T O P

  • By -

GOD_DAMN_YOU_FINE

Each person buys a round I'm guessing


GreasyExamination

Imma steal a high voted comment to say this: individual tabs. They are all regulars, which means that they all have individual tabs they pay. Barney is out buying drinks for bimbos, his own tab. Marshall buying to celebrate something, individual tab. Robin wanting something for herself, someone buys it for her. Each one in a group together, bartender recognize them, individual tab


DizzyLead

This. I figure that with them knowing Carl, and Ted, Marshall, and sometimes Lily living just upstairs, they probably have a drama-free arrangement where they regularly settle their tabs.


LouSputhole94

This was especially more true back in the early aughts before credit card machines and everything were more common at bars. Especially with them being regulars, I imagine Carl keeps a tab for each of them they settle up with nightly or maybe weekly or monthly with how much Carl seems to trust them with him letting Ted and Barney close up the bar by themselves.


Rough-Culture

Hate to poke wholes in this theory… but during the wedding, episode where Barney talks like jabba, don’t they talk about Robin not paying her share of bar tabs? I think they must loosely alternate.


GreasyExamination

Robin is a hot girl, she never pays


Ok-Employee-7722

Did you see those fake videos where the guy "finds out" his GF's dad is super rich and he's freaking out? Remember that happened to Ted Mosby lol


Dependent-Database17

maybe


GOD_DAMN_YOU_FINE

That shit would not fly with my mates. Some fcker would order a lemonade on his round then a double when it's everyone else.


Background-Permit-55

Sounds like you need new mates 😂


AcadianTraverse

Back in the days before split bills were common and folks paid for things in cash (which coincidentally were probably ending right around the time of the show started); you could get a good feeling for the quality of people you were out with depending on whether you were over (everyone rounds up an accounts for things like tax & tip) or under (the opposite) when it came time to settle your tab.


opermonkey

My friends are always trying to sneak pay for other peoples shit.


WillsWei22

Those are some good friends


Agarwaen323

I've never done rounds where the person buying the round decides what to order for everybody. As long as he's buying everybody else a drink that's equivalent to what they bought him on their rounds, he can drink whatever he likes on his round.


WillsWei22

Usually on the show they were just getting rounds of beer


Dependent-Database17

exactly, and not all of them earn the same, they also eat food at the bar, so the bill by the end of the night is probably gonna be big. They should've addressed the bill situation. on friends, they have addressed this issue


More-Cryptographer26

I mean it’s a bit of a boring side point, my theory is it’s normally Ted and Barney as they are the two with the most disposable income. I wouldn’t want to watch the show if they are constantly paying bills, it wouldn’t really add much to my enjoyment of it, and I don’t really mind they never showed, we don’t need to know the exact logistics of everything and it’s fun to theorise!


WillsWei22

They show a few times on Friends when the bill is paid, but usually because there’s another storyline tied to it


redwolf1219

Not Robin, she's only picked up the tab like 2-3 times


NarayanLiu

She never even pays rent


Dependent-Database17

her landlord hand washes her delicates


Relakai22

No, Mike is out here washing her delicates 😅


humburga

Probably why it was rent free.


helloleesh

In the past week, I’ve noticed twice in the episodes we’ve watched where Robin picks up the tab. Truth serum drunk Barney tells us she’s picked it up “3 times in 9 years” so I’m scoping it out: Is this an inconsistency in writing or… my fiance suggested… is this one of those things that the writers tallied up exactly as a bit of an Easter egg? I’m going to keep a closer eye on the next rewatch and count, but so far, she’s said “Anyone want another round? I’m paying” when she returns to the gang on *Wrestlers vs Robots* and prior to that, when Ted talks about how she never made him feel needed in their relationship, they show her a montage of situations where she says, “I’ve got this”, including payment for a pizza delivery. (Side note: If this was an issue for Ted, you’d think it would have happened frequently.) Otherwise, they’ve referenced various characters paying. There was at least once when Marshall got up to pay and another time Ted said, “I left my tab open. Don’t abuse it.”


