Just heard from How I Met Your Mother cocreator Craig Thomas about the casting of one Ms. Britney Spears to play receptionist/comic foil Abby on episode 14 of HIMYM this season. He says, "We're thrilled to have Britney Spears on the show. Britney is an exciting new talent, and we can't wait for the world to meet her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check out this 'Internet' thing everyone is talking about." Ha!
Craig was also good enough to comment on the casting of a certain Scrubs favorite, saying, "We couldn’t be happier to have Sarah Chalke joining us to play a new love interest for Ted, Dr. Stella Zinman. Not only is Sarah smart, funny and charming, but we already know she looks damn good in a lab coat."
Funny, our Ms. Chalke made it big when she stepped into the Roseanne cast to replace Alicia Goranson, and it wasn't until the role of Elliot Reid on Scrubs came along that she shed the sobriquet of "Second Becky." Lucky for her, now that she's stepped in to replace Alicia Silverstone on Mother, "Second Dr. Stella Zinman" just doesn't have the same ring to it!
Meanwhile, E! News has learned that Britney will be on the Fox lot today for more rehearsals in preparation for the taping of her HIMYM episode later this week.
—Additional reporting by Ken Baker