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If the How I Met Your Mother legacy continues, it won’t be at CBS. Spinoff pilot How I Met Your Dad had been in no-man’s land since last Friday, when the network made its new series pickups and it was not among them. CBS left HIMYD alive while passing on all of its other not-ordered pilots except Gaffigan, which was tabled until after the upfronts. However, there had been little back-and-forth between CBS and studio 20th Century Fox TV over the past few days. There was an offer from the network to re-pilot the project, something 
CBS has previously done successfully with The Big Bang Theory and, most recently, with newly picked up comedy The McCarthys. But I hear that came with no commitment to go to series, which HIMYD producer 20th Century Fox TV was unwilling to do, given the project’s pedigree and auspices, HIMYM creators Craig Thomas & Carter Bays and Emily Spivey. I hear 20th TV was willing to take a series order with the commitment to retool the pilot, something CBS is currently doing with The Odd Couple, which it owns. That pilot, picked up for midseason, is being reworked, including recasting two parts.
CBS’ option on HIMYD expires today, so, unless a miracle happens, the project is dead at CBS. 20th TV, which has been very bullish on the pilot, plans to shop it to other networks, and I hear it already has received interest. I hear the studio is looking to make a decision over the next week, with executives confident that HIMYD would go to series somewhere. (Places considered potential destinations for Dad include sibling Fox, NBC and Netflix.)
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said that “there were elements of the pilot that didn’t work out” when explaining the network’s decision to pass on it. Tassler underscored that the reasons were creative, dismissing any notion that there was financial interest, like pursuing a co-production with 20th TV. “Creative always drives the business,” she said. “We felt re-piloting was in the best interest.” With that not in the cards, “I’m heartsick,” Tassler said. “It didn’t work out.”
Written by Bays & Thomas and Spivey, the spinoff is in the tone of HIMYM, this time told from a mother’s point of view, and features a new group of New York friends who hang out at MacLaren’s Pub. Greta Gerwig, Drew Tarver, Tiya Sircar, Nick D’Agosto and Andrew Santino star.
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The only viable option I could see is 20th selling it to their corporate sibling, FX, which already airs HIMYM reruns. Otherwise this has to be dead, right? I can’t imagine why anyone would want it. And its “auspices” are a joke. HIMYM has been horrible for years and the creators haven’t come up with a single other successful series.
Or, most likely, Fox proper. It’s looking like Fox didn’t order Sober Companion because it looked like HIMYD might be available.
The quality might not have been there, but the demo ratings were. I could see a few places interested in it. FX seems logical, but maybe NBC or even ABC?
FX was the first place I thought of as well, though I don’t know how viable HIMYD would be on any cable network considering Gerwig’s requirement to move the production to NYC.
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want it.”
Did you look at HIMYM’s ratings last year? Or the year before that? Even though it was lousy in its final year it had huge numbers. There’s a big audience and probably a heavily female-driven demo waiting for this show. The pilot must have really been terrible for CBS to pass unless this was a money issue.
Another network would want it because they know how successful the orignal was and think this has a shot at being a hit too. Considering how badly most of the new comedies have done on various networks, it’s not hard to imagine one trying it out.
Regardless of whether you liked it or not the show was a hit for years and ended with strong ratings. And that was the creators’ first series, they’ve only tried one other new one in the meantime so that’s an odd thing to complain about.
I could see Fox putting it on FXX as they are trying to build that network up and need material.
Bullshit their reasons were only creative. If that would be the case they would have asked Fox to retool the pilot. Clearly there’s something else going on behind the scenes.
Um, did you read the story? They DID ask for a retool and 20th said no.
RTA. They *did* ask. The producers said no.
It said in the article they did ask to redo the pilot. Fox was only willing to do that if they agreed to order to series, which they declined.
The only logical explanation I can come up with is that Greta Gerwig did not test well. It’s the only insurmountable problem.
This. Any other cast member would be recast. Any number of really talented up and coming actors/actress would kill most of their close friends for the chance to join a pedigreed show like this.
I am a huge fan of HIMYM, and I really liked most of the last season (and didn’t hate the finale). I would definitely have watched the spinoff. But………..