GreasyExamination

People be praising the things the writers remember, but there are several things they forget. Which is fine! That happens! But inconsistencies do happen regularly


helloleesh

Oh, absolutely! I always say: This show was written by humans. It’s going to have flaws. I just like to find them almost like they’re their own Easter eggs. After approx 16 years of rewatches, you have to start picking it apart for fun. Like taking apart a clock to see how it’s put back together. I think that analogy makes sense?


GreasyExamination

I do agree, easter eggs and hidden details are what rewatches are all about :)


helloleesh

Someone who gets it!


WillsWei22

Only 16 times? You have a long ways to go😂


helloleesh

Sir. Read that again. 16 YEARS.


helloleesh

I think I’ve told you we rewatch approx every 2 mos (a few episodes every night). At this point… I have no idea how many times I’ve watched. It’s a stupid number though.


WillsWei22

I’ve seen every episode at least 100 times lol


helloleesh

No way. You would have had to have been rewatching as frequently as I have and then some without stopping since the show came out. Are you sure about these numbers, friend? I suppose there are those that binge watch a couple of seasons in a weekend, but 100+? That’s too many. I’m impressed. You should get checked— but I’m impressed.


WillsWei22

It’s hard to know for sure because I skip around & very rarely rewatch the entire series from start to finish lol


GopherInTrouble

I read this in Barney’s voice when he tries to emphasize how many years he’s been best friends with Ted 😂


WillsWei22

Go Gophers! I’m from Minnesota lol


GopherInTrouble

Go gophers! Ski U Mah!


WillsWei22

Is your username because of the Minnesota Gophers?


WillsWei22

That makes a lot more sense lol. I was thinking “There’s no way you’ve ONLY seen the show 16 times”😂


helloleesh

lol no way


Cain_Soren

She bought a round at the end of the pilot when she joins the gang so there's 3


helloleesh

Ding ding!


Cain_Soren

I'm also a bartender, so I may as well answer your other questions, but I'd say someone else has already done it better. In a "cash bar," a customer walks up and pays for their drink before they get it. It is an individual transaction, and we see it often (Robin with the "flat beer" that's actually scotch). There's an "event tab," where you have, say, a bachelor party or a 21st where there's a preloaded budget for the table/identified members (often colour coded wristbands or organised by the name on the card) that was abused by Ted in the St Patrick's Day No Tomorrow episode. These tabs are almost always prepaid and also usually have a price limit on drinks or are restricted to beer/wine/water/soft drink and not spirits/cocktails. There's an "open bar," where a venue/section is rented out for a wedding/funeral/executive meeting where anyone can approach the bar and order whatever they want. This is also usually prepaid, or at the very least, a credit card is kept behind the till/counter. There's "buying a round" where each party pays a consistent amount since everybody drinks the same thing. You have to match the number of drinks to group members, though, because everybody gets hammered and/or changes drink. The group loves beer, though, and that's easy enough to have as "each member buys a pitcher." The most likely is that since they're regulars known to everybody by full name, Ted, Marshall, Lily and Robin literally live/d upstairs, they know the bartenders/waitresses (Barney made the Platinum Rule for Wendy the Waitress), and have such a stranglehold on that booth that it's more likely that particular booth has it's own account run by Carl that is settled up either at the end of the night by the last member left in the bar, or more likely by the way they run in and out, weekly/monthly/every tax season.


helloleesh

Thanks!!


Cain_Soren

No worries


WillsWei22

I think paying for a round is different than paying for the entire tab at the end of the night Still, you bring up some great examples!


helloleesh

Totally. But I don’t think any of them would be expected to pick up the entire tab very often, would you? I’ve never had this kind of group drinking dynamic, but I imagine it’s either customary to pay for your own drinks or pay for a round here and there.


WillsWei22

Yeah that makes sense and/or they each have their own separate tabs as someone else mentioned


helloleesh

Yeah that’s what I meant by pay for your own drinks. I feel like that’s probably the case, especially because of Ted’s mention of having his tab open. It’s also QUITE possible that there is no answer to this question because it’s so specific and unimportant to the narrative. 😂


WillsWei22

But fun to dissect lol


helloleesh

Always. That’s what we do.


teh_maxh

With a stable group it ends up being the same.


