Last week, it was confirmed that How I Met Your Father will not be returning for season 3. The sudden news came as a shock to fans, as the series was yet to wrap up many of its storylines, including the titular question regarding the father.
How I Met Your Father is a spin-off of one of the most popular sitcoms of the 2000s, How I Met Your Mother. Like many other spin-offs, the series probably fell prey to the greatness of its predecessor. The spin-off failed to garner the same love and attention from the audience as the original series and received poor ratings.
All of these factors, and many others, led to the show’s early cancellation. The series ends without revealing who the actual father was, which is another disappointment if you’ve been following the show.
1. Why was HIMYF cancelled after two seasons?
There are several reasons behind the renewal or cancellation of a series. In the case of HIMYF, one of the reasons seems to be its low ratings. Both seasons 1 and 2 received poor reviews from critics. Season 1 received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37%, while season 2 received an even lower Rotten Tomatoes rating of 33%. The series has an IMDb rating of 5.7, which is pretty low for a sitcom.
In its two seasons, HIMYF tried to set right many of the plot points of HIMYM which did not age well. For instance, the series tried to give Barney Stinson a redemption arc, introduced diversity in its cast in contrast to HIMYM’s predominantly white cast and gave importance to homosexual relationships.
Yet, the show failed to be anything more than a half-baked successor of HIMYM. Several storylines seemed exactly the same; the protagonist faced similar troubles, and most importantly, it hardly ever went forward with the story. Most episodes were standalone filler episodes. While all sitcoms have their fair share of such episodes, HIMYF overdid it a bit much.
It is already difficult for spin-offs to be as successful as the original series, so HIMYF already had that curse on itself. Joey, a spin-off of FRIENDS, based on the titular character, also had the same fate. However, HIMYF could have turned it around for itself if it improved in its second season.
In the case of many sitcoms, the first season is generally not well received, but it picks up pace in its second season. The best example of this is The Office (U.S). The first season of The Office was poorly received by the audience and critics alike. However, the second season hit the ball out of the park and there was no looking back.
The key point here was the character development of Michael Scott and the brilliant humor. The writers decided to make Michael’s character more sensitive, bringing forth his ignorance about social behavior. All of this worked in favor of The Office and other brilliantly written characters.
This brings me to my point in the case of HIMYF, the lack of original characters. Most of the characters in HIMYF are rip-offs of the original series or a failed attempt to bring a sense of nostalgia. Sophie is a mirror image of Ted, and so is Jesse, her primary love interest. Jesse and Sid share a bond similar to Marshall and Ted, and Valentina reminds a lot of a not-so-good mix of Lily Aldrin and Phoebe Buffay.
The show tried to portray Charlie as the new Barney towards the beginning of the series, but there’s unfortunately no one in the industry to be a worthy successor to Neil Patrick Harris’ legendary Barney Stinson.
Therefore, HIMYF could not really create its own loyal fanbase and carve out a place for itself. It is unsurprising that Hulu canceled the series after two seasons due to a lack of popularity and demand.
2. Will there be HIMYF season 3?
As of now, there is no news of How I Met Your Father returning for season 3 in any other way. Hulu has canceled the series after two seasons.
There are many examples of shows returning with another season through a different network due to popular demand. However, no such demand or movement has been initiated about How I Met Your Father. I would say there is less hope of it happening now.
Craig Thomas, the co-creator of HIMYM and executive producer of HIMYF, spoke about the cancellation of the series on X. Here’s what he said:
“Thanks to the wonderful cast and crew who worked so hard on #HIMYF, and to all who checked it out, sometimes this is how it goes in this crazy business…”
So, as of now, it seems like season 2 is the final season of the Hulu sitcom. Given the way it was canceled, I would not seriously consider future prospects.
3. About How I Met Your Father
How I Met Your Father (HIMYF) is a spinoff series of the incredibly successful CBS show, How I Met Your Mother. The original show ran for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014, quickly making its mark with a dedicated cult-like fanbase.
HIMYF was announced to start production in April 2021 with the Lizzy McGuire star Hilary Duff playing the lead called Sophie, narrating her journey to her children in the future.
The show’s flashbacks will start from Sophie and her close friends navigating love, life and struggles in the modern era of dating, paying bills and more, in 2021.
Created by writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger of This Is Us fame and directed by the original show’s director, Pamela Fryman, the first season of HIMYF is revealed to have 10 episodes. No further details have yet been released.
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