| "Old King Clancy" | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 18 |
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman |
| Written by | Jamie Rhonheimer |
| Original air date | March 23, 2009 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Old King Clancy" is the 18th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 82nd overall. It originally aired on March 23, 2009. In the episode, Ted struggles with his assignment to design Goliath National Bank's new headquarters, while Robin is cagey about an intimate encounter with a Canadian celebrity years earlier.
In spring 2009, Ted works on the Goliath National Bank (GNB) headquarters. But he chafes at the restrictions set by the executive supervising the project, Bilson (Bryan Callen), who prevents him from incorporating the naturalistic features that excite him. A new task force is put together to supervise Ted, and he feels engaged again; but then he learns that the building was scrapped a month earlier. Barney and Marshall admit that GNB decided to fire Ted due to cutting back on new expenditures to fund their lavish corporate retreats, but the company was contracted to pay him for two more months; Barney and Marshall hired a random group of people to pose as Ted's task force to avoid telling him the truth. Barney is able to get Ted a job designing an exact duplicate of the room in which GNB employees are fired; but when Ted creates an entirely new concept for the project, he is fired in the existing room. After attacking Bilson with a chair, Ted is also fired from his firm and decides to start his own business where he can be free from corporate thinking.
Meanwhile, Robin reveals that a Canadian celebrity once invited her home to see a collection he possessed, but she left after he propositioned her with a specific sex act. Lily is desperate for the specifics, and Robin agrees to divulge the details if the gang can correctly guess the celebrity, the nature of the collection, and the sex act. For three days, everyone continually offers guesses based on fictitious "Canadian sex acts". They finally give up, but Robin reveals that Canadian wrestler "The Frozen Snowshoe" (a fictional person, whom none of Robin's friends have heard of) invited her to see his collection of Harvey's trays (indistinguishable orange trays that are not considered collectors' items), and suggested she perform an "Old King Clancy"––King Clancy being a real-life early twentieth-century National Hockey League player––which involves maple syrup). Everyone is disappointed by the obscurity of every element of the story. A flashback to 2002 shows that it was really The Frozen Snowshoe who rejected Robin after she suggested the Old King Clancy.
"Old King Clancy" is based on a true story. One of the show's writers told of an incident involving a friend who had met an American celebrity with a strange collection and also a strange sex proposition. The writers tried to guess who it was, what they collected and the sex act. After spending a lot of time on it, they decided to incorporate the idea into the show. [1]
The website www.canadiansexacts.org is mentioned in the episode. Show staff created the website in reality, but instead of information about the supposed sex acts, it features images of Canadian actor Alan Thicke and messages stating that the webpage is undergoing maintenance.
Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B rating. [2]
Michelle Zoromski of IGN gave the episode an 8.5 out of 10, citing the episode's ability "to stay light, even while dealing with topics like Ted losing his job." [3]
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2010) |
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in New York City's Manhattan. As a framing device, Ted, in 2030, recounts to his son, Luke, and daughter, Penny, the events from September 2005 to May 2013 that led him to meet their mother. How I Met Your Mother was a joint production by Bays & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox Television, and syndicated by 20th Television.
"Woooo!" is the eighth episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 72nd overall. It originally aired on November 17, 2008.
"Little Minnesota" is the 11th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 75th overall. It originally aired on December 15, 2008 on CBS.
"Mosbius Designs" is the 20th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 84th overall. It aired on April 13, 2009. In the episode, Ted starts his own architecture firm while Marshall is worried about his own employment situation. The episode also marks the beginning of Alyson Hannigan's maternity leave; Lily appears only in the cold open.
"Right Place, Right Time" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of How I Met Your Mother and 86th overall. It aired on May 4, 2009.
"Girls Versus Suits" is the 12th episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and the show's 100th episode overall. It originally aired on January 11, 2010.
"The Window" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and 98th episode overall. It aired on Monday, December 7, 2009.
"Home Wreckers" is the 20th episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and 108th episode overall. It aired on April 19, 2010.
"Twin Beds" is the 21st episode of the fifth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and 109th episode overall. It aired May 3, 2010.
"Unfinished" is the third episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 115th episode overall. It aired on October 4, 2010.
"Architect of Destruction" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 117th episode overall. It originally aired on October 18, 2010.
"Natural History" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 120th episode overall. It aired on November 8, 2010.
"Garbage Island" is the 17th episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 129th episode overall. It aired on February 21, 2011.
"Farhampton" is the premiere episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and 161st overall. It aired on September 24, 2012, and it gained mixed reviews.
"The Pre-Nup" is the second episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 162nd episode overall.
"Nannies" is the third episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 163rd episode overall.
"The Final Page" is an hour-long episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. It aired in two half-hour episodes on December 17, 2012.
"P.S. I Love You" is the 15th episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 175th episode overall.
"Platonish" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 193rd episode overall.
