‘How I Met Your Mother’ gets a piece of Britney; ‘Scrubs’ fate update

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This time, it’s the entire cast of “How I Met Your Mother” who has an interesting story to tell their children.

In a surprising and swift casting move, Britney Spears is guest-starring on the March 24 episode of the CBS comedy as a dermatologist’s assistant who has the hots for central character, Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor).

The pop star and tabloid queen, who appeared in one episode of “Will & Grace,” approached CBS executives about playing a small part in a comedy late last week, sources close to the show said. (For more details go here).

By Monday, Spears was participating in a table-read with the entire cast sans paparazzi. Although we don’t know yet what future Ted’s take on the young woman will be when he re-tells the story to his children, co-star Neil Patrick Harris had this to say about working with Spears.

The same episode will also feature “Scrubs” star Sarah Chalke as the dermatologist to whom Ted turns to remove a tattoo, sources said.

Which brings us to ‘Scrubs’: As the impact of the writers strike continues to reveal itself in Hollywood, the fate of that 7-year-old comedy has hung in the balance.

The Zach Braff-led single-camera comedy was supposed to end this season, but NBC has not committed to completing the season beyond the five episodes that will begin airing on April 10. Creator Bill Lawrence has said he would produce his finale on DVD if he has to, but it appears that ABC, which has been interested in buying the show for two years, is coming to the rescue.

A high-ranking source at ABC said last week that the network expects to buy 18 more episodes of “Scrubs” to air next year, a claim that co-star John C. McGinley confirmed Monday.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez