Well, it looks like the drama has ended for How I Met Your Mother . The “will they won’t they” be coming back for a final season 9 was decided at the 11th hour barring Jason Segel agreeing to return to the show. The sitcom, which has been on air for eight seasons was believed to be over and done with by the time May 2013 finale rolls around. However, it looks like Carter Bays and Craig Thomas weren’t done with telling the story of how Ted ultimately meets the mother; and neither was CBS.
As expected, and like we reported , all cast members were locked in with the exception of Jason Segel, who has a burgeoning film career, and lady love Michelle Williams on the east coast. Segel was reportedly the last one to hold out on another season, and was said to be the one bailing after this year. When rumors started to swirl about the cast being reluctant about returning, a source reported to E! that there were two actors specifically, “Jason and Alyson [Hannigan] are the two least likely to want to do a season nine. It would take a lot of money to keep them. A lot.”
However, according to Deadline , managers, lawyers and executives worked hard to come to an agreement with Segel after the other cast members were locked and ready to go for a season nine. The persistent nature of the crew worked and if all goes well, How I Met Your Mother will be returning for a ninth and final season next year with the whole gang in place.
A usually tight and friendly cast, who have gone out of their way to support each other in their separate endeavors, seemed to ultimately stick together in the end. Nikki Finke reports, Segel “decided to bail and leave the cast hanging. But he just got turned around today at the last second. The show was literally dead.” Why couldn’t they just go on without Segel? Well, Thomas and Bays both had said earlier in the year when rumors sprouted up that it just wasn’t an option if one cast member was out.
The fact that CBS would want to renew the series doesn’t come as a surprise. The ratings were up six percent from last week’s episode, and the demographic of adults 18-49 keeps on growing, which is rare for a seasoned sitcom.
Now that How I Met Your Mother is likely to get a ninth season, the real question is, will we meet the mother this year? Will we spend a year with Ted and the mother, or will this be a case of the show dragging the viewers along for yet another year? What do you think?
