The How I Met Your Mother Blog

This Moday’s episode is titled “The Final Four” (or maybe “The Bracket”, depending on where you look) and, much like the super bowl episode last year, uses a current sporting event as its focus. But in classic How I Met Your Mother fashion, basketball teams won’t be the only competitors.

Reader Courtney had this tidbit:

Barney tries to find the mystery woman who’s out to ruin his reputation, by using the NCAA 64 person bracket. An interesting name comes up in the casting info for the episode:

“Anna” Dawn Olivieri.

Thanks to Courtney’s research we know that Dawn first appeared on the show in last season’s episode Ted Mosby, Architect as the girl “Ted” picked up by bragging about “his” job. At the end of the episode Robin and Lily, who think it is a cheating Ted in the apartment with this girl, bust in with the intent to kick her ass. Instead they find Barney tied up in bed and learn he’s used Ted’s name since he’s recently had some bad press on the Internet. In a rush to leave before the girl finishes her shower, Barney leaves a form letter he keeps with him for one night stands. Forgetting Anna’s name he addresses the letter to “resident”. The tag at the end of the episode shows Anna fresh out of the shower reading the letter—in which Barney proclaims to be a ghost who only appears once a year on the date of his death, and that he might one day return provided she keeps her figure—and asking aloud “who’s Barney?”.

The fact that they’ve brought Dawn back is wonderful news. I love how the show makes call backs to not only previous episodes but previous seasons. It’s a real reward for the fans. Who else might we see return from Barney’s past? Are there any other girls we know he’s scorned? Any victims of the lemon law? Could Wendy the Waitress be in the bracket? Tune in Monday to find out.

PS. If Dawn looks familiar to any of you it’s probably because she’s been a model on Deal or No Deal several times.

“The Final Four” (or, “The Bracket”) airs Monday March 3/31 at 8:30 EST on CBS.

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Of the shows that have returned from the strike How I Met Your Mother has continually done well for CBS. This week’s episode was the highest rated yet for the show. From the Hollywood Reporter:

A guest appearance by Britney Spears on Monday gave the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” its highest rating ever.

“Mother” spiked to a series high 4.5 preliminary rating among adults 18-49, even as the rest of the CBS comedy lineup fell from last week’s record-setting return to original episodes.

The second week of strong “Mother” ratings (10.6 million, 4.5/12) assures the one-time bubble comedy will be renewed for the fall. “Mother” was the fourth-highest-rated show of the evening, and CBS won the night (averaging 12.5 million, 4.4/11).

It’s not official, but I can’t see CBS canceling a show that’s doing so well. This is great news for us fans. Good work to those of you who wrote letters and signed petitions, but at the end of the day it all comes down to ratings and, lucky for us, the numbers don’t lie.

If you’d told me a year ago that Britney Spears would save How I Met Your Mother I’d have laughed in your face. I guess strange things do happen.

Now, for a bit of talking shop. I’ve heard readers suggest they’d be interested in a weekly ratings section, where we can track the shows stats in real time. Is this something you’d like to see?

Bonus points for the first person to get the reference in the phrasing of that poll question.

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Personally, I’m getting tired of covering this type of thing. I prefer analysis of the show on the blog, rather than the brainless reporting of information. I’m happy to share these photos though as anything concerning new episodes of the show are exciting at this point. Come back tomorrow for more of the episode discussion that made the pre-strike weeks so awesome around the halls here at Have You Met Ted. In the meantime, what do we think of these pictures?

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For the first time in 14 weeks we have a new episode of HIMYM to look forward to. I’m excited. Are you excited? Tonight’s episode, “No Tomorrow“, shows Ted partying with Barney in a decidedly non-Ted fashion. He seems to have “joined the Dark Side” but maybe he’s just spent too much time with Broda. By the end of the episode, Marshall will have straightened out Mr. Mosby. Tune in later tonight or tomorrow morning for an episode recap.

Tonight’s episode, however, is not the one that’s being talked about in the news. For those of you living under a rock, that would be next week’s episode starring Britney Spears. As the time draws neigh, more details surface. The episode will be called “Ten Sessions” which, I assume, refers to the visits Ted will make to his Dermatologist, Stella, played by Sarah Chalke. Britney will be Stella’s receptionist. It would seem that in classic Mosby fashion, Ted will fall hard for his doctor and try to navigate the tricky course of convincing a girl who’s removing a butterfly tramp-stamp from just above your ass crack that you’re a guy worth dating. While wooing the lady-doctor Ted will be oblivious to the fact that Abby, the receptionist played by Spears, has fallen head-over-heals for him. We’ll watch her go from glasses-wearing mousy dork to a sexier…mousy dork as she vies for Ted’s attention.

