- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Hulu's "
How I Met Your Father ." - Showrunner Elizabeth Berger told Insider that season one is "very satisfying."
"How I Met Your Father" showrunners Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker opened up about the Hulu series' connection to its predecessor and revealed how close fans will get to an answer about the titular character's identity by the end of season one.
"In our minds, this is the show that hopefully can span a long period of time," Berger, who also serves as a writer and executive producer on "HIMYF," told Insider. "We have a very satisfying season, but we are a ways off from revealing the big answer to our core question here."
"HIMYF," which premiered on Hulu on Tuesday, follows in the footsteps of the hit CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" that ran for nine seasons on CBS between 2005 and 2014. The series tracked architect Ted Mosby's (played by Josh Radnor) dating fails and successes that led him to meet his soulmate and mother of his two children.
Similarly, the spin-off is set in New York City and centers on an optimistic protagonist named Sophie (
In the future, older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) tells her son the unabridged version of how she met his father.
Younger Sophie navigates life and love with her best friend and roommate Valentina (Francia Raisa) and new friends that she makes during the first episode: a part-time music teacher and Uber driver named Jesse (Chris Lowell), Jesse's best friend Sid (Suraj Sharma), Jesse's newly-divorced sister Ellen (Tien Tran), and Valentina's British love interest Charlie (Tom Ainsley).
The series premiere of "HIMYF" leaves viewers with two key pieces of information.
Firstly, it's revealed that Jesse and Sid live in a spacious apartment previously inhabited by an "old married couple who posted it on the Wesleyan alumni group" — referring to "HIMYM" characters Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), who met while attending Wesleyan University.
"We even got them to leave their swords," Jesse adds pointing out the props that were a staple of "HIMYM."
Aptaker told Insider that the apartment was "always" the intended method to connect the spin-off to the original series.
"That really leaves the door open to any level of crossover or connection for the future," he said, adding that fans could potentially see "locations from the original show, very, very deep background characters, or one of the series regulars interacting with our gang."
Secondly, the episode ends with the disclosure that the mysterious titular character is someone that fans meet in the pilot.
Fans will have to wait indefinitely to find out who Sophie ends up with but the stars emphasized that the show is also grounded in friendship both on- and off-camera.
Lowell said that the cast's lack of knowledge filming a multi-cam show prior to "HIMYF" was a "great challenge" that "allowed all of us to feel like we were on the same level and that we really needed each other to figure it out together."
"That was part of what allowed us to create this really organic chemistry," the actor added.
Lowell said that his past experiences on "some jobs where that chemistry doesn't exist" made him realize how "lucky" he was to be part of "HIMYF" alongside "a group of people that got along so organically."
"It really doesn't happen all the time and when it does, it's something certainly worth being grateful for," he said.
Tran shared similar thoughts, telling Insider that the cast learning together was "so exciting because in an ensemble like this, we all need to be on the same page that we're all working toward a common goal of this show being a true reflection of friendship."
"That is really showcased in this show because we became friends in real life," she added.
The first two episodes of season one of "How I Met Yout Father" are now available on Hulu, with the remaining eight episodes releasing weekly.