Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

'How I Met Your Mother' officially renewed for 9th and final season

We won't meet the Mother until season 9, but hopefully early

By Alan Sepinwall Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 2:00 PM

The "How I Met Your Mother" gang will be back for a ninth and final season, now that renewal is official.

Credit: CBS

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It's official: "How I Met Your Mother" has been renewed for a ninth and final season.

And we won't be meeting the Mother until that season. Although in theory, we'll get some time to know her before things end.

CBS and 20th Century Fox Television finally closed the deal to bring the entire cast and crew back for a ninth and final season, when, according to the press release, "audiences will final learn the identity of the ‘Mother.’"

When a premature report suggested the renewal was happening around Christmas-time, I suggested that all the dithering suggested that the "HIMYM" creators were going to take the title of the show literally, no matter what, and push the meeting off until the very end of the series. But a few episodes ago, the show committed to Robin and Barney's wedding — the event where Ted meets the Mother — happening in May of 2013, and on a press conference call yesterday, co-creator Craig Thomas said that "That will definitely happen. We are heading toward a set date. We set it on TV and we will stick to it. We've been seeing glimpses of this wedding for like three years — we have to get there already, right?"

The wording of the press release, though, makes clear that even if we see the wedding before this season is out, we won't be seeing all of it, and that the moment of the night where Ted bumps into his future wife will be held off at least until next season's premiere. It would be hard to imagine Thomas and Carter Bays dragging it out past that point, but then, we're already pretty much past the point where Ted could realistically father a daughter who, in 2030, looks like Lyndey Fonseca (who plays Future Ted's daughter) did back in 2005.

If we fade to black this spring before the Mother shows up, but get most or all of a ninth season to get to know her, I can live with that. "HIMYM" isn't what it was, but perhaps introducing the woman of Ted's dreams into the mix can revitalize the show in the same way she'll finally make its main character happy.

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: How I Met Your Mother, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan

Ben

But haven't we flashed forward to him at the train station without the mother? Or I suppose he won't talk to her until she shows up at the train station after the wedding.

It's frustrating that the moment the title of the show has been leading up to, has already been ruined by flash forwards.
January 30, 2013 at 3:08PM EST Reply to Comment
- James Pretty sure that was post Victoria's wedding and not Robin's...
  January 30, 2013 at 3:45PM EST
- smellmyfinger you're right. that is post barney and robin's wedding 'out in eastern long island' as robin mentioned a few weeks back. we also know that she's on the platform with her guitar and yellow umbrella. when they officially meet, we shall see
  January 30, 2013 at 4:02PM EST
ehaislar

Just meet the mother this season. And then tell the kids the story of ted and the mother dating and getting married next.
January 30, 2013 at 3:17PM EST Reply to Comment
Intellectual Ninja

The ONLY way to make the chronology work is for the series to end on Ted's wedding to TheMother in May, 2014, and she HAS to be 4 months pregnant.

This means LindsayFonseca would be 16 in September 2030, which would be a good reason for Saget-Ted to tell the story, his daughter's Sweet 16th.

ALSO, she would then be 8 months old for StarWarsTrilogy 2015, which is about what that baby looked like.

So prepare to meet the mother in September, her getting pregnant in February sweeps, her and Ted doing the "Are we getting married because you love me or because I'm pregnant" dance for a few episodes, then ending with their wedding in May, with her 4 months pregnant.

BOOM. That's THE ONLY WAY the Chronology of the future parts of the series works.
January 30, 2013 at 3:20PM EST Reply to Comment
- smellmyfinger carter and bays don't have to sync up the chronological timeline with reality. for instance, they could make the show end in our may of 2014 but it could hypothetically be only september of 2013. i think everyone is just rushing to conclusions about how everything needs to end.
  January 30, 2013 at 4:04PM EST
- Cordy But what if she's 15 and not 16. Then the mother doesn't need to be pregnant.
  January 30, 2013 at 4:05PM EST
- David (@chudleycannons) Also, Ted's not that reliable a narrator. It's quite possible he mixed years up; he's done that plenty of times on the show.
  January 30, 2013 at 7:41PM EST
Chris

We know from the Star Wars flash forward that he has a child with the mother pretty quickly after they get married. So maybe they can realistically do the wedding at the end of the ninth season?

