Warning: Spoilers ahead for HIMYF!
Ted and Marshall’s iconic HIMYM apartment. While this has been the most significant tie-in so far, small Easter eggs like Ted and Marshall’s swords, a Glen McKenna scotch mural, and a “have you met Ted” riff have also cemented How I Met Your Father's connection to its predecessor.
Although not necessarily setting up HIMYM’s Cobie Smulders to cameo in the series, How I Met Your Father’s first few episodes have suggested a possible Robin Sparkles connection. Robin Sparkles is the stage name of Robin Scherbatsky, who became a teen-pop sensation in Canada in the mid-1990s due to her hit song “Let’s Go To The Mall.” Robin had a few popular singles thereafter, including “Sandcastles in the Sand,” “The Beaver Song,” and “P.S. I Love You,” with the latter being released under her grunge-era stage name Robin Daggers. As much as she desperately tried to cover up her teen pop star past, Robin Sparkles’ songs and legacy always came back to find her throughout How I Met Your Mother.
While Robin Scherbatsky's career as a world-famous New York City newscaster has yet to be brought up in How I Met Your Father, the spinoff series has perfectly set up a subtle way to connect back to her alter ego Robin Sparkles. How I Met Your Father’s character Valentina (Francia Raisa) has repeatedly worn t-shirts of famous female singers from the 1990s such as Selena and Aaliyah, suggesting this will become a running gag for the series. If Valentina’s ‘90s singer t-shirts continue, the spinoff could easily reference How I Met Your Mother by having her wear a Robin Sparkles shirt.
The best part about a possible Robin Sparkles t-shirt appearance on How I Met Your Father would be its subtlety, as the satisfying in-universe HIMYM connection wouldn't be distracting. It wouldn’t even need to have Robin’s face on the shirt, but just a nod to her music career that would be widely accessible to the public within How I Met Your Mother’s universe. Having Valentina wear a Robin Sparkles t-shirt would also feel like an extremely organic connection, as it's something the show has already established as a habit for the character. It also fits in with How I Met Your Father’s growing obsession with female singers, considering Sophie’s 30th birthday party theme was Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty” music video.
Robin Sparkles is just one of many pop culture connections that How I Met Your Father can utilize as an homage to the original series. HIMYM introduced plenty of movies, creations, and cultural moments that would be easily accessible to How I Met Your Father’s characters. From The Wedding Bride movies to Robin’s famous journalism to Ted’s skyscraper GNB building in NYC, it would almost seem more unnatural if How I Met Your Father didn’t connect back to such ideas. With only Lily and Marshall being referenced in How I Met Your Father so far, Robin’s famous reputation makes her the best next character connection for the series.