According to the producers of How I Met Your Father, original cast members from How I Met Your Mother could be making appearances at some point in the show. First airing in 2005, How I Met Your Mother, from creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, would go on to become a big hit for CBS over the following years, with the show's ninth and final season coming to a close in 2014. How I Met Your Mother followed hopeless romantic Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his long-winded explanation to his kids about how he came to meet their mother.
It was announced in April of last year that a spin-off of sorts, How I Met Your Father, was in development at Hulu, following a new cast of characters and similar structure, with the lead character, Sophie (Hilary Duff) explaining to her kids how she met their father. In addition to Duff, the series stars Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, Suraj Sharma, Ashley Reyes, and Daniel Augustin. The first two episodes of How I Met Your Father premiered on Hulu on January 18th, earning generally negative reviews from critics but faring slightly better with audiences, with the series currently holding a critics' score of 32% and an audience score of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In a Screen Rant exclusive interview with showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, they tease that original cast members from How I Met Your Mother could show up in the new series. While Aptaker and Berger don't reveal any concrete information about which legacy characters will be showing up in How I Met Your Father, they do hint that it could be anyone from an obscure background character to fan-favorites like Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). Check out Aptaker's full comment below:
"Yeah, definitely. I mean, what I think is so cool about this show and the sequel nature of it is where the connection is that we're living in the same version of New York, the same television universe of the original. So the possibilities are endless, whether it's locations that our characters crossed through, whether it's deep background random characters that only the most diehard fans would ever recognize or whether Neil Patrick Harris walks through the door of Sid's bar one day, it's all on tape."
With the confirmation that How I Met Your Father takes place in the same universe as How I Met Your Mother, the possibilities, like Aptaker and Berger suggest, really are endless. How I Met Your Mother featured dozens of memorable supporting characters throughout its nine-season run, and it seems like they're all fair game when it comes to guest appearances in the new show. With the possibility that Barney could show up, that also likely means that the other main characters, like Ted, Marshall (Jason Segel), Robin (Cobie Smulders), and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), could be making appearances too.
While the possibility of cameo appearances from fan-favorite characters is sure to please lovers of the original series, How I Met Your Father needs to stand on its own without coasting too much on what came before it. It's still early in the series' run, but the reviews thus far suggest the show still has a long way to go if it wants to reach the critically acclaimed heights of How I Met Your Mother. Ultimately, however, getting to see what beloved characters from the original series are up to is sure to enhance the viewing experience of any How I Met Your Mother fan that checks out the new series. New episodes of How I Met Your Father will release every Tuesday on Hulu.