The sitcom How I Met Your Mother was about Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) telling the story of his search for his soulmate in his 20s and 30s to his teenage children. In the show, Ted and his friends met a lot of different people in its nine-season run, a lot of whom were romantic interests for Ted, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), respectively.
Unfortunately, this meant that some characters, whether they were romantic interests or not, came and went quickly and did not get a lot of screen time because they were only needed for one episode. Some of these characters definitely deserved more screen time and development. Here are ten of those characters.
Garrison Cootes
Garrison Cootes (Martin Short) was Marshall’s boss at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He cared deeply for the environment but at the same time was initially cynical about the fate of Earth’s environment. Marshall reignites Garrison’s passion, leading to a higher likelihood of success for the firm’s cases.
In a short amount of time, Garrison Cootes experienced a large amount of character development. It would have been interesting to see more of him in the show to see how much more he develops past his newfound optimism and reignited passion for saving the environment.
Unnamed Baby Eriksen
In the series finale, which covered multiple time periods in the group’s lives past Robin and Barney’s wedding, it is revealed that Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) had a third child. The child was never shown on screen and was not even mentioned by name on-screen.
It makes sense that the baby was not shown due to the limited amount of screen time allotted for episodes in general, especially the finale, but it also would have still been fun for fans of Lily and Marshall’s relationship to see their third kid as well as know their name.
Arthur Hobbs
Arthur Hobbs (Bob Odenkirk) worked with Marshall at the law firm Nicholson Hewitt & West as well as with Marshall and Barney at Goliath National Bank. At the law firm, he was notorious for screaming at and subsequently firing his employees, including Marshall. He also went through a brutal divorce and lost custody of the only thing he loved, his dog Tugboat.
While Arthur was often an antagonist in the show, Bob Odenkirk’s portrayal of Arthur was hilarious. Arthur was more of a caricature of the evil corporate boss. Arthur Hobbs could have definitely used more screen time than other employees, like Bilson, at Goliath National Bank.
Hammond Druthers
Hammond Druthers (Bryan Cranston) was Ted’s boss while he worked at an architectural firm. He was often condescending toward his subordinates and never considered their ideas. During Ted’s time at the firm, Druthers was so focused on his own designs, that he failed to realize the overtly phallic imagery his design portrayed while also ignoring the fact that Ted had a proposed design.
Like Arthur Hobbs, Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of Hammond Druthers was hilarious and again was more of a caricature of a boss. While Druthers did make an appearance in a later season, it would have been fun to see him get more screen time, especially when interacting with Ted.
Kevin Venkataraghavan
Kevin Venkataraghavan (Kal Penn) was first introduced in the show as Robin’s therapist after Robin was sent to court-mandated therapy. He later turned into a love interest and they dated for a time after Robin completed therapy.
They eventually break up because Kevin wants kids and Robin does not. Before their differing desires on children, and in spite of the fact that she cheats on him with Barney, Kevin and Robin were a great couple. While they did not seem to have much of a physical relationship, they clearly had a deep emotional connection that could have been explored more within the show.
Daphne
Daphne (Sherri Shepherd) was Marshall’s reluctant travel companion in season nine. They both happened to be traveling from Minnesota to New York when both were kicked off the plane, and due to a lack of car rentals, they ended up road tripping together. Their road trip was a source of a lot of the jokes from season nine, due to the pair’s bickering.
Since Daphne was introduced in the very last season, it makes sense that she did not get a lot of screen time. However, it would have been cool to see if she and Marshall stayed in touch in the finale.
Mickey Aldrin
Mickey Aldrin (Chris Elliott) was Lily’s dad, with whom she initially had a strained relationship. It is revealed that when she was growing up, he struggled to be physically and emotionally present for her, failing to show up for events and show his support. He instead focused too much on creating board games in multiple efforts to make his career take off. He and Lily eventually made up and bonded. He even helped her and Marshall when their son Marvin was born.
Because Lily and Mickey were able to repair their relationship, it would have been nice to see more of their improved relationship than shown in the eleven episodes in which Mickey made an appearance.
Katie Scherbatsky
Katie Scherbatsky (Lucy Hale) is Robin’s younger sister. She only appeared in two episodes but was shown to be close with Robin. Katie is more prominently depicted in her first appearance, in which she visits Robin in New York with her boyfriend at the time, planning to lose her virginity to her boyfriend. Robin tries to talk her out of it and also tries to distract her by taking her to the Empire State Building.
Because the sisters are so close, it would have been cool to see more of their dynamic to give both Robin and Katie more depth to their characters.
James Stinson
James Stinson (Wayne Brady) is Barney’s half-brother. They grew up together with their mom, not knowing their respective biological fathers. They grew up to be each other’s wingmen until James settled down, married, and had a kid.
James and Barney had great chemistry and he got along well with the rest of the group. While it made sense that James did not get more screen time because he had a life and a family of his own, his dynamic with the group is fun to watch and would have been fun to see more of.
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (Marshall Manesh) was introduced in the very first episode of the show as a cab driver who took Ted back to Robin’s apartment. He later became a limo driver and was often present for major events for the group.
Though he made appearances in all nine seasons, he only appeared in a total of twenty-one episodes, according to Marshall Manesh’s IMDb page. He was a much-loved character and the group was always happy to see him. His character probably could have and should have been incorporated into more episodes, as he offered some great comedic moments and was good at adding to emotional moments.
Next: How I Met Your Mother: 5 Subplots That Were Wrapped Up Perfectly (& 5 That Weren’t)
