Quick. You’ve been tasked with creating a spinoff for beloved sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Not a whole spinoff, actually. Just a title. What do you call it? How do you let fans of the series know that this spinoff is connected to a property they love while still signaling a fresh, new take? You’ve got to name it in one try. Think you know where you’re going with it? Good news. You’re right.
How I Met Your Father has received a full ten-episode order to Hulu. Hilary Duff will star in the new incarnation, which will be produced by This Is Us team Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger alongside the original HIMYM team of Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.
“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,” Bays and Thomas said in a joint statement Wednesday, after teasing the news earlier this week on Twitter. “We are honored by their passion and vision, and look forward to helping them tell a legendary new story. (Thanks to all the HIMYM fans out there who waited for it.)”
This is not the first attempt at a spinoff like this. In fact, Greta Gerwig was all set to star in a HIMYM spinoff called How I Met Your Dad. Those plans fell through and Gerwig became one of the most in-demand directors in Hollywood, so it seems like things worked out for the best there. Duff is best-known for her Disney days but has enjoyed modest success on Paramount+’s very good original series Younger.
“We are beyond excited to be bringing How I Met Your Father to Hulu,” said Aptaker and Berger. “Carter and Craig’s iconic original series revolutionized the half-hour comedy, and we are so honored to be carrying the torch forward for the next generation — and with Hilary Duff no less! We can’t wait for audiences to meet Sophie and her crew, and watch them come into their own and find love in modern-day New York City. And we hope nobody thinks it’s weird that Bob Saget will be playing old Hilary Duff’s voice.”
