Britney Spears Wraps Up Work on TV Show

The following italicized article is from www.people.com:

Britney Spears completed two days of filming on TV's How I Met Your Mother, receiving praise from the sitcom's cast for her attitude and comic skills.

"There was not an ounce of the dark side that we've all read so much about," star Neil Patrick Harris, 34, said Thursday night at a West Hollywood party for the show.

In the episode, which will air March 24, Spears plays a receptionist at a dermatologist's office, and she falls for one of the show's main characters, played by Josh Radnor.

Spears, 26, shot her scenes Wednesday and Thursday.

"She was hilarious in the table-read, and I got to see her do the run-through as well, and she was great," cast member Jason Segel said at the Jameson Irish Whiskey St. Patrick's Day party. "She was great and lovely and couldn't be sweeter."

Added cast member Alyson Hannigan: "You can still kill a joke if you don't have comic timing, and she's not killing them. She knows how to deliver a joke. She's got good comic skills."

Source: People

'HIMYM' exec producer shares the Britney experience

The following italicized article is from www.ew.com:

Given the relatively mind-blowing announcement Monday that Britney Spears would be taking a break from custody hearings and hospital visits to guest star on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, we, along with the rest of everyone, were curious as to how that all went down. Spears will appear March 24, in the comedy's post-strike season's second episode, as the receptionist for Ted's tattoo-removal doctor (and new love interest), Stella. HIMYM co-exec producer Craig Thomas was kind enough to give EW.com the scoop on how it all went down, describing the tabloid target as a low-key scene stealer who just wanted to do a good job.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You have Britney Spears on your television program.
CRAIG THOMAS: We do.

How did that happen? Did she really call you?
We were in the middle of a rewrite of the episode that’s shooting this week, and I kid you not when I tell you, the character we were writing a week ago today could not be, like, a nerdier, mousier, shier, sort of adorable little side character in the episode. Not the main character in the episode whatsoever. We were starting to audition people, didn’t find anyone perfect. And then we get a phone call, like Thursday, midday: “Britney Spears read the character breakdown and she likes the show and she wants to play the part.” When you’re writing that role and you’re describing it as a nerdy receptionist, Britney Spears is not the first name that comes up. But when we talked to her people, they were like, “Yeah, she just wants to do something small and funny and get to come in and play a character.” She wanted to act. And it all started to make more sense. They wanted to see a script right away, so like last Thursday evening -- we weren’t even done with our rewrite, and her people were gonna see her at like 6:30 for dinner. So we just sort of hit print and sent it over to her and figured she’d either like it or not. And turns out she thought it was really funny, and it was confirmed 24 hours later that Britney Spears was doing the show. It happened very quickly, and it was out of nowhere, and we did not seek it out at all. But ultimately, it has worked out rather nicely.

When you say “her people,” who are you talking about?
This was her acting agent. I think she was looking at a couple different shows, and ultimately she responded to this show the most.

There’s this perception that she’s not doing anything lucid, and so the notion that she’d have a master plan just seems incongruous.
I don’t know. She seemed to have a very clear idea of what she wanted to do.

You didn’t mind casting her sight unseen?
Greg Malins [a consulting producer on HIMYM] was at Will & Grace when she did an episode there. And from the moment he heard about this — I mean, we were literally sitting around the table in the writers’ room, rewriting the script, and our assistant Matt comes in and says, “You’re not gonna believe this, but they’re pitching Britney Spears for this role of Abby.” Malins, from moment one, was saying, “Just watch. She’s gonna be great. She’s gonna steal scenes.” He should have made some sort of bet on this. He would have made money.

Is Neil Patrick Harris [Barney] okay with that? He likes to be the one stealing the scenes.
He got the script Saturday, but he was promoting Harold and Kumar at South by Southwest. He read the script from afar and just texted Carter and I, like, “Please, please, please give me a scene with Britney!” He didn’t have one in the original script, but we came up with a tag at the end of the episode that’s just between him and Britney’s character, and sure enough, it’s hysterical. When you watch it you sort of feel like it leaves the door open for Britney’s character to come back, too.

How much focus is her being around stealing from the business of making the show? Has it been a zoo over there?
Not at all. It hasn’t felt like having one of the most famous people in the world on our set at all, because there’s no paparazzi on the lot, there’s no photographers, there’s no press. Her mom and dad stopped by for a few minutes and were really nice. She’s just been low-key and has wanted to do a good job. We all very quickly forgot that it was supposed to be this big huge deal. It sort of feels normal. Like, a guest actor coming into our show and doing a nice job and being cool about it. It had none of the Britney Spears that you see in the press, this experience.

Talk a bit about the episode itself.
It's a very sweet, romantic comedy episode. I think it’s maybe the best one of those we’ve ever done, actually. Josh Radnor [Ted]: very good at that stuff. This one may be the best episode of season 3, I think. And on top of that, it’s gonna get a lot of extra press, because Britney’s on the show.

But besides Britney’s cameo, you think the episode will make viewers hang around?
I think people will be surprised to see Britney playing this role, and I think people will enjoy that she’s really good in it. But aside from that, it just has to be a great How I Met Your Mother episode. Hopefully, extra people will watch, but we really want to make our fans happy, too.