And why have they decided to empty all drama from the show via these flash forwards?
January 30, 2013 at 3:23PM EST Reply to Comment
thejoshbaker

"We've been seeing glimpses of this wedding for like three years — we have to get there already, right?"

That's only what everyone's been saying. I'm more than a little shocked they actually realized it.
January 30, 2013 at 3:34PM EST Reply to Comment
S

"And that kids is how i met your Grandmother"
January 30, 2013 at 3:42PM EST Reply to Comment
joelwhyrock

I'm holding out for a last-season revitalization along the lines of Lost, The OC, or the West Wing. Once the show has an end date (which it now does) it can officially stop playing games and focus on moving Ted Mosby toward the point where he can plausibly woo the mother through his sincere, idiosyncratic personality. I think the creative team can pull it off; at least I hope they can.
January 30, 2013 at 3:50PM EST Reply to Comment
prettok

In theory, Ted could meet a couple of women at the wedding without specifying one as the mother.
January 30, 2013 at 3:59PM EST Reply to Comment
- Cordy Except for when he meets the one who is a bassist with the yellow umbrella who he meets on the tracks at the train station. We know the exact scenario in which he meets her, and if that is not it, then this whole show will look even worse when it's over than it does now.
  January 30, 2013 at 4:07PM EST
Clint

My theory is that we've just been watching the sideways universe all this time, and the the so-called "Mother" is actually a feminine representation of God, which will "meet" in the form of a bright light in a cave.

Also ... we've seen Ted fail in relationships with so many women of so many types and personalities, I just can't imagine the woman who actually works. She must be something brilliant.
January 30, 2013 at 4:17PM EST Reply to Comment
- lost dance But Clint, who is the Woman in Black? And what about Ted's encounter with the Smoke Monster?
  January 30, 2013 at 5:11PM EST
ehaislar

They totally fucked my theory last episode. I have been saying for years that barneys half sister Carly is the mother. Thanks writers for pissing in my cheerios.
January 30, 2013 at 4:26PM EST Reply to Comment
- David (@chudleycannons) My guess is that they did it on purpose so fans could let go of the theory months before we meet the mother.
  January 30, 2013 at 7:43PM EST
- Darkdoug How funny is it that both Barney & Robin have sisters who are "Pretty Little Liars"? I wonder if they're going to round up all the guest stars who have played the family members of the couple to appear at the wedding, such as Ray Wise, Wayne Brady, Jonathan Lithgow (some of whom are arguably bigger stars than the HIMYM cast)? They've kind of written themselves into a hole there, where if Robin and Barney are close enough to their relatives that her underage sister stays with her while visiting New York, or his half-sister casually enters his apartment with a "Hi, Barn," like she sees him all the time, it's going to be very weird for them to not make it to the wedding, or for their fathers to not attend. And Barney was at James' wedding so they are pretty much obligated to show up for his. Although I don't remember if Marshall's parents came for his wedding, so who knows how they'll handle it. But for a show whose gimmick's verisimilitude relies on the writers keeping track of that kind of thing, they really should make the effort. Otherwise, it's obvious that the casting was simply stunt, and the producers are not as on top of their continuity as they like to have us believe.
  January 31, 2013 at 3:15AM EST
Mike.G

We know from trilogy time that Ted's daughter was born in 2015. While she looks too big to be a newborn, we know that it's pretty common on TV for babies to be too "big" for their ages (some of this has to do with the amount of time that infants are allowed to "work" on a set). So we can give Carter/Bays the benefit of the doubt and say that she could have theoretically be only a few months old at any point in 2015. If that's the case, I think they're good here in terms of the pregnancy/timeline. It seems like a quibble compared to some of the other stuff in the show's history.
January 30, 2013 at 4:37PM EST Reply to Comment
cheesetony

Noooooooo!! I wish I could quit this show. It hasn't made me more than chuckle in years.
January 30, 2013 at 6:19PM EST Reply to Comment
- martin Exactly my words .. I'm watching it because it was once good and I want to see the ending.
  April 17, 2013 at 3:11PM EST
emdee

the reveal better not be like robin's sad episode..."how i never met your mother. sorry kids"
January 30, 2013 at 8:15PM EST Reply to Comment
HWah

I can see next season will be Ted dating Lennay Kekua, Manti Teo's imaginary girlfriend, and I'm sorry but I wouldn't be surprised.
January 30, 2013 at 8:54PM EST Reply to Comment
Shawn Mahone