Last week I asked if Britney would continue her odd public displays of lunacy on set or if the legendary laid back nature of the How I Met Your Mother world would keep her on an even keel. It seems like the latter has been the case since all reports from on-set have been overwhelmingly positive. A few random snippets from the cast and crew:

With helicopters flying overhead, the writers were hoping for more drama, and even encouraged Jason Segel to try to make out with Britney to increase ratings for the Forgetting Sarah Marshall debut. More

The cast welcomed Britney and all wanted scenes with her. Neil Patrick Harris got his wish, with a episode-ending tag that is both hilarious and leaves a window open for Spear’s character to return in a future episode. Alyson Hannigan unfortunately didn’t get screen time with Britney but tried to befriend her nonetheless. More 

Ranjit will be back next week as well! More

Josh Radnor has moved out of his apartment and bought a house. More

So, have a good St. Patrick’s Day everyone. In honor of Segel’s new writing gig, let’s all celebrate, Muppet style:

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The first reports are coming back from the set where Britney is currently filming her episodes. Alyson Hannigan was pleased:

“I have been quite impressed by Britney’s performance. The character she is playing is very sweet and endearing, which seems to come naturally to her. Not to mention, she has good comedic timing, which helps, given we’re a sitcom.”

As per usual, Neil Patrick Harris had more to say. Full Q&A here but here are some highlights.

It looks like security was tight on set:

They have different wristbands every day, and it’s like the ultimate after-party. I wasn’t given a wristband, because I’m on the show, but then they swapped out security people and they wouldn’t let me on the stage because I didn’t have the proper wristband.

This is good to hear, and makes me feel better:

…it should be clear, and I hope you state this, Britney’s camp came entirely to us with the idea of it, and in fact, we all thought it was a joke. It wasn’t like CBS or How I Met Your Mother is trying to get ratings, and said who can we star-cast to get attention.

We were literally just filming last week and told, “You’re not going to believe who just called and said they wanted to be on the show.” That’s sort of how it all went down. My only reservation about her being on the show at all is that it appears that we are desperate for ratings, and that’s not the case, we’re sort of in a good comedy groove. So, my only concern is one of appearance.

I knew it! This confirms what I was saying about the show being intellectual:

Sarah [Chalke]’s the perfect fit for the show. Josh Radnor has a real intellectual sensibility to his acting, and I think Sarah matches him step for step and beat for beat, so when we started our run-through yesterday, or started rehearsing, rather, it was like she’d never not been on the show. I hope and my fingers are crossed that Sarah manages to do more than one episode with us because she’s just terrific.

This all makes me feel much better. It also seems to suggest that the show might not be in as much trouble as it has seemed. I can’t wait for Monday to see how much momentum will be gained with new episodes finally airing.

There’s also some quotes from Britney about working on the show that I didn’t think were terribly interesting.

Thirdly (is that a word?) there is a nice short bio on Josh Radnor. Turns out he’s Jewish, intellectual, and awesome (we already knew all that right?)

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UPDATE: Expanded edition now available.

I’m going to expand on the latter bit of this post later but did want to confirm the following:

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

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

More to come!

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I can’t believe this is true:

Suit up, Britney Spears! The pop star is heading back to TV, scoring a guest role on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother, a rep for the show confirms to PEOPLE.

According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Spears’s father and conservator, Jamie, has given his daughter permission to appear on the sitcom since it will not be a long-term or continuous role.

The pop star is no stranger to television comedies: In April 2006, Britney appeared on an episode of NBC’s Will & Grace playing a conservative talk show host alongside Sean Hayes’s flamboyant character, Jack.

source

I was OK with Mandy Moore. I was OK with Enrique Iglesias. I was borderline OK with Vanessa Manilla or whatever her name is. I don’t know if I’m OK with Britney Spears. The show should be better than this. I only hope they can clean her up enough to flap around in front of the camera for a few lines and then never be heard from again. Maybe Barney will bang her then leave her naked in the torch of the statue of liberty or something. I would’ve rather seen Ashlee Simpson than Britney’s dizzy ass.

Let me play devil’s advocate. If it’s ratings we’re worried about for the show (which should never be met by sacrificing quality, but I digress) than Spear’s appearance will surely create waves. Paris Hilton did a “guest spot” on The O.C. way back when and it didn’t offend me deeply. I will trust Bays and Thomas not to do anything crazy. If this gets more people talking about (and watching) the show, so be it.

I can’ t help but think, who’s next? Courtney Love? Kim Kardashian? Lindsay Lohan? Have some decency!

Scary update:

Britney showed up at the FOX Studios lot this morning with only her agent in tow to sit down with the cast of the show for the episode read-thru. I’m told she was “really funny”, “very professional” and that the character might become a recurring character on the show. Additionally, most of her scenes are with the Ted Mosby character played by Josh Radnor. This episode of How I Met Your Mother is the third of the new eps that have been written since the show came back from the Writer’s Strike hiatus and since the first new ep airs next week it may air three weeks after that (the week of April 7th).

