How I Met Your Mother (or HIMYM) is an American situation comey that premiered on CBS Broadcasting on September 19, 2005. The show was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. The series is based around the main character, Ted Mosby, telling his son and daughter about the events that led to his meeting their mother. How I Met Your Mother's other main characters are Marshall Eriksen, Robin Scherbatsky, Barney Stinson, and Lily Aldrin. Thomas and Bays drew from their friendship in creating the characters, with Ted based loosely on Bays and Marshall and Lily based loosely on Thomas and his wife. The character Barney Stinson has been compared to Fonzie in Happy Days, in which a secondary "breakout character" often takes over much of the focus of the episodes.