The streaming era is starting to go retro and air its original content on traditional TV channels, with the latest example being Hulu's How I Met Your Father. The How I Met Your Mother spinoff starring Hilary Duff is going to air episodes starting April 25 on Freeform, according to Variety.
The first two episodes of How I Met Your Father season 1 are going to air on Freeform on Tuesday, April 25, at 10 pm and 10:30 pm ET/PT. A pair of episodes will be released in that time slot every week until May 23, concluding with the season 1 finale.
All How I Met Your Father season 1 episodes are still going to be available to stream on Hulu, alongside How I Met Your Father season 2, which is still releasing new episodes weekly. No announcement was made if/when season 2 will eventually play on Freeform as well; seems that this is going to be a trial run for the show.
Here is the official synopsis for How I Met Your Father:
"In the near future, Sophie 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."
Duff plays Sophie, while Kim Cattrall voices the older Sophie. Also in the cast are Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, Suraj Sharma, Daniel Augustin, Ashley Reyes and Josh Peck. With the show being based on the fan-favorite sitcom How I Met Your Mother, cast members from the original show have made cameo appearances, including Colbie Smulders' Robin and Neil Patrick Harris' Barney.
How I Met Your Father is not the first streaming show to get a special run on linear. Disney Plus made Andor and The Mandalorian available on TV with special airings. Paramount Plus has used Paramount Network to help launch streaming originals 1883, 1923 and Tulsa King. HBO Max aired the Gossip Girl reboot on The CW, while HBO has also aired some of its older content on TBS and TNT, specifically True Blood and Silicon Valley.
It's an interesting flip, as it was always viewers waiting for traditional TV shows to become available on streaming services to allow viewers to watch at their convenience. Now streaming originals are trying to expand their reach beyond their subscribers with these traditional TV runs (certainly hoping they like it enough to sign up).