Theories on how the show ends:

1) Ted is about to tell the kids who the mother is and then the screen cuts to black and stays black for 10 seconds before the credits role - Sopranos

2) Ted says goodbye to the gang and goes to the future though a portal and the timeline is reset and Ted never exists and therefore no mother payoff is needed, I mean they really do not want to pay off the mother do they - Fringe
3) The mother has lost her memories so the story is told to the kids and the mother is in the same room off camera and so he is telling the kids their story - Chuck
4) Ted is not Ted but Dr Samual Beckett and when we are about to find out who the mother is a blue light goes across the screen and Sam leaps and we never meet the mother - Quantum Leap
5) Ted is with the gang and just before he gets to the wedding they stop at a traffic light and it is red and he asks them if they want to go to mexico or the wedding and the light never changes - Terriers.
6) This all purgatory and none of it matters - Lost

Guys go ahead and continue the total BS theories since we know the show does not intend to payoff the mother in any way or form, lol. To be honest the mother has to be just perfect, she has to be beautiful on the inside and outside and have the perfect personality and just make us instantly fall in love with her and woo us like no human being can possibly do. They have set the bar just too high and everything is a disappointment...Bays and Thomas have run their show into the ground.
January 30, 2013 at 9:58PM EST Reply to Comment
Sadie

Alan, you and Feinberg should do a segment on the top 10 previously great shows that outstayed their welcome (sort of the opposite of "Brilliant but Cancelled"). HIMYM would surely be battling it out for number one with Scrubs, ER, and The Office.
January 31, 2013 at 12:06AM EST Reply to Comment
- Courtney Very true, and very sad. It makes you mad that this show never won the awards it should have. The first two seasons of HIMYM is pure gold. When they introduce Stella, it was all down here from there. They never clinked. It seem force and very sitcomy. Finally, they bring back Ashley Williams and they made her completely unlikable. Ted Mosby character works best when he is in relationship and can feed off the other cast members. HIMYM and the office are alike in some ways. When their writing crew puts their mind to it, it's the best written shows on tv. Feels like they have been laying up for the last couple of years. Sad
  January 31, 2013 at 5:22AM EST
- Action_Kate The opposite of "Brilliant but Cancelled": Isn't that called "Jumping the Shark"?
  January 31, 2013 at 2:37PM EST
Harry

A meta comment - I know no politics and not commenting about others - but this is about the sepinwall community.

Aland said: It would be hard to imagine Thomas and Carter Bays dragging it out past that point, but then, we're already pretty much past the point where Ted could realistically father a daughter who, in 2030, looks like Lyndey Fonseca (who plays Future Ted's daughter) did back in 2005.

Hmmmm ... Lyndsy Fonseca shoot is from 2005. You guys are going to go crazy if Lyndsy from 2013 or 2014 (make up added to add more age) shows up on on a show as the mother's friend/family.

And what if she shows up before the mother - sepinwall land is going to collectively give up all other TV and discuss just this show !!
January 31, 2013 at 6:07AM EST Reply to Comment
- Harry Sorry for mis-spelling Alan's name. Did not proof read.
  January 31, 2013 at 6:08AM EST
- TGCVersion3Point0 I actually thought a few months back that Miss Fonseca may in fact be cast as the mother herself. Not that they ever planned for this to happen, but that 8-9 years on it might actually happen and might work.
  January 31, 2013 at 8:44AM EST
- Harry Yeah and all they need is for her to show up for 5 seconds (in series finale) and tell "the kids" ... So whats your dad been telling you ... and see the kaboom here !
  
  And I so much wish for her cameo in season 8 finale. That will be worth the money.
  January 31, 2013 at 8:59AM EST
- asdf TGCVersion3Point0's right. Cast Lyndsy Fonseca as the Mother! This would be a brilliant move IMO. She's had some real roles under her belt since 2005, and at 26 is about the right age. There's also enough visual contrast with her as Ted's daughter to distinguish them.
  
  It would also be a fun "she was there on screen every episode all along" in-joke with the fans. After "Ring Up", we lost the other opportunity to have had the Mother foreshadowed like that, and I think it was a missed opportunity. Plus since she's already on the cast list anyway, they can keep it under wraps.
  
