How I Met Your Father
How I Met Your Father | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger |
Inspired by | How I Met Your Mother by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas |
Starring | |
Opening theme | "Hey Beautiful" by Lennon Stella |
Composer | Jeff Cardoni |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Hilary Duff |
Cinematography | Gary Baum |
Editor | Sue Federman |
Running time | 22–25 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Hulu |
Release | January 18, 2022 present | –
How I Met Your Father is an American sitcom created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger which premiered on Hulu on January 18, 2022. It is a standalone sequel to How I Met Your Mother. The series, which stars Hilary Duff, Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa, Suraj Sharma, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, and Kim Cattrall, follows the main character, Sophie (Hilary Duff), and her group of friends in New York City's Manhattan. As a framing device, Sophie (Kim Cattrall), in the year 2050, recounts to her unseen son the events that followed meeting his father in January 2022, and how they ultimately had him. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.
Cast and characters
Main
- Hilary Duff as Sophie, a hopelessly romantic photographer who is looking for her soulmate. Though believing in true love, she is unaware of her biological father due to her mother having dated random men.
- Chris Lowell as Jesse, an aspiring musician who works as an Uber driver and music teacher, who has become an internet meme after being left by his ex-girlfriend Meredith after a failed marriage proposal. He lives with Sid in Ted, Marshall and Lily's old apartment.
- Francia Raisa as Valentina, an impulsive assistant-stylist who is also Sophie's best friend and roommate and Charlie's love interest
- Suraj Sharma as Sid, Jesse's best friend and roommate who owns a bar. He's engaged to his long-distance girlfriend Hannah.
- Tom Ainsley as Charlie, a British aristocrat who abandons his inheritance to follow his love interest Valentina to New York after meeting her at London Fashion Week. He later moves in with Ellen and the two become roommates, before being hired by Sid as a bartender.
- Tien Tran as Ellen, Jesse's adoptive sister who moves to New York City to find romance after her divorce from her wife. She owns a produce farm.
- Kim Cattrall as future Sophie, who in the year 2050 tells her son the story of how she met his father
Recurring
- Daniel Augustin as Ian, Sophie's Tinder date. He's a marine biologist who moves to Australia.
- Ashley Reyes as Hannah, Sid's longtime girlfriend whom he gets engaged to in the pilot. She works as a surgeon in Los Angeles.
- Leighton Meester as Meredith, Jesse's ex-girlfriend who publicly rejected his marriage proposal
- Josh Peck as Drew,[a] the vice principal at the school where Jesse teaches music lessons
In addition, Stony Blyden co-stars as Jasper, a bartender at Sid's bar
Special guest stars
- Michael Barbaro as Himself
- Paget Brewster as Lori, Sophie's mother, a notorious party girl who had Sophie when she was young
Episodes
No. | Title [2][3] | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [3] | Prod. code | ||
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1 | "Pilot" | Pamela Fryman | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger and Carter Bays & Craig Thomas & Emily Spivey | January 18, 2022 | 1HME01 | ||
In 2022, after being on numerous failed Tinder dates, Sophie believes she's finally found the one. Sophie met Uber driver Jesse, and his friend, Sid, who's about to propose to his girlfriend. When Sophie finally meets Ian he reveals he's moving to Australia and just wanted to meet her before he goes. Sophie dishes to her roommate Valentina, who is not alone, much to Sophie's surprise. A handsome, naked British man named Charlie now lives with them. Charlie has moved across the world to be with Valentina, which convinces Sophie to give Ian another shot, but realizes that during the Uber ride she somehow swapped phones with Sid. They meet up at the bar where Sid's friends are gathered to surprise his soon-to-be fiancé. They meet Ellen, Jesse's recently divorced sister from Iowa. Sophie tells Jesse her plan to walk the Brooklyn Bridge once she meets her soulmate. At the Airport Sophie gives Ian a heartfelt romantic speech. Realizing she can't wait, Sophie decides to walk the bridge. Future Sophie reveals that very night she met the love of her life. The newly formed gang decide to have drinks at Jesse and Sid's place, to be revealed as Ted and Marshall's old place.
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2 | "FOMO" | Pamela Fryman | Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger | January 18, 2022 | 1HME02 | ||
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3 | "The Fixer" | Kimberly McCullough | Dan Levy | January 25, 2022 | 1HME03 | ||
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4 | "Dirrty Thirty" | Pamela Fryman | Amelie Gillette | February 1, 2022 | 1HME04 | ||
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5 | "The Good Mom" | Morenike Joela Evans | Christopher Encell | February 8, 2022 | 1HME05 | ||
Sophie's mother Lori comes to town and reveals she is seeing a musician in a band, and invites Sophie out to see it. Sophie accepts, cancelling a date with Drew where she would meet his friends to do so. When she finds nothing wrong with her mom's date, she thinks her mom may have found the right guy, only for Valentina to inform her she saw Lori kissing the musician's manager. Sophie confronts her mother, who reveals she was the reason all her relationships failed before. Having gained some insight into her own past, Sophie leaves to meet with Drew. Meanwhile, Charlie, attempting to find a job, decides he wants to help people confront their problems, and tries to help Jesse and Sid get over their past traumas. When he succeeds, he wonders if there is a job where he can get paid to do so without needing years of schooling. Sid hires him to work at his bar. Ellen meets Rachel, the granddaughter of a deceased neighbor, and attempts to form a relationship by lying about knowing her. When Charlie tells her the deceased neighbor had no children, she confronts Rachel, only for Charlie to realize he mistook their neighbor for another neighbor. Despite this, Ellen vows not to give up. | |||||||
6 | "Stacey" | Phill Lewis | Donald Diego | February 15, 2022 | 1HME06 | ||
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7 | "Rivka Rebel" | Kelly Park | Karen Joseph Adcock & Ria Sardana | February 22, 2022 | 1HME07 | ||
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8 | "The Perfect Shot" | Lynda Tarryk | Jeremy Roth | March 1, 2022 | 1HME08 | ||
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Production
Development
Following the production of the 2014 CBS pilot How I Met Your Dad, which did not move forward, on December 14, 2016, it was reported that Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger were set to write a new version of the previous spin-off's pilot, re-titled How I Met Your Father, with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas serving as executive producers.[4] It was later announced that, after signing new contracts with 20th Century Fox Television that would see both Aptaker and Berger being promoted to executive producers and co-showrunners on This Is Us alongside Dan Fogelman, the idea would be put on hold until further notice.
