Thanks to the efforts of former TVS writer Ryan Budke, this lovely little blog you're reading is high on the browsing list of the staff of How I Met Your Mother. In fact, they seem to like us quite a bit; at the CBS press tour party, co-creator Craig Thomas said he reads my reviews of the show every week, and executive producer Greg Malins came up to me while I was talking to Craig to tell me how much he loved the Squad (it sounded something like, "You guys are awesome!" But it was too loud in there for me to hear well. All I know is that it wasn't along the lines of "What a fine weblog you have, my dear fellow. Cheerio and pip pip.").

Anyway, because of this comfort level, I didn't have any problem asking the other co-creator, Carter Bays, a few questions about where the season is going, as well as some questions about not being picked to be in the post-Super Bowl slot. I also asked him about the origins of the two best episodes of the season, "Slap Bet" and "Swarley."

By the way, in the picture above, Craig is on the left and Carter is on the right. They look so young, don't they?

If you sensed a difference between the tone of last season and tone of this season, it's no accident, according to Bays. "Last year it was so much about the search that was unrequited, and having Ted have this unrequited love for the whole season," said Bays. "I think by the end of that we just felt, 'Let's just have fun from now on,' and make it a fun, funny show."

The goal is to make more episodes that stand on their own. "Ideally you want to reach the point where you can tune in and watch a rerun of How I Met Your Mother and enjoy it from start to finish without having seen any of the others." Hmm... concerned about reruns... that makes me wonder if they realize the show is on solid-enough ground that they're looking towards the day when the show is syndicated...

Whatever the motivation, the change in philosophy has definitely improved the show. Carter was flattered when I told him that I thought "Slap Bet" was the funniest half-hour of TV last year (a sentiment I expressed here earlier this month), and when I asked him where that came from, he was very honest about the plot's origins. "That is a real thing that existed between me and my friend John Read, when we were in high school. It was a very immature, juvenile, stupid thing that we never thought we should put on TV, but we did and it turned out to be funny, so who knows?"

Remember, "Robin Sparkles" was also in that episode, making it one of those multi-layered episodes in the Seinfeld vein; both the A and B plot are so strong, they could have carried episodes by themselves. Bays says they don't usually do A and B plots, but the draw of the slap was too strong to ignore. "'Slap Bet' was an idea we had sitting around since the beginning the show, and we knew like we eventually want to do an episode with the characters slapping each other. Because when you boil comedy down, there's nothing funnier than people getting slapped," he said.

"Swarley" had equally humble beginnings. Bays gives credit for the "crazy eyes" line to Carl, who is his and Thomas' assistant, whose utterances have been used in a number of episodes. The nickname "Swarley," though, "was just one joke that got pitched in the room that turned into a whole plot line that eventually turned into the title of the episode," said Bays. "It kind of grew. The word 'Swarley' was so funny, that it grew. It definitely absorbed the show like the Borg on Star Trek."

He was mildly disappointed that the show didn't get the slot after the Super Bowl, but there are benefits to even being considered, he said. "We're just excited to have the name How I Met Your Mother mentioned anywhere near the Super Bowl. It's a great promotional platform." He mentioned that CBS executive vice president Kelly Kahl went to bat for them, a fact that Kahl himself confirmed to me earlier that day.

Bays wouldn't reveal too many details about the rest of the season or the season finale, but what he did reveal is intriguing. "There's going to be a wedding, basically," he said about the finale. "(It) may or may not be that the two characters that are engaged are planning that wedding." Interesting. Many of the show's fans think that Ted and Robin will be broken up by the end of the season, given some subtle cues that Bays and Thomas have thrown into certain episodes -- "There's nothing we love more than sprinkling little bits in here and there," said Bays -- but maybe that'll happen after their wedding starts. At least it's fun to speculate, right?

Bays says that he and Thomas know where the show is going and what the plan is. Which means that fans can rest easy; the writers haven't forgotten about Barney's unwise selection of slap punishment: five slaps at any time of Marshall's choosing, without warning, for infinity. "Our goal in this show is to never leave things unresolved. Eventually all the questions will be answered every open storylines will be concluded. And, yes, we will see more slaps."