I’ve been obsessively watching “How I Met Your Mother” after discovering it late (super late) in the third season. Actually, I let it slip that I wasn’t watching it and then got harangued by everyone I knew for not knowing what it meant to be the married “Lily” of the group. Since then, I’ve been loving Neil Patrick Harris’ bad Barney. His Lothario-dude, who would be a creepy, sadistic psychopath in real life, is adorable on TV as he wham-bam-thank-you-ma’ams his way through the ladies of New York. Except, this season he is adorable in a brand-new way. He’s found love with Robin, an uncomfortable, wince-inducing, awesome, making-out and having-googly-eyed-Sunday-brunch kind of love. And I love that he’s in love. Which got me thinking about all the other fictional characters that I’ve wanted to watch fall in love. Or at least get kissed.

• Relationships start out fun and full of laughs, but, eventually, they end in passive-aggressive battles. Which of the five stages of relationships are you in? [Maxim]
• A panel of judges has deemed the neck an intimate part of the body after Wahid Sene tried to have his conviction for breaking into a woman’s apartment, stripping naked, getting into bed with her, and licking her neck overturned. [Gothamist]—Is this seriously a fetish for people outside the wannabe-vampire set?
• Looking for a forum where you can kiss, f**k, and tell besides all the other popular social networking sites? Well, I Just Made Love lets you “say exactly when, where and, yes, how you got it on.” [Urban Daddy]—Seriously, when are we going to quit with the TMI?

We’ve waited patiently (SO PATIENTLY) for four years to find out who will be the titular mother on our fave sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother.” According to Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly, the show’s executive producer told him that episode #100 of the show would contain “some serious mother action.” He elaborated, “It’ll be the closest Ted’s ever come to her. He’s getting a step closer every episode this season, and episode 100 we kind of go bananas with it.” And guess who Ausiello has just discovered has been cast for a role in episode 100? The amazing Rachel Bilson. I’m jumping up and down because that’s so freaking adorable. [EW]

How do I love Neil Patrick Harris? Let me count the ways. I love him for his incessant high-fiving on “How I Met Your Mother” and for making me actually feel empathy for the world’s ultimate cad. I love him for suiting up in a white tuxedo to host Sunday’s Emmy Awards. I love him for his diabolical turn in Joss Whedon‘s too-fun-for-TV “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog.” I love him for having a kick-ass voice and doing the Broadway thing with ease. I love him for his cameos in “Harold and Kumar” movies. I love him for the sexy creased brow. I love him for playing a teenage doctor who posed deep questions about the meaning of relationships to his computer eons before Carrie Bradshaw.

But more than anything, I love Neil Patrick Harris for being openly gay.

For the past few months, it’s been all reality, all the time. Then two weeks ago, the CW showed up to get you addicted to their newest trashtastic shows. Now, the major networks are stepping up to the plate with their new fall offerings. Our picks: “The Good Wife,” “Cougar Town,” and “FlashForward.” And we’re pretty pumped for the return of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Californication” too. Happy Tivo-ing.

We knew that Britney and Kevin saw each other on Easter, but now a source is saying they’ve agreed to take a trip together to work on their relationship. What relationship? Over the last couple weeks Britney has given us so much hope that she’s getting her life back together. (By going shopping and not messing up on How I Met Your Mother, but whatever.) Yes, they have two children together, but doesn’t it seem as though Kevin made her dive off the deep-end? Does anyone else think the two of them trying to get back together is a bad idea? (By the way, his rep says this isn’t true, so who knows.) [Showbiz Spy]