On August 8, 2017, Fox chairman Dana Walden told Deadline Hollywood that 20th Television were attempting a spin-off with different writers, for the third time. Three days following the announcement, Deadline reported that Alison Bennett would write the spin-off, with the same title as the previous attempt with Aptaker and Berger. It was also learned that Bays and Thomas were once again hired as executive producers.[5] This attempt also fell through.[6]
On April 21, 2021, the spin-off series titled How I Met Your Father was given a 10-episode series order by Hulu. Aptaker and Berger will serve as creators, writers, and executive producers while Hilary Duff will serve as a producer. 20th Television is involved with producing the series.[6] On June 24, 2021, Pamela Fryman joined the series as an executive producer and to direct the pilot.[7] The series was released on January 18, 2022.[8] On February 15, 2022, Hulu renewed the series for a 20-episode second season.[9]
Casting
Upon series order announcement, Hilary Duff was cast to star.[10] On June 16, 2021, Chris Lowell joined the cast as the male lead.[11] In August 2021, Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, and Suraj Sharma were cast in starring roles while Brandon Micheal Hall was cast in a recurring role.[12][13] However, a few weeks later, Hall exited the role due to a scheduling conflict and Daniel Augustin was cast to replace Hall.[14] The next day, Josh Peck and Ashley Reyes joined the cast in recurring roles.[1] On November 5, 2021, Kim Cattrall was cast in a recurring role as the future version of Duff's character Sophie.[15] Upon the series premiere, it was reported that Leighton Meester is set to recur.[16] On February 3, 2022, it was announced that Paget Brewster was cast to guest star on the episode,"The Good Mom", which aired on February 8, 2022.[17]
Filming
Principal photography for the series began on August 31, 2021.[18]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 38% approval rating with an average rating of 5.1/10, based on 39 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "How I Met Your Father takes great pains to update its predecessor's formula for a modern audience, but this stilted retread only amounts to a painful slog."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 48 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[20]
Notes
References
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (August 31, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Josh Peck & Ashley Reyes To Recur On Hulu's 'HIMYM' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ "How I Met Your Father". Hulu Press (Press release). Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "Shows A-Z – How I Met Your Father on Hulu". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 14, 2016). "New 'How I Met Your Mother' Dad Spinoff In Works With 'This Is Us' Writing Duo". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 11, 2017). "'How I Met Your Father': Alison Bennett Tapped To Write New 'HIMYM' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b White, Peter (April 21, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Hulu Hands 'How I Met Your Mother' Spinoff Straight-To-Series Order With Hilary Duff To Star, Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger To Run". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (June 24, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Pam Fryman To Exec Produce, Direct Pilot For Hulu Spinoff Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Ryan (November 17, 2021). "How I Met Your Father Gets January Premiere Date on Hulu — Watch Video". TVLine. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ Cordero, Rosy (February 15, 2022). "'How I Met Your Father' Renewed For Season 2 At Hulu". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Gonzalez, Sandra (April 21, 2021). "Hilary Duff to star in 'How I Met Your Mother' sequel for Hulu". CNN. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (June 16, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Chris Lowell Joins Hilary Duff In Hulu's 'How I Met Your Mother' Spinoff Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
- ^ Petski, Denise (August 10, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran & Suraj Sharma Join Hulu's 'How I Met Your Mother' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Ryan (August 13, 2021). "HIMYF Stages God Friended Me Reunion, Adds Brandon Micheal Hall in Recurring Role — See First Cast Photo". TVLine. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ^ Petski, Denise (August 30, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Daniel Augustin Joins Hulu's 'How I Met Your Mother' Spinoff In Recasting". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ Cordero, Rosy (November 5, 2021). "'How I Met Your Father': Kim Cattrall Joins Hulu's 'HIMYM' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Ryan (January 17, 2022). "How I Met Your Father: Yes, That Was Leighton Meester in the Series Premiere". TVLine. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
- ^ Schwartz, Ryan (February 3, 2022). "How I Met Your Father: Paget Brewster Cast as Sophie's Mom — First Look". TVLine. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ Schwartz, Ryan (September 1, 2021). "Does First How I Met Your Father Photo Rule Out Another Tie to HIMYM?". TVLine. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ "How I Met Your Father: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ "How I Met Your Father: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
External links
- 2020s American sitcoms
- 2022 American television series debuts
- American sequel television series
- American television spin-offs
- English-language television shows
- How I Met Your Mother
- Hulu original programming
- Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
- Television series set in the 2020s
- Television series set in the 2050s