When “How I Met Your Mother” scored a two-year renewal prior to the seventh season, most assumed the renewal was putting an end date on the show.
After all, the five key cast members were only locked into the show through eight seasons, and at least one–breakout Jason Segel, who plays Marshall–was reportedly looking to move on once the eighth season reached a conclusion.
But a recent report in Variety said that CBS was opening negotiations for a ninth season, and at the network’s TCA presentation this weekend, CBS president Nina Tassler said that she is “optimistic” about scoring a ninth season of the hit comedy.
“We’re having conversations right now about extending it, we want the show to come back next year,” said Tassler. “We’re still in early conversations, we’re not there yet in terms of resolving the situation, but we’re pretty optimistic.”
Since the endgame–the “reveal” of the titular “mother” to Ted’s children–would need to be scripted into the series well before the actual finale, an early determination will need to be made whether season eight or a potential season nine would serve as the show’s final year.
