‘How I Met Your Dad’ Not Picked Up By CBS

In a shocking twist, CBS has decided not to pick up the spin-off series How I Met Your Dad. In what we thought was a sure bet, How I Met Your Dad will not find a home on CBS after all. The spin off was on the heels of How I Met Your Mother’s successful run on CBS. It seemed like everything was a go, with the network being excited about ordering the pilot to series, and a promising lead star in Greta Gerwig. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.

Even with narrator Meg Ryan in place, the Craig Thomas and Carter Bays spin-off series couldn’t get a hold of its flaws. There was a slight indication that things weren’t going according to plan when actress Krysta Rodriguez was fired after a table read. CBS didn’t say whether or not How I Met Your Dad’s sole problem was in the casting, but either way it seems like the spin-off show just wasn’t worth pursuing.

CBS’ Nina Tassler addressed the shocking decision in a statement on Wednesday morning:

“There were elements on the pilot that didn’t work out. We tried to work out about redoing the pilot. That’s not happening right now. Sometimes you run into these kind of issues and you hope they can resolve themselves in that time frame.”

Tassler also added that she felt “heartsick” that CBS couldn’t make it work with How I Met Your Dad, also adding:

“To say we loved this show and these producers is an understatement.”

Fortunately, in the era of Netflix acting as the new juggernaut of the future, just because its CBS hopes are dashed doesn’t mean How I Met Your Dad can’t live on another medium. Netflix isn’t above grabbing something if it has potential. It’s currently in the middle of saving The Killing, which was prematurely cancelled not once, but twice by AMC before moving to Netflix for its final season.

This isn’t the first time CBS has ordered a pilot to be completely overhauled. According to IGN, The Big Bang Theory had a completely different cast when it first approached CBS, but then the pilot was reshot for the network which is how it was able to order to series. Unfortunately Craig Thomas and Carter Bays didn’t want to reshoot the pilot, which meant getting passed up by CBS.

As we reported previously, star Greta Gerwig was hesitant about talking too much about the show, given its up in the air status. Hopefully the show still finds a home.

[Image via CBS]