Last week, during the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, I was among a group of journalists who paid a visit to the set of How I Met Your Mother , as the show winds down its nine year run.

After a press conference, the cast and attending journalists mingled on the set of Maclaren’s Pub, where, yes, you could order actual alcoholic drinks at the bar. During the event, I had the chance to speak to Cobie Smulders, to find out what it’s like heading into the final six weeks of production on the series and what fans have to look forward to before the end. And yes, I did ask her about her upcoming return as Maria Hill in Avengers: Age of Ultron… though she was being very good keeping her secrets on that subject!Oh, and as you’ll see her reference below, Cobie indeed had a glass of scotch while we talked (I went for a beer).

Cobie Smulders as Robin in How I Met Your Mother.

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Cobie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother.

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You know, I have from the beginning with this last season [felt the emotions]. I've just been very present and really trying to enjoy every minute. I do find myself getting nostalgic -- not so much thinking about the future, but I just try to enjoy everything -- the crew, our stories, these characters. I feel now, every time I go in to do a scene, I'm more precious with it than I have been in years. It's like, "Well, what about we do it this way?" or, "What if I tried this?" I'm playing with it more now, because I just know that I'm not going to be able to play this character for much longer.I know the whole thing.You know what's so funny is, like, a week before Neil did that, I went up to Craig [Thomas] after the table read, and I was like, "What is the deal with this?" He was like, "Well, do you want me to tell you?" I was like, "Yeah! I think I want to know," and he just laid it out. I immediately started weeping and had to leave. Like, I had to leave. I said that, I was like, "Craig, I have to leave right now. Thank you," and I just walked away.I do. You know, I feel it's very beautiful and very true to life. That's what I feel about it.Yeah, I mean, any Robin Sparkles episode. But even, like, in the beginning of last season, they were like, "We want to start this off with a dance number!" I got that call, like, three weeks before I came back, and I'm like, "I'm shooting Avengers. I can't come back." So it was me and Neil rehearsing with a choreographer and then finally meeting up, and I'm like, "We're doing, like, a full-on f**king dance number. What is happening?" There are moments that are constantly challenging, and I really feel like our writers Carter and Craig just push it. They're willing to try stuff, and they're willing to see it succeed or see it fail and learn from it and just try stuff out. When I signed up for this -- nine years ago now -- I had never done a comedy, and what I knew sitcoms to be was like, "Setup, setup, punchline. Setup, setup, punchline. Setup, setup, punchline," like you could see where the joke was going as they were setting it up. I've never felt like that on this show, and I think that that's rare.Yeah! Lock it down. Let's lock these two down. Yeah, I'm really excited. I really love their relationship. I think it's a relationship that you don't really see on screen. It's also a very fun relationship to play. I think that they live in fun. They live in fun, and they're their own people, but they come together. It's been really cool, especially seeing Barney's side of it, seeing how much -- I don't even want to use the word "change," because I don't think that anyone should change to start a relationship -- but grow up, maybe, and assess his life and assess what he really wants, and understanding himself a little bit more. Being a partner for him through that has been really cool.I'm really excited for -- I like to call it the Cristin Milioti episode -- the 200th episode [airing next week], just because, first of all, I think Cristin is amazing, and we have not used her enough on the show. But at the same time, there are all of these things, all these questions that are answered within that episode. There are some really interesting tie-ins to previous seasons and previous moments where maybe in another episode, like, "Oh, she left her umbrella at the club." Like, we get to see a flip side of what happened to that umbrella and follow that.I'm not talking about Avengers... anymore. [Laughs]Ever!I'll tell you, I'm excited about it. I know everything there is to know, but I'm not saying anything about it -- until literally the movie's out on DVD. Then I'll be like, "Wasn't that a great part?" But I'm very excited. Joss Whedon is the best man on the planet.As I sip my giant scotch...No, I don't know anything about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I've been watching, and I think it's such a great show. They're doing such a wonderful job, but I don't know about my personal involvement.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN , IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman