A 'How I Met Your Mother' Spinoff Is on the Way — but How Did the Original End?

Seven years after CBS aired the final episode of How I Met Your Mother, Hulu announced that the show would be making a major comeback, but it’ll look a little different this time. On April 21, How I Met Your Mother showrunners announced that the series spinoff, How I Met Your Father, would be heading to the streaming platform soon. 

According to reports, How I Met Your Father will feature Hilary Duff, who is also a producer on the show, as the lead character, Sophie, who is telling her son the story of how she found love with his father in modern-day New York, similar to the show’s predecessor. 

The last episode of How I Met Your Mother revealed exactly who Ted Mosby eventually ended up with, but there was a shocking plot twist. So, what happened on the ending of How I Met Your Mother?

The series finale of How I Met Your Mother finally gave viewers the answers that they had been waiting on for nine seasons. Season 9, Episode 24 offered fans insight into how Ted Mosby met his wife, who we learn died six years ago in the year 2024. We later find that Ted has been telling a love story all along — just not the one of him and his wife. 

It soon becomes clear that the real reason Ted is telling the story of how he met the mother of his children is to introduce his kids to the idea of him dating their close family friend, Aunt Robin (aka Robin Scherbatsky), who Ted has an on-and-off-relationship with throughout the series.

We are first introduced to Cristin Milioti — who plays Tracy McConnell, Ted Mosby’s one-day wife and mother of his children — in the Season 8 finale of How I Met Your Mother, but the two don’t have their first encounter until the series finale. 

Ted and Tracy finally meet under an umbrella in the rain, giving us the happy ending we all wished for, but it was immediately snatched away right after when it is revealed that Ted actually winds up with Robin. Seasoned fans could see that the series would end this way from the beginning, but for some, the end of How I Met Your Mother was puzzling. 

While the way How I Met Your Mother ended was disappointing for viewers, fans are hoping that the sequel will make up for the original show’s finale. 

The release date for How I Met Your Father has not yet been announced, but the show’s original creators say they’re more than excited to be back on set. 

How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas said in a statement, “Kids, I’m going to tell you an incredible story: It’s the story of how two writers got lucky enough to make their dream TV show for nine seasons and now get to pass the torch to an inspired new creative team with their own incredible story to tell, the story of How I Met Your Father.”

The statement continued, “We are honored by their passion and vision, and look forward to helping them tell a legendary new story. Thanks to all the HIMYM fans out there who waited for it.”