How I Met Your Mother ends on ratings high

More than 12.9 million US viewers tuned in to watch the finale of hit comedy How I Met Your Mother.

The How I Met Your Mother finale was the most-watched episode ever, with more than 12.9 US viewers tuning in.

The show, starring Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris, wrapped its nine-season run on Monday night.

But not all fans were thrilled with the show's ending - many were disappointed with the final scene and took to Twitter to criticise the show's writers.

TV critics also disliked the show's unhappy ending. A reviewer for Time magazine wrote, "I'll be mad at this finale for a while, but in the end, it was a bad hour of TV, at the end of many, many good half hours of TV."

How I Met Your Mother is shown in Australia on the Seven Network.