How I Met Your Father- Stream or Skip?

The latest in the series of sequels, prequels and reboots, How I Met Your Father is the newest attempt to gender swap a popular 00’s sitcom. As a diehard How I Met Your Mother Fan, I was not expecting much from How I Met Your Father, but my inner Ted Mosby was cautiously optimistic. For shame, though.

While the show tries to replicate the easy-going, chemistry filled aura of the original, it failed HARD. We have a tale told by Sophie, played by Hilary Duff (the most charming out of the cast) and her older version played by Kim Cattrall (I never liked Sex and the City, and I do not feel any warmth from her character, unlike the older Ted Mosby aka RIP the amazing Bob Saget). Sophie’s son is not seen, whereas her older version is, again in a swap of the original series but to me this serves as a disservice. Bob Saget and his wonderful voice serve as a sage narrator and the viewer can envision what an older Ted would look like. To me young Sophie and older Sophie do not seem like the same person at all. The younger Sophie seems much more romantic and idealistic whereas older Sophie seems hardened.

Getting back to the plot, Sophie thinks she’s met the man of her dreams on a dating app (a cute I would not recall him again actor, played by an African American, probably in an inclusiveness bid). She gets in a cab with BFF’s Sid (Suraj Sharma, aka this show’s Marshall about to propose to his surgeon girlfriend) and his cynical uber driver friend Jesse (a mix of Ted and Barney played by Veronica Mars’ alum, Chris Lowell, with what seems a shit load of Botox on his face). What ensues is a phone swap which leads to this trio meeting up again later and becoming friends, thereby starting to establish the core friend group. Unfortunately for Sophie, her dream for happily ever after with her Tinder soul mate are dashed when he reveals he’s moving to Australia. In a call back to Ted Mosby, Sophie dashes to the airport to convince him to get into a long-distance relationship with her which ends in an epic fail.

We are also introduced to Sophie’s female-esque version of a Barney roommate, Valentina who lacks all his charm, as does her sexual conquest, Charlie, a befuddled Brit, with zero wit, his best joke is about the subway.

The end of the episode show that Sid and Jesse live in Ted and Marshall’s old place but it’s zero percent nostalgic. In fact, the first three episodes TRY TOO HARD. I may be in the minority of original fans who enjoyed HIMYM from start to finish but I was hoping this show had a glimmer of the original. It fails.
While the first episode reveals Sophie meets the father the first night, the third episode introduces a new character who Sophie also met that night in a bid to try and detract to the fact that it will clearly be Jesse, especially given the romantic tension the writers are trying to build between him and Sophie.

The group is much more diverse in a bid to stay true to current times, but Chris Lowell’s sister, Ellen, (the one queer character) may prove to be problematic later, as she only seems to be part of the group to provide comedic fodder. Most queer characters tend to embrace being in groups with other LGBTQ+ people to embrace their culture, but this seems unlikely to happen as she seems to basically be a way of the show trying to Barney up the one lesbian character.

The recurring jokes and the bond between the main’s just isn’t there (and given the short span of the first season at 10 episodes, it’s doubtful to provide the richness of bonds felt in HIMYM) and the humour falls flat. In the very first episode of HIMYM, we were introduced to the flashbacks, Barney and his “Suit up” and “Have You Met Ted?” While in episode two there is a lame attempt at a Jason Momoa type inside joke, the humour just doesn’t land.

In short, the charm is just lacking, and the show feels so 2009 and late.

Stream or Skip: Only stream if bored and missing HIMYM. Or better yet just rewatch HIMYM

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