'How I Met Your Mother' Spin-Off Back on Track, FOX 'Starting From Scratch' With New Writers
The "How I Met Your Mother" spin-off is under development again. Following CBS' failure to approve a follow-up in 2014, FOX is taking a stab at a new story. The network is eyeing a new group of writers this time around.
FOX co-chairman Dana Walden confirmed via Deadline that the spin-off project is back on track with 20th Century Fox TV. This is actually the third attempt to develop the series but Walden said that the project will be "starting from scratch."
"It's one that's been slowly cooked. If it's the right idea the right execution, we'll take that," the network head said.
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Originally, the "How I Met Your Mother" spin-off was hatched by CBS during the final season of the first series. The network allowed Greta Gerwig to develop the spin-off, where she was also the lead star.
CBS, however, passed on the pilot shelved "How I Met Your Dad." According to reports, Gerwig clicked with the network but the rest of the cast did not impress the executives.
Then in 2016, another attempt to develop "How I Met Your Dad" came from "This Is Us" writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. The show was supposed to be shopped elsewhere aside from CBS. Nothing panned out and Aptaker and Berger have since been promoted as showrunners of "This Is Us" for season 2.
Now FOX wants on board the spin-off but Walden made it clear that the network is not in any rush. For now, the studio wants to hire new writers to develop the show.
Carter Bays and Craig Thomas created "How I Met Your Mother" which ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014 on CBS. The show centered on five friends — Ted (Josh Radnor), Marshall (Jason Segel), Robin (Cobie Smulders), Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) — and was told from Ted's point of view. The series was anchored on Ted telling his kids about meeting their mom, Tracy, played by Cristin Milioti.
