I really don’t want to lay into Britney Spears. I feel like there is this unacknowledged agreement in the media that we all treat her with kid gloves right now, because she’s not falling apart as badly as she was. In fact you could almost say that she’s pulling her life together. And I am nothing if not a big supporter of the underdog. I love hearing about the girl with the drug problem who ended up going to Yale. And for Britney Spears, getting to be on How I Met Your Mother TWICE is pretty much her equivalent. However to be honest, I think she got into college because of her money or her name, or maybe slept with the dean or something. Because she was not competing with the rest of the students.

Though Brit seemed to get some decent reviews for her first performance, I thought she ranged from stilted and awkward to cheesy and overdone. This time around more reviewers seemed to be honest about her performance – it was sub par at best. the writers gave her a few more lines and made her more integral to the story – definitely a big mistake. To be fair to Britney, How I Met Your Mother seems to be suffering from some strike-induced stress, because it hasn’t been quite up to par lately. If you just started watching it for the first time because of Britney, it’d be fair to think it was mediocre at best. But it actually is one of only three great sitcoms left on the air in this pathetic age of reality crapivision. The other two being the illustrious Office and 30 Rock.

Bringing Britney back onto the show reeked of a desperation that How I Met Your Mother should not have bowed to. They clearly shoehorned her in at the last minute. Several reviews noted that she and Neil Patrick Harris had absolutely no chemistry. Harris told the Associated Press that the show shouldn’t employ Britney again, and should steer away from Will & Grace-esq stunt casting. Even though he later retracted his comments (in a manner you could tell was forced), I’m sure it made things awkward between him and Britney – and the result was flat, even in Harris’ usually brilliant performance.

Overall it led to a lackluster night. Britney should stick to what she used to be good at – performing songs. She clearly knew how to put on a great show, and that’s where her fans probably want to see her. While it’s nice to try to stretch your wings a little, acting is not her forte. My cat and I gave a more convincing performance of infatuation last night when we wrestled over the last bit of a ham sandwich. Brit, we’re routing for you. Keep up the good work, do great things from here on out – just stay away from television.

Here are some clips from Brit’s performance last night.