Greta Gerwigfinally is the woman of the hour. WithBarbieraking in the big bucksand now beingattached to direct a pair ofChronicles of Narniafilms for Netflix, the director and actress is getting the attention due sinceher directorial debut. Gerwig’s shuffle between gigs has given us gems likeLady Birdand theLittle Womenremake on the directing side andFrances Haand20th Century Womenon the acting side. A lesser-known and unreleased project was aHow I Met Your Motherspin-off announced only a few months after the original series’ ending.
Intended to have a different setting and without having any ties to the original,How I Met Your Dadwould only shareHIMYM’s premise – a parent narrating their offspring the story about how they met their spouse – now told from a woman’s perspective (and using a typewriter of all means of communication!). It’d also share creators, asCarter BaysandCraig Thomasteamed up withSaturday Night LivewriterEmily Spiveyto develop the concept. Gerwig was set to star as Sally Javits, the mom in the past/present, withMeg Ryangiving voice to her future version. The pilot was filmed but CBS ultimately decided to pass on the series. It had a soon-to-be stellar cast and a refreshing take on the original show, so what exactly went wrong with it?
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Even with its stand-alone nature,How I Met Your DadusesHow I Met Your Mother’s character blueprint. Gerwig’s Sally is intended to be the half-annoying half-endearing type à la Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) with Ryan’s voice mimickingBob Saget’s future Ted. A pre-The Good Place’sTiya Sircarplays party girl Juliet, Sally’s best friend who seemingly is this version’s Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). The LGBTQ+ representation thatHIMYMlacked is mended inHIMYDwith gay spouses Danny (Andrew Santino) and Todd (pre-The Other Two’sDrew Tarver!) taking Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) place as the show’s power couple and are a few steps ahead of them, since they’re already expecting a baby.
The twist in Sally’s story is that, contrary to Ted, she’s not looking for love. She begins the series as a married 27-year-old woman. Her husband Gavin (Anders Holm) used to be a rock band singer but ended up turning into another Wall Street snobby guy who labels wines according to their drinkability, depending on the occasion. Minutes into the pilot, they break up. Juliet sets Sally up with a co-worker as a rebound guy to get her single life going. Enter Frank (Nicholas D’Agosto), this show’s Robin (Cobie Smulders), who seems to take an honest liking towards Sally and the star of the story’s second twist – he is the dad!
With just its pilot episode,How I Met Your Dadhas a lot of things to like. It establishes its first running gags: the renaming of the rebound one-night stand with “nail-a-male”, the introduction of a beverage you didn’t know you needed with the Chardondew (white wine with Mountain Dew), the reinterpreting by Sally of what Danny says but really means, and Todd and Sally’s cute “same-thing, same-time” dance instead of the typical ‘jinx!’ exclamation. It also sets this diverse group of friends organically. Sally is Danny’s sister, and also Todd’s best friend from college, with both of them also knowing Juliet from a long time ago. The only newcomer is Frank, who’s charming enough to be welcomed into the group. Plus, Sally’s pre-30’s crisis is very relatable for millennials – who doesn’t feel lost at 27 (or any age after that)?
There’s a variety of things that may not have worked with the network and the audience. In retrospect, maybe 2014 wasn’t the right time for a progressive sitcom, given it only has one straight white male in the main cast. Revealing the dad’s identity since the pilot could’ve also taken away from the mystery and the guessing game thatHow I Met Your Motherjuggled so well. But then again, a reveal as equally as big didn’t stop theGossip Girlrevivalgetting two seasons instead of none. Perhaps the fact that this show was announced as having no ties whatsoever toHIMYM, was the first and last nail in its coffin. It seemed more like a cash-grab opportunity by having them share the title than being a real spiritual follow-up. Conversely, being too closely related toHIMYMthe year it ended andthe way it endedcould’ve been more prejudicial to Gerwig’s show.
CBS wanted to rework some unspecified elements of the pilot, but creators Bays and Thomasrejected shooting it again. That’s when the network decided to pass on picking upHow I Met Your Dadfor the 2014 season. However, they gave Bays and Thomas the option to shop it around with other networks and streaming services, but that didn’t work either. In anappearance onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Gerwig candidly revealed that test audiences were given a knob to turn right when they saw something they liked and turn left when they saw something they didn’t like. In all of her scenes, they turned the knob left.
Two years later, a full script of the pilot leaked, and four years after that, the full episode was leaked as well. Upon viewing, some sources stated thatthe project was better left dead. Ultimately, in 2022 a different spin-off helmed byIsaac AptakerandElizabeth Bergerwas developed, titledHow I Met Your Fatherand starringHilary Duff, with that show tying directly to its predecessor, and currentlybenefiting from that relationship.
How I Met Your Dadcertainly had the potential to become its own series if given the chance. It could’ve been a great show with a rocky pilot, or even anawful whole first season, but with the talent involved, it surely would’ve thrived. Perhaps the decision to not pick it up was for the best. It eventually allowed Gerwig to pursue more projects on the directing side and that is a win for everyone.Only the Academy Award nominee’s vision could bringBarbieto life, cementing her place in the big leagues as one of the greatest directors of our time.
