How I Met Your Mother may be coming to an end, but the sitcom's unique narrative could live on.
CBS is in early talks with producer 20th Century Fox TV for a potential spinoff of its outgoing hit that would follow a woman on a similar quest to find the father of her children, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
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The spinoff, which would not include any original How I Met Your Mother characters, comes from co-creators and executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and Up All Night creator Emily Spivey.
The new take would include a similar set of friends, potentially glimpsed in the parent series' (no pun intended) finale, and major set piece MacLaren’s Pub may even be employed as a hangout.
Bays, Thomas and Spivey would co-write and executive produce the spinoff.
CBS has become increasingly reliant on How I Met Your Mother in its later seasons. With former heavyweights Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men set up on Thursdays, the 8 p.m. show now anchors its Monday block as the night's highest-rated program. And though 2 Broke Girls has recently seen a ratings boost with its move to the post–How I Met Your Mother slot, the former juggernaut is still outshone considerably by its exiting lead-in.
In addition to this potential follow-up, studio 20th Television is also in early talks for a possible Modern Family spinoff. This season, ABC launched Once Upon a Time's Wonderland–set spinoff, and The CW has found early success with The Vampire Diaries' offshoot The Originals. The CW also has a planted spinoff set for sophomore drama Arrow, centering on DC Comics hero The Flash. CBS is already prepping a New Orleans–set NCIS spinoff from showrunner Gary Glasberg and star Mark Harmon
On cable, AMC also has spinoffs in the works for The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad; ABC Family this month debuted Pretty Little Liars spinoff Ravenswood; and Showtime has been hinting that there may be life left in its Dexter franchise following the drama's eight-season run.