Regarding the news that Alicia Siverstone was scheduled to also guest star on HIMYM, I’m hearing that her people have decided to have her pull out of doing so in order to not be overshadowed by Britney’s appearance.

source

As I said in the comments, if this redneck skank makes me miss my sexual renaissance with the Aerosmith girl I’m going to be PISSED OFF.

PS. I never want to do a Google Image Search for “Britney Spears” again. I need to go wash my hands.

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Today is a big day for HIMYM. I almost hate to post this and detract from the wake of awesomeness that is Alicia Silverstone’s being cast for the show. I have to assume that not everyone is as excited about that as I am so here’s some more tidbits for you to chew on, much of which relates directly to comments made on this blog:

• Reader john d’arc was wondering if the St. Patty’s day episode “No Tomorrow” was written as a one-off, just to get the show back on track. Turns out that the episode was partially written before the strike and planned as a New Year’s Eve story. When the strike was over, the story was re-purposed for a different holiday. I think this is great since the show already has a New Year’s episode. There aren’t many holidays left to cover.
• Reader Jess pointed out that Ted has been wearing the same shirt a lot lately. The show creators have described the character this season as “outlaw Ted”, maybe that explains the persistent plaid.
• Like the Super Bowl episode last year, we’ll see another sports tie-in this season:
  

  Another March episode has an NCAA tie-in – Barney constructs a bracket of all the women who have reasons to hate him, in an effort to find out who’s sabotaging his efforts to pick up women. The episode is called, not surprisingly, “The Final Four.”

• The rest of season 3 won’t be all fun and games. First, we’ll revisit Robin Sparkles and her second hit “Sandcastles in the Sand”—a bitter break-up ballad that tackles “the saddest chapter in her 16-year-old life” according to co-creator Craig Thomas. While we’ll only get a peek in the episode, the entire video will be available online afterward.
• It is also hinted that The Barnacle will get a more dramatic storyline this season. Neil Patrick Harris says:
  

  He hasn’t really ever had [scenes with] pathos, that stuff usually goes to Josh and Cobie. I’m not sure what it is, but Barney’s involved in some friction, and I get to be part of that. It’s cool to be flexing my funny bone so much but there are a lot more levels one can do…. I think for these last nine episodes of the season we need to represent well, and I think we’re coming out swinging. We’re working hard and hope people will get into it.

Are you as excited as I am to see these episodes air? I really can’t wait.

News via The Chicago Tribune

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via TVGuide and the very legendary and handsome reader Rainier:

Sources are confirming to me exclusively that the lovely and talented Alicia Silverstone has been cast in a multi-episode arc.

Her character, a doctor, will be a love interest for Ted and she’ll be sticking around for several episodes.

Holy crap. This is awesome. First, she’s perfect. A classic actress in need of a great mainstream comeback role ala Danica McKellar. It sounds like Rainier was right to point out the careful wording when, in The Platinum Rule, Ted says “that was the end of Stella, for now”. How did I miss her in my poll way back when? I, like any other male who went through puberty in the 90s, have an undying love for Ms. Silverstone. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane…

Aerosmith - Crazy

It says the video is unavailable, click on it before you hit play (refresh the page) and it’ll go to Youtube where the video actually plays

Aerosmith - Crying

Aerosmith - Amazing

It says the video is unavailable, click on it before you hit play (refresh the page) and it’ll go to Youtube where the video actually plays

Forget about Liv Tyler, these videos were all about Alicia.

I really can’t wait to see her on the show. She’ll be much better than the string of dubious conquests and skanktrons Ted’s been running with this season so far. Is she hotter than Robin? I might be biased but I say yes.

Now only one question remains, and I’ll leave it to you: Will “Stella” be another Victoria, a relationship that we’ll see start and end, or will she end up as the mother? How will it all play out?

Before people start saying “she can’t be the mom, the kid’s would know, he said her name” let me point you to the very HIMYM-esque Definitely Maybe where the main character tells his young daughter the story of how he met her mother. He changed the names and some of the facts in the story to keep her in the dark. I’m sure old-Ted could do something similar.

And now, some pictures of Alicia, since I know that’s what all of you want. Click through for bigger size.

I suppose that Ted will have to learn to make meatless lasagna if he’s to wed Silverstone.

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via  SpoilerTV

The first new, post-strike episode of How I Met Your Mother is called “No Tomorrow” and will air at 8:30pm on Monday March 17th on CBS. The episode features Ted and Barney partying for St. Patrick’s Day and may see Ted on the business end of a fist. Vanessa Minnillo guest stars (which kind of aggravates me, but we’ll see how she does.)

Promotional photos from the episode. Vanessa looks hot, Ted looks drunk, Barney looks like a leprechaun:

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