‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 8 spoilers: What is Barney up to now?

As you may have heard already, the November 19 episode of “How I Met Your Mother” season 8 is going to feature the return of Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”) to the show as Brad, an old law-school buddy of Marshall’s who he tries to help get a job … with results that end up going very badly for him.

However, what you probably did not hear about previously is that this episode is also going to feature the same sort of wacky and over-the-top storyline for Barney that you have come to expect from him over the years … regardless of whether or not it is believable. (Personally, our belief is that Ted as a narrator tends to exaggerate things in order to make part of the story more entertaining for his kids.)

So what specifically is the guy doing? The official description for the episode says that with the help of Robin, he is finding the best way to return to the strip-club circuit following his breakup with Quinn. If this was not Barney we were talking about here, we would be a bit more surprised that he would want to go back to this circuit, mostly thanks to the fact that it is the same profession that Quinn had, and there have to be some sort of nasty memories here. (He may also never think of a Stormtrooper the same exact way again.)

What do you think about this little contest Barney is having, and do you think it is possible that, strange as it may seem, this could push Barney and Robin closer together?