There’s stuntcasting. Then there’s Britney-casting.
The worthy comedy “How I Met Your Mother” isn’t usually a font of gossip headlines, but last week the show, which returns 7:30 p.m. Monday on WBBM-Ch. 2, pulled off a surprising coup.
What put the tabloid world in a tizzy was the news that Britney Spears would make a guest appearance on “HIMYM.” She taped her episode last week and will appear as a receptionist in an episode that airs March 24.
“She’s been hardworking and has really brought her own approach to the character,” executive producer and co-creator Craig Thomas said midway through the taping of her episode. “She has solid comic timing.”
And aside from the helicopter full of paparazzi flying over the show’s Los Angeles soundstage, the Spears experience has been “surprisingly low-key,” Thomas said. “It seems like she really wants to do a good job, and she has.”
The mind boggles at the idea of the erratic pop star sharing screen time with Barney, Neil Patrick Harris’ lady-killing “HIMYM” character.
But after a quick rewrite of the script for the March 24 episode, the comedy will now feature that “legendary” pairing, to use a Barney-ism.
Spears plays Abby, a doctor’s receptionist who develops a crush on Ted (Josh Radnor). There was supposed to be only a brief phone conversation between Barney and Abby, but Harris asked the producers for a scene in which the two characters would meet, and he got his wish. “Credit Neil for that one,” Thomas said.
The troubled pop star’s surprise acting gig nearly overwhelmed the most welcome news about “How I Met Your Mother” — that, as of Monday, the show is finally back after a strike-induced break of three months. (By the way, it has switched slots with “The Big Bang Theory,” which now airs at 7 p.m.)
The first poststrike episode of the show features Barney and Ted, a bachelor who’s been on the prowl since breaking up with Robin (Cobie Smulders), out on a St. Patrick’s Day bender. In the next few weeks, the “HIMYM” cast and crew have to churn out nine episodes, which will allow them to air fresh episodes through May.
The accelerated shooting schedule is especially challenging for “How I Met Your Mother,” which is midway through its third season. It’s not just one of the few network comedies that have well-rounded characters who evoke real emotions. It’s also one of the most cleverly constructed programs on the air.
A typical episode of the program contains up to 60 different scenes, which is almost unheard of for a network comedy. And “HIMYM,” which is not shot in front of a studio audience, often plays around with the notion of time.
Past, present and future can all cleverly collide in a single episode — always in ways that serve the story and the characters.
“I like being able to do it on a sitcom,” Thomas said of the show’s experiments in storytelling.
“The big 800-pound question is, why do comedies matter, in the shadow of one-hour dramas? Our answer is, ‘Let’s be like them. Let’s play with time and structure and ask real questions about life.'”
The comedy has had a loyal, if somewhat modest, audience since it debuted. The show’s first-run episodes drew a respectable 10 million viewers in “HIMYM’s” first season, but last fall, it was garnering around 8.6 million viewers.
“CBS has been so supportive of the show. They wish more people would watch it. And by the way, so do I,” Thomas said.
The Spears episode will no doubt help newcomers find the show.
The March 24 outing has Ted romantically pursuing Dr. Stella Zinman, who employs Spears’ character, Abby. Ted has to visit Zinman, who’s played by “Scrubs” actress Sarah Chalke, for the removal of a skanky tattoo — the legacy of a “legendary” night on the town.
Chalke’s character is “taking the butterfly tattoo off Ted. The problem is, how does he impress this girl when he’s bent over and she’s lasering a girly stripper tattoo off his tailbone?” Thomas said. Though Abby is meant to be a geeky character, Thomas said she and Spears aren’t necessarily polar opposites.
“The character is shy and sweet and vulnerable and has a huge, spazzy crush on Ted,” he noted.
Spears herself seems pleased with the experience.
In statement released by CBS, she said, “Working at ‘How I Met Your Mother’ has been so terrific. Everyone, including the cast, the crew and the producers, has been wonderful and Abby is such a fun girl to play. I’m having a blast!”
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moryan@tribune.com