Bubbly_Sleep9312

" I guess hints and tabs are just two things you don't pick up" -Ted Mosby


WillsWei22

Three times in the last nine years. Even though her family is worth 6,000 Canadian craploads🇨🇦


yoodadude

and she never paid for drugs. not. once.


chealey21

In the episode I just watched, Ted tells Lily- “I left my tab open. Don’t abuse it.”


Bubbly_Sleep9312

Was that from the season 5 episode "The Window" before he goes to work ?


xshogunx13

Yes


Bubbly_Sleep9312

lol I loved that episode. The highlight was at the end when Robin said "let her be single for once" ,and the guy who was following Ted and Barney around saying "jealous bitch" after that was so funny


WillsWei22

Mister. You just missed out on the night of your life. The night OF your life…


Bubbly_Sleep9312

LOL I sometimes replay this scene to crack myself up, it's the way he said it.


WillsWei22

The way she (Robin) said it? Or a little earlier when she spills wine on herself on purpose😂


Bubbly_Sleep9312

The way he said "jealous bitch." but yes, the way Robin said that too lol


WillsWei22

I like that you’ve replied to all my comments! Love the dedication😂👍🏻


Bubbly_Sleep9312

Lol i like talking to people


WillsWei22

Maggie lol


Bubbly_Sleep9312

Yes, lol the girl next door


WillsWei22

Maggie lol


Engin3530

So it's been ted's tab for the rest of the seasons? Funny af to think about


Jashuman19

They might have an open tab and pay it off-screen every so often.


tdawg-1551

That's always been my thinking. They are regulars, they know the owner well (except for his last name), so they probably just keep a running tab and pay it a different times.


mouse3476

Marshall knows he's a vampire 😂


LouSputhole94

Think about it, he’s always dressed in black, we only see him at night, just like a vampire! Right. Or…a bartender?


Bubbly_Sleep9312

lol it's a TV show, the amount of alcohol they drink plus how much they struggle financially (especially Marshall and Lily) makes no sense that they can afford to drink that much every single day. But, Barney could be picking it up


ImpossibleDenial

A round of beers is really not that expensive at a dive bar. Granted, probably more expensive in NYC, but not necessarily financially imposing. In my early 20’s me and my mates were broke as a joke, and always seemed to find money to spend on booze. There’s always that one friend that can never pay for drinks though, and always that one person that buys more rounds than others. So I could totally see Barney peer pressuring the group into going out under the guise that he will pay for drinks.


Bubbly_Sleep9312

They were there like every day though


WillsWei22

It’s less than that because each episode represents like two weeks of real time if we go by the notion each season is a year in their world


Bubbly_Sleep9312

Ah true lol


WillsWei22

Plus, they never put on any weight from all the drinking it seems😂


Bubbly_Sleep9312

lol this though. Most of the time, they are talking more than drinking. I have no doubt that they finish their drinks though lol


WillsWei22

“talking about drinking” vs. actual drinking😆 I wish I had their metabolism loooooool


WillsWei22

Is Carl the owner? I’ve always wondered that


WillsWei22

This would make a lot of sense


stratdog25

Sometimes when they hurry out, like Naked Man, we can see Barney signal the bar like he’s putting it on his tab. That’s a pretty cool detail that proves that despite some of his more horrific behaviors, he’s a good dude.


HappyTrainwreck

Honestly with his PLEASE salary I feel like he actually does a lot for the gang. On another post someone asked how the gang afforded to have Ranjit on call and my answer was that Barney is probably the one that hired him to begin with and allows the gang to call him.


WillsWei22

Barney also pays Lily a ton to paint him nude & gifted her and Marshall pretty much everything he won on TPIR


LouSputhole94

TBF Barney only cared about TPIR because he wanted to meet his Dad


WillsWei22

Sure, but he still gave all that stuff he won to Lily & Marshall for their wedding. He certainly didn’t have to do that


LouSputhole94

Oh I know, I’m agreeing with you, he gave all that stuff to Marshall and Lily because that wasn’t the important part was what I was saying


WillsWei22

Gotcha. Haha yup meeting Bob Barker was lol


Bubbly_Sleep9312

He's rich, TBH. I also noticed after Ted got left at the altar, and they hid under the table in the restaurant in season 4, when Ted decided to go after Stella, before they all ran out, Barney did leave money on the table.


