'How I Met Your Mother' bosses say Season 8 is likely the end (maybe)

Nothing's official, "How I Met Your Mother" fans, but expect this season of "HIMYM" to be its last. Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas say that although they've got a contingency plan in store should a Season 9 shake out, they're approaching "HIMYM" Season 8 as the final chapter.

"We're writing this season like it's the end," Thomas tells Zap2it and other TV reporters at a special early screening of the Season 8 premiere, which airs Monday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. on CBS. "We sort of have a Plan A and a Plan B going [should Season 9 happen], but we're approaching the point where those two things would diverge."

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The decision has to happen soon, because the Season 8 storyline depends on it, says Bays. "It gets more and more difficult as it goes on. Ultimately it's going to be more and more work that we're going to have to throw out if this isn't our last season, so we'd like to know as soon as possible. It's a lot of big machinery we're moving around."

That said, Bays and Thomas are aware that talks are going on between the studio and the network and the actors, and they'll be happy regardless of the final decision. "If this is the last season of 'How I Met Your Mother,' it's everything we ever dreamed of and more, and eight seasons is great," Thomas says. "That being said, do we have a ninth season in us? Absolutely. We could do a ninth season if it was possible."

But don't expect the show to come back without some of the stars. That is absolutely out of the question, says Thomas. "No, never ever ever. We would never do it. It's a family, and we're finishing this thing together."

Would you like to see "HIMYM" end after Season 8, or do you want another two years of the CBS comedy?