'How I Met Your Mother' Producers are Treating Eighth Season as its Last

Is season eight the end for comedy "How I Met Your Mother?"

Maybe, but maybe not. But probably.

“We want the show to come back next year,” says Nina Tassler, Eye entertainment division chief. But Tassler admits there has been no deal arranged to keep the show running, and the vagueness of the show’s future is throwing the producers for a loop.

Apparently writers have a specific plan in place for the show’s inevitable wrap-up, but will need to know an end date to implement it.  Knowing the show’s penchant for expert and hilariously arranged timelines, we imagine that’s causing a lot of stress and anxiety on set.

Co-creator and executive producer Craig Thomas spoke on the potential demise of the much-loved show, saying that whether the show is in its last season or not, producers are treating it as if it is.

So what will this mean for the future of “HIMYM?”  If season eight is shot for the finale and the show gets picked back up, CBS is going to be finding itself up a creek, having wound down the series and tied up all the ends.  Will we continue to care about the group once Ted has found his lady and Barney has settled down?

The excitement of finally getting to meet Ted’s wife and the mother of his incredibly bored but patient children seems to be drawing attention away from that question.  Thomas hints that we will, at last, get to meet the yellow umbrella-toting mystery woman, and, honestly, everything after that statement was kind of a blur.

Season eight will wrap up a lot of the loose ends between the rest of the characters, as well.  Marshall and Lily deal with the stress of parenthood, and more surprises will be revealed about the much-teased Barney and Robin wedding that Thomas promises we’ll go mad for.

So, who will play the much-anticipated Mother?

Thomas remains persistently mute on the casting of that role, maintaining that he wants to keep Mrs. Mosby a total surprise for his audience.