WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead for HIMYF!
How I Met Your Father’s characters repeat many of the quirks of How I Met Your Mother’s figures, though one major change to Jesse shows how the spinoff can improve on one of the original’s best gags. While also aiming to establish the series as its own, How I Met Your Father has taken several running gags and dynamics from HIMYM, including Barney-like catchphrases, Sophie and Jesse likely being the new Ted and Robin, and continuing the characters’ notable parent problems. While it’s typically difficult to recreate the magic of HIMYM’s gags, How I Met Your Father has put itself in a place to make the original show’s musical components even better.
Throughout HIMYM, one of the most memorable pieces of the series was its focus on the musical talents and interests of its main characters. HIMYM even noted that Marshall’s greatest annoyance to the other characters was his ability to turn anything and everything into a song. Not only did Marshall have a skill for the piano and making tunes out of everyday occurrences, but Ted and Barney would also frequently break into song – with a particularly memorable song about Puzzles the bar and their cover of Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time.” While Robin had left her music career behind, one of HIMYM‘s best running gags was her past as teen pop star Robin Sparkles.
Right off the bat, How I Met Your Father let viewers know that music would make its way into the spinoff. Although the characters have yet to break out into original musical numbers (aside from Sophie singing “Dirrty” and “Drops of Jupiter”) or write a catchy tune, the series has several advantages with its cast and characters to make its song components even better than HIMYM. While Robin was a professional singer in her past, Jesse is still pursuing his music career today, which means the series is apt to feature many of his songs and writing process. Not only is Jesse a singer, but he can also play guitar and piano, meaning How I Met Your Father’s songwriting inspirations will feature much more variety than in HIMYM. To top it off, Jesse’s ex-girlfriend Meredith (Leighton Meester) is a notable singer writing an album in Europe, so it would be remiss if How I Met Your Father didn’t include her original songs as well.
While How I Met Your Father has only dipped its toes in her talents, the spinoff is also led by none other than Hilary Duff, who was notable in the 2000s for her pop singing career. Robin Sherbatsky may have been a fictional teen singer idol, but Hilary Duff actually was in real life. Paired with Hilary Duff’s real-life singing career and Chris Lowell’s character Jesse being a professional musician, How I Met Your Father has the opportunity to make its musical components far more present and even integral to its storylines. Although part of the fun in HIMYM’s original songs was their amateur basis and goofy premises, How I Met Your Father can make just as many – if not more – memorable hits.
HIMYM knew just how to utilize its cast’s musical talents, particularly through Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris. Segel notably wrote soundtracks to a few comedy movies and original satirical songs for Forgetting Sarah Marshall and its spinoff, while Harris is a Tony-winning Broadway actor. Considering the behind-the-scenes accomplishments of HIMYM’s actors, it’s surprising the show didn’t feature more opportunities for original songs. Since Jesse’s music career and, particularly, his break-up with hit artist Meredith are important to his character arc, How I Met Your Father’s gags with songwriting and numbers can take on a much more significant purpose within the series than in How I Met Your Mother.