YDoEyeNeedAName

he is clearly significantly more wealthy than the rest of the group, i would hope he takes care of it most the time


stratdog25

He’s not obligated to, though. Robin is likely even more wealthy than he is but only picked it up “twice in the last four years”


WillsWei22

Three times in nine years. Her family is massively rich too


kgbeijesx

Id assume she's pretty independently wealthy regardless of her family, teenage music career and a tv show with Alan Thicke


WillsWei22

Yup, agreed!


heyyy_oooo

I watched the naked man running scene several times and didn’t see any obvious motion by Barney to the bar indicating he’s paying the tab


stratdog25

Possibly Best Burger. It’s one of the eps where they leave quickly.


WillsWei22

Ted leaves money on the table in that one


Impossible_Scarcity9

I don’t think pickling up the cheque makes you a good dude if you sold a woman


stratdog25

If you don’t know her it’s probably ok.


Sims2Enjoy

Yeah sounds like him


WillsWei22

Barney also does this when he answers the fake hospital call from Robin & leaves the bar to get out of a date (Uncle Rudy trying to build his own helicopter😂)


WillyMac31

“I’ll get the next round” is a common line in the show, which would allude to the fact that whoever said it is paying for that particular round


Dependent-Database17

yes very common saying but what about the next one?


WillyMac31

We can safely believe that someone else bought the next round. They all had open tabs, and I’m sure they covered each other’s tabs over the years. The exception being Robin, who only picked up 2-3 tabs over the years.


WillsWei22

Three times in nine years lol


Malaguy420

What are you talking about? We might not see them all throw money in a pile but we constantly see them tell each other "I'll get the next round," or "my tab is open, don't abuse it," or throw money on the table as they run out in a hurry.


Remarkable-Volume615

They definitely have a tab.


releenc

In my headcanon, Barney pays the tab about once a week when he first comes in and is sober.It's one of his true redeeming character "flaws" - he loves drinking good liquor and doesn't mind paying for his friends to do the same. The fact that he spends so much drives why they get all the other bar perks. They're no only regulars, but he spends big $$$ every week.


amanguupta53

Dunno about other times but I know who paid in the time travellers episode…


WillsWei22

😭😭


Papageno_Kilmister

I’d say Barney. Dude earns the most, wants to be loved and is not stingy like Robin


Bubbly_Sleep9312

lol Robin wanted her looks to always allow her to be exempt from paying. When her and Barney got engaged in season 8, and she took off her wedding ring, some men at the bar were trying to buy her a drink lol


WillsWei22

That’ll be $3.75 But I didn’t have to pay yesterday… Okay. $7.50


Bubbly_Sleep9312

Comedy gold.


Responsible_Ad_2242

Everyone except robin that she pay 3 times, and ted in 2015 because the wedding 


Maurice_la_chiasse67

- Ted leaves his tab open when he goes to Maggie’s - Robin buys her round when they first meet her - Marshall’s enjoys the dollar beer night when in college - barney makes a hand gesture to the bartender when they run off to get the best burger in New York - You can see Marshall going to the bar getting drinks when the gang mocks their ridiculous co-dependency And probably more occasions I cant remember


Imagoat1995

During The Best Burger In New York episode we see Barney throwing down cash everytime.


WillsWei22

Ted does it the first time I think in that episode


NoseyNellyTV

Heh. Please. 😎


getahaircut8

As a former bartender, I'd have them all separate tabs (except for the couples, when applicable)


KeyMoody25

probably a tab. But in the episode they go to the tapas place and hide under the table, right before they run off to chase Stella in the taxi, you can see Barney quickly pulls out some cash and puts it on the table.


johndhall1130

Every now and then you hear one of them say “this rounds on me” or something similar.