  We know already that Ted will first see her playing bass at the wedding, and then bump into her at the bus stop where they apparently meet. Yes, they COULD stretch this out longer and give her a cameo, but I agree w/ Alan that it's a mistake. At this point, the least they can give us for making us sit through another season is to give us a good season's worth of Ted/Victoria-quality chemistry. Which maybe Fonseca can deliver, maybe not. Ultimately, the casting decision has to be driven by the chemistry with Radnor.
  
  Yeah, some name celebrity doing a cameo is doable. Or a talented B-lister looking for a brief recurring role. But for a show that's stretched this out for nearly a decade, and with all the continuity porn already, I feel like Carter and Bays ought to do something special and clever and a little zany like this.
  February 12, 2013 at 11:01PM EST
GuanoLad

I hope they can keep the casting of the Mother a complete secret until the episode airs. It deserves to be a surprise to everyone.
January 31, 2013 at 8:00AM EST Reply to Comment
Enough Already

Why?? They should have put a bullet in this shows head years ago.
January 31, 2013 at 11:33AM EST Reply to Comment
DB Cooper

To hell with this whole thing.
January 31, 2013 at 2:32PM EST Reply to Comment
tarasa

I am starting to actively hate this show which probably means I need to stop watching. Especially with the dragging it out.
January 31, 2013 at 2:41PM EST Reply to Comment
Haik Mendelovich

I am no longer amazed, but continue to be disheartened by the fact that mediocrities like this churn on and on, while gems like Community are exiled to Limbo and then killed.
January 31, 2013 at 5:57PM EST Reply to Comment
- asdf Yeah they cancelled Max Headroom after 14 episodes but M*A*S*H went on for 11 years. After that I realized there was no justice to be found in hollywood.
  February 21, 2013 at 12:44PM EST
Kyle Humphries

I always wanted Ted and Robin to end up together sooo sad
March 17, 2013 at 3:21AM EST Reply to Comment

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'How I Met Your Mother' officially renewed for 9th and final season

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Ben But haven't we flashed forward to him at the train station without the mother? Or I suppose he won't talk to her until she shows up at the train station after the wedding. It's frustrating that the moment the title of the show has been leading up to, has already been ruined by flash forwards.

James Pretty sure that was post Victoria's wedding and not Robin's...

smellmyfinger you're right. that is post barney and robin's wedding 'out in eastern long island' as robin mentioned a few weeks back. we also know that she's on the platform with her guitar and yellow umbrella. when they officially meet, we shall see

ehaislar Just meet the mother this season. And then tell the kids the story of ted and the mother dating and getting married next.

smellmyfinger carter and bays don't have to sync up the chronological timeline with reality. for instance, they could make the show end in our may of 2014 but it could hypothetically be only september of 2013. i think everyone is just rushing to conclusions about how everything needs to end.

Cordy But what if she's 15 and not 16. Then the mother doesn't need to be pregnant.

David (@chudleycannons) Also, Ted's not that reliable a narrator. It's quite possible he mixed years up; he's done that plenty of times on the show.

Chris We know from the Star Wars flash forward that he has a child with the mother pretty quickly after they get married. So maybe they can realistically do the wedding at the end of the ninth season?And why have they decided to empty all drama from the show via these flash forwards?

thejoshbaker "We've been seeing glimpses of this wedding for like three years — we have to get there already, right?"That's only what everyone's been saying. I'm more than a little shocked they actually realized it.

S "And that kids is how i met your Grandmother"

prettok In theory, Ted could meet a couple of women at the wedding without specifying one as the mother.

Cordy Except for when he meets the one who is a bassist with the yellow umbrella who he meets on the tracks at the train station. We know the exact scenario in which he meets her, and if that is not it, then this whole show will look even worse when it's over than it does now.

lost dance But Clint, who is the Woman in Black? And what about Ted's encounter with the Smoke Monster?

ehaislar They totally fucked my theory last episode. I have been saying for years that barneys half sister Carly is the mother. Thanks writers for pissing in my cheerios.

David (@chudleycannons) My guess is that they did it on purpose so fans could let go of the theory months before we meet the mother.

cheesetony Noooooooo!! I wish I could quit this show. It hasn't made me more than chuckle in years.

martin Exactly my words .. I'm watching it because it was once good and I want to see the ending.

emdee the reveal better not be like robin's sad episode..."how i never met your mother. sorry kids"

HWah I can see next season will be Ted dating Lennay Kekua, Manti Teo's imaginary girlfriend, and I'm sorry but I wouldn't be surprised.

