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How I Met Your Father Couldn't Replicate How I Met Your Mother's Success

How I Met Your Mother is one of those sitcoms that may have more negatives than positives when looking back on it. Barney and Ted are massively problematic leads, and the show's final conclusion of revealing the mother's identity, only to kill her off so Ted could end up with Robin, is ultimately one of the biggest upsets in series finale history.

How I Met Your Father had the opportunity to do things differently, and it did, for the most part. One of the show's biggest changes from the original series was making the choice to avoid showing Sophie's son. So, where did this show go wrong?

As much as humor may be subjective, How I Met Your Father struggled with jokes and chemistry among the friend group. Sophie and Jesse's relationship felt too stuck in a sitcom format that does not exist anymore, leaning into a will-they-won't-they on-again-off-again dynamic that just gets tired to watch.

While the connections between Sophie, Valentina, Sid, Jesse, and Ellen feel at least a bit more organic for a friend group, Charlie's over-the-top misunderstanding and horror of the behavior of New York City's residents never land properly, and just come across as reaching too far for a joke.

In the end, as interesting as some of these unexplored dynamics appeared to be, such as the teased potential romance between Sophie and Sid could have been, it was still a sitcom that struggled with its identity and ability to tell genuine jokes.