Will the third time be the charm for the How I Met Your Mother spin-off as 20th TV gives How I Met Your Father another try?

How I Met Your Mother went off the air following the series finale on CBS.  Even as it was saying goodbye, series creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, along with Up All Night creator Emily Spivey, wrote a spin-off, How I Met Your Dad.  The pilot starred Greta Gerwig and was narrated by Meg Ryan much in the same vein as How I Met Your Mother was narrated by Bob Saget.  To the show and surprise of many, CBS decided not to pick the pilot up to series.

It was assumed to be dead and then This Is Us writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger came up with their own take but under a different title–the title that should have been used from the get-go.  The project, however, went nowhere.

This brings us up to attempt number 3, as reported by Deadline yesterday, from Alison Bennett, who does have a deal with 20th TV.  She’s previously been a producer and writer for You’re the Worst.

The right time for a spin-off would have been the season that immediately followed the finale of HIMYM even though the finale left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans.  Should this one be ordered to pilot and picked up to series, would either Bays or Thomas have any involvement outside of having their names attached as executive producers?  Would any of the writers of the original series be involved?  Or will Bennett be leading a writing staff with a different type of voice altogether?  These are some of the questions that need to be answered before moving forward.

Listen, I’m all for a spin-off but it has to be one that’s done right.  I don’t want to see it spun-off in a way that hurts the brand.   For every Frasier, there’s a Joey or The Tortellis.  Let’s take a look at what happened with Joey.  The Friends spin-off premired in September 2004 but midway through the second season, it got pulled from the NBC schedule during the winter hiatus.  An episode would later air in March 2006 but due to low ratings, the series was pulled.  The remaining episodes remain unaired to this day for American audiences but did air for Latin America viewers.

While having a significant fan base does help and certainly plays a huge role in all these series being rebooted or movies adapted for television, it doesn’t necessarily mean the programs will be a success.