Greta Gerwig Nabs Lead Role in 'How I Met Your Dad'

Credit: Armando Gallo

How I Met Your Mother has about a month to go before it ends its massively-successful nine-year run on CBS. But the network isn't about to let the franchise die just yet, as the first big name has been cast for the spinoff, How I Met Your Dad.

Greta Gerwig, who won raves for her performance last year in Frances Ha, has nabbed the lead role in the comedy. Moreover, Gerwig will also be a producer on the show, in addition to an expected role on the writing team. The pilot will shoot in Los Angeles, although if the show is picked up to series by CBS, it's expected that the series will film in New York City.

Gerwig will play Sally, a character being described as "a female Peter Pan who has never grown up and has no idea of where she's going in life." When we first meet her, Sally is facing the end of her one-year marriage, leaning on the support of a few close friends to help her through the split. Emily Spivey will be an executive producer on the sitcom alongside How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

Hopefully, the show finds a similar balance between humor and sentiment as the parent series, as the general trend in comedy today is towards a more cynical brand of humor. If the show maintains the traditional sitcom humor of HIMYM, while also featuring at least one potential breakout character (a la Barney Stinson), I see no reason why the show shouldn't be a success, unless audiences are just burned out on the frame story/flashback concept. And given HIMYM's solid ratings in its final season, I don't think they are just yet.

Via: Vulture