'How I Met Your Mother' officially renewed for FINAL season

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It’s official! After extensive negotiations, CBS has renewed How I Met Your Mother for a ninth season.

And this rumor is now confirmed too: Next season will mark the long-running comedy’s final outing.

All the series regulars will return — Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan — as well as creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

“Through eight years, How I Met Your Mother has mastered the art of leading-edge comedy, emotional water-cooler moments and pop culture catch-phrases,” said Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment. “We are excited for Carter, Craig, Pam Fryman and this amazing cast to tell the final chapter and reveal television’s most mysterious mother to some of TV’s most passionate fans.”

“We‘re thrilled to have the entire and incredibly talented How I Met Your Mother cast back for one final season to bring the series to a proper close,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen of 20th Century Fox Television. “Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are masterful and hilarious storytellers, and we have no doubt that they will guide one of the greatest comedies of the last decade to a gratifying conclusion when they finally reveal the identity of the Mother.”

The show’s fate was in doubt because the cast’s contracts expire at the end of the current eighth season. Segel was reportedly the most reluctant actor to return for another round.

HIMYM has had an incredible run on the network. The show successfully broke through CBS’ usual sitcom formula of family-based comedies with a fresh format that skewed younger and more contemporary, and a style that felt like a “single-camera” show rather than a studio-based “multi-camera” show. In recent years, HIMYM has flourished while airing in the tough opening slot of CBS’ Monday comedy block, and even hit series high ratings last year. HIMYM is currently averaging 7.8 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49.

For more on what’s to come, check out Sandra Gonzalez’s story: How I Met Your Mother: Five scoops on the rest of the season.