From June 8th, the series “How I Met Your Father” will start via Disney. What sets the sitcom apart from its oversized template?

With a little delay to the US release, the “How I Met Your Mother” branch with Hilary Duff (34) will finally start in Germany on June 8th at Disney. Even the title “How I Met Your Father” shows unmistakably that this is a spin-off that is narratively and structurally very close to the original. Only with reversed and (quite appropriate for the year 2022) also some new signs. What can fans of the popular sitcom about Ted Mosby’s (Josh Radnor, 47) desperate love search expect in the sequel?

This is how the new series begins

“HIMYF” follows the (love) life of Sophie (Duff), in her mid-thirties, who also uses dating apps like Tinder in her search for Mister Right. Right at the start of the series, she even seems to be finding success via online dating. But her dream prince Ian (Daniel Augustin) reveals to her when she first meets him that he has to leave the country because of his job – and that same evening!

The love of her life seems to be lost again, but by a happy coincidence she has opened up a brand new circle of friends. In the Uber on the way to her date with Ian, she accidentally picked up the wrong cell phone and ended up with flatmates Jesse (Christopher Lowell, 37) and Sid (Suraj Sharma, 29). Thanks to a friendly “elderly couple” they got hold of an apartment that “HIMYM” fans should be very familiar with – “they even gave us their swords!”

Search for love in new and old ways

This brief synopsis of how the HIMYF pilot introduces the new characters already shows what viewers can expect from the series as a whole. Thanks to nine seasons of the previous series, the spin-off offers an almost endless pool of insider jokes, references and easter eggs. Without wanting to give too much away, it goes without saying that this includes the occasional guest appearance by a star from the original. In this regard, just a quick “Ahoy!”…

The general narrative structure is also borrowed one-to-one from “HIMYM”. Instead of Bob Saget (1956-2022) as the old version of Ted, in the offshoot Kim Cattrall (65) as future Sophie tells her son how she met his father. As in the original, the new series also starts with this background story, even the title melody is the same as before, just rearranged.

Speaking of which: “HIMYF” also puts well-known tricks of the original into a new, more modern light in its narrative. In 2050, the child will now be told the love story via video link, which itself had its origin digitally – thanks to the Tinder and Uber apps.

Learned from some mistakes

The spin-off also addresses two of the biggest criticisms of “HIMYF”. The first innovation immediately catches the eye: in the original, the entire group of friends was white. The one figure who could best be described as a regular with a migration background was the Indian and very stereotypical taxi driver Ranjit (Marshall Manesh, 71).

Meanwhile, “HIMYF” relies on a diverse cast and offers diversity with Tien Tran (Ellen), Daniel Augustin (Ian), Suraj Sharma (Sid) and Francia Raisa (33, Valentina). The trans character is also a lesbian and, like Sophie, looking for love. Meanwhile, Tom Ainsley (30) as Charlie provides the popular “Fish Out Of Water” humor. He is actually a British aristocrat, but he turned his back on his life in royal splurge to move to filthy New York for love and to offend with the American way of life.

His character is therefore probably best described as a mixture of Canadian Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders, 40) and the also quite snobby Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris, 48). Which brings us to the second criticism of “HIMYM”. His sometimes questionable pick-me-up methods and his general attitude towards many women are not only in the course of the

The offshoot therefore pays close attention to reviving the virtues of the original, but not repeating its omissions. Which is no doubt the right approach, but also not without risk. “HIMYF” shouldn’t rely too much on the nostalgia help of its predecessor. Which, if you compare it to other sitcoms, came across as quite tame. The spin-off has set itself the task of making things right for everyone and always politically correct. An undertaking that is as noble as it is demanding. After all, humor always offends somewhere if it doesn’t want to be too good and therefore to be expected.