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How I Met Your Mother Season 6 Episode 2

Cleaning House

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AIRED: Sep 27, 2010

8.3

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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While helping their mother pack up her house, Barney and James find a letter that will let one of them meet his father. Robin sets Ted up on a blind date, but sets expectations he can't meet.

Fan Episode Reviews (13)

Another pretty good episode

6.5

By nananabatman, May 17, 2013

I loved to see Wayne Brady as Barney's brother again and the story with the two trying to find their real father was pretty good. There was some stupid stuff in this episode as well, but I liked it a lot mostly.
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Barney and his dad

9.0

By Lostindharma, May 15, 2013

Ever since he was a young boy Barney has labored under the delusion that Bob Barker was his real dad. He thought this because his mom told him. It turns out that was not the only lie she told her son. Barney has believed them all and still does up until this point. James (played by Wayne Brady) realized early on when was younger. Speaking of James, it was great to see him again. I do wonder why James didn't get his partner. You would think someone used trickery would trick his partner into helping him move stuff out of his childhood home. But maybe love changes a person. I thought it was funny how Barney got all of his friends to help him move and you never find out why or how did it. I also liked that the other story lines with Marshall and Lilly with telling the truth and Ted-Robin with Robing trying to set up Ted with a women from her work, were smaller and did not take up too much time. They were not bad story lines but in this case with the main storyline, they did what they needed to do.

When going through some stuff James comes upon a letter with a picture inside of it as Barney and James as kids addressed to Sam Gibbs that says your son on the back on the photo. Barney chooses to believe his mom's lie instead of truth. The way James told Barney that Bob Barker was not his dad and that Sam Gibbs might be his real dad was wonderfully done. Barney's reaction to it was also very nicely done. The gang decides to see Sam and see who he is. You get a real dose of Barney's serious side right before James knocks on the door. This was done wonderfully. Not to have things go too seriously, Barney upon seeing Sam thinks that Sam is his real dad. The producers did a very fine job not making this episode too serious with Barney acting like a child. It was a great choice for the person to play Sam. I like that he was never presented as a bad dad. His acting done very well. As with the last episode, the ending was great. It was very sweet and if you were sensitive, tears were rolling down the side of your cheek. What made this season so great this season, all of Ted's friends really shined in this episode even more then usual. This time it was Barney's time to shine.moreless
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Why do you guys give this episode a high rating?

3.5

By cloudav23, Nov 20, 2011

Ok guys, this show is comedy not a telenovela or a drama series. The only funny scene I saw was at the end where Barney sang like a techno robot thing. All the scenes where cheesy, corny, boring. Even the story about Ted having set up by Robin in a date is lame... How about Marshall and Lily, they do not have to be there... The writer got lazy and put them there. They have come up with another story for those couples.. It's a waste of time and electricity.. Come up with some real funny stuff not just a lame episode just to fill the season. Sorry it just doesn't work.moreless
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Barney, James, and the gang help Barney's mother pack because she's moving.

9.0

By Jon_MW_14, Sep 01, 2011

"Cleaning House" is a great How I Met Your Mother episode. I love the return of James in this episode and I love how Barney helps James and Barney are helping their mom move. I love how Barney's childhood is filled with lies by Loretta. I love how she convinced Barney that he didn't make the basketball team because he was too good. I love how James is realizing that his mom lied to him as well. I love how James meets his birth-father and Barney pretends that Jame's birth-father is his birth-father as well. It was so sweet how Barney says that Loretta is the father he'll ever need. I give this episode a 9/10.moreless
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Disappointing...

5.0

By topreview, Jun 06, 2011

Some things you feel. they don´t need to be said.

Barney´s past was one of these things. It s called subtext. It s the place where you imagine because of little details the truth behind the scene. When someone explains it to you, it looses a lot of its power. And that happened in this episode. The writers sacrified Barney`s subtext to make an average and often not believable episode. The Robin/Ted-plot feeled just needless. The barney-plot was predictable and filled with cliches. The first episode of himym where i got bored and so by far the worst. I hope at least the next episode delivers a good setup for the rest of the season.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Josh Radnor	Ted Mosby
Neil Patrick Harris	Barney Stinson
Jason Segel	Marshall Eriksen
Alyson Hannigan	Lily Aldrin
Cobie Smulders	Robin Scherbatsky

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Riley Thomas Stewart	Young Barney	Guest Star
Michael Earl Reid	Post Master General	Guest Star
David Haley	Coach	Guest Star
Bob Saget	Voice of Ted, 2030	Recurring Role
Wayne Brady	James Stinson	Recurring Role
Frances Conroy	Loretta Stinson	Recurring Role

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Featured Episode Clip

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'Stand By Me'

9/28/10 (01:40)
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Cleaning House Podcast

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Episode Photos

Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) learn his m...

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Ben Vereen, Neil Patrick Harris and Wayn...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Closed Captions: At the end of the episode when Barney tells Loretta that she was his father, closed captioning has Older Ted (Bob Saget) saying "Kids, Barney would learn the truth about his dad sooner than he ever could have guessed. But as he hugged Loretta on this, the last day he'd ever set foot in his boyhood home, he realized he had one hell of a mom." The first sentence is removed, and the second sentence is cut up and inserted not in its entirety.
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QUOTES (2)
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- Robin: (about Ted) I was all like, "He knows a woman's body better than she knows her own. Endless waves of pleasure just cresting and breaking for hours and hours, blah blah blah. Orgasms so intense, you just black out." All that stuff.
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- Lily: And then there's the most popular parental lie in history: Santa.
  Marshall: But that's a good lie. It's like when we tell Ted he'll get married and settle down.
  Ted: It's always comforting to hear that.
  Marshall: You will meet her, buddy!
  Ted: You really think so?
  Marshall: Yeah!
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NOTES (1)
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- International Airdates: United Kingdom: December 30, 2010 on E4; Germany: September 7, 2011 on ProSieben;Czech Republic: January 16, 2012 on Prima COOL
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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