How I Met Your Mother fans have shared their delight after watching Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders recreate an iconic scene during a panel interview at San Diego Comic-Con International
10:14, 18 Sep 2025
How I Met Your Mother fans have shared their delight after watching their favourite actors recreate an iconic moment from the show. At San Diego Comic-Con International, Neil Patrick Harris - who played Barney Stinson - and Robin Scherbatsky actress Cobie Smulders appeared on a panel to answer questions from their adoring fans.
The American sitcom, often abbreviated to HIMYM, aired from September 2005 to March 2014, following the story of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and friends as they navigated their changing lives while living in New York City. In one memorable episode, called Slap Bet, Robin's secret past as Canadian teen pop star Robin Sparkles is revealed - much to the amusement of the rest of the friendship group.
They come to discover her hit 'Let's Go to the Mall', explaining her secret hatred for shopping centres in her adult years.
On the panel, Neil and Cobie burst out in a rendition of the song as their fans cheered and clapped along to the tune, with some even singing along to its 'iconic' lyrics.
Commenting on the clip, which has been shared by Instagram user @itshimymquotes, one user said: "The Robin Sparkles/Daggars side story was the very best addition the writers made for HIMYM."
Another user said: "The audio person failed." Referring to her dance moves, a third user added: "Don't forget the robot."
Elsewhere, a Reddit user proclaimed Robin's secret pop star career to be "one of the greatest twists in television".
They said: "The whole build up of Ted thinking she's married and Barney thinking she did porn. The intro of the video where Robin gets detention. The slap. All for it to be Robin as an 80s style Canadian pop star in the 90s. Incredible."
Another user added: "And then we later find out she invented grunge, in Canada, in 1996. The twists just kept on coming."
One more user said: "That's one of the best HIMYM episodes in part because it brought two of the biggest running stories the show had: the slap bet and Robin sparkles."
Another user added: "Straight out of left field. I love it. And Cobie Smulders knows how to land a joke. She’s such a dork at heart, I love it."
A final user said: "That's nearly a perfect episode of television, from set up to execution. 'Porn? I wish it was porn. That would be less embarrassing'."
HIMYM ran for nine seasons with the Slap Bet plot, the Pineapple Incident, Robin Sparkles, The Doppelgangers, The Playbook and Marshall vs. Machines all considered to be key subplots throughout its main storyline.