When the news that How I Met Your Mother was renewed for two more seasons hit the interwebs last week, we were hoping that meant the next forty-something episodes of the hit CBS comedy would be the final forty-something episodes of the hit CBS comedy. Unfortunately, though, that doesn't appear to be the case.
Speaking with AOL, creator Carter Bays said that he won't set an end date for his popular series, like Lost did. "We [understand] the reasons Lost did it and certainly it made sense for them. Right now we're contracted to go through season 8, and at that point, there is every chance that that's the end of How I Met Your Mother. If that's the case, then that's our end point. But we are open to doing this as long as we feel we have stories to tell, and, of equal importance, as long as people want to watch it. If it still feels exciting going into a season 9, then we'll keep doing it."
Of course, whether or not the cast will keep doing it is another story. Bays admits that the show would be impossible to do without the core five of Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan. As we've stated previously, How I Met Your Mother is a show that seems tailor-made to follow Lost's path of end date empowerment. (It would also save HIMYM from wheel-spinning storylines.)
If you're a bit disappointed by that news, there is something positive to look forward to: Bays says that season seven will feature a healthy does of Robin, and thus Cobie Smulders. More Robin equals more awesome. Insert your favorite Barney-ism here in celebration.
