How Ted Met Carrie Underwood

After the scourge to fans of scripted television that is the Olympics on NBC, tonight, CBS' sitcoms return with all-new episodes. For fans of Two and a Half Men, enjoy 'em while you've got 'em, because with Charlie Sheen away in rehab, the show has halted production, after completing only 18 of the 24 ordered episodes.

But in better news, tonight's episode of How I Met Your Mother -- entitled "Hooked" -- is as fun as ever, with guest star Carrie Underwood in a comic turn (and an even cuter "teacup pig," which I never knew existed, but now I want one.)

Back in January during the Television Critics' Convention in Pasadena, we critics had been shuttled over to Stage 22 on the Fox lot in Century City, where over breakfast, we were treated to a live "table read" of this episode, up close and personal. The teacup pig was not present -- he was actually scheduled to be born two days later, explained one of the show's executive producers, Carter Bays, and then brought in for filming the very next day -- but we did get to see Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris read their lines aloud for the first time, and give them their comic spins.

Carrie Underwood wasn't present either -- her lines were read by the episode's writer Kourtney Kang -- but Neil's real-life boyfriend David Burtka was, as he was again appearing in the episode as Scooter, Lily's recurring, long-ago ex. And guest star Catherine Reitman, daughter of filmmaker Ivan, got lots of laughs in her role as Henrietta, a girl pining for Ted.

So many times, episodes change extensively between this first "table read," when writers and network executives gauge which jokes are working, and adjust what we finally see on the air. But tonight's episode seems, as far as I can remember, virtually identical to what we saw performed in person that day -- way to go, Kourtney! -- and may inspire you to go out and find a "pharma girl" of your very own.

(How I Met Your Mother airs at 8PM Eastern/7 Central tonight (Monday, 3/1) on CBS.)

CBS Watch November/December issue on newsstands NOW!

Now on newsstands and in your mailboxes: the November/December 2009 issue of CBS Watch! Check out my cover story on NCIS: Los Angeles and its stars LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell, as well as other pieces like my experience at Neil Patrick Harris' L.A. theater show, Accomplice Hollywood, and Frank DeCaro's reminiscence of a CBS classic, Designing Women.

Watch! can be found on newsstands in stores like Target, Barnes & Noble, and Hudson News -- and you can subscribe for free! Just go to www.cbswatchmagazine.com and sign up for your free subscription -- no strings attached!

Neil Patrick Harris talks about our trip on the Orient Express

On tonight's Late Show with David Letterman, Neil Patrick Harris spends the majority of his time being teased for taking a trip on the Orient Express with Watch! magazine.

Wow, we could not have asked for better promotion for Watch! -- thanks, Dave!

Check it out below. And for a FREE subscription to Watch!, go to www.cbswatchmagazine.com.

Watch for Watch! with Neil on Dave!

Check out tomorrow night's Late Show with David Letterman, where Neil Patrick Harris stops by and talks about his trip with Watch! magazine aboard the Orient Express. And watch Dave get jealous -- I've heard he's hilarious in his jealousy of the likes of Larry Hagman in the pages of our July/August issue.

That's tomorrow night (Friday, 9/4) at 11:30 PM Eastern on CBS.

Entertainment Tonight covers CBS Watch

On tonight's show, ET covered two stories in the current issue of CBS Watch magazine -- both by yours truly. Click through to ET's coverage of Neil Patrick Harris' trip aboard the famed Orient Express train, and the photo shoot accompanying my candid interview with Mary Hart.

Watch for Watch!

If you're among the thousands who have signed up for a free subscription for CBS' Watch magazine, keep an eye on your mailboxes. The July/August issue is off the presses and on its way to you.

On the cover, Neil Patrick Harris poses in front of the famed Orient Express train, which I then had the privilege of taking with him from Venice to Paris this past April. Inside, the actor talks about being Barney, about travel and life with his partner, David Burtka. Check it out!

And for a free subscription to future issues -- September's cover shoot and story, with the cast of The Big Bang Theory, will be hot, too! -- sign up here, at www.cbswatchmagazine.com. That web site, by the way, is relaunching any minute now, and itself will have great original content you won't find anywhere else!