In 2022, How I Met Your Mother's spin-off, How I Met Your Father aired on Hulu. Starring Hilary Duff, the series only received a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
A Top Critic said there's "too much of an imitation at some points and too scattered and strange at others. But there are a few sparks of potential here." Too bad, the show has just been canceled after two seasons.
The internet had mixed reactions to the news. Some thought the show was finally getting its stride while others thought there wasn't a need for the reboot in the first place.
A netizen even called it "cringe," to which Duff responded. Here's everything you should know about HIMYF's cancelation.
What Did The How I Met Your Mother Cast Think About How I Met Your Father?
In 2021, HIMYM's Neil Patrick Harris said that he was glad to see HIMYF happen after numerous failed attempts at making a reboot happen. "We're kind of in an interesting sort of spin-off world or redo worlds, right?" he told Insider. "There's Wonder Years that's happening again. And there's lots of different shows that are sort of remounting in different iterations."
He added: "They had tried to make a How I Met Your Father a couple of times before and so It's nice to see that this one's sticking. I hope it lands." Harris made a cameo in season 2 of HIMYF, reprising his role as Barney Stinson. In March 2023, Duff said it was a chaotic day on set.
"He had so much to do that day, he had pages and pages of dialogue, and everything that could go wrong went wrong," she told Entertainment Weekly. "Some crew guy got hurt and there was an ambulance, it was pouring down rain, of course on the only night that we had him, and we're outside, and we'd already shot stuff leading up to this night where it wasn't raining."
The underpaid Lizzie McGuire star said that filming with Harris ended up being "so funny" and that she "broke [laughing] 100 times." She added: "But he's just the best sport, and it was a dream to have him on."
Why Was How I Met Your Father Canceled After Two Seasons?
On September 1, 2023, Deadline reported that HIMYF wouldn't be renewed for season 3. The outlet noted that "News of the decision comes on the heels of Hulu also canceling popular comedy The Great after three seasons, and Disney+ not going forward with two new series and canceling Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. after two seasons amid companywide streaming content cuts at Disney."
Avid viewers took to social media to express their disappointment. "What a gut punch!" one wrote on Reddit. "Season 2 they really found their stride, every episode was a banger and I was feeling that comfort you feel when you settle into a great sitcom which I haven’t felt since HIMYM concluded."
Another one added: "I really enjoyed the last half of the second season… it seemed like the writers had found a good rhythm and the characters were starting to feel natural. What a shame." Many are hoping for other streaming platforms to pick up the series.
