As expected, CBS's 'How I Met Your Mother' used Britney Spears just the way we all thought they would; as a dim-witted, overly sensitive, fragile space-case willing to have anonymous sex with the first guy who acts the least bit nice to her. Not a big stretch given the 'actor' they had to work with, but ludicrously formulaic and stupid. It took a yeoman-like performance from Britney to make the character seem remotely human. For that, we have to say she did just fine.
Interestingly, the big surprise that stole the show - or was it - was Sarah Chalke's performance as a dermatologist who becomes the object of main character, Ted's, affections. You may remember her as the "new" Becky during the final seasons of 'Roseanne', but more recently as Dr. Elliot Reed on 'Scrubs'. Whereas Dr. Reed is ditzy and unsure, Ted's love interest seems confident, competent, and strongly motivated by her responsibility to her daughter; a breath of fresh air, if you will. She's forced to turn down Ted's advances due to her schedule. Which begs the question, what the hell kind of private practice doctor only has two minutes for lunch? And don't say "dermatologists" because most of them have the best golf game of any MD and it's not because they're in the office 10 hours a day.
Many fans are asking, will we see Sarah's character again. It's quite possible. The end of the episode left the door wide open. I suppose they had to write Britney the way they did, though. It was a one-shot. CBS blew their wad on the pop star's viewability and scored. But by accident or design, Sarah stole the show, and the promise of her return might actually draw in some new fans. Maybe CBS knew what it was doing - looking toward the long term - after all.
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