The sitcom How I Met Your Mother is finally getting its long-awaited spin-off titled How I Met Your Father, and here’s everything we know so far. How I Met Your Mother follows Ted Mosby recounting how he met their mother to his children Luke and Penny in 2030, with the series focusing on the events of Ted and his close-knit group of friends Marshall, Lily, Barney, and Robin from the years 2005 to 2014. How I Met Your Mother's controversial finale ends with Ted finally meeting his future wife (revealed to be Cristin Milioti), though Ted recounts how she sadly passed from an undisclosed sickness a few years prior.
After How I Met Your Mother ended, there were several rumors of a spin-off following a woman as the central character telling her kids how she met their father. HIMYM’s cast was not expected to return or have any real connection to the new characters; the new show would simply be gender-flipping the plot device. As far as How I Met Your Father has revealed, this is similar to how the Hulu series' spin-off link works as well.
In 2013, CBS ordered a pilot for How I Met Your Dad: a HIMYM spin-off starring future director Greta Gerwig and Meg Ryan. Unfortunately, the show was never picked it up for a full series. After seven years, the long-awaited spin-off is finally in motion under Hulu as How I Met Your Father.
How I Met Your Father Is Finally Happening
Hulu ordered 10 episodes for How I Met Your Father, which has been in the works off and on since How I Met Your Mother’s finale in 2014. According to Variety, How I Met Your Mother’s showrunners Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are set to return as executive producers, while the new showrunners and main writing team of Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger come from NBC’s family drama This Is Us. How I Met Your Father's series was announced in April 2021 [via The Hollywood Reporter] when HIMYM's Bays and Thomas said in a joint statement:
Kids, I’m going to tell you an incredible story: It’s the story of how two writers got lucky enough to make their dream TV show for nine seasons and now get to pass the torch to an inspired new creative team with their own incredible story to tell, the story of How I Met Your Father.
How I Met Your Father Cast
Hillary Duff is the biggest name attached to How I Met Your Father so far: the actor is available after pulling out of the planned Lizzie McGuire reboot that she unsuccessfully lobbied to be moved from Disney+ to Hulu. Duff’s How I Met Your Father character is Sophie, who will take on Ted’s role from How I Met Your Mother, explaining to her son how she met his father. Similarly, Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall is taking over Bob Saget's Old Ted role from HIMYM, in which she'll serve as Old Sophie/The Narrator telling her son the titular tale. How I Met Your Father's new cast consists of Veronica Mars' Chris Lowell as Jesse, Grownish's Francia Raisa as Sophie's roommate Valentina, Tom Ainsley as Valentina's British boyfriend Charlie, Tien Tran as Jesse's adopted sister Ellen, Suraj Sharma as Jesse's best friend Sid, and Drake & Josh's Josh Peck as Sophie's date Drew. It's so far unknown whether any How I Met Your Mother stars like Neil Patrick Harris will cameo in How I Met Your Father season 1.
How I Met Your Father Story
According to Hulu, How I Met Your Father's HIMYM-copied story will follow Sophie, who in the future is recounting to her son the story of how she met his father. The story will begin in 2022, where — similar to How I Met Your Mother's premise — Sophie and her best friends are figuring out their places and goals in life. Sophie and her friends will be navigating friendships and modern dating: trying to fall in love with the assistance of dating apps and other modern ways to meet potential partners. Hulu's How I Met Your Father description reveals that Sophie is tired of so many unsuccessful Tinder dates, but is still eager to find her soulmate in New York City.
While How I Met Your Father's core connection to How I Met Your Mother is its gender-role flip of the main premise, the showrunners have hinted that it will, in fact, connect to the original series. Many have suspected that How I Met Your Father's characters linking to HIMYM indicates crossovers from characters of the original series like Barney Stinson, but no such cameos have been confirmed. Nonetheless, there are still countless ways in which How I Met Your Father can explicitly exist within HIMYM's universe. Although initially suspected as the easiest connection, How I Met Your Father's bar isn't MacLaren's Pub, meaning alternate story elements will have to overlap the two shows.
How I Met Your Father Release Date
How I Met Your Father is set to premiere on January 18, 2022 on Hulu. The series' first two episodes will debut on January 18, after which the remaining 8 will premiere in weekly installments. While exciting that the series kicks off the year with a brand new sitcom, How I Met Your Father's release date risks the episodes missing out on the string of October through December holidays that helped make HIMYM's first season so memorable. With only 10 episodes ordered by Hulu, How I Met Your Father's finale can also be expected to air on or around March 15, 2022.