In 2005, when CBS’s hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother first aired, the world was a very different place.

With a fresh cast that made up of what are now some of Hollywood’s biggest names, from Neil Patrick Harris to Marvel’s Cobie Smulders, the light-hearted comedy series about love, friendship and life’s mishaps set in noughties New York captured the hearts of millions of fans across the world.

And now, as with all our nostalgic favourites, from Sex And The City to Sabrina The Teenage Witch, it’s getting the revival treatment courtesy of Hulu, in a series that’s being considered a sequel, aptly named How I Met Your Father.

Though Sex And The City fans were devastated to learn that Kim Cattrall would not be returning as Samantha Jones for the upcoming spin-off And Just Like That, they will be pleased to hear that she’s taken a role in How I Met Your Father, helping to revive another noughties classic series instead.

And the good news is that we finally have our first sneak peek at the full cast in action in the brand new trailer. Watch it below:

“This is the story of how I met your father,” Kim Cattrall’s voiceover begins.

“It was hard to live in the moment in 2022,” she continues, as we watch Duff’s Sophie navigate the ups and downs of New York City, from bad dates to friendship mishaps. We learn that Sophie has been on “87 Tinder dates this year,” all worse than the last and she’s ready for a new beginning to “meet someone, connect and have it feel easy.”

While we do get to meet the zany new cast, there are some sweet throwbacks to the original series, including McLaren’s bar and scenes filmed in the back of taxis across the city.

We’re looking forward to seeing how the story all unfolds.

What is the plot of How I Met Your Father?

In the near future, Sophie (portrayed by Hilary Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.

Who else will star in How I Met Your Father?

As mentioned above, Cattrall will recur as the future version of Sophie. Along with Duff, Cattrall joins a cast that also includes Chris Lowell, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, Francia Raisa, and Suraj Sharma.

As per Deadline, Raisa will play Valentina, Sophie’s (Duff) roommate. “She’s an aspiring stylist and Sophie’s great friend. She’s impulsive and adventurous and Sophie relies on Valentina’s ability to cheer her up when she gets down. Valentina has just come back from London Fashion Week with the gorgeous, British Charlie.”

Ainsley plays Charlie, “an aspiring model who fell in love with Sophie’s roommate Valentina (Raisa) at London Fashion Week and followed her to New York. The son of conservative aristocrats, Charlie’s a great guy but he’s been living in a rich person’s bubble his whole life.”

Tran is Ellen, Jesse’s adopted sister, who “moved to New York from a small farming town after separating from her wife. Ellen’s more comfortable on an organic lettuce field than in a Brooklyn dive bar.”

Sharma portrays Sid, Jesse’s best friend and roomate. “He’s a new bar owner and plays the optimist to Jesse’s cynicism.”

How will How I Met Your Father compare to the original?

In the beloved original series, it follows architect Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) and his love life as a single man in New York. His stories are narrated by Bob Saget as Mosby twenty-five years later as he tells them to his adolescent children.

The series follows the adventures of Mosby and his best friends, including the long-lasting couple Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), womanizing playboy Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), and Canadian news reporter Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders).

While we do know that How I Met Your Father will use a multi- and single-camera approach similar to its predecessor, whether there will be any connection between characters remains to be seen.

While the original figures are unlikely to appear in the new series, fans are hoping that, in the same spirit as the Gossip Girl reboot, their legacies may be referenced by the new generation. Perhaps, as with original Gossip Girl villain Georgina Sparks’ son appearing in the revival, we could see some descendants of the core five popping up on our screens, too. 

When will How I Met Your Father be available to watch?

No air date for How I Met Your Father has been set yet, but on 1 September, Duff and her costars shared that cameras had started rolling.

The actress even shared a glimpse at one scene filmed in a bar that looks a lot like MacLaren’s, the beloved pub and hangout spot for the gang in the original series.

As more details emerge, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more details on this upcoming series.

Image: Hulu