The series follows the adventures of Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) and his love life as a single man. His stories are narrated by Bob Saget as Ted Mosby 25 years later as he tells them to his adolescent children. The story goes into a flashback and starts in 2005 with the 27-year-old Ted Mosby living in New York City and working as an architect. The narrative deals primarily with his best friends, including the long-lasting couple Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), womanizing playboy Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), and Canadian news reporter Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders); all of the characters' lives are entwined. The series explores many storylines, including a "will they or won't they" relationship between Robin and each of the two single male friends, Marshall and Lily's relationship, and the ups and downs of the characters' careers.