'How I Met Your Mother': Is Ben Vereen Barney's Dad?

As Zap2it first reported, Frances Conroy returns as Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) mom, Loretta, in the second episode of "How I Met Your Mother's" sixth season -- and it looks like his mysterious father finally makes an appearance as well.

Wayne Brady, who's twice appeared as Barney's brother James, tweeted two photos from the set of the show today -- one of them including actor Ben Vereen ("Roots") and credited him as Brady's and Harris' TV dad.

No, there's not much of a resemblance between Vereen and Harris, but it does make sense when you think about it. Vereen is a song-and-dance man and Broadway vet, and so's Harris. At least it's more believable than the man Barney previously thought was his father -- Bob Barker.

NPH has not been quite as forthcoming about the identity of his character's biological father. His latest tweet from the set only references Conroy and Brady's appearances. Zap2it has reached out to show representatives to see if they'll address the validity of this paternal predicament. 

Here's the photo Wayne Brady snapped with Ben Vereen:

And here's one of Brady with Neil Patrick Harris:

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Photo credit: TwitPic