You're still on the bubble for next season. If you can’t get the audience in with this carrot, is CBS going to think even harder about renewing the show?
Boy, that’s a tough question. Obviously, it would be great if more people watched and said, “Hey, that’s a great show!” But all we can do is make great episodes. So it’s hard to think about that. I think we’ve given a great episode for CBS to sell to people and, hopefully, bring extra folks in.
And have them stick around.Let’s hope.

Has the cast hazed Britney at all, or are they giving her a pretty wide berth?
Alyson [Hannigan, Lily] was really bummed out that she does not have a scene with her. Alyson really seemed to love Britney, and I think they hung out a bit on Monday and Tuesday, and then at the end of the day Tuesday, Alyson really wanted to become friends with Britney, but she was lamenting the fact that she doesn’t think she made quite enough inroads to do so. I think Britney felt comfortable here.

Yeah, but I was on-set the day Mandy Moore was there, and everyone was still sort of staring. Britney is Mandy Moore times a hundred. Everyone’s looking for signs of the crazy.
Yeah, I mean, it didn’t seem like that big a deal to our cast. They liked her and wanted to befriend her. The only sign that Britney Spears was on our set, the only thing that was a little odd was that there were helicopters flying over our soundstage. Thank god, not close enough or loud enough to affect filming. The paparazzi can’t come on the Fox lot, so the helicopters, I guess, were hoping to shoot her on the 10-foot walk from the door to her trailer -- because apparently, that would be a really great photo? So we joked that Jason Segel [Marshall] should just try to run up to her and kiss her as though they’re dating and see if it gets a $10-$15 million bump for Forgetting Sarah Marshall [which features Segel] when it opens in a few weeks.

So has your experience with this made you think that all this tabloid hoo-hah is being reported incorrectly, or that Britney’s just both of these people at once: the train wreck, and the competent comedic actress?
Boy, I feel like I don’t know her well enough to really comment on that. All I can say is that various friends and family have been emailing me, like, “What’s going on?? Has it been weird?” And it hasn’t been weird at all. It seems like she just wanted to come in and play a funny small part, and that’s just what she’s done. There’s been no real connection to the paparazzi part of her this week.

Craig, have you been hypnotized?
I swear to god! I see no evidence of that whatsoever. You do feel, though, when you realize there are literally helicopters following this girl around -- like, “What is WRONG with the people in those helicopters? Why can’t people leave this girl alone?” It seems pretty absurd. You can’t help but feel sympathy for how weird that must feel.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Britney Spears "Talked About Clothes and Dogs" on TV Set

The following italicized article is from www.usmagazine.com:

So what was Britney Spears like on the How I Met Your Mother set?

"She was lovely," Alyson Hannigan told Usmagazine.com at the sitcom's re-launch party in West Hollywood Thursday.

"She’s just a person — so sweet and funny," Hannigan added. "We just talked about our clothes and dogs, and it was surprisingly just normal."

The rest of the cast couldn't stop raving about the actress — who shot scenes Wednesday and Thursday in L.A. — either.

"She’s beautiful," actor Jason Segel told Us. "You know, I was so focused on her hair that I’m overwhelmed with adjectives! She was great and lovely."

He said he wasn't surprised that Spears nailed her role as a dorky receptionist who falls for Ted (Josh Radnor).

"She was great," Segel added. "She was better than all five of us, so I guess that says a lot."

Added Cobie Smulders, "She was very professional and her comedic timing was great!"

The cast shrugged off rumors that Alicia Silverstone turned down a role on the show after learning that Spears was on board.

"I think there was some scheduling problems or something," Smulders said, adding that Scrubs star Sarah Chalke "came in at the last second."

Neil Patrick Harris said "there’s hope" Silverstone may still appear on the show at some point.

"She’s seemed to avoid that weird actress trap of only being able to do a very limited amount of things," he told Us. "She’s gone on to do interesting theater, so you’ve got to respect her chops now.

"She’s making smart choices so if she wants to come play with us, we’d be glad to have her!"

Spears' How I Met Your Mother episode airs March 24.

Source: Us Weekly

HIMYM Boss Tells Why Jason Segel Wants to Make Out with Britney and More

The following italicized article is from www.eonline.com:

Attention Britney Spears: You may want to watch out for Jason Segel.

It seems that the funny and charming star of How I Met Your Mother may have some ulterior motives while shooting with the starlet this week. "Segal thinks he should just run up to her and try to make out with her," laughs HIMYM show runner Craig Thomas.

Why? Well, you'll have to read on to find out! 'Cause I just cornered Craig for a one-on-one interview, in which he evaded the overhead helicopters (no joke!) to give me the full 411 on Britney's guest stint, how it happened, what it means for the show, what it means for Josh Radnor's ass crack (seriously), what happened with Alicia Silverstone and whether Britney will be back.

Here's a hint: "We would love to have her back. This episode ends with a really funny tag that I think sets up how you might see her coming back."

Which raises the question...Could Britney be the Mother?! (Yes, I went there!)

Read on for the scoop!

