Not since Friends has there been a more tightly-knit group of sitcom characters than those on How I Met Your Mother. It’s hard to imagine what the show would be without Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, or Neil Patrick Harris.
Well, we might find out in a few years. In a recent interview with GQ, Segel noted that he has three years left on his How I Met Your Mother contract. The actor/director/writer intends to leave the sitcom when that time comes.
He said, “It’s an amazing place to be. But when you become an actor, part of it, the secret part of it, is that you don’t want to work a regular nine-to-five job. And the secret part of a TV show is that it’s a nine-to-five job. And eight years is longer than any relationship I’ve ever been in, it’s longer than any school I went to. I think after eight years, I’ll feel like I honorably did my commitment.”
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Segel continued, “It’s funny — it’s the greatest problem in the world to have. Jeez — I’m the luckiest guy in the world. But when your idol is Peter Sellers, playing one character for eight years isn’t what you’re trying to do. I don’t really feel like I have that much more to offer with this character. Maybe if we got divorced or something — but that’s not gonna happen. It’s gonna be some iteration of, like, my TV wife opens the fridge, and she’s like, ‘What happened to the birthday cake?’ And I walk in with a little frosting here [points to corner of mouth] like, ‘What birthday cake?’”
CBS, 20th Century Fox TV, and the show’s producers haven’t commented on Segel’s intention to leave but he’s probably not the only one. The other actors’ contracts also expire at the end of season eight. The fivesome signed a new contract in 2009 that brought their per-episode salaries to $90,000-$120,000 retroactively and extended their commitment to eight seasons.
The higher-ups could be planning on ending How I Met Your Mother after eight seasons or they could opt to continue on with as many original castmembers as they can get and/or afford.
What do you think? Should the sitcom continue without the core cast intact? Does season eight sound like a good place to end it?
Image courtesy CBS.
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Who is segel? Marshall or Ted. I know it’s not Barney.
Mark » Marshall
I have to admit, Jason Segel is my all-time favorite actor, and seeing HMYM is my absolute favorite show ever. I feel like I am part of the group, and I can relate to them. It will be sad when the show ends, but I think Jason Segel will be on to bigger and better things to further his acting career, and I can’t wait to see it.
It needs to end after 8 seasons. I love HIMYM but look at scrubs as the example it was contracted to last only 8 seasons and they continued to 9 and Ofcoarse the 9th season was the worse season ever. Learn from others mistakes and end it when planned.
I agree with ellie up there. If something is awesome, don’t squeeze all the awesome out until there’s only a few drops left; and then you take those drops mix it with other stuff and try to continue to pass it on as the original awesome stuff. the same thing happened to That 70′s Show when they hit Season 8 and they replaced Eric Foreman with that pretty boy, who wasn’t funny at all by the way, and then they got rid of Michael Kelso. That show could’ve ended on the 7th season but HAD to continue which kinda messed it up. I don’t want the same thing to happen to HIMYM
Whatever happens, do NOT continue without any of the core cast. If Segel wants to leave after the eight season, just make sure the story is complete after the first season. If the whole cast agrees for a 9th season, make a 9th season if you have the material. But don’t let it continue without the core cast. Other sitcoms showed that really fucks up it’s legacy.
They should totally end it after 8 seasons. I hate seeing my favourite shows going downhill, and there’s only so much they can do with these characters. I don’t want to see it becoming a lame broad version of itself, just because they’ve been offered a lot of money. Have some artistic credibility, guys.
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