"How I Met Your Dad" is an upcoming spin-off of the popular CBS comedy series "How I Met Your Mother." The initial episode was already ordered by CBS and is expected to be released in autumn of this year. Writing the first episode is Emily Spivey along with Craig Thomas and Carter Bays (the latter two having been co-creators of "How I Met Your Mother"). The episode will be directed by Rob Greenberg.

"How I Met Your Dad" will have a completely new cast in its first episode, headed by:

  • Greta Gerwig as the younger Sally, the main character
  • Meg Ryan as the older Sally, a mother who serves as narrator for the series. This will be Ryan's first regular primetime TV role, although she has frequently appeared on "Showtime's Web Therapy" and briefly on sitcoms and soap operas.
  • Nicholas D'Agosto as Frank
  • Anders Holm as Gavin
  • Andrew Santino as Danny
  • Tiya Sircar as Juliet
  • Drew Tarver as Todd

Spoilers

Meg Ryan's role in "How I Met Your Dad" is similar to Bob Saget's role in "How I Met Your Mother." Ryan's voice will be Sally's future self reflecting back upon how she eventually met the father of her children, which will play out in the plot of the show. The initial episode will follows Sally as she deals with a divorce from her first husband and finds herself at a loss as to what to do with her life.

Will the spin-off "How I Met Your Dad" replicate the success of HIMYM or will it surpassed the original's success? Only time will tell, but the cast and crew revealed so far have a track record for producing excellent work, despite the generally negative initial reaction to the finale of "How I Met Your Mother." Waiting until fall means that there will still be time for opinions to be reevaluated and for lessons to be learned on the part of creators who will likely wish to create another smash hit, but perhaps without the somewhat disappointing final episode.