Sadie Alan, you and Feinberg should do a segment on the top 10 previously great shows that outstayed their welcome (sort of the opposite of "Brilliant but Cancelled"). HIMYM would surely be battling it out for number one with Scrubs, ER, and The Office.

Action_Kate The opposite of "Brilliant but Cancelled": Isn't that called "Jumping the Shark"?

Harry Sorry for mis-spelling Alan's name. Did not proof read.

TGCVersion3Point0 I actually thought a few months back that Miss Fonseca may in fact be cast as the mother herself. Not that they ever planned for this to happen, but that 8-9 years on it might actually happen and might work.

Harry Yeah and all they need is for her to show up for 5 seconds (in series finale) and tell "the kids" ... So whats your dad been telling you ... and see the kaboom here !And I so much wish for her cameo in season 8 finale. That will be worth the money.

GuanoLad I hope they can keep the casting of the Mother a complete secret until the episode airs. It deserves to be a surprise to everyone.

Enough Already Why?? They should have put a bullet in this shows head years ago.

DB Cooper To hell with this whole thing.

tarasa I am starting to actively hate this show which probably means I need to stop watching. Especially with the dragging it out.

Haik Mendelovich I am no longer amazed, but continue to be disheartened by the fact that mediocrities like this churn on and on, while gems like Community are exiled to Limbo and then killed.

asdf Yeah they cancelled Max Headroom after 14 episodes but M*A*S*H went on for 11 years. After that I realized there was no justice to be found in hollywood.

Kyle Humphries I always wanted Ted and Robin to end up together sooo sad

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How I Met Your Mother is updated

Ben

But haven't we flashed forward to him at the train station without the mother? Or I suppose he won't talk to her until she shows up at the train station after the wedding.

It's frustrating that the moment the title of the show has been leading up to, has already been ruined by flash forwards.

ehaislar

Just meet the mother this season. And then tell the kids the story of ted and the mother dating and getting married next.

Chris

We know from the Star Wars flash forward that he has a child with the mother pretty quickly after they get married. So maybe they can realistically do the wedding at the end of the ninth season?

And why have they decided to empty all drama from the show via these flash forwards?

thejoshbaker

"We've been seeing glimpses of this wedding for like three years — we have to get there already, right?"

That's only what everyone's been saying. I'm more than a little shocked they actually realized it.

S

"And that kids is how i met your Grandmother"

prettok

In theory, Ted could meet a couple of women at the wedding without specifying one as the mother.

ehaislar

They totally fucked my theory last episode. I have been saying for years that barneys half sister Carly is the mother. Thanks writers for pissing in my cheerios.

cheesetony

Noooooooo!! I wish I could quit this show. It hasn't made me more than chuckle in years.

emdee

the reveal better not be like robin's sad episode..."how i never met your mother. sorry kids"

HWah

I can see next season will be Ted dating Lennay Kekua, Manti Teo's imaginary girlfriend, and I'm sorry but I wouldn't be surprised.

Sadie

Alan, you and Feinberg should do a segment on the top 10 previously great shows that outstayed their welcome (sort of the opposite of "Brilliant but Cancelled"). HIMYM would surely be battling it out for number one with Scrubs, ER, and The Office.

Harry Yeah and all they need is for her to show up for 5 seconds (in series finale) and tell "the kids" ... So whats your dad been telling you ... and see the kaboom here !

And I so much wish for her cameo in season 8 finale. That will be worth the money.

GuanoLad

I hope they can keep the casting of the Mother a complete secret until the episode airs. It deserves to be a surprise to everyone.

Enough Already

Why?? They should have put a bullet in this shows head years ago.

DB Cooper

To hell with this whole thing.

tarasa

I am starting to actively hate this show which probably means I need to stop watching. Especially with the dragging it out.

Haik Mendelovich

I am no longer amazed, but continue to be disheartened by the fact that mediocrities like this churn on and on, while gems like Community are exiled to Limbo and then killed.

asdf Yeah they cancelled Max Headroom after 14 episodes but MAS*H went on for 11 years. After that I realized there was no justice to be found in hollywood.

Kyle Humphries

I always wanted Ted and Robin to end up together sooo sad

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