US Weekly has an interview with the creator of “How I Met Your Mother,” the CBS sitcom in which Britney Spears will appear in a cameo on March 24. What really surprised me is how arrogant Britney’s people came across when they said she wanted a role and how quickly the “How I Met Your Mother” staff worked to accommodate them. It’s unclear from the way this is worded whether the part existed before Britney’s people called and asked, but I got the impression it was written in just for her. Her people asked for a script to be sent 30 minutes after they called and said she was interested in a part, and the writers worked furiously to send it to her:

Tell Us how this all came about.
Britney’s people ended up coming to CBS and expressing interest in our show, and we were thrilled: ‘Britney Spears watches our show!’

They said she was a big fan of the show?
They said she was looking for a small part on a funny show, and she checked out our show and liked it. They were really receptive to the idea of bringing Britney in and just doing a funny role for her. It all came together really quickly – it was kind of shocking.

How quick?
We heard that they read about the part on Thursday. We were literally in the middle of a re-write of that script, and they said, ‘Oh, we’re having dinner with Britney tonight, and she likes the show. Can you get her a script a half-hour from now?’ So we just sort of busted ass for the next 40 minutes, hit print and showed her our in-progress rewrite of the episode. She got in and thought the character was really funny and said yes the very next day.

[From US Weekly]

“How I Met Your Mother” creator Craig Thomas said that Britney was relaxed and fun when they met with her to read the part and that she “seemed to fit right in” with the cast.

You can understand why they would work so hard to make sure a part was made for her, because people are going to watch this episode just for Britney, but it also comes off as a bit ridiculous. Couldn’t they have sent her the script re-write the next day or a few days later? Did they have to work that night to get it out just for Britney?

I know Britney is a big star and a huge draw and all, but do you think they would have worked to get the script out for anyone else other than maybe an a-list star? This is a pop singer who is known for not wearing underwear, losing custody of her children, and having public breakdowns. I wish her well and all, but she’s not an actress.

Britney will appear on the show as the secretary of a dermatologist that one of the characters, Ted, is interested in. Alicia Silverstone was set to guest star as the dermatologist and she bailed when she learned that Britney would appear. E! Online reports that Silverstone thought it would be “too chaotic” with Britney there. Silverstone will be replaced by Sarah Chalke from “Scrubs.”