The How I Met Your Mother Blog

So, it’s true:

Britney Spears’ havoc-wreaking cameo on How I Met Your Mother has already claimed its first victim. A Mother insider confirms that Alicia Silverstone — who was slated to appear in a multi-episode arc as Ted’s dermatologist/lover — has dropped out and will be replaced by Scrubs’ Sarah Chalke.

Pink Is the New Blog reports that Silverstone bowed out because her reps (understandably) feared she would be overshadowed by Spears, who, per my sources, will play an assistant to the dermatologist now being portrayed by Chalke. As a result, I’m hearing Mother bosses Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have reconceived the female doc character. Originally slated to appear in multiple episodes, she’ll now be in just one — mostly because that’s all Chalke’s schedule will allow. The diminished screen time would also seem to eliminate any hope there was of her being Ted’s future yellow-umbrella-carrying wife (aka the “Mother”).

But Mother still has big plans for Silverstone. “[Bays and Thomas] love Alicia,” whispers my mole, “and they intend to create another character for her.”

All of this begs a critical question: Is Spears worth the headache? Provided she brings in enough viewers to get Mother off CBS’ endangered list, I reckon she is!

source

The Alicia Part

We all know how excited I was when I first heard about the Silverstone casting. I still think that she’s note-perfect for this show. The thing I’ve always loved about How I Met Your Mother is its intellect and heart, a heart it often wears on its sleeve. I think this has brought criticism to the show—it’s not as superficial as shows like Friends, and not as acerbic as shows like Everybody Loves Raymond. It’s even been called sappy, which I have never agreed with. I can see Silverstone fitting in well with the sensitive, thoughtful tone of the show as well as rolling with the humor while keeping a certain level of sophistication (something Cobie Smulders has been doing without much credit since day one.)

Alicia Silverstone’s professional persona is rooted in a Gen X sensibility, something else the show has in spades (Ted is the classic wandering soul.) She would have been the perfect familiar face that would have worked on the show the same way Danika McKellar worked in the past. The show’s demographic has, for the most part, fond memories of Silverstone’s previous roles and I think she would’ve been accepted warmly.

The Britney Part

Britney Spears is none of those things. At one time the picture of virtue, how far we fall when we fly too close to the sun. Her recent antics are too numerous to account for here (and are better documented elsewhere). I’ve taken pot-shots at her like everyone else, and whether or not she was an active participant in her own Icarusian fall or merely the victim of those she trusted, we’ll never know. What I do know is that she represents everything about celebrity and pop culture that I try to get away from when watching shows like HIMYM.

That being said, she’s also not an actress. I don’t trust that she’ll be charming, funny, or even necessarily coherent. Mandy Moore did well, but she acts quite a bit, and has a reputation for being motivated and hard working. I’ve read stories of Britney showing up late for video shoots drunk or incapacitated in some way, being surly and difficult to work with, and generally bringing down those around her. I’ve also read that the set of HIMYM is one of the best—laid back, fun, easy going, and very efficient and affable. Which attitude is going to win out? Will the positive aura Pam Fryman has created win out over the venomous tendencies of a deranged pop star? These are the things I’m really worried about.

The Sarah Part

I love Sarah Chalke. I’m a huge Scrubs fan and find her to be a great female character. She’s quirky, awkward, sexy, strange, and filled with neuroses. Much like Silverstone, I think she’s great for the show. The only problem I see is being able to separate Sarah Chalke from Eliot Reed. Plus, an added bonus: she’s Canadian and, I believe, has a bit of a natural accent she tones down for Scrubs. This could play well into the established canon of Canada jokes on the show. If she could be on for more than one episode there could’ve been a side plot that involved her being Robin Sparkles’ biggest fan.

The “Why It’ll be OK” Part

That brings me to my one regret with all of this casting news. Chalke can only appear for one episode, while Spears is rumored to return for several. That means that we won’t just see Spears in the doctor’s office as the assistant and she’ll probably end up dating Ted. I’ll say it here: Britney Spears will not be the mother. I don’t have inside sources, I just can’t imagine this is the outcome. At most, she’d be a Victoria—someone Ted dates for awhile and then breaks up with.

Silverstone’s character (which is now Chalke’s) was supposed to be recurring, maybe even the mother. With her out, the creators are having to re-work the story they wanted to tell. I hate to see scheduling conflict and things like that affect story telling. I’m sure it happens more than we ever hear, but it is an unfortunate compromise for the writers. Hopefully the hint that Silverstone will return is true, and they’ll postpone her arc for the future.

I don’t really understand why, if they had Silverstone cast in a roll they were ready to move forward writing, they’d let her go just to cast Britney in a supporting role. I know that it’ll be good for ratings (I haven’t seen a single news item spread quite so fast online since Heath Ledger died) but is it worth it? Again, we’ll have to wait and see. I have trust in the show, the writers, and the actors to take what seems like lemons and give us some lemonade.

What do you think?

Thanks to readers John d’Arc and Ranier for sharing this news with me.

PS. Sorry for the wonky feed stuff, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to post this as a new entry or just update the old one (I did the former.)

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