HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Will Go Back To Basics in Season 6 with Rachel Bilson, Robin Sparkles…and a Flash Forward?

If you’re a longtime HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER fan who has stuck with the series from season 1 through May’s season 5 finale, you know this past year was a bit of a departure from what we’d come to expect.

Before meeting with co-creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, poolside at the Beverly Hilton last night, I asked HIMYM viewers — via Twitter — if they had any questions for the show runners and the first response I got was: “What are their overall feeling towards last season? As [a] fan it was [the] most uneven of the series, some great great but also some lows.”

Thankfully, I didn’t even have to bother lobbing that notion at Thomas and Bays, because they began our chat by acknowledging it.

“Season 5 was sort of our syndication year,” said Bays of the more “stand alone” nature of the year’s half hours, likening them to a box of chocolates that yielded some favorites — “Doppelgangers” and “Robots vs. Wrestlers” — and some, well, not so favorite. “We sort of said, what if you hit the reset button at the end of every episode?… It was a fun experiment, but I don’t think it’s what we do best.”

According to Bays and Thomas, in season 6, HIMYM will go back to basics, telling the more emotional and relatable “coming-of-age” stories that hardcore fans of the show love it for.

And it’ll all begin with a flashforward.

No, the show is not going all LOST on us, but the writers will be relying on the storytelling device to sort of reset the mystery of the series.

As Thomas explains it, the week-to-week saga of “Is this one the mother?…Is this one the mother?” will be put to bed in the season premiere when we flash into the future and see something — the day Ted meets said mother — which ignites a whole new mystery that will influence the entire season.

Interesting, no?

And up in that season premiere mix will be Rachel Bilson.

Bilson’s character, who was established as “the mother”‘s roommate in last winter’s 100th episode, is booked for the season 6 opener and will once again bring us closer to the mysterious woman around whom the entire show is based.

Hearing Bays and Thomas talk about what goes down, I would guess that there will be quite a bit of excited internet chatter after the ep airs. Thomas said that when they got back into the writers room early this summer, they were hit with the realization that the show is eventually going to end, which set them on a course that has a lot of important things happening to their beloved characters.

Now, that is not to say that the show is ending this year. Bays and Thomas hope to do a season 7, maybe even a season 8. But, as Bays put it, it feels like we’re now at the top of the roller coaster and it’s time to begin that descent.

Of course, that descent is designed to be the most fun part of the ride and it does sound as if that will be the case for HIMYM.

Thomas told us that when they gave the outline of the season to show director Pam Fryman, Fryman actually began to cry, declaring, “We’re back!”

The co-creators promise a lot of emotional growth for Ted and crew, going as far as to say that Barney actually grows up this year.

What that means exactly, we’re not sure, but we do know that something will happen in the premiere — something having to do with Lily and Marshall’s decision to have a baby — which propels the Barnana to go in search of his real father. Yes, he will finally acknowledge that it’s probably not Bob Barker.

As for Lil and Marsh, they’ll get down to business trying to make that baby as soon as the show returns in September.

Ted — though still teaching at the university — will get a call from Barney and Marshall’s place of business, Goliath National Bank, asking him to take another stab at designing their new headquarters. It will be the opportunity of a lifetime as an architect, however there is a catch: He’ll have to destroy one of New York’s historical buildings in order to erect his masterpiece and, for Ted, a lover of nostalgia with respect for such things, he’ll be conflicted. The conflict will change shape, though, when he meets a woman whose passion in life is to preserve and protect this building. Said Thomas, she’s someone who would picket the destruction and she and Ted will become bitter enemies.

Meanwhile, Ted’s roommate Robin will be on her own journey — a journey which Thomas and Bays were very tight-lipped about. Though they teased the main stories for every other character, what Robin will be up to remains a mystery.

What we do know? She and Ted are just friends this season, sharing a strengthened bond. We haven’t necessarily seen the last of her season 5 love interest Don (Benjamin Koldyke). And we definitely haven’t seen the last of Robin Sparkles.

“We’re going to do the third installment,” Thomas promised. “[Last time he was on] Alan Thicke hinted that there was this Robin Sparkles kids show in Canada…We love the idea of going back to that. It’s going to be an early tween type show…Most likely an outer space-themed show, and [Sparkles] had a partner named Glitter.”

And, yes, they’re looking to cast Glitter now. Bays said they’re super excited about the possibilities for the role, though it’s too early to say who’s in contention.

Any guesses, you guys?

Obviously, Britney’s out, having played a guest character on the show a couple season’s back… but I am thinking it’s going to be a fairly big name. Or, you know, an interesting name at the very least.

Let’s discuss in the comments section below.

And while we’re at it, can you weigh in on which of Robin Sparkles’ first two tunes you like best? “Let’s Go To The Mall” or “Sandcastles in the Sand”?

Thomas and Bays seem to have a favorite, so I’d love to hear what you think.

And if you want to talk about what you now know about the upcoming season, that would be cool too…

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