How I Met Your Mother season 7

The seventh season of the American television comedy series How I Met Your Mother was announced in March 2011, along with confirmation of an eighth season. The seventh season premiered on CBS on September 19, 2011, with two episodes airing back to back, and concluded on May 14, 2012.

Main cast

 * Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby
 * Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen
 * Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
 * Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin
 * Bob Saget (uncredited) as future Ted Mosby (voice only)

Recurring cast

 * Kal Penn as Kevin
 * Lyndsy Fonseca as Penny, Ted's Daughter
 * David Henrie as Luke, Ted's Son
 * Becki Newton as Quinn Garvey
 * Nazanin Boniadi as Nora
 * Chris Elliott as Mickey Aldrin, Lily's father
 * Ellen D. Williams as Patrice
 * Ashley Williams as Victoria
 * Alexis Denisof as Sandy Rivers
 * Vicki Lewis as Dr. Sonya
 * Martin Short as Garrison Cootes, Marshall's boss
 * Frances Conroy as Loretta Stinson
 * Wayne Brady as James Stinson
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Marvin Eriksen Sr.
 * Ray Wise as Robin Scherbatsky Sr., Robin's father
 * Suzie Plakson as Judy Eriksen
 * Cristine Rose as Virginia Mosby
 * Joe Nieves as Carl
 * Chris Romano as Punchy
 * Marshall Manesh as Ranjit

Guest cast

 * Jimmi Simpson as Pete Durkenson
 * Jeff Probst as himself
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic as himself
 * Katie Holmes as Naomi/Slutty Pumpkin
 * Christina Pickles as Lily's grandmother
 * Teresa Castillo as Maya
 * Jerry Minor as King Charles
 * Ernie Hudson as himself
 * Will Sasso as Doug Martin
 * Lindsey Morgan as Lauren
 * Rachel Bloom as Wanda
 * Conan O'Brien as a background bar patron (uncredited)
 * Francesca Capaldi as Young Lily
 * Rob Huebel as Mr. Flanagan

Ratings
, the 7th season was averaging a 5.3 rating / 14% share among adults 18–49, ranking as the 5th highest rated comedy series among adults 18–49.

On April 8, 2012, the New York Times stated that the 7th season ratings had reached a series high, marking a 20% increase in ratings among adults 18–49.

Reception
Season seven of How I Met Your Mother received mixed reviews from critics. Alan Sepinwall gave the season a mixed review and criticized the flash-forwards throughout the season saying, "the show is just much, much stronger when its stories dwell on matters of the present or the past, and where the writers don't have to act like magicians trying to keep the audience from figuring out how the trick works. And the finale affirmed that belief for me. The parts that had little or nothing to do with things to come were quite good; the parts that were all about the future made me roll my eyes and ask, for the umpteenth time: 'Really? This is where you're going with this?'". Ethan Alter, of Television Without Pity, gave the season a lukewarm response. In his review of the season finale, he criticized the Robin-Barney storyline throughout the season, writing "So after an entire season, we're basically right back where we started, with the writers having taken 24 episodes to stage a reveal that could have happened in the first five minutes of the premiere and had the exact same impact."