The long-awaited spin-off for How I Met Your Mother is finally on the way.
After several attempts to get the series off the ground, it has been confirmed that the comedy sitcom is in the early stages of production, and will air on Hulu, an online streaming service.
Hilary Duff has been cast as the lead in How I met Your Father taking the place of actress and filmmaker Greta Gerwig, who was initially announced to be playing Sally when the sequel was first proposed in 2014.
Hilary, who plays the part of Sophie, tells the story of how she met Ted's father.
But diehard fans of the show are divided over the announcement as the possibility that it will never live up to the original looms.
Talking about her excitement for the role in an interview with Deadline, she said: "I’ve been incredibly lucky in my career to play some wonderful characters and I’m looking forward to taking on the role of Sophie.
"As a huge fan of ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ I’m honored and even a little nervous that Carter and Craig would trust me with the sequel of their baby. Isaac and Elizabeth are brilliant, and I can’t wait to work alongside them and all of their genius.
"Just fangirling over here getting to join the Hulu Originals and 20th families. I realize these are big shoes to fill and I’m excited to slip my 6 ½’s in there!"
How I Met Your Mother aired for nine series and more than 200 episodes on CBS between 2005-2014.
During that time it starred Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, and Alyson Hannigan, whilst Bob Saget provided the voice of the narrator, an older version of Radnor’s character Ted Mosby.
As with the launch of any spin-off to a much-loved show with a loyal fan base, viewers have rushed to Twitter to comment on it.
Whilst some people were thrilled by the news, others weren't convinced by the concept.
One person said: "Ugh... How I met your father? REALLY? ... REALLY?! Ugh…"
"Not sure how to feel about it," said another.
However, someone else commented: “It will be really good or it will be really bad, there is no in-between.”
And a fourth put: "Isn't it funny that I just started to watch HIMYM yesterday (and very much enjoying it) then this happen! Bless the upcoming spin-off!"
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