Hulu has announced it is canceling another of its shows—and fans are particularly devastated by this one’s axing, with some lamenting the “potential” it had and the “cliffhanger” ending that wrapped up season 2.
How I Met Your Father, the semi-sequel to the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother starring Hilary Duff in the lead role, has been officially canned by the streamer after 30 episodes and 2 seasons. This cancelation is just the latest in a wide-ranging spree Hulu and parent company Disney has enacted in recent months, part of a content write-off announced by Disney in May.
How I Met Your Father Canceled At Hulu After 2 Seasons
How I Met Your Father debuted on Hulu in January 2022, airing 30 episodes and 2 seasons before its cancelation by the streamer earlier this month. The sitcom starred Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire) as Sophie, with the premise being that "in the near future, Sophie (Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the present where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options." The series co-starred Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) as the 58-year-old Sophie telling the titular story; as well as Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran and Suraj Sharma.
The show was a spinoff of the popular comedy series How I Met Your Mother, which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2014 and starred Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel. Though the shows weren't directly connected by plotlines, the HIMYM characters played by Harris and Smulders, Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky, made cameo appearances on the spinoff show. HIMYF was created by former This is Us showrunners Elizabeth Berger and Issac Aptaker, who executive produced along with original HIMYM creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. Star Hilary Duff also served as a producer.
Duff hasn't directly addressed the cancelation, but did get into bit of a social media tiff with an Instagram user who commented on Variety's post about the show's axing, "Tried to watch it... it was so cringe... who thought this would ever be a good idea? Everything was done in the original, they covered it all..." The former Younger star replied to the comment, "You have 63 followers." This response received a mixed reaction from followers, with some commending her clapback while others criticized it as petty.
Regarding the actual show's cancelation by Hulu, fans shared their emotions on social media, including their frustrations at the show ending before the story could be completed, and the titular "Father" revealed:
I was really getting into How I Met Your Father and then it just got cancelled?? It was about to get so good and also YOU CAN’T CANCEL WITHOUT THE REVEAL. Someone please pick up that show so it can be given a proper and equally horrible ending as How I Met Your Mother
— Jessica de Rooij (@derooijjessica) September 11, 2023
How are you going to cancel How I Met Your Father without telling us WHO THE FATHER IS.
— Chelsea (@givethemchel) September 2, 2023
jokes on you i canceled my subscription once hulu decided to cancel how i met your father. https://t.co/R1fnxPpCsV pic.twitter.com/Oopt4VpJ0z
— nour (@BihterBB5) September 9, 2023
i can’t believe how i met your father ended without revealing who the father is???? why cancel such a good show????
— Mark Joseph Abeto (@mrjosephabeto) September 10, 2023
Hulu & Disney+ Have Canceled Many Original Series Since May
Hulu has gone on a cancelation spree after parent company Disney announced a large-scale content write-off back in May. At the time, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said of the move, "We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation...As a result, we will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms, and currently expect to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion."
It was shortly after this May announcement that many original series and specials were pulled from Disney+ and related streamer Hulu, along with discussions about cutting back on the amount of Marvel and Star Wars content released on the app. Acclaimed historical drama The Great was one of the casualties of the cancelations at Hulu, despite receiving 7 Emmy nominations in 2022, along with numerous Screen Actor's Guild, Critics' Choice, and Golden Globe Award nominations. It remains to be seen whether more show cancelations are still to come from the streamers, especially in light of the Writers' and Actors' Strikes.
