Another one of those 'moments'

Mother lode: A Britney Spears moment

Erratic pop star cameos on 'How I Met Your Mother'

By Diego Vasquez
Mar 24, 2008

"How I Met Your Mother" wasn't on the list last month when CBS announced a slew of series renewals. But the sitcom is certainly making a good case for a fourth season.

The show returned from the writers' strike last week to season-best ratings, and it could surge even higher tonight at 8:30 p.m., with a much buzzed-about cameo by troubled pop star Britney Spears.

Last week "Mother," which follows a group of good-looking young New Yorkers and thus drew comparisons to "Friends" at its launch, averaged a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating with its first original episode in nearly four months.

That was up 34 percent over the show's season-to-date 3.2 average, and it marked the second-best rating ever for the program, which aired a half hour earlier last fall.

Tonight's episode could do even better because of Spears. The tabloid queen's cameo has received extensive pre-show press and may have even accounted for some of last week's bump.

Though she plays a relatively minor role, an unstable woman with a crush on lead character Ted, it's her first TV appearance since bombing on the MTV Video Music Awards last year, then checking into a mental hospital amidst a contentious custody battle with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

Spears' TV appearances generally do well. The VMAs soared over the previous year's viewership, and her interview with Matt Lauer two years ago, before her marriage broke up, drew very good ratings for NBC.

Any sort of bump, be it from guest stars or simply lack of other original competition, will help "Mother," which was also a bubble show last year.

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