Possibly under the theory that every generation entering its 30s will need the mirror of a situation comedy to recognize, admire or chuckle knowingly at itself, “How I Met Your Mother,” which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2014, has been rebooted by Hulu as “How I Met Your Father.” Like its structural model, it uses the framing device of a narrator from the future explaining what the title promises (Kim Cattrall in 2050, looking back on younger self Hillary Duff in 2022); is set in New York, in a world without COVID-19; and features a bar. (There is a hint at the end of the pilot that it occupies the same fictional universe as “How I Met Your Mother,” and a note to the press describes the new show as a “sequel,” but I’m happy to stick with “reboot.”)
An earlier mooted reboot, “How I Met Your Dad,” from “Mother” creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and “Saturday Night Live” writer Emily Spivey, was set to follow hot on the heels of “Mother” but never made it past the pilot. And though I haven’t noticed the world clamoring these six years for someone to pick up that thread, it is not strange Hulu, which streams “How I Met Your Mother,” might have seen the industrial wisdom in giving it this little sister. To be sure, the framing device is now just a gimmick to distinguish this ensemble fading-youth comedy, in which some characters live together and all of whom spend time in a place where drink and/or food is served, from other comedies whose characters do the same — while linking it to an earlier hit. But, after all, it has got our attention.
Duff plays Sophie, who, after 87 Tinder dates — “this year” — has made a love connection with Ian (Daniel Augustin), whom the script whisks out of the picture by the end of the pilot. (This does not count as a spoiler; boyfriends are always being whisked away in situation comedy, and he may be back.) Jesse (Chris Lowell) is internet famous for a rejected proposal (to Leighton Meester, in the briefest of cameos) caught on video.
