One of the problems with signing on for a show like How I Met Your Father as a fan is there is an expectation for a major reveal down the line. Despite a fun cast and solid premise, the HIMYM spinoff only got two seasons before unceremoniously axing what I would argue was one of Hulu's most notable original shows. Obviously, this leads to one main question: Who is the father?
When those of us with a Hulu subscription first met Hilary Duff’s Sophie in the pilot, we were also introduced to several gentlemen who could ultimately be the father. At the end of the first episode of the series, older Sophie mentions the night she met the love of her life was the same night rehashed in the pilot. So unlike How I Met Your Mother, it’s unlikely the Hulu series would be introducing a new character late in the game, particularly when we met the majority of the How I Met Your Father cast, including Ian, Sid, Jesse Charlie and Drew, very early on.
Now How I Met Your Father is canceled, its creators, cast and Hulu aren’t spilling the deets. Will we ever learn who the father is? Plus, why keeping their lips sealed might be a good thing.
What HIMYF's Fancia Raisa Has Said About The Father
Listen, it’s not just the audience who is champing at the bit to know who the father is. In fact, as soon as the cancelation call was made by the streaming service, other series lead Francia Raisa says she immediately asked, “Who’s the dad.” But the show’s producers told her they weren’t going to tell her? Why? Well...
I don’t know. … When the producers called me, I said, ‘All right, who’s the dad?’ And [one of them] goes, ‘Listen, we’re gonna try to shop it around. And if it’s dead, dead, we’ll call you, we’ll have dinner, we’ll tell you. I haven’t gotten a call yet.
I mean really, that's a slight bit of good news in a sea of bad news. Raisa's comments to Hollywood Life seem to indicate How I Met Your Father isn’t totally dead in the water yet. Where there is an avid producer actively pitching a series to find a new home, sometimes there is a streamer actively looking for said series.
But even if that isn't to be and Hilary Duff and the rest of the cast move on to new projects, there's a still a reason why we may not learn who the father is anytime soon.
The Gilmore Girls Conundrum
This leads me to what I will henceforth affectionately refer to as The Gilmore Girls conundrum, which also sort of sounds like an episode of The Big Bang Theory, but I digress. Gilmore Girls originally made it for seven seasons mostly on the CW and while it ended on a note that I felt worked for the series, the final season also did not feature original creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Sherman-Palladino and thereby did not end on the note the former had hoped the series would end on.
Gilmore Girls over time continued to land more and more of a cult following. Fans like myself rewatch it frequently, and eventually it became a big prize for a streaming service. Presumably the same is true for How I Met Your Mother, which is why How I Met Your Father was likely greenlighted, but if it does hold true, there could also be Gilmore Girls-esque strategy in keeping the answer a secret.
Amy Sherman-Palladino always knew the four-word note she wanted Rory and Lorelei to end on in Gilmore Girls and it's not the note the CW show actually wrapped on during its first run. Years later, she got the chance to finish out that storyline in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. While it was more than a decade later, it was sort of satisfying (and also wild) to see Rory end without revealing the father in the way Sherman-Palladino wanted, even if it was maybe not what the fans had expected for Rory at that point.
I know I've been going on about Gilmore Girls for a while, but the point is, the great thing about How I Met Your Mother and subsequently How I Met Your Father is the journey to unraveling the mystery. I'd like to see it play out one day, and clearly the creators do too. I hope the series gets that chance, because it's gonna be hella annoying if I have to wait 10 years or more for this TV answer.