Greta Gerwig was dicey in my mind. I am not a huge fan of the mumble core movement. The character write-up for her character was off putting. Plus, her asking price must have been relatively high compared to other actresses. A number that would only have gone up as the show progressed. And they were shooting in NYC, for Gerwig, which would have raised the cost at some point. Main thing being, she needed to be an absolute home-run to justify everything. And she wasn’t.
Wow. CBS is making a smart move… I guess they saw the finale of HIMYM and thought better of continuing the show.
I really didn’t see the reason they even funded a pilot but then again, networks are hardly known for taking chances with originality when they can recycle.
Yeah I think CBS did the right thing. They saw how CB and CT alienated about half of their HIMYM fans with that finale so the fan crossover severely diminished. Plus I just don’t think lighting was going to strike twice with this format. I’m a fan of CB and CT but they need to go onto something more original.
Creative differences sounds like a bit of bull to me considering the crap that CBS does put on the air. Still sounds like Fox saw it was a bargaining chip for higher pay per episode and CBS wanted to pay new series costs at most.
If everyone had loved the HIMYM finale instead of some liking it and most hating it, I bet HIMYD would be on the CBS schedule right now. As much as I wanted a show that featured a gay married couple on the air, nothing else about the show really wowed me. And considering the season is already packed with European remakes, comic adaptations and old retreds (The Odd Couple…really?), a gender-flipped HIMYM really wasn’t needed.
Do we need to see another 10 years of an unfunny show that is waiting for a punchline?
Do the creators have any other ideas or is this it.
The pilot script was good. Not great. Greta Gerwing is GREAT. The finished product can’t be that bad. Pretty sure it was too girlie and “open” for CBS taste. Gay characters not enough clichés. Nah. They probably wanted to change that and some other things. Hope it’s gonna get picked up elsewhere and work there, just to make them realize their huge mistake. That being said, I don’t see NBC or ABC taking chances with this one. FOX ? TBS ? USA ?
Hmm…I wonder if the “girly” was the reason. Most of their successful sitcoms revolve around “men”(there is a reason that’s in quotes)…or girls who are “Cool Girls” written by men.
Saying that, the writers for HIMYM were never great at writing women..
I heard the pilot was just awful. Sometimes you can capture lightening in a bottle only once.
Most products that lighten your hair are sold in bottles actually. You can find many at Amazon or your local drugstore. Seems easy to capture them more than once.
I can’t help but think that the overly drawn out story plus the controversy after the series finale of Mother played a role in this. I’m completely unwilling to commit to another show like this, seeing as how it’ll either drag on for eternity or drag on for eternity and then end in an insulting fashion. Mother was often incredibly awesome but I don’t there’s any real need to go through this all over again. The cast of Mother was lightning in a bottle and the premise was fresh and exciting. Dad seems to have none of these things.
“Creative issues” aka “two of the five main characters were a married gay couple.” Not that they’ll ever admit as much.
Gerwig has a highly unlikable screen presence. She’s not TV friendly.
I’ve been worried about HIMYD since it was first announced. How do you avoid creating a spin-off series so close to the original that you don’t end up with the same characters and same stories/jokes? How to you create a series that won’t devalue the original and yet remain fresh, distinct, and legendary on it’s own? I kind of believe the network saw the pilot and realized that HIMYD didn’t do these things, and that going forward with it would only anger everyone, becoming an instant failure.
Oh could it have been the overwhelmingly negative reactions from fans of HIMYM who are still ticked off about the finale? That show would have been dead on arrival anyhow so CBS made the right decision.
people who didnt see the end of HIMYM coming in S1 are idiots. i saw it in episode 1.
SPOILERS!
there is only 1 reason ‘the story’ focuses on robin. he is in love wit6h her still.
there is only 1 reason ‘the story’ is told by just the dad. mom is dead.
if she was alive, A. the story wouldn’t have started with meeting robin. she would be an ancillary character and the mom would also be telling the story.
there is not 1 logical alternative. this should have been obvious to everyone seasons ago .
Exactly! I couldn’t help but facepalm over the outrage. If Robin was just part of the journey, then why not start the show with her already being a member of the group? Clearly it started with Ted meeting her because she was the intended destination. And there was never any present references to Mom when he was talking to his kids. It was obvious Ted was either divorced or widowed. I am not saying people had to like it, but those who didn’t should have seen it as “I don’t want it to happen, but I know it will because it’s obviously set up that way”.
