret not only shows significant character growth but also spotlights a much-needed message in today’s politically charged climate.
4. Season 1, Episode 9: Belly Full of Turkey
- Year of Release: 2005
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
In this inaugural Thanksgiving tale, Marshall takes Lily home to Minnesota for the festivities, giving her first real exposure to the Eriksen family. Lily imagines life in St. Cloud and agonizes over potentially birthing supersized Eriksen babies after briefly worrying she might be pregnant, all while contemplating whether she’s got those voluptuous hips. Back in New York, Ted and Robin head to a soup kitchen only to discover it’s the one night volunteers are overbooked. Their search for something useful to do leads them to Barney, who’s somehow been named “volunteer of the year.”
This traditional Thanksgiving outing shows characters still settling into themselves just nine episodes into the series. The Eriksen family showdown would certainly be explored more effectively in later seasons, and Lily’s pregnancy scare feels like standard sitcom territory. Barney’s volunteer twist is only part of establishing how much of a wild card Harris’s character really is, and why the How I Met Your Mother’s strongest comedic moments can always revert back to his unpredictable nature.
5. Season 7, Episode 11: The Rebound Girl
- Year of Release: 2011
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
Marshall and Lily inherit their grandparents’ Long Island home and debate starting a new life in the suburbs, while Barney, shaken by his breakup with Nora and Robin’s refusal to end things with Kevin, latches onto Ted. The two impulsively decide they should adopt a baby together, all while their conversations about parenting go nowhere. Thanksgiving serves mainly as the logistical excuse for everyone to leave Manhattan and arrive in Long Island, with the holiday barely registering beyond getting characters in the same location.
This episode is often considered the least impressive of HIMYM’s Thanksgiving offerings and is indeed devoid of a proper Thanksgiving celebration. However, greater context shows critics were frustrated with the show’s slow progress toward meeting the mother, with Season 7 beginning to show slippage in quality. That said, longer side quests in How I Met Your Mother have always earned their places like every other sitcom, and impatient viewers may consider giving this another chance.
Check out our recommendations on What to Watch
Must Read: 5 Friends Episodes To Watch During Thanksgiving: The Ultimate Comfort Watch Guide
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Google News