So no Cobie on SHIELD then? Hopefully she will have some guest appearances on the show.

DanielJay92 | December 21, 19:48 CET

Yes, I was hoping she could go right to SHIELD. HIMYM has been running out of steam for awhile.

hacksaway | December 21, 19:53 CET

Why does crap like this get renewed when Firefly didn't?

petranef | December 21, 20:22 CET

So, the world actually ended and we're all in hell.

nonbeliever93 | December 21, 20:57 CET

I love HIMYM, and I'm glad the creators now have the space to wrap-up a story that has been building since 2005.

Calatia | December 21, 21:36 CET

How I Met Your Mother is one of my favourite sitcoms, and I definitely think the series is running out of steam, well beyond its peak, etc. Season 8 has been the least consistent by far, judging by its first half. I still enjoy watching the series, however, and I keep up with it every week, and usually have a good time. The show has grown weak but I still love these characters and I love spending time with them.

And another year of Alyson Hannigan as a TV regular? That's always a good thing. My favourite television actress is getting her 16th season as a series regular.

TrevorJames | December 21, 22:24 CET

I applaud successful TV. So few shows are.

Wonderful that hundreds of people will keep their jobs for another year and they will all get raises. Yes, even the lowliest crew member will get a raise since the show got picked up for another season. They won't have to struggle to find another job on a show that may go nowhere at union minimums. Yay!

Also, more Barney is a very very good thing. :)

IrrationaliTV | December 21, 22:45 CET

Ugh, I was kinda hoping they would finish out this year as the creators had a plan to end it this season if they didn't get a renewal by the end of December. Now they are going to have to stretch it out over another season. This season has been pretty bad.

guardian_owl | December 21, 23:38 CET

They've always had backup plans in case they didn't get renewals in the past, but it wasn't how they truly wanted to tell the story. Given that the Ted's children are teenagers by the year 2030, it makes sense that the story would wrap-up around the ninth season. This isn't a show that could go on indefinitely like some other sitcoms, so I am just very pleased we will get to see the full story conclude the way it was intend to.

The mid-season finale was great, and going back to watch the earlier seasons you can see how the groundwork was put in place to eventually have Barney end up with Robin.

[ edited by Calatia on 2012-12-22 09:09 ]

Calatia | December 22, 00:07 CET

Darn. I am ready for this show to end.
Maybe we can meet the mother finally and have a full season with her. Another season of building will get tedious for sure.

Hjermsted | December 22, 00:58 CET

Okay Aly, you had your fun. Now, get back to what you do best.
Some heartbreaking drama.

Madhatter | December 22, 01:34 CET

Yay, one of my favorite long running shows. Very glad to see it renewed.

Don't understand all the hate here. For Joss' sake, it's one of the most Whedony shows on television, with three Whedonites among the lead roles (NPH, Alyson and Coby) and many, many Whedon alumni among the guest stars (Seth Green and Alexis Denisof in the latest episode, for example).

[ edited by the Groosalugg on 2012-12-22 12:32 ]

the Groosalugg | December 22, 03:24 CET

I started watching How I Met Your Mother because I loved NPH on Dr. Horrible, and then I gave BtVS another chance because Alyson Hannigan was so awesome. So for me, HIMYM is at the very heart of my Whedonverse experience, and I'm glad we're getting another season. I've gotten two friends hooked on the show with Netflix marathons.

waterfallbooks | December 22, 11:44 CET

Calatia: they could very easily have wound it up this year if the whole Barney-Robin thing had just been shown instead of being been played and palyed and played and palyed and played and played.... At least this gives them a chance to have "the Mother" be a real character played by a real additon tot he cast, not a stunt played by a one-shot.
Groosalug; Tom Lenk tonight too, if you couny walk-ons, well, rolloffs, actually. Wonder if it's the same guy from before? My worshipped Mercedes a few weeks ago, too.
guardian_owl: It's just been steadily losing its heart the past few years. S-5 shwoed the strain, S-6 was wrose and was also not funny, S-7 got soem funny back but less heart, and still less.

MAd hatter: Yes, Bridgit o'Shaugnessy to Brad Pitt as Sam Spade ina 4th version of _The Maltese Falcon_ Or (if they do a remake of _Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte_ with the gimmick of a young cast in age makeup plus ehavy flashbacks) as Cousing Miriam. (Reese or Naomi would play Charlotte; Alexis would make a great Drew but they'd probably need a bigger name like Adrian Brody.)

DaddyCatALSO | December 22, 12:42 CET

They could have wound it up this year, if they didn't get the renewal. Not knowing whether they would or not was something that gave the writers trouble approaching this season. Overall I look at the series as a complete body of work, I don't scrutinize and compare seasons because I enjoy the evolving story. So many people are in such a rush to meet "the mother", which is certainly swiftly approaching, but that's not where the strength of the show has come from. The heart of the show has always been the ensemble cast.

Calatia | December 22, 13:24 CET

Never understood why people care so much about the mother. Ted isn't even the strongest part of the show. I watch this show for Barney/Robin and Marshall. I love Aly but her character isn't the funniest and I usually only laugh from her scenes with Marshall or Robin.

