--- name: "Craig Thomas" canonical: "https://film.one/person/craig-thomas-1217224" fi1m_id: "craig-thomas-1217224" imdb_id: "nm0858657" tmdb_id: 1217224 wikidata_id: "Q3002075" roles: ["Producer"] born: "18 August 1975" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "producer" average_over: 0 updated: "2026-09-23T11:03:22.195016+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Craig Thomas ## Identity Craig Thomas - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/craig-thomas-1217224 - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** craig-thomas-1217224 - **IMDb ID:** nm0858657 - **TMDB ID:** 1217224 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3002075 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Thomas_(screenwriter), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3002075, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858657/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1217224 Producer. Born 18 August 1975 in Port Washington. ## Details - **Work:** Producer - **Born:** 18 August 1975, Port Washington - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Thomas_(screenwriter), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3002075, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858657/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1217224 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*How I Met Your Mother*](https://film.one/tv/how-i-met-your-mother.md) (74) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Craig Thomas > Craig Thomas finds fresh comedy in the way a romantic story is told. His work with Carter Bays is worth our time, though the elaborate construction sometimes seems to matter more than the joke. Ted Mosby's search for love is complicated by the way he tells it. In *How I Met Your Mother* (2005), creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays let an imperfect narrator move backwards and forwards in time, making familiar romantic situations worth another look. We laughed at the anticipation itself, because the wait for an answer becomes part of the joke. This is a good romantic sitcom whose inventiveness usually earns the attention it asks for. It also establishes the reservation we have about Thomas: sometimes the writing seems too pleased with how everything fits together. Thomas spent five years writing for *Late Show with David Letterman* before co-creating a programme that would run for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014. The continuing character stories in *How I Met Your Mother* reward that longer commitment, with earlier behaviour still mattering as the seasons pass. Its broad sitcom humour can accommodate emotional moments without treating them as an interruption. Thomas and Bays use those moments to prepare stronger jokes, so a scene need not stop being funny just because somebody cares about what is happening. The cast does essential work when the writing falls short, with Neil Patrick Harris our strongest reason to stay. Some jokes are ordinary, however ingenious the route taken to reach them, and there are stretches when a straightforward conversation would be a relief. The later seasons' reliance on catchphrases makes the repetition harder to forgive. Thomas also created *The Goodwin Games* (2013) with Bays, then served as executive producer on the spin-off *How I Met Your Father* (2022). His debut novel, *That's Not How It Happened* (2025), takes the writing beyond television. For our purposes, though, *How I Met Your Mother* remains the reason to pay attention: it shows how much a sitcom can gain from letting the telling shape the comedy. We would welcome another series, preferably one willing to leave a few conversations alone. ## Biography Craig Thomas is an American television writer, producer and musician. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997 and wrote for the Late Show with David Letterman for five years before co-creating the CBS sitcom *How I Met Your Mother* (2005–2014) with his writing partner Carter Bays. Thomas and Bays also wrote episodes of *American Dad!* (2005) and created the spin-off series *How I Met Your Father* (2022). Thomas is a founding member of the band The Solids, which performs the theme song to *How I Met Your Mother*, and has received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, craigthomaswriter.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *How I Met Your Mother* (2005), Fi1m 74, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/how-i-met-your-mother.md) ## Complete filmography (10) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *How I Met Your Father* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Original Series Creator, Writer - *The Goodwin Games* (2013), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator - *How I Met Your Mother* (2010), series, Story - *Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs* (2009), Thanks - *How I Met Your Mother* (2005), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/how-i-met-your-mother.md) - *American Dad!* (2005), series, Writer - *Quintuplets* (2004), series, Writer, Supervising Producer - *Oliver Beene* (2003), series, Writer - *How I Met Your Dad*, series, Writer, Producer, Creator - *Molly and the Moon*, Producer, Director, Screenplay --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/craig-thomas-1217224