The Untold Story Unveiled: How I Met Your Father's Cancellation Ignites a Sensational Wave of Relief

Summary

How I Met Your Father's cancellation confirms that the spinoff was not able to sustain enough audience interest, just like the failed pilot, How I Met Your Dad.

Despite the mixed reviews it received, How I Met Your Father season 1 finale successfully emulated the essence of its predecessor, but failed to avoid cancellation after two seasons. The downfall of Hulu's series implies that any potential spinoff derived from How I Met Your Mother would have likely experienced a comparable fate, thus putting an end to the speculation surrounding Gerwig's pilot.

The cancellation of How I Met Your Father confirms that the previous attempt at a How I Met Your Mother spinoff was doomed from the start. Despite lasting for two seasons, the fact that it didn't immediately fail suggests that the concept had potential, but lacked enough audience interest to sustain it. This implies that even if another series based on How I Met Your Mother had been created, it would have likely faced the same fate, finally putting an end to the decade-long question of "what could have been?"

Although How I Met Your Father received mixed reviews during its first season, its finale captured the essence of How I Met Your Mother and secured approval for a second season. This was a chance for the series to stand on its own, separate from its parent show. Regrettably, it seems that this did not occur. Hulu decided to cancel How I Met Your Father after its second season, leaving viewers forever wondering about the identity of the titular father. While this may disappoint fans of the franchise, it is a clear indication that it was for the best that the 2014 How I Met Your Dad pilot never progressed beyond its initial stage.

HIMYF's Cancellation Means It's A Good Thing That Greta Gerwig's How I Met Your Dad Pilot Failed

In 2014, shortly after How I Met Your Father concluded, the original creators of the show, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, collaborated with writer Emily Spivey from Saturday Night Live to develop a new series called How I Met Your Dad. They created a pilot episode, starring Greta Gerwig as the main character Sally, a young woman living in New York City who is uncertain about her life after a recent divorce. Similar to How I Met Your Father, the story was narrated by an older version of Sally (voiced by Meg Ryan), who wrote letters to her daughter explaining how she met her father.

However, this new spinoff, How I Met Your Dad, never got the green light from 20th Television to become a full series. Years later, the concept was revisited and transformed into How I Met Your Father, starring Hilary Duff instead. Despite curiosity about what could have been with Gerwig's version of the spinoff, the failure of Hulu's series suggests it may have met a similar fate. If the show had made it to television and received negative feedback, it could have had a negative impact on Gerwig's career and potentially hindered her from creating projects like Barbie.

Why How I Met Your Mother's 2 Spinoff Attempts Both Failed

The failure of two previous How I Met Your Mother spinoffs indicates a lack of interest in this project from the public. While How I Met Your Father had potential in terms of actor chemistry and writing, the central mystery of the protagonist's love interest had already been explored. How I Met Your Mother stood out from other sitcoms by keeping viewers guessing for nine seasons, but starting this process again can be tiring, especially considering the controversial ending of the original series.

The revelation that Ted's wife had passed away prior to the start of How I Met Your Mother caught audiences off guard and frustrated some devoted fans. It changed the entire series, as it became clear that the story was always about Ted's feelings for Robin. While this twist worked for How I Met Your Mother, it significantly diminished the emotional investment that viewers had in Sophie's story in How I Met Your Father. The same would be true for any spinoff with a similar premise.