Image Credit: Eric McCandless/CBS

This week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother featured a pretty unforgettable smile-inducing kicker. After Ted found himself bemoaning his romantic setbacks and lack of personal progress, a look into the not-so-distant future revealed he had a daughter. Tear up? Join the club. But would you have guessed that the moment wasn’t even part of the greater plan for the season?

“We had a week of treading water, to be honest,” says co-creator/executive producer Carter Bays. “We have the arc of the season going, but this was one week where there wasn’t one, specific big event happening. We always get nervous about those kinds of episodes because you want to know that the story is moving forward.” So, he says, they took a “step back,” and decided to put a little perspective on the overall story of the series. “We were really telling the story that a father probably should tell his kids because it was only 22 minutes as opposed to seven seasons,” he jokes.

Indeed the flashbacks and talk about the past was a nice reminder of where we’ve been with the gang. But as Bays sees it, it’s also a great reminder of where we’re going — without giving everything away. Yes, he admits, they made sure Neil Patrick Harris hid his left hand so we wouldn’t know whether or not Barney would be married three years from now. “He’s so good at making that look natural,” he says, laughing. “He’s a magician; he’s good with his hands. He knows what he’s doing”

But does Barney? This episode saw the once notorious womanizer seemingly settling into life as a one-woman man. To be fair, Becki Newton previously warned EW that Barney and Quinn would be on the fast track. But after just a few episodes of courting, they’re living together…and liking it! Is it all too fast? Bays doesn’t think so. “I think Barney is in love. At a certain age, you stop worrying about the pacing so much and you sort of realize you’re only on this planet a short time so you might as well be with the person you care about the most,” he says. “And I think that’s Quinn right now for Barney.” READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Eric McCandless/CBS

Quinn and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) are wasting no more time on the getting-to-know-yous, says How I Met Your Mother guest star Becki Newton.

After a chance meeting just a few episodes ago, Barney has become smitten with the stripper-turned-apple-of-his-eye. And for further evidence, one need look no further than the display of affection that takes place in tonight’s How I Met Your Mother: The pair’s first “team-up”!

“I think that’s a really exciting development,” she says of seeing the pair work for a common cause. “They spent the first couple of episodes trying to figure each other out and in [tonight's] episode we see them take a couple of steps further and start to have a good time together.” READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Ron P. Jaffe/Fox

Cliff-hangers are somewhat of a specialty for How I Met Your Mother, and last night’s delivered one of the most reaction-inducing episode enders of the season so far.

In the episode, Ted and Barney found themselves looking for a little one-night comfort on a late-night commuter train (hence the title “Drunk Train”) but in the end, all Ted found was an epiphany about his love life. And when he got home to find Robin on the roof mourning the loss of her relationship with Kevin (who broke off their engagement-relationship almost as quickly as it began) Ted couldn’t resist letting her in on his realization: He loved her.

And whether you cheered, exclaimed, groaned, or gasped (maybe all four?), executive producer Craig Thomas promises one thing: Ted isn’t backing down from his statement in next week’s episode. “It’s out there now. It’s out there between Ted and Robin,” he tells EW. “We had [Ted's season one flame] Victoria come in episode 3 of season 7 and she looked into her crystal ball and said, ‘Something’s going to happen with this you being friends with Robin thing. Something’s going to come from that.’ And we’re going to see that something will.” READ FULL STORY »