This Day in Pop: Britney Spears appears on How I Met Your Mother "Ten Sessions" episode in 2008 (March 24)

[PokemonSpears]

On March 24, 2008, How I Met Your Mother's season 3 thirteenth episode titled "Ten Sessions" aired on CBS. Britney Spears was one of the guest stars in the role of Abby, along with Sarah Chalke, Marhsall Manesh and Charlene Amoia. The episode was directed by Pamela Fryman and written by Chris Harris, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

This was Britney's first TV appearance since the 2007 VMA's, and it was also the first project she did while being under the conservatorship, which was granted to her father just the previous month.

In the episode Britney plays the receptionist of Dr. Stella Zinman (Sarah Chalke), the dermatologist that Ted (Josh Radnor) is seeing for ten sessions to remove his tattoo. Each week he tries to convince Dr. Zinman to date him, even though she warned him the answer was gonna be no. After five sessions he decides to start being nice to Abby to show the doctor his good side, but instead Abby starts to fall in love with him.

 

"Ten Sessions" was the most watched episode of the season, and the only one to surpass 10M viewers. Her participation got mixed reviews from critics, with some praising her acting and others her "change of pace from her latest public appearances".

Britney would reprise her role again on episode 19 "Everything Must Go" which aired on May 12.

 

 

[PokemonSpears]

 

[ElectricPlatypusLove]

Don't forget a young me's iconic cameos in the bar scenes.

[Look But Don't Touch]

She looked good and young!

 

[IonutM]

Iconic! Most of my friends loved this addition to the series! She was really good imo

[PokemonSpears]

5 hours ago, Look But Don't Touch said:

She looked good and young!

 

that's the next episode, but yeah she looked great  

[PokemonSpears]

4 hours ago, IonutM said:

Iconic! Most of my friends loved this addition to the series! She was really good imo

yeah, I remember some of my classmates in college started to binge watch the series right before its final season ended, and they were all surprised to know Britney had been part of it, and they even called me to watch her episodes with them between classes  

[Britneylandia]

I can’t believe they put her to work just one month after ripping off her civil rights, wow. Also this proves she just needed some help, love, rest and therapy to recover. She could be an independent happy woman if they tried to really help her. Disgusting. 

FREE BRITNEY!!!

[mythology]

She was great in this tbh.  Our fave needs to do more comedy, she always shines there.

[Sea flower]

She did so well!!! It was a truly crucial point for the show, B saved it!

[PokemonSpears]

10 minutes ago, Sea flower said:

She did so well!!! It was a truly crucial point for the show, B saved it!

Yeah I was seeing that the viewership for that season had dropped a lot compared to the first two. Britney's episode was the peak of that season. Her second episode towards the end of the season wasn't that lucky though. 

[Anti-Hero]

It just blows my mind that she was on tv just a month after she was deemed “incompetent”

[ElectricPlatypusLove]

IIRC the episode got the show's biggest ratings ever. 

 

Obviously my presence in the background was a hit.

[PokemonSpears]

[princessmimi]

Man I always wanted to see her guest spots on the show.

Where can I watch them and did she do a good job?

[DignifiedLove]

On 3/24/2021 at 7:08 PM, ElectricPlatypusLove said:

IIRC the episode got the show's biggest ratings ever. 

 

Obviously my presence in the background was a hit.

Wait that’s actually so cool. Did you meet or see Britney? Are you still doing film/tv extras?

[ElectricPlatypusLove]

16 hours ago, GODNA IS A QUEEN said:

Wait that’s actually so cool. Did you meet or see Britney? Are you still doing film/tv extras?

Unfortunately no glimpse of Britney, I was only in the bar scenes, not the office scenes. That was like her first big project post "breakdown" and it was a very closed set, from what I heard.

 

I do live streaming but left Hollywood behind many years ago. Seeing how it played Britney, I learned. 

[Annabanana]

I love this show and it's so cool how she got a part on it.

[monkeystar88]

I super didn't like the show but I loved her performance. her comedic timing is incredible 

 

 

[Alex Murr]

On 3/24/2021 at 3:05 AM, PokemonSpears said:

I liked most of his scenes, but I can't with this one in particular, so fake  she could have done better.