Meg Ryan Joins 'How I Met Your Dad'

Meg Ryan has joined the cast of "How I Met Your Dad," but you won't see her on camera in the same way that you never saw Bob Saget on "How I Met Your Mother." Ryan will provide the voice of Greta Gerwig's character in the series' flashforwards, just as Saget provided the voice for Josh Radnor's Ted Mosby in "HIMYM."

Ryan's casting fills the last hole in the show, which already has Gerwig, Andrew Santino ("Mixology"), Nick D'Agosto ("Masters of Sex"), Tiya Sircar ("The Crazy Ones") and Drew Tarver ("Animal Practice") on board. The series is being developed by writer Emily Spivey and "HIMYM" creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.

So far, "HIMYD" only has a green light for its pilot and hasn't been ordered to series by CBS. It's hard to imagine a pilot with such high-profile names attached to it wouldn't make the cut, but fan reaction at the announcement of the concept was muted at best. And the ill will generated by the controversial finale of "HIMYM" couldn't have helped matters, either. For her part, Gerwig has tried to distance her show from the widely reviled conclusion of its predecessor.

"It's going to be different than the original," she told US Weekly. "When the premise of the show is that it's a young man looking for his true love, it's a very different feeling than a young woman looking for her true love."