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Kids, in the spring of 2014, audiences laughed, cried, and might have gotten a little angry at the How I Met Your Mother ending after nine impressive seasons on CBS, as Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) finally finished telling his son and daughter a story that turned out to be about more than the title suggested.
While the adventures of Ted and the rest of the How I Met Your Mother cast have never really ended, thanks to streaming and fans applying its morals and themes to their own lives, a whole new story will soon be added to its legen- wait for it… DARY legacy. In fact, there is already more to report about the upcoming spin-off, titled How I Met Your Father, than where it will be streaming (which is Hulu), but, as we have learned from Ted Mosby, all good stories should start at the very beginning.
How I Met Your Father Will Stream Exclusively On Hulu
Ever since the How I Met Your Mother finale, there has been a lot of a talk about a potential spin-off, which actually almost became a reality not long after the original series ended… but more on that later. Anyway, it appears that the second time will be the charm with this new funny, insightful, and romantic coming-of-age story for adults with How I Met Your Father, which has already gotten a full series order from Hulu, as Deadline reported in April 2021.
There are no confirmed reports, however, of when the 10-episode premiere season of the new sitcom will begin shooting and, therefore, no official premiere date has been named yet, either. Luckily, there already are few names associated with How I Met Your Father whom we are happy to talk about.
Hilary Duff Leads The How I Met Your Father Cast
Like How I Met Your Mother, the spin-off follows a woman telling her son how she became acquainted with the love of her life. Starring as Sophie, the lead role of the How I Met Your Father cast, is Hilary Duff, who rose to fame in the title role of Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire before later joining the Younger cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, former Veronica Mars cast member Chris Lowell plays aspiring musician Jesse, Grown-ish star Francia Raisa plays Sophie’s roommate Valentina, and The Royals’ Tom Ainsley is Charlie - a British model in love with Valentina.
Tien Tran from Netflix’s Space Force plays Jesse’s adoptive sister, Ellen, Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma plays his roommate, Sid, and Deadline reports that Sharma’s God Friended Me co-star, Brandon Michael Hall, was cast as Sophie’s Tinder date, Ian. Currently, there is no word if any How I Met Your Mother cast members (such as Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson) will appear, but it is not out of the question.
How I Met Your Father Reportedly Exists In The HIMYM Universe
When Hilary Duff appeared on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show in May 2021, she dished on usual topics like the cancelled Lizzie McGuire reboot, but the host (and self-professed fan of How I Met Your Mother) also could not help but ask the actress what she was allowed to say about the new spin-off. Despite keeping her words at a careful minimum, she still managed to reveal some pretty juicy details.
How I Met Your Father, like its predecessor, will also take place in New York City (but will be shot in Los Angeles) and, despite Hilary Duff’s claims that the script was being “changed a little bit,” she did confirm the story is canonically related to How I Met Your Mother, but did not clarify how. She then teased the potential for some of the original cast members to reprise their roles. Of course, we already do know for sure that a few HIMYM all-stars will be involved behind the scenes.
How I Met Your Father Is Created By Isaac Aptaker And Elizabeth Berger
The creators, showrunner, and currently the sole writers of How I Met Your Father are Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, a dynamic writing duo known for their collaboration on 2018’s Love, Simon, its Hulu original TV show spin-off Love, Victor, and their Emmy-nominated work on NBC’s hit drama This Is Us, to name a few. However, along for the ride as fellow executive producers are the original How I Met Your Mother creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.
Signed on to direct the pilot episode is the Emmy nominated Pamela Fryman, who helmed the majority of How I Met Your Mother with 196 episodes under her belt, following a prolific TV directing career that includes NBC’s Just Shoot Me, Frasier, and Two and a Half Men. Fryman is also producing How I Met Your Father, along with Love, Victor producer Adam Londy and star Hilary Duff, as well.
A Gender-Swapped How I Met Your Mother Spin-Off Was Previously Attempted
How I Met Your Father is picking up momentum seven years after the How I Met Your Mother finale aired, which seems like a slow turnaround for how quickly spin-off series seem to come out these days. However, the first attempt at a HIMYM spin-off was meant to be come out in 2014.
In 2013, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, with former Saturday Night Live writer Emily Spivey, developed the idea for How I Met Your Dad and shot a pilot starring future Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Greta Gerwig and Meg Ryan as her future self (a la Bob Saget voicing Future Ted). The supporting cast featured Workholics’ star and co-creator Anders Holm, Andrew Santino of FX’s Dave fame, and Tiya Sircar, who went on to appear with The Good Place cast in a recurring role. However, just two months after CBS passed on the pilot, Bays confirmed that the spin-off was dead, paving the way for Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger and eventually take over.
Will How I Met Your Father be as legendary as How I Met Your Mother, or is it destined to meet a similar fate to How I Met Your Dad? Well, it appears we are still at the beginning of that story and will have wait and see after it premieres on Hulu.
