Carter F. Bays (born August 12, 1975) is an American television writer and television producer. Along with writing partner Craig Thomas, he is best known as creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He also wrote "How I Met Your Dad" with Craig Thomas, Emily Spivey and Greta Gerwig. He has been nominated for seven primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Original Song for "Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit."Prior to the creation of How I Met Your Mother, Bays and Thomas wrote for a number of television shows including Late Night with David Letterman. They also wrote for American Dad,Quintuplets and Oliver Beene. In 2013 they created the TV series The Goodwin Games which was canceled by FOX after only 7 episodes. In 2014, the two were working on the pilot episode of "How I Met Your Dad", which was not picked up by CBS. Later,CBS asked them to do a second pilot for the show,but they refused,and retired from their writing career. In January 2015,they found a deal with 20th Century Fox and agreed to do a new How I Met Your Dad pilot,which will premiere in March 2015.Bays lives in New York with his wife and their two young daughters. Bays graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997. One of his daughters appeared at the end of Trilogy Time, another one at the end of Unpause.
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series
Movies
CBS Fall Preview
TV Shows
How I Met Your Mother, The Goodwin Games, Livin' on a Prayer
Star Sign
Leo
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Quote
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[on a unique production style employed in filming 'How I Met Your Mother'' without an audience ] We get to decide, on a scene-to-scene, moment-to-moment basis, whether we're a broad comedy or a nuanced chamber piece. Also, when you have an audience you start putting in too many penis jokes in the show, because those always get the huge laughs. We do enough penis jokes already without an audience egging them on.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
How I Met Your Mother
TV Series creator - 198 episodes, 2005 - 2014 created by - 140 episodes, 2005 - 2014 written by - 67 episodes, 2005 - 2014
How I Met Your Dad
2014
TV Movie
The Goodwin Games
TV Series creator - 7 episodes, 2013 written by - 2 episodes, 2013
Livin' on a Prayer
2010
TV Movie
CBS Fall Preview
2009
TV Movie
American Dad!
2005
TV Series written by - 1 episode
Suicide!
2005
Short
Oliver Beene
2003-2004
TV Series writer - 5 episodes
Crisis 76
2004
Short
Method & Red
2004
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Quintuplets
2004
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Late Show with David Letterman
TV Series 2 episodes, 1999 writer - 188 episodes, 1997 - 2002
2002 MTV Movie Awards
2002
TV Special
Lord of the Piercing
2002
TV Short
Panic Room with Will Ferrell
2002
TV Short
Late Show with David Letterman 5th Anniversary Special