How I Met Your Mother has become known as one of those shows whose ending could never live up to its stellar reputation. After years of meticulous build-ups, the series finale of the hit CBS sitcom basically clicked fast-forward through several important life events -- blowing passed the death of the titular "Mother" to end with Ted and Robin together after her divorce from Barney. This dramatic shift proved incredibly jarring for fans, and that dissatisfaction was apparently also felt by HIMYM star Alyson Hannigan, who felt that the Barney-Robin romance was a mistake. among other issues. The actress explained:
I didn't think Barney should have ever gotten married. I liked Barney and Robin. But in my heart, I always wanted her with Ted. I just feel [Barney and Robin] shouldn't have gotten married. . . . I was bummed they didn't just make it a two-hour season-ender, so they would get to show certain parts [that were cut]. The table read for the finale was so good, so right, but it was also like 14 hours long. So when I actually saw the final version of the show, I was like, 'They cut out everything!'
How I Met Your Mother shocked its core fanbase when the perma-flirt Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky got together. Their marriage was a novel enough idea for the show to try out in its final set of episodes, but the relatively short length of the finale didn't give the writers enough time to flesh anything before revealing that Robin and Barney ultimately got a divorce after only three years together. The story might have worked on the page, but on screen (with very specific time restrictions), it just didn't pan out the way it needed to.
Alyson Hannigan elaborated further about her dissatisfaction with the How I Met Your Mother finale to News.com.au and explained that far too much vital material from the script ended up removed from the final version of the story. She continued:
There was a funeral scene [that got cut], and all this stuff that I think the audience needed. They needed that time to process that information, instead of having it slap them in the face.
Imagine how much more satisfying that finale would've felt if we had been allowed to mourn The Mother properly. It's almost universally agreed that series capper was too economical with its storytelling, cutting far too many corners to come to a swift and satisfying end. In fact, although How I Met Your Mother ran for an incredibly commendable nine seasons on CBS, there's an easy argument to be made that the events from the finale alone could've warranted a tenth batch of episodes. There was simply too much drama that the cast and crew were forced to gloss over, and the final payoff didn't feel earned as a result. And it isn't just viewers that think so.
Of course, there might be an opportunity for the How I Met universe to atone for this particular sin, as the upcoming spin-off (aptly titled How I Met Your Father) is once again back in development. The project is expected to star an entirely new cast of characters, but the folks behind the upcoming project can at the very least learn from the mistakes that bogged down How I Met Your Mother's final episodes, along with fielding questions about bringing the original show back for more.
We will bring you more information related to the upcoming How I Met Your Mother spin-off as new details become available to us. For more particulars concerning this summer's small screen debuts, check out our 2017 summer TV premiere guide!
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