| Season Number: | 5 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Image Upright: | 1.15 |
| Num Episodes: | 24 |
| Network: | CBS |
| Prev Season: | Season 4 |
| Next Season: | Season 6 |
| Episode List: | List of How I Met Your Mother episodes |
The fifth season of the American television comedy series How I Met Your Mother premiered on September 21, 2009, and concluded on May 24, 2010. It consists of 24 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. CBS broadcast the fifth season on Monday nights at 8:00 pm in the United States.
See also: List of How I Met Your Mother episodes.
Reviews for season 5 of How I Met Your Mother were mixed.
Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity gave the season a negative review, and at the end of the season wrote: "I'm okay with any given season not being primarily focused on mother-meeting, but this season, the characters seemed to regress -- particularly Barney and Ted. Usually, when a season ends, I have to deal with a week or two weeks' worth of letdown. Right now, all I'm feeling is relief."[2]
On the other hand, Amanda Sloane Murray from IGN gave the season a lukewarm review saying "So maybe this season didn't have the funniest jokes or the freshest material to work with. On the whole, it's not one that's going to stand out in our minds as one of the best seasons in the How I Met Your Mother canon; most of us are eager to forget Robin and Barney ever happened, Robin's co-anchor Don was switched up from funny guy to boring straight man and eventually discarded; nobody made significant strides in their career or their love life. Yet at the end of the day, a few loose ends suggest tantalizing possibilities for next season: Ted is now in possession of a house, while Marshall and Lily have decided to get pregnant. Our group is back together, unfettered by relationships inside or outside the inner circle, and we're happy to have it that way."[3]