TV Shows Like How I Met Your Mother
If you like How I Met Your Mother, here are 9 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
CBS · Comedy · How I Met Your Mother is ended
How I Met Your Mother works because it treats friendship as the real love story. Ted's search for "the mother" is the engine, but what keeps people watching is the group: the apartment hangouts at MacLaren's, the running jokes, the callbacks, and the sense that these five people genuinely need each other. The show is built on nostalgia, the idea that the messy, funny, sometimes painful years of your twenties are worth remembering in detail. It's a sitcom that takes its characters' emotions seriously without losing the jokes, and that balance is hard to pull off.
The best shows like How I Met Your Mother
1. Will & Grace
The friendship between Will and Grace is the whole show, much like the core bond between Ted and Marshall or Lily, and the New York setting gives it the same urban energy HIMYM fans will recognize. The banter is quick and the supporting characters, particularly their two scene-stealing friends, push the comedy into higher gear. If you loved HIMYM for the witty back-and-forth among people who genuinely care about each other, Will & Grace delivers that consistently.
Stream on Hulu
Ended0%
2. My Three Sons
My Three Sons is a warmer, gentler watch than HIMYM, but it shares the same investment in how a family unit holds together through change over time. The ensemble grows across its run in ways that feel organic rather than forced, which HIMYM fans who appreciated the show's attention to relationships will notice. It's a good pick if you want something easygoing but not empty.
Stream on Philo
Ended0%
3. A Different World
A Different World has the found-family feeling that makes HIMYM so rewatchable, centered on a community of young people figuring out who they are during a defining chapter of their lives. The show is unafraid to address bigger social questions while keeping the tone mostly light, which gives it more depth than a standard sitcom. Fans who liked HIMYM's mix of comedy and genuine feeling will find something real here.
Stream on Netflix, Philo, Netflix Standard with Ads
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4. Shifting Gears
Shifting Gears is built around a stubborn protagonist who has to adapt to people he didn't expect in his life, which echoes the way HIMYM's characters constantly upend each other's plans. The family-moving-in setup generates the kind of slow-burn character comedy that rewards attention over time. It's witty without being cold, and the relationships develop in ways that feel earned.
Stream on Disney Plus, Hulu, YouTube TV
Likely Renewed62%
5. American Housewife
American Housewife uses a narrator who talks directly to the audience about her own life, which will feel immediately familiar to anyone who spent years listening to Future Ted. Katie is funny and self-aware in ways that keep the family-comedy format from going stale, and the show has a sharper edge than its premise suggests. HIMYM fans who liked the show's willingness to be both funny and honest about adult life should find a lot to enjoy here.
Stream on Hulu
Cancelled0%
More on shows like How I Met Your Mother
Fans of the show tend to want a few things in their next watch: a tight ensemble where the relationships feel real, comedy that comes from character rather than setup-and-punchline, and some warmth underneath the laughs. They're also comfortable with serialized storytelling, even if the next show doesn't go as far down that road. The city setting helps too, though it's not strictly necessary. What matters most is that the people on screen feel like they actually know each other.
The recommendations here cover a range of tones and eras. Will & Grace is the closest in spirit to HIMYM's brand of New York comedy built on a central friendship, while American Housewife brings a similarly sharp, narrator-driven voice to a family setting. Shifting Gears is a newer entry that leans into blended-family dynamics with some real wit. A Different World captures the feeling of a found community during a formative period of life, and My Three Sons is the most classic of the group, a long-running family comedy where the ensemble carries the weight.
None of these are perfect matches for HIMYM's specific structure, but each one scratches a recognizable itch. If you miss the rhythm of friends talking over each other in a booth or living room, Will & Grace gets there fastest. If you want something warmer and less ironic, My Three Sons and A Different World both deliver genuine affection for their characters. Shifting Gears and American Housewife sit somewhere in the middle, funnier than they first appear and more sentimental than they let on.
More shows like How I Met Your Mother
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like How I Met Your Mother?
- Will & Grace is the most popular show similar to How I Met Your Mother in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like How I Met Your Mother still on the air?
- Of the 9 shows similar to How I Met Your Mother listed here, 0 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like How I Met Your Mother?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.