‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 9: Neil Patrick Harris to shuffle show with Emmys

Neil Patrick Harris’ schedule has just got a little bit more crammed in the upcoming months. He’s already got the Tony Awards to host, the ninth season of “How I Met Your Mother” to appear in (which starts filming in a couple of months), and now, it has also been announced that he will host the 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards when they move to CBS later this year. This marks the second Emmys in a row on the network that Harris has hosted, and he has been considered the favorite for months given that executives tend to want to put one of their own personalities in charge of the proceedings.

In a statement, network programming head Nina Tassler had the following to say about the announcement:

“Neil is the quintessential host – engaging, entertaining and a true showman – with a passion for celebrating the medium we all love.  We’re thrilled for him to return for CBS’ broadcast of the Emmy Awards.”

Is hiring Neil a predictable choice? Sure, but it’s also the right one. If you have a man on your roster who is extremely entertaining, likable, and respects the medium, why risk your ratings on something new? Neil will bring in viewers, and also hopefully some great ideas to go along with it.

This is really just the beginning of our Emmys coverage, beginning next month, we’ll be starting up all of our predictions, picks for nominations, and gossip about who is likely to get some love, and who is likely to be left in the dust. If you are an awards geek to the same extent that we are, you will find the coverage a slice of TV heaven.

For now, we do have some other gossip to read about in our Critics’ Choice Television Awards picks for the year.

Do you like Neil as a host? Be sure to sound off in the comments below! For more “How I Met Your Mother” news, click here to read about who we would love to see back on the show again a little later this season.

Photo: CBS