I think How I Met Your Dad and Friends With Better Lives would be a nice one-two punch for some other network and hopefully they’ll both be picked up somewhere.
I like that.
Sitcom spin-offs are a thing of the past. The last spin-off comedy that was actually good was probably A Different World. I’m sure it would still have been better than the “reality” tv they’ve been shoving down our throats for nearly a decade though.
Well Frasier came after A Different World, some would argue that it was acually good too
Not only did FRASIER come after A DIFFERENT WORLD, it had a longer and more successful run. And I think it was much funnier.
Here’s the real comparison. Fraiser was a spin-off of Cheers. Cheers, as you probably all know, was about a group of people who owned/worked at/frequented a bar. Now what if Fraiser had been about a group of people who owned/worked at/frequented a different bar. Would it have even made it to series? The one of the reasons why Fraiser was a success, and A Different World moderately, was that the overall plot was’t the same story as the ‘origin’ series. HIMYD was/is specifically the same story as HIMYM.
The first season of A Different World with Lisa Bonet was awful. Everything about that show with her – the writing, acting and episodes – was the worst. It got way better after Debbie Allen took over and Lisa left.
CBS seems to prefer dramas these days and the Monday comedy block has been minimized. I sense the Eye may have feared the audience would regard HIMYD too similar to HIMYM. After all, we had eight seasons of HIMYM. Is a new cast and gender twist enough to get us watching? I never thought so. The failure of FRIENDS WITH BETTER LIVES as an ensemble comedy may have served to confirm CBS needs to go into a new direction with comedies. Best of luck to all… meanwhile I will wait for an evening reminiscent of CBS Mondays with KATE & ALLIE, NEWHART, DESIGNING WOMEN, and RAYMOND. Today’s comedies seem overall a bit snarky and sex-obsessed.
LET IT GO!!!…it’s the same damn show! It’s over
Netflix. Mark my words. When they got old HIMYM episodes, that’s what reinvigorated the show’s ratings. Netflix notices things like that when they’re deciding which original series to pick up. It’s why they ordered season 4 of “Arrested Development.” Brand recognition.
CBS comedies are too lowest-common-denomenator to fit with Netflix’s brand. Gotta be something like Arrested Development that was too smart to survive on broadcast.
So you’re implying that most CBS viewers are in the not-so-smart category of the human race? Well, with shows like The Millers, Mike & Molly, and Two and a Half Men continuing on, while The Crazy Ones gets the boot, confirms that opinion.
Enough about this show. Good lord!
I’ll never understand people who visit sites like this one where it’s obvious that they only cover specific topics, read the headlines, see a particular article, click on it, go to the comments section, scroll to the bottom and complain that the article should not have been written. If you’re commenting, then that ship already sailed, so find something constructive/funny/interesting to say or move on.
When I think of CBS, I don’t think of comedy. Everything is either CSI, NCIS or POOP.
Here’s an idea: My Network TV could air ‘How I Met Your Dad’. They haven’t had any first-run programming in the past few years, so this would be a great comeback for MyNet…
Since when do networks let studios shop dead pilots these days? Maybe 20th got a sweet deal because of the success of HIMYM? Because ever since the mid-90s, every network pilot deal I know of requires a network to get an additional “bite,” even if they have no intention of ever picking up the show. To some extent, this is to prevent a situation like what happened to Ted Harbert, who lost his job as president of ABC after he allowed NBC to pick up “3rd Rock from the Sun” (an ABC pilot he had no interest in) and it became a huge hit for the competition.
Shouldn’t it be called “How I met your father” not “dad”? That was mistake number 1.
yeah, that was the problem.
Yup. That’s why it got dropped. That always irked me.
The pilot script was fine at best, at least it ended with the audience knowing who the dad would be, so people wouldn’t be waiting 8 years to find out. I have a feeling that Greta was fine, but that it was the B and C stories featuring the other characters that sucked. In the version I read they basically ripped off Mitch and Cam with the gay characters and their story sucked.
In fact, they changed the ending in later drafts. It was exactly the same as in “HIMYM” => “it is your uncle”…