The mother’s identity may or may not be revealed on How I Met Your Mother next season, but one thing is certain: a variety show.

“It’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but it looks like it’s finally coming,” Cobie Smulders tells TVGuide.com. “I talked to [creators and executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas]: ‘Are we doing a variety show?’ We are. Don’t you worry!”

That’s welcome news to fans, who have been waiting for one to come to fruition ever since the sitcom referenced a failed Canadian variety show starring Alan Thicke and Smulders’ Robin (during her bubblegum pop Robin Sparkles days) last November. Smulders, who says she’s been impatiently waiting too, thinks the idea fell to the wayside last season to focus on the time-jumping show’s big musical 100th episode.

“Those episodes are such big undertakings. They have to write the song, we have to record the song, do the choreography, shoot the music video. Then we have to shoot the episode reference to the music video,” Smulders says. “I’m not doubting that having a variety show is going to be any less than that. I’m looking forward to it. And we haven’t seen Robin Sparkles in a while. It’s so much fun to do those shows. Those are my favorite episodes when we get to change it up and just go, “‘Let’s sing a song about suits today!’”

The 28-year-old actress is also trying something different during her summer hiatus: theater. Smulders, who studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art three years ago, is appearing in the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which offers a nice change of pace for her.

“In the sitcom world, there’s so much room for mistakes. There’s the beauty where you can experiment, but there’s something great about theater where you’ve got one shot and however it’s going to be is how it’s going to be,” she says. “It’s been really fun because you do get to wear a lot of different hats [in this play] since we’re storytelling as different characters. It’s fun to switch it up and get into different head space from Robin and be, like, a schizophrenic for one night.”

Not that playing Robin is any less fun. After all, the resident single gal has seen her share of significant others over the last five seasons and is still on the quest to land her dream broadcasting job — one of which she gave up in the season finale to stay with her co-anchor/beau Don (Benjamin Koldyke). Don, of course, took the job, causing Robin to dump him. “I hope for her to have success in her work because I feel like that’s what’s most important to her,” Smulders says. “I think she’s slowly realizing that the relationship thing is too, but she’s a really driven woman.”

So will Robin ever settle down — and with whom?

“Maybe she’ll turn out to be a lesbian! That’s her doppelgänger. That’d be interesting for me to play — straight Robin, lesbian Robin, Robin Sparkles. Love, Loss will prepare me for it!” Smulders laughs. “I don’t know in what form Robin will find love, but hopefully it’ll be the right one. I don’t know if it’ll be Ted, Barney, Marshall or Lily — it can be anyone in our cast at this point because I make out with every single person! Listen, Robin is a slut! She gets around. Season 6, hopefully she closes her legs a little bit!”

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