The Return Of Britney

Britney Spears made her second guest appearance of the year on CBS's How I Met Your Mother last night, reprising her role as Abby -- the love-struck (and borderline obsessive) receptionist who philanders with Barney (played by Neil Patrick Harris) while pining away for Ted (Josh Radnor). Personally, I think that Brit Brit did an amazing job on last night's ep ... as did the People magazine TV critic, tho he finds fault with the episode's writing and not with Britney's acting.

Britney Spears returned to CBS's How I Met Your Mother Monday as Abby, the silly-vulnerable receptionist with an unrequited crush on Ted (Josh Radnor). The ratings spiked with her first appearance, so she was quickly shoehorned into this new episode. The fact that Britney's second guest spot really didn't work was no fault of hers. She's not at all bad at playing clunkily-sweetly dumb. I liked the way she tried to vent her conflicted feelings of anger and love for Ted while lying in bed and staring dreamily at the ceiling: "You know what I hate most about Ted? His stupid hair ... His stupid, lame, awesome hair. It's so stupid and awesome," she said with a cute, singsong lilt. But the script was an awful piece of specialty construction. Abby's reverie occurred in a bed shared with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), who was also feeling rejected by Ted -- as a friend. His and Abby's mutual annoyance turned them both on, so they slept together. Then they decided to pose as a couple to annoy Ted. Then Barney carried the joke too far by proposing to Abby. Then Abby suddenly thought Barney really loved her. Then, to get out of the engagement, Barney told Abby that their romance had done the trick and now a jealous Ted did love Abby. And then Abby got this crazy love-hungry Shelley Winters-like gleam in her eye, setting up the possibility for a third guest spot. Well, that’s a lot to cram into the subplot of a 20-odd-minute show. It would have taken me less time to type out the synopsis of Dangerous Liaisons. The twists felt arbitrary and perverse, even for a so-so sitcom, which is what HIMYM is.

I believe the entire ep of HIMYM can be streamed online at CBS.com but you can watch all the Britney Spears clips from last night's ep online HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. It's not that I don't necessarily agree with the People critic but I think that pontificating about a primetime sitcom like this, especially when a guest appearance by a non-actress is involved, kinda misses the point. I think fans just want to see their favorite guest stars on their favorite TV shows. I watched the ep and I really think that it turned out very well ... I think I even preferred it to the first ep that Brit guested on (hello, we got to see NPH topless in bed). In the end, the situation is win-win for both the show and for Britney. HIMYM got renewed for next season and Britney is showing the naysayers that she can get her life back in order and be successful again. Love it, love her!!

Source: Pink Is The New Blog