"Here's the thing about mistakes: Sometimes, even when you know something's a mistake, you gotta make it," said an older Ted Mosby, voiced by the late Bob Saget, towards the end of How I Met Your Mother's first season.
That is probably how we got How I Met Your Father.
The sequel to How I Met Your Mother, created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, was created by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker. The show told a tale of love, friendship, and life in New York City through a series of flashbacks. At its peak, the show was a hopeful love letter to love that could thaw even the most cold-hearted cynics. It riled fans with a messy ending that should have discouraged anyone from repeating its premise. We got How I Met Your Father.
The title suggests that the plot is different this time. In the year 2050, our main character is video chatting with her son who is away from college. She tells the story of how she met his father in a year when dating apps were all the rage but romance was hard to come by. It seems that there was no outbreak of the disease. A real choice.
In the first season of Hilary Duff's show, a 29-year-old woman named Sophie is constantly announcing that she's been on 88 dates on the dating app, but still hasn't found a match. She has her best friend and roommate to lean on when times get tough. The group includes the guy who went viral for a failed marriage proposal, Jesse, his friend Sid, and Ellen, who just moved to New York.
Good friends living in New York. Credit: Patrick Wymore
The group doesn't have a foundation like that of the show, but in a single evening that features a meet-cute in an app, a phone swap, a proposal, and a rejection.
The sequel pays homage to the original series, but sadly it isn't the only sign that How I Met Your Father is stuck in the past. Pop culture references to Jane Fonda workout tapes and early 2000s music feel forced, like nostalgia trying too hard to hook viewers. A lot has changed since 2005, but it's understandable for a world before technology to have such a heavy role in our love stories. This modern series isn't as different from the old one because it doesn't use any of thetrendiest terms like dating apps and internet slang. In order for How I Met Your Father to succeed, writers have to rely on more than just replicating the magic of the show. They will need to fully embrace their modern-day setting and lean into what makes relationships, communication, and life so different today.
This modern series isn't as different from the old one because it doesn't use any of thetrendiest terms like dating apps and internet slang.
One line two minutes into the pilot that made me cringe was on the laugh track. The show is not all bad.
Duff brings a heavy dose of charisma to the role, and her talented castmates have enough chemistry and charm to keep viewers coming back for Season 1's ten episodes. It's worth noting that prior viewing isn't required for fans of the series to invest in it. The show will hit if you're trying to fill the Younger void in your life, are still holding out hope for a Lizzie McGuire remake, want to see former Nickelodeon icon Josh Peck share the screen with Disney royalty, or are still looking for love three years after the apocalypse. Especially then!
The sequel isn't legendary yet. The original series taught us that sometimes things are worth waiting for.
The first two episodes of How I Met Your Father are now available to watch. Weekly new episodes are dropping.
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