After a successful first season of How I Met Your Father – a How I Met Your Mother spinoff series streaming on Hulu – Hilary Duff and the rest of the cast are set to return for season two by January 2023, and while the spinoff pays homage to the original in several ways, there are also lots of new, exciting changes that bring the show boldly into what present-day sitcom television should be, while ditching many of the problematic moments found in the nine-season run of How I Met Your Mother. Season one was such a success that it's not just being renewed, but the network has ordered 20 episodes, double that of season one.
Here's how How I Met Your Father has learned from the problematic moments in the original How I Met Your Mother series.
Diversity in the Principal Cast
How I Met Your Father fixes one of the most glaring problems from HIMYM and television shows in general: no diversity in the principal cast. From Friends to Modern Family to How I Met Your Mother, so many hit television shows simply missed the mark when it came to casting a diverse group of actors, only to try and combat the issue in later seasons by bringing in BIPOC guests actors. HIMYF's cast includes BIPOC characters, as well as LGBTQIA+ characters, and a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Starring Francia Raisa as Valentina, Tien Tran as Ellen, and Suraj Sharma as Sid in the main friend group, this cast is much more diverse than its predecessor. Tien Tran also plays a queer character and identifies as gay in real life, making it an excellent and inclusive casting choice. The original show had a queer character as well, just not in the main cast. Wayne Brady played Barney Stinson's half-brother, James, and was mentioned throughout the series. There was also a running joke that Lily had a crush on Robin, but her queer identity was never explicitly confirmed in the series.
Socioeconomic Diversity in How I Met Your Father
Along with racial diversity, HIMYF does a great job discussing money and socioeconomic backgrounds found in most millennial friend groups as everyone struggles to come into their own on their own or settles comfortably into adulthood with the help of their parent's wealth and financial assistance. This spinoff does a great job of showcasing the wide range of life stages found in any 20-somethings and the strain that can be put on friendships and relationships along the way. In season one of HIMYF, we learn that several characters are struggling to make it in the big city on their salaries. Sophie, played by Hilary Duff in the present and Kim Cattrall in the future, is a struggling artist trying to make it in the industry, which is quite different from her best friend and roommate Valentina, who just came back from a trip to London Fashion Week.
Meanwhile, Sid and his fiancée Hannah (the spinoff version of Marshall and Lily), are not only struggling with a long-distance relationship but also dealing with planning and paying for a wedding and running a bar that isn't doing so well. Another strong character duo and unlikely friendship comes in the form of Ellen and Charlie. Charlie is a British guy Valentina brings back from London. Charlie quickly admits that his super-rich parents cut him off from moving to America with Valentina. Ellen and Charlie are both new to New York City, broke, unemployed, and naive to city life, so they team up and get an apartment together to save on rent costs.
The show takes time to establish each character's backstory, to create a diverse and realistic friend group, where many more people can see themselves represented.
Fatphobia and Transphobia in How I Met Your Mother
The original series was incredibly problematic when it came down to the general treatment of women, especially the women Barney dates. One of the most glaring and constant running jokes is about Barney's sexual encounters, many of which do not sound consensual much of the time. From talking about tricking women into sex to completely lying about his identity to trick women into slut-shaming, Barney is definitely not a character that would hold up in 2022's world of television.
Another major problem is the treatment of fat women. In fact, in one episode, Ted breaks up with a girl because she used to be fat. The words "fat chicks" are used richly in many episodes to describe any woman that isn't a size zero.
One of the wildest, most aggressive ways in which the show messes up is through the "Naked Man." The whole premise of the Naked Man episode is men trying to get women to sleep with them by waiting for a moment alone in the woman's apartment and getting completely naked in the hopes that she will just be amused and sleep with him. The men aren't the only aggressors in the series, though. There are several episodes where the women in the main cast call the women Ted and Barney date slutty and belittle them for absolutely no reason. There is even an episode where Robin is talking about Barney's playbook and says, "If these girls are dumb enough to fall for this crap, they have it coming."
None of these things are present in the How I Met Your Father series. In fact, in the very first episode, Sophie goes on a successful date, and the two part ways without even kissing. The new show is more about dating and enjoying another person's company. Sure, sex is part of dating, but it isn't the only goal, and people aren't using creepy or sketchy tactics to convince someone to sleep with them.
Overall, How I Met Your Father is a tighter, more inclusive show, where the only uncomfortable cringing happening is when Jesse's failed proposal goes viral. You can stream season one of How I Met Your Father, as well as the original series, on Hulu.