New episodes of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ tonight on CBS

Season eight of "How I Met Your Mother" premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS. This could be the last season for the series, as a ninth season is still up in the air.

Star of the show Neil Patrick Harris said he believes this is the final chapter for "How I Met Your Mother."

"Our contracts end at (season) eight, so it’s one of those, you know, if they wanna do nine, they’re welcome to, but we have a lot of other things. Cobie (Smulders) has got "The Avengers" that just made a billion dollars, Jason (Segel) makes a ton of movies, I’m anxious to move east, and Josh (Radnor) is directing and acting in movies as well, so we all are anxious to move forward," he said.

Harris, who plays Barney Stinson, is unsure if he even wants the sitcom to continue, and although he loves the show, he says money will play a big factor in the cast’s decision to return.

"The only way I think a season nine or any longer would happen would be (if it were) financially right – that’s the reality of it. We love the show, we love doing it… eight years is a long time, and we’re as happy a family as we’ve ever been," he said in an interview.

The show’s creator Craig Thomas wrote this season as if it were the end, but he is ready to begin work on a season nine at any time.

"We’re in an odd conundrum of not knowing whether this season is the last or not," Thomas said. "We’re writing this season like it’s the end. We’ll have a sort of Plan A, Plan B going, and we’re approaching the moment where those plans diverge."

Season seven answered many nagging questions viewers had, but also left a few cliffhangers. It was revealed that Barney’s future wife is actually Robin. The only mystery is how they end up together.

"Barney and Robin will begin to find their way back to one another during November sweeps," Thomas said. "I think we’ve come up with a fun, weirdly appropriate way to reunite them in a whole new way that I hope everyone will like… There’s a lot of stuff to pick up on in season eight, and we’re going to see all of the characters go to completely different places this year," he adds.

Be sure to tune in tonight for the beginning of the end. It will be interesting to see how the series closes, be it this season or the next.