Hey, Craig! So what’s your week been like? Anything special?
Just a normal week. You know, typical. Same old nose to the grindstone. No helicopters flying over our sets trying to take pictures or anything like that. Or...wait! That’s exactly what’s happening.

Oh my God, are there really helicopters?
I kid you not. I’m not sure if I’m accurate in saying plural, but there was at least a helicopter. At least one, perhaps more.

Wow, it's like the O.J. chase or something. Right in your own backyard!
I know. Hoping for what? Hoping to get a shot of her walking 15 feet to her trailer. I think they got way more shots of Jason Segel smoking.

What you guys should do is just put a blond wig on everyone at Fox Studios to mess with them. That is great. Another thing is, Segal thinks he should just rush up to her and try to make out with her. He has a movie coming out and it could be, like, a $10-15 million bump in the opening weekend. Even if she’s like “Get off me! What the f--k are you doing?!”

And suddenly Jason's movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the biggest movie of all time!
Yes!

I've seen it. It's very funny. So honestly, what's it been like working with Britney?
It’s been—I would describe it as surprisingly low-key. Just nice and normal and everything has been really calm. She’s good. We always do a run-through, which is always a little bit of an awkward endeavor at How I Met Your Mother, because we always have like 60 scenes, and it’s like this crew of people and executives and stuff walking around this set. And Britney really nailed it. She was really funny, and she really had kind of her own take on the character.

I’m sure it helps that your set is so homey and drama free.
I think we’re developing that reputation over time, because I know some other clients of her agent have worked on our show, and they’ve sort of passed that on to the agent and to her that it’s a really low pressure environment. She knows she's not in front of a live audience, and we just try stuff, and we do it. We do takes a bunch of times and get different versions and get it to be as good as it can, and I think that really appeals to her.

So what did you think when Britney’s people asked if she could guest star?
I’ve got to say, I mean, from my writing perspective—everything is a little more last-minute than you want it to be, because we just had a week of prep for nine episodes that were unwritten. So it’s pretty crazy. And last week we were rewriting the script, and the role is like this messy, nerdy, adorable, spazzy receptionist who has a huge crush on Ted, and we’re talking about actresses who are sort of that type. You know, nerdy and messy and then it became...Britney Spears.

It is shocking when you’re writing a role like that, that’s probably the last name that would come into your head. But Britney came in and just embraced this role, it’s not like we had to change the idea of the role to fit her. She came in, wanted to act, wanted to play a character, and that’s just what she’s done. It’s been really good.

Did you have any hesitations at all about casting Britney?
Of course, you know, we have to think about it from a business perspective, too. You can’t say no to it when Britney Spears comes to you and says “I want to do a small, funny part on your show, and not have it be a big deal and you have to write me as the big star.” It’s like, of course you have to say yes to that. You don’t know what’s going to happen necessarily, but you say yes to it, and you’re excited about it. Then it’s turned out to be so kind of effortless and fun and just a really great week, so it paid off, it just really paid off.

What is the episode about?
I think it's the best romantic-comedy episode we've ever done. Abby [Britney] has a crush on Ted, but he’s completely oblivious to it, because he’s going after her boss, the dermatologist who is removing Ted’s tattoo from earlier in the season. That’s who Sarah Chalke is playing. Sarah Chalke is playing the dermatologist who’s removing his butterfly tattoo just above his ass crack. And the episode recounts the high degree of difficulty trying to impress a woman who is removing a butterfly right above our ass crack. And he’s smitten with her and just from a love-at-first-sight kind of moment with Sarah Chalke.

Can you talk about what happened with Alicia and Sarah stepping into the role?
Alicia doing the show was kind of a leak by TV Guide or something before it was a done deal. And then her thing just kind of shifted, she wasn’t available for this week. As I said, everything’s been so last-minute. We still would love to work with her at some point, and we’ve talked to her a couple of times. I would not rule out seeing her in a future episode, but it’s great, because Sarah was available, since Scrubs hasn’t started back up, and we’ve always, always, always wanted to work with her. We didn’t plan on making her be a doctor again. Sort of like Sarah is falling into this weird sort of realm like how Tony Danza has to play a character named Tony. Sarah Chalke, for some reason, must play a doctor.

Like she's not recognizable without the scrubs on.
She literally, I’m even making this up, brought her own Scrubs lab coat. She’s cool, and it’s tailored to her. Sarah Chalke is so great she shows up in her own costume.

That’s awesome! So what are the chances that Britney might come back for more episodes?
You know, it’s been a complete pleasure to work with her, and we would love to have her back. This episode ends with a really funny tag that I think sets up how you might see her coming back. I don’t want to give anything away.

She’s the mother, isn’t she?
You know what, we don’t rule out anything on this show.

How crazy would that be? Think about that, you came up with the concept so many years ago and now, all of a sudden you guys just say, let's just make the Mother Britney Spears.
Yeah, and the spinoff is How I Met Your Father, and it’s all from Britney Spears’ perspective and then you do five years of that.

I love it!
You know what, she seems to be having fun. I don’t rule anything out. I think people will be really surprised by how different the character is from the public perception of Britney Spears and also just how good she is at doing it.

Source: E! Online