If you were looking forward to the Greta Gerwig-helmed How I Met Your Mother spin-off, creatively (I use this term very loosely) titled How I Met Your Dad, good news and bad news! Good news: How I Met Your Dad may still happen for the 2015-16 TV season, according to TVLine. Bad news: It'll be completely redeveloped, likely with a new cast and lead that does not include the very talented Frances Ha star, Greta Gerwig. If this were being written on paper, you'd probably see my teardrops staining the ink right about now.
How I Met Your Dad, if you don't remember, was meant to be a sort of retelling of How I Met Your Mother, also set in NYC — except, instead of involving anyone actually associated with the original show, it would follow a completely different set of friends and a lead with a different gender as she navigated the murky dating waters of NYC in search of "the one" (or, if you consider how How I Met Your Mother ended, "the one before the one.") So, CBS enlisted Gerwig to write and star in the project, and, suddenly, a promising project was born. Sure, we didn't need a HIMYM spin-off, but if there's anyone who could breathe new, endearing life into the project, it was Gerwig — after all, she's been the saving grace of many sub-par films (Lola Versus, A NY Thing, Arthur) and the best part of some great films (Frances Ha).
Hopes were dashed when CBS canceled the project before it could be picked up, though, citing creative differences, and the cast were all let out of their contracts. Though it was shopped around to other networks, no one picked up the project either, and it seemed effectively killed...until now. Apparently, the series has a shot at being redeveloped for the 2015-16 season, and HIMYM co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are dedicated to ensuring that it does.
Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, as TVLine points out, the redevelopment would mean no more Gerwig — and here's where we run into a problem. The whole reason I myself (and many others) were excited about this project was because of Gerwig's presence, and her proven ability to write great material. HIMYM 's finale was a real letdown to most fans thanks to an eleventh hour twist, so why would we possibly have interest in another series from the same creators with the same concept if there isn't something exciting and different about it involved?
Sorry, but I'm just not buying this. Yes, HIMYM was one of the better sitcoms in recent history, but it's over now, and unless CBS plans on giving a potential spin-off something special like Gerwig was to the original incarnation, How I Met Your Dad just sounds like it would be the same show with a female Ted Mosby — and, well, we all saw it the first time.
