It appears that season eight of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ will be the last season for the show. At least that is how executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are treating it. The two spoke to reporters on Tuesday and shared some insight into the upcoming season.
Despite talks of a final ninth season are still in the works, Thomas referred to the premiere episode, which airs on September 25, as “the first episode of the last season of ‘How I Met Your Mother.’”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Thomas added, “I don’t feel like we altered it because of not knowing if it’s the end. We’re writing this season like it’s the end. We’ll have a Plan A and a Plan B going, and we’re approaching the moment where those plans diverge.”
Concrete plans for the show’s future aren’t in place yet but Bays told reporters, “We’d like to know as soon as possible, but it’s a lot of big machinery moving around.” A green-lighted ninth season would be the final season of the show.
The duo also shared some tidbits of what fans can expect this season. “I think we’ve come up with a fun, weirdly appropriate way to get them back together,” Thomas said of Barney and Robin. The two characters, played by Neil Patrick Harris and Colbie Smulders, start the eighth season in relationships with other people but will end up marrying by the season finale.
Fans will also be treated to Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) son Marvin Wait-For-It Erikson, the producers said. “I’d like to think that we are tending to the fact that they have a baby more than other shows have, but the baby doesn’t take over the show,” shared Thomas.
Season eight will be filled with returning guest stars, including Joe Mangienallo, who plays Marshall’s law school friend Brads.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Bays said, “We have a plan to bring back many people we’ve had on the show. Not to steal their idea, but I loved the ‘Seinfeld’ finale where you saw everyone that’s ever been on the show. We have a way to do it that sort of fits in with the universe of our show. Hopefully there will be a cavalcade of familiar faces.”
Bays and Thomas told reporters that they are happy with the show ending this season or during a ninth season. According to TV Line, Bays said, “If this is the last season…it’s everything we ever dreamed of and more. Eight seasons is great. That being said, do we have a ninth season in us? Absolutely.”
Thomas added, “But wrapping it up in Season 8 would be amazing. There’s a part of us as writers that [is] drawn to that. It’s exciting. We get to answer everything. Every episode of the season is so much more important because of that. [That’s] something sort of thrilling and very nostalgic and sad to think about, but it’d be exciting to write.”
'How I Met Your Mother' season 8 premieres September 25 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.