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''SWEET TASTE OF LIBERTY''

(Season 1, 2005)

The first time we learned just how far this show was willing to go for a punchline. Specifically, Philadelphia. Barney drags Ted to JFK airport to pick up chicks, and the two eventually end up in the City of Brotherly Love, where Barney decides he wants to lick the Liberty Bell. In a word: legendary.

''THE PINEAPPLE INCIDENT''

(Season 1, 2005)

The gang gets Ted drunk on ''Red Dragon'' shots, and he blacks out. When he wakes up, he's got a pineapple on his nightstand and Winnie Cooper — okay, okay, a girl played by Danica McKellar — in his bed, and no memory of what happened. Everyone tries to help Ted remember the previous night's events (including the tragic end of his ''vomit-free since '93'' streak), but we never do learn where that pineapple came from.

''GAME NIGHT''

(Season 1, 2006)

Via the magic of flashbacks, Robin falls in poop, Ted pukes on Robin's doormat, and Marshall and Lily have sex while his mother is listening on the phone. A lot of embarrassing details are revealed about the group — but none more so than Barney's secret hippie origin story. Cut to a long-haired, soul-patched Neil Patrick Harris in tie-dye, singing sad songs on a Casio in a coffee shop. Awesome.

''SWARLEY''

(Season 2, 2006)

There's a barista named Chloe who's got a crush on the now-single Marshall. Only problem: She's got ''crazy eyes.'' Stories ensue about crazy-eyed women as Lily attempts to prevent Marshall and Chloe from hooking up; in the end, it's what brings the future Mr. and Mrs. Ericksen back together. As a bonus, everyone spends the whole episode calling Barney ''Swarley.''

''SLAP BET''

(Season 2, 2006)

Arguably the best episode in the show's excellent history. Robin won't go to the mall, and no one can figure out why. Marshall and Barney agree to a ''slap bet'' over her phobia, the reverberations of which continue to play out. Neither one guessed correctly — and no one saw the truth coming: America, meet Robin Sparkles, Canadian teen pop star. (In Canada, it apparently took until the '90s for the '80s to catch on.) ''Let's Go To the Mall,'' her biggest hit and this episode's climactic video, was stuck in our heads for weeks.

''SHOWDOWN''

(Season 2, 2007)

As Marshall and Lily prepare for their wedding, Barney goes on The Price Is Right because he believes Bob Barker (played by the skinny-microphoned man himself) is his real father. As we learn more about Barney's tragic past — being a man-whore is really the least of his problems — we also get the insane pleasure of watching Neil Patrick Harris as an overzealous TPiR contestant, spinning the big wheel and everything.

''SLAPSGIVING''

(Season 3, 2007)

55 days ahead of time, the producers set up a real website with a ''Slap Countdown'' clock that ticked down to the final moments of this episode. That, friends, is what we call going deep. The Robin and Ted relationship gets more complicated as the group negotiates their first Thanksgiving together, but all we cared about was Marshall taking his third swing at Barney. (Two slaps remain.)

''TEN SESSIONS''

(Season 3, 2008)

The glorious Sarah Chalke is usually enough to recommend something, and her appearance here as Stella, a dermatologist Ted is crushing on, didn't disappoint. But it's hard to pay attention to subtle comedic choices when there's a megastar named Britney Spears blocking out the sun. Brit-Brit wasn't gonna win an Emmy for her role as Stella's receptionist, but it sure was fascinating to watch her try. Also worth a revisit for the ''Two Minute Date'' Ted sets up for Stella — this show at its romantic best. The first in a series of truly stupendous post-writers'-strike episodes that got this show off the ratings bubble at last.

''THE BRACKET''

(Season 3, 2008)

There's a woman stalking Barney, warning the ladies he comes in contact with not to sleep with him. In an attempt to figure out who it is, Barney narrows down the 100-plus women he's wronged (including, apparently, Madeleine Albright) into an NCAA-style bracket of 64, then enlists the gang to help him figure out the culprit. Clever, clever, clever.

''SANDCASTLES IN THE SAND''

(Season 3, 2008)

James Van Der Beek guest stars as Robin's ex-boyfriend, causing her to regress back to high school, a condition Marshall dubs ''revertigo.'' The beach-set music video for Robin Sparkles' heartwrenching B-side breakup ballad ''Sandcastles in the Sand'' (with Alan Thicke playing Ms. Sparkles' on-screen dad) would have been enough — but Robin and Barney making out for the first time was pretty nice, too.

''THE GOAT''

(Season 3, 2008)

Picks up right where ''Sandcastles in the Sand'' left off: Barney and Robin have slept together, and they vow to not tell Ted. The Bro Code is invoked — eventually leading to a real-life tie-in book — but Robin lets the secret slip, and a crushed Ted breaks off his friendship with Barney. As the show taps into some very real emotional content, the appearance of a certain washcloth-loving goat is basically the least important thing that happens.

''BEST BURGER IN NEW YORK''

(Season 4, 2008)

Marshall ate the best burger of his life when he first moved to the city, but can't remember where he had it. Obsessed (and working with very few details), he sets out to find that magical beef patty, and drags the group with him. Several restaurants and one guest-appearance from Regis Philbin later, he reaches nirvana. More or less this show's equivalent of the great Seinfeld parking garage episode — nothing really happens, but the journey is a blast. Bonus points for the Amadeus reference and the Goliath National Bank theme song.

''WOOOO!''

(Season 4, 2008)

Not sure which was funnier: The pack of ''Woo Girls'' (led by Jamie-Lynn Sigler) Robin and Lily start bar-hopping with — you know, it's the sound one might make when, say, someone suggests doing a round of shots — or the Swedish architecture collective called ''Sven'' that Ted is forced to compete with for the job of designing a new Goliath National Bank building.

''THE NAKED MAN''

(Season 4, 2008)

One long social experiment based on the thesis that if you are on a date and you want to get laid, you should just get naked when the other person isn't looking. That way, they'll either be totally attracted to you — or sleep with you out of pity. This leads to Lily's attempt to come up with 50 reasons to have sex with someone besides true love. Personal favorite: ''You're already at their place and don't want to have to move your car.''

''RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME''

(Season 4, 2009)

Barney is about to sleep with his 200th woman, and chooses a supermodel to be the landmark conquest. Sadly, Robin checks his math and declares him to be one woman short, so he bangs a female bodybuilder at his gym — only to have Robin recheck the list and realize his math was right the first time. Marshall is obsessed with charts, Lily is still missing because the guys told a dirty joke (and Alyson Hannigan is off somewhere having a baby), and Ted — well, Ted takes another of his seemingly endless steps towards explaining how he met the mother. Someday we'll find out.

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