While How I Met Your Mother season 10 could technically still happen in 2022, that doesn’t mean the sitcom revival would be a good idea. Sitcom sequels have a fraught history. For every successful spinoff like Young Sheldon, which managed to make The Big Bang Theory character feel fresh again, there is a disaster like the short-lived Friends follow-up Joey.

However, while spinoffs are a mixed bag, revivals are even more inconsistent. 2017’s Roseanne revival (later retitled The Conners due to recasting) has lasted five seasons and proven a ratings success, whereas Arrested Development’s much-vaunted return ended up falling flat for many critics. As such, the prospect of How I Met Your Mother season 10 should be approached with care, as appealing as it may seem to some viewers.

According to a 2022 interview with producer Pamela Fryman, Jason Segel is the most enthusiastic original cast member whenever the topic of a potential How I Met Your Mother season 10 is mentioned. However, there are a lot of roadblocks standing in the way of a reboot ever reaching screens. For one thing, How I Met Your Father’s lengthier season 2 order proves that the spinoff is currently succeeding in its attempts to keep the spirit of the original series alive. As such, How I Met Your Mother season 10 could hobble the show’s interests by competing with its own spinoff. Not only that but How I Met Your Mother’s divisive series finale might not allow for much character growth among the show’s much-loved heroes, most of whom are locked into an inevitable fate by the ending.

Why How I Met Your Mother’s Ending Was So Divisive

How I Met Your Mother’s series finale was infamous for numerous reasons, among them the titular mother’s speedy death, Robin and Ted eventually ending up together, and the bizarrely hand-waved fate of Barney. Although the final episodes of How I Met Your Mother centered around Robin and Barney’s wedding, the closing scenes swiftly mentioned that the couple divorced soon after, something that critics and viewers understandably felt was rushed. Similarly, while many viewers feared that the eponymous Mother could not possibly live up to fan expectations thanks to her repeatedly delayed debut, Cristin Milioti’s character instead had the opposite problem. She was charming, likable, and funny, which made her sudden death in the finale feel brutal instead of the moment playing out as a sad but necessary plot machination that would help Ted and Robin end up together. While Ted’s kids understood that it was Robin he really loved by the end of the story, not all of How I Met Your Mother’s viewers agreed with him.

Did How I Met Your Mother’s Ending Leave Room For A Followup?

Unfortunately, one of How I Met Your Mother’s mistakes was the show’s failure to leave the door open to potential follow-ups. Barney becoming a father changed his character completely, Marshall and Lily’s lives remained largely uneventful, and Robin’s intervening years were evidently spent alone, none of which would make for compelling viewing in a sequel series. While watching Barney gradually learn responsibility and leave behind his caddish ways might have been compelling, the finale made it clear that the How I Met Your Mother hero’s character shift was instantaneous and occurred the moment he first held his daughter. Similarly, Ted and Tracy’s relationship could have been an interesting story for a contemporary How I Met Your Mother reboot to depict in more detail, but her inevitable death would cast a long shadow over this plot.

Could A How I Met Your Mother Follow-up Work?

How I Met Your Mother season 10 could potentially work, but only if the sitcom retcons some of its own existing stories. Barney becoming a father and giving up his womanizing ways would be a big change, but it could also be a compelling character arc provided How I Met Your Mother season 10 overwrites the instant transformation seen in the finale. This might be possible as the original series was told from future Ted’s point of view and he was not always a reliable narrator. Similarly, Robin’s How I Met Your Father season 1 finale cameo proved that viewers want to see more of her character even if she’s not with Ted, and Ted’s return could mean viewers would see more of Milioti’s well-liked Tracy. However, there are issues with all of these potential stories. Robin’s How I Met Your Father cameo worked because viewers didn’t spend too long with her, whereas a sitcom centered around her would be tricky to pull off since viewers already know that she ends up with Ted years later and thus her future is predetermined.

Why How I Met Your Father Beats How I Met Your Mother Season 10

Similarly, How I Met Your Mother season 10 could provide more insight into Tracy’s character, but her eventual fate is already sealed. Barney’s ending is also already set in stone, as is Robin ending up with Ted in the future. In contrast, How I Met Your Father can surprise viewers while How I Met Your Mother season 10’s story can’t diverge too far from the finale’s ending. Not only that, but How I Met Your Father can still bring back characters from the world of the earlier series, and Robin’s cameo in the season 1 finale proves that these appearances can be more than mere nods to minor supporting stars from the earlier hit. How I Met Your Father can continue to bring back How I Met Your Mother cast members but, since they are not the main characters of the spinoff, their lack of narrative potential isn’t a problem.

A version of How I Met Your Mother season 10 that follows Marshall and Lily’s domestic life or Barney’s new-found decency would get old quick but seeing these older versions of the show’s characters crop up for a scene or two in How I Met Your Father would work far better. How I Met Your Father could bring back any number of characters from the earlier hit without having to follow them for entire episodes at a time since the show has new heroes to focus on. This gives How I Met Your Father the best of both worlds, as the show is both a continuation of the earlier series and free from the limitations of How I Met Your Mother’s already-completed story.