Is anyone from HIMYM in How I Met Your Father?

Grab your yellow umbrella! After plenty of speculation, a How I Met Your Mother spinoff was finally confirmed in April 2021 and diehard fans are convinced it will be legen — wait for it — dary.

Affectionately referred to as HIMYM, the CBS series came to a close after nine seasons in March 2014 — and its controversial finale continued to spark debates online for years to come. Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel starred in the original series, with Bob Saget narrating.

Shortly after the end of HIMYM, creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas teamed up with Greta Gerwig and writer Emily Spivey to work on a pilot for a follow-up series titled How I Met Your Dad. Though audiences were eager to see what the next chapter would bring, the show was not picked up.

It wasn’t for another seven years that fans got their wish and an official HIMYM spinoff was announced. Hilary Duff, who previously fought for a Lizzie McGuire revival, nabbed the starring role in Hulu’s How I Met Your Father in April 2021. She also scored a producing credit.

“I’ve been incredibly lucky in my career to play some wonderful characters and I’m looking forward to taking on the role of Sophie,” the Younger alum told Deadline at the time. “As a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother, I’m honored and even a little nervous that Carter and Craig would trust me with the sequel of their baby. [Showrunners] Isaac [Aptaker] and Elizabeth [Berger] are brilliant, and I can’t wait to work alongside them and all of their genius. … I realize these are big shoes to fill and I’m excited to slip my [feet] in there.”

Aptaker and Berger, who worked together on NBC’s This Is Us, later told The Hollywood Reporter that they were “so honored to be carrying the torch” for the new series. “We can’t wait for audiences to meet Sophie and her crew, and watch them come into their own and find love in modern-day New York City,” the dynamic duo noted. “And we hope nobody thinks it’s weird that Bob Saget will be playing old Hilary Duff’s voice.”

No hints have been as to who might actually take over the narration of Sophie’s journey, but the spinoff is sure to pay homage to HIMYM without being an exact copy. However, longtime fans shouldn’t expect any OG stars to make a cameo.

“I have given How I Met Your Mother very little thought,” Harris teased in March 2018, telling TV Guide that “chapter is so complete and full of story” and the entire team was proud of their “final lap.”

The Glee alum continued, “I really just look back on that chapter with great fondness. I just don’t feel like there’s anything left to do, really.”

Radnor, for his part, has been trying to put his HIMYM days behind him. “I almost never think about [the show],” he told GQ in March 2018. “It’s a weird thing, when you haven’t done something in almost four years. But people will still come up to me and say, ‘I just watched the series for the eighth time, all the way through.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s too much. You’ve gotta move on.’ … It’s such a part of certain people’s lives.”

The March 15 season one finale of How I Met Your Father came with a cameo from an OG How I Met Your Mother cast member: Cobie Smulders. Cobie reprised her role as Robin Scherbatsky—who is now married to Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and a big-time news personality—and it was everything we could have hoped for and more. 

During the finale, Sophie (Hilary Duff) went to the legend—wait for it—dary Maclaren's Pub after a fight with Jesse (Chris Lowell), who had confessed his love to her while he was asleep.

After telling Carl the Bartender (Joe Nieves) that she was having "a day," another woman at the bar—who turns out to be Robin—asks her what kind of day she is having. 

Sophie immediately recognizes big-shot famous reporter Robin and admits that she is "obsessed" with her. As the pair get to talking, Robin asks Sophie to open up about her love life to "bring her back to the good old days." 

"Back in the day," Robin says, "my friends and I wasted years in this very bar talking about our stupid love lives. I stop in here whenever I'm in the neighborhood." 

Ever since, How I Met Your Father was even announced, everyone was asking one big question. Will How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) characters appear on How I Met Your Father? Of course, How I Met Your Father isn’t a HIMYM sequel. And for the most part, with only small exceptions and Easter eggs, the two shows in the franchise have stayed separate. Until now, at any rate. Because in the How I Met Your Father finale, fans of both shows received a treat. A fan-favorite HIMYM star finally bridged the gap between the shows. Beware, How I Met Your Father finale spoilers lie ahead.

But who was the mysterious How I Met Your Mother character that graced the world of this new show? Why none other than Cobie Smulders’ Robin Scherbatsky arrived on the scene of How I Met Your Father. In a generation-clashing moment, two stars that have made big impacts on different parts of our lives sat down together. And it all started when Hilary Duff’s Sophie Tompkins made her way into MacLaren’s Pub.

MacLaren’s Pub was a featured location on How I Met Your Mother. Barney, Lily, Marshall, Ted, and, of course, Robin shared many a drink there over the years. How I Met Your Father even brought back classic employee Carl the Bartender to pour Duff’s Sophie a drink. Anyone who loved the original show could already feel the nostalgia pouring out.

Of course, Jesse also has some piece of work to him, and things don’t go exactly as planned for Sophie’s newly advised self. But Robin has a little more wisdom yet to deliver. “If I’ve learned anything at all about love,” She sagely concludes, “it’s that timing is everything. Sometimes, timing’s a b***h.”

Robin has certainly learned that, but she’s still on her journey too. According to  TVLine, in 2022, Robin has been separated from Barney for six years. And she still has nearly a decade to go before finding love with Ted again. But seeing her again, here, in this fun interlude really lets us reconnect with the character. And we have to say, we love hearing her (well-earned) advice.

While seeing Cobie Smulders’ Robin again in How I Met Your Father’s world delights us, we like that the two shows will remain separate. As How I Met Your Mother and Father‘s executive producer and director Pam Fryman shares with TVLine, “It’s a gift instead of a promise.” And a beautiful gift, for sure.

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