'How I Met Your Mother': Frances Conroy returns as Barney's mom

Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under") will reprise her role as Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) mother, Loretta, in the upcoming season of "How I Met Your Mother."

A source close to the series confirms to Zap2it that Conroy will appear in the second episode of Season 6, possibly related to the previously reported story of Barney's upcoming search for his biological father.

Conroy, who earned four Emmy nominations for outstanding actress for playing Ruth Fisher on "Six Feet Under," first appeared in the "HIMYM" Season 4 episode "The Stinsons."

Barney and Loretta don't have the closest relationship -- if you remember, he hired actors to play his wife and son to keep her happy and out of his hair -- so he probably won't take it too well when he realizes she's been lying about Bob Barker being his real dad.

Conroy most recently starred in ABC's short-lived mystery "Happy Town."

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Photo credits: CBS