Joe Pugliese
Alyson Hannigan
How I Met Your Mother alum Alyson Hannigan is returning to CBS.
The actress has booked a guest-starring role on the network's freshman comedy The McCarthys, CBS announced Friday.
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On the comedy about a Boston family starring Tyler Ritter, Hannigan will appear in the Christmas-themed episode set for Thursday, Dec. 18. She'll play Pam, Marjorie (Laurie Metcalf) and Arthur's (Jack McGee) upstairs tenant who is sweet, but fresh from a break-up and broken-hearted.
In order to cheer her up, Marjorie invites Pam to join the family for Christmas Eve, however, as Pam watches the McCarthys play their very competitive annual gift-exchange swap, she is shocked by how the family treats each other.
The casting marks Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Hannigan's latest role at CBS following the conclusion of How I Met Your Mother. Last pilot season, she was set to star in CBS comedy pilot More Time With Family, which did not move forward.
Hannigan's addition comes as CBS has shown patience to the rookie comedy, which drew a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 on Thursday night, up a tenth week-over-week.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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