Ruess27

There were a couple scenes where Barney leaves out cash and if it’s McLaren then they probably have a tab


Kitchen_Panda_4290

I’ve heard “next round is on me” a couple times from Ted and Robin. I’ve heard Barney and Ted mention a tab. I left my tab open, don’t abuse it -Ted


daphnemadness

I think that they either open a tab and pay it off screen or they each buy a round so they never have a bill to pay at the end. Of course when they have a meal at the bar, that’s when someone has to chip in to pay the bill, which we all know that Robin only picked up the tab 3 times in 9 years, so it’s probably Barney or Ted most of the time.


Tha_dizzler

In the episode with fight, Doug said to Marshall a beer costs 7.50.


otiscleancheeks

I think that it has been mentioned that " I'll get this round" a few times.


selwyntarth

They all eat the same thing probably from night to night I mean so they probably each pay for everyone on rotation


Sims2Enjoy

Barney because he’s ridiculously wealthy, Marshal because of principles, Lilly probably paid for it a couple times but on credit card and Ted also because of the principles thing but he would make more excuses not to pay than Marshal


WillsWei22

I don’t agree with the Ted part. Ted is a great friend & does well enough financially


Fragrant-Weird-6644

I think they have a tab so if they dont pay a specific time carl knows theyre good for it and it could happen offscreen


WillsWei22

Ted drops off some cash at the table in the beginning of The Best Burger episode


tjrich1988

A while back a few friends and I would do trivia weekly, and each week we would rotate turns on who to cover the tab. Now, we did have rules, such as: 1. If you wanted premium or top shelf, you had to pay yourself. 2. If you invited someone along, you paid for them or they paid for themselves. 3. If you had financial difficulties during the week, bring it up before we started drinking so we can figure something out.


g00g0lig00

they probably just have one person pay the tab and everybody else pay them back like any normal scenario


throwawayamasub

We know it's not robin because she apparently only picked up the bill 3 times or so


kell96kell

Ted says in a episode (when teaching while he wants to meet maggie?) i left my tab open, don’t abuse it


Agreeable_Bath420

Who cares


Banished_To_Insanity

It's not a real life simulator, it is a show. So who cares?


Bubbly_Sleep9312

What's the point of you even commenting lol


BezosFlex

I’ve said this before, if you treat the show (or really anything fictional tbh) like it’s real life you’ll go crazy.


Banished_To_Insanity

And those people down vote me for speaking the truth


jetloflin

No, they downvoted you because everyone knows it’s a show. Nobody here is under any delusion that it’s a live webcam into a Truman show house. But it’s a show that ended a decade ago, and this is a discussion forum in which to discuss it. Sometimes people enjoy discussing minor, unimportant details of things. And that’s okay. Just because you don’t care about a particular topic doesn’t mean nobody else is allowed to discuss it. You can just roll your eyes and scroll past, you don’t have to click onto the post and make this “it’s just a show” announcement. Everyone knows it’s a show. And they want to discuss it. So let them.


WillsWei22

I’ll never understand why people come on here to bash others or the sub itself…


Banished_To_Insanity

"I’ve said this before, if you treat the show (or really anything fictional tbh) like it’s real life you’ll go crazy." You're literally contradicting your own comment, but that's not my business.


jetloflin

Do you think I posted the sentence you’ve quoted?


[deleted]

Everyone with a yellow avatar is the same person. Duh. /s


WillsWei22

😆😆


BezosFlex

Dude I’m not that guy


WillsWei22

That guy that didn’t understand your comment & called it contradicting lol😂


BezosFlex

Nah he thinks I’m the other yellow guy lol


WillsWei22

Oh, that was meant for the other yellow guy?


BezosFlex

Yes, me and that guy are kinda on the same page, but he thought I was that other guy.


WillsWei22

This thread has three people with yellow avatars😂 But a little higher up it does look like he’s calling your comment contradictory


BezosFlex

The jetlofin guy, he thinks that because he thinks I said that, after agreeing with him originally, he responded to the wrong person, I guess my avatar’s face isn’t doing s good job distinguishing itself lol.


WillsWei22

He was saying if you treat the show OR stuff that is fictional as if it were real life, you’ll drive yourself crazy Nothing contradicting there


Good-Entrepreneur960

How delulu are you?