I wonder if the writers ever thought of making a Barney spin off or is he one of those characters that only works in small doses.

eddy | December 22, 16:38 CET

Love this show, love the entire ensemble, couldn't care less about the mother.
I'm glad it gets another season. My only complaint would be I thought Barney was becoming too much of a caricature the last couple of seasons, but hopefully that will be over.
It's a funny show, with clever writing and a talented cast. What's not to love?

Xane | December 22, 16:54 CET

The people who obsess about the mother are the same ones who wanted Lost to answer every single question/riddle ever posed in the known universe. They will never be pleased. Meh. I'm so glad the writers don't cater to that crowd. I'm loving the show.

IrrationaliTV | December 22, 18:10 CET

DaddyC, I caught that last one. Very nice.

Madhatter | December 22, 18:53 CET

They were already planning on wrapping everything up this season. This renewal will likely mean nothing more than a year-long delay before the series is properly wrapped up, and 24 episodes worth of filler. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be watching and enjoying, but I really wish they had just finished with S8 instead of dragging it out. Unless they continue with the plan of having the wedding and eventual meeting with the mother happen at the end of S8, and have Ted and the Mother's first year together be the final season. The series could end mid-2014 with Ted and the Mother finding out that they're going to have a baby (fits with the daughter being around in 2015), followed by the requisite montage of the following 16 years, leading up to the end of the story being told to the kids.

Also, it should be noted that the meeting of Ted and the Mother and the birth of the Daughter really should have more breathing room - she's been born by (if episode settings match airdates and the Star Wars Trilogy viewings are the same time each year) April 2015, so if Ted meets the Mother in May 2014, that means they get pregnant in like 2 months. #ShotgunWedding

Break_Atmo | December 24, 05:32 CET

Oh no, there will be more episodes made of a show I really enjoy. In some crazy alternate universe, people are making the same complaints about Firefly.

Calatia | December 24, 08:28 CET

You mean the world where Firefly has just been renewed for its 11th season because of the series high ratings of 20 million viewers?

eddy | December 24, 18:36 CET

Yes, but many of the Browncoats in that alternate universe who had been with the show since the beginning insist that Firefly jumped the shark after the forth season.

Calatia | December 24, 20:11 CET

Such a shame what this show has become. In its first 2 seasons, HIMYM was the best comedy on television. I adore NPH, but the show lost its way once it decided to make Barney the male lead and push and stall Ted's story to about 5 nuggets of information per season.

I still watch it and chuckle every now and then, a lot of it due to Josh Radnor's hilarious hair. And it's good to see how Jason Segel has slimmed down.

But the bits such as Lily's lesbionic yearnings from out of nowhere, Robin inexplicable desire for coupledom and kids almost immediately after breaking up with Ted, and Chris Elliott's very existence make me do a Saul Berenson face palm.

pollaxt | December 24, 23:39 CET

I really think that Ted taking a backseat to Barney - the entire Ted/Robin/Barney thing in itself was a mistake. Because now, we're in a situation where we're near the end of the series and the mother is still shrouded in mystery. And even if she does finally make an appearance, we won't care as much as we're supposed to because she won't be able to measure up against all of the history that Ted and Robin have. It's what ended his most recent relationship, after all!

Everything on the surface is still funny as ever, though. I thought the episode before last was particularly amusing with Ted realizing that his friends continually borrow things and don't return them. It makes perfect sense that he would be one of those people that puts labels on everything he owns...

Egghead | December 25, 03:59 CET

On the contrary, I believe everything that has happened with Ted/Robin/Barney was essential. Love is messy and life is complicated. People always exclaim that the show always beats up on Ted, which really isn't true. Sure he has had bumps in the road in both his career and love life, but that is all a part of life. When the show does eventually conclude, and we all know who the mother is, I don't think we'll be disappointed.

Ted has held a torch for Robin since he met her, by metaphorically passing that torch to Barney he'll finally be free to find someone of his own, his future wife. One of central themes of the show has always been growing up, moving on, and coming to terms with the past.

The destination isn't the most important part of the show, it's the journey.

Calatia | December 25, 09:25 CET

pollaxt: I have to disagree on soem things. Lily's basic bisexuality was established back in S-1. Robin has never wavered seriously in her "non-wanting" of children. I tolerate Chris Elliot for his father's sake.

Egghead, Calatia: I have to say that whenever a show or comic strip (esp. one with a specific lead character) gets Fonzarellied, I dislike that. But I agree on the mvoing on, and this settles the ghost-robin in Ted's head at last. I just hope I can like who is picked to play the Mother.

DaddyCatALSO | December 26, 09:01 CET

@ DaddyCatALSO - Yeah, that's what I'd like as well. But nothing is really settled yet. It doesn't seem like Ted's over Robin at all. We still don't know for sure if it really works out between Barney and Robin. I'm hoping it will - if only to put this whole mess to rest. The way I see it, if Robin marries Barney then that's the end of it. If she doesn't marry Barney, however, she had better end up with Ted - 'Mother' be damned.

Egghead | December 27, 02:16 CET