One Clever HIMYM Easter Egg in Young Sheldon to Warm Your Heart
How I Met Your Mother had many memorable recurring characters, and Ted’s stepdad and Barney’s mom were easily in the top five.
Virginia, Ted’s mom, eventually divorces his dad and marries Clint, an eccentric hippy musician who makes Ted and everyone uncomfortable with his erratic behavior. Although, his wedding song to Virginia is a masterpiece of its own!
Loretta Stinson, Barney’s mom, is another rich character. She used to be very popular with men when she was younger, and that’s how Loretta ended up with two sons – Barney and James. She also had the most hilarious rivalry with Robin during her and Barney’s wedding weekend!
Now that you’ve remembered who Loretta and Clint are, it’s time to get to the best part. The actors who played these iconic characters, Frances Conroy and Harry Groener respectively, appeared together in the season 1 episode of Young Sheldon in 2018.
They portrayed Flora and Elliot Douglas, a married couple of scientists from Dallas, who hosted Sheldon in their home when he was considered for a place at Flora’s Wilmot Academy for Gifted Children.
Dr. Flora Douglas, played by Conroy, was the head of the academy, and Elliot, portrayed by Groener, was a retired astrophysicist. They both tolerated Sheldon and were pretty welcoming toward his quirks, but the Coopers couldn’t deal with their precious boy being so far away from them, so they returned for Sheldon and took him home the same day.
Having these two actors reunite on-screen in another show as a married couple is a nice touch – every How I Met Your Mother fan appreciated the reference, although not everyone recognized Harry Groener for some reason.
It’s an even better Easter egg because Elliot shares a lot of Clint’s personality traits, although Loretta and Flora do not have as much in common. Maybe Clint eventually ran off on Virginia and married some PhD gal in Dallas? That wouldn’t explain how he traveled back in time, but it’s a good theory.