Jamie Lynn Spears is, of course, the younger sister to pop star/unstable mother Britney Spears and star of Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101.” Jamie Lynn’s pregnancy was announced back in December. The father is her 19-year-old, pipe laying (and that’s not a joke) boyfriend, Casey Aldridge from Liberty, Mississippi.

The couple are not married. They’ve announced an engagement. I’m not betting on it.

The CBS sitcoms “The New Adventures of Old Christine” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and “How I Met Your Mother” can each breath a sigh of relief this morning now that CBS has officially renewed them for another season. Both shows were considered to be “on the bubble” despite the fact that I personally think they’re two of the funnier shows on TV not called “The Office” or “30 Rock.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for her role in “Christine” which undoubtedly helped that show get another chance. What’s not helping the show is the network’s decision to constantly keep moving it around the schedule so that no one who wants to watch it can ever find it. It’s a funny show that will probably never get a real chance in the long run.

“How I Met Your Mother” was probably, ironically, saved by a couple of guest appearances by Britney Spears. The episodes featuring Spears were no where near the funniest of the season, but they got big numbers which not only prompted the renewal, but also talks of more Britney in future episodes.

Also getting renewed for next season was “Rules Of Engagement” another Monday night comedy and “The Unit,” one of CBS’s best dramas. CBS had already announced the renewals for “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men.”

Not so lucky were “Moonlight” and “Shark” both of which got cut from the line-up.

CBS has also picked up six new shows. According to the industry trade papers, CBS will formally announce today that it has ordered two new comedies — “Project Gary” and “Worst Week” — plus four new dramas — “The Mentalist,” “Harper’s Island,” “The Ex List” and “Eleventh Hour” for the fall season

Project Gary

The multicamera project from ABC Studios centers on an easygoing, recently divorced dad (Jay Mohr) who tries to navigate new waters with his ex-wife, to whom he was married for 15 years, his kids and his new girlfriend.

Worst Week

Show revolves around a young couple, played Kyle Bornheimer and Erinn Hayes, in pre-wedding mode navigating the idiosyncracies of their soon-to-be in laws. “That ’70s Show’s” Kurtwood Smith and “New Adventures of Old Christine’s” Nancy Lenehan star as the bride-to-be’s mom and dad.

The Mentalist

Features Simon Baker, starring in his third CBS drama, as a former “celebrity psychic� who admits the psychic claim was a fraud but now uses his observational skills to work as a contractor with law enforcement.

Harper’s Island

A horror story that unfolds during the course of a season as a group of friends meet on an island off the Seattle coast for a destination wedding and are terrorized by a killer. Directed by Jon Turteltaub

The Ex List

Based on an Israeli series about a woman who’s told by a tarot card reader that she needs to get married by year’s end. The twist is that the man of her dreams is supposedly someone she’s already known in her life. So, of course, the woman must journey through her past to find him.

The Eleventh Hour Elemental

Based on the limited British sci-fi series, centers on Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell), a special science adviser to the government who, with his female bodyguard Rachel, saves people from the worst abuses of science. Compared to “The X-Files.”

UPDATE
According to Wired, “The Eleventh Hour” has been renamed “Elemental.”

UPDATE TO MY UPDATE
The official CBS press release calls “The Eleventh Hour” simply “Eleventh Hour” and not “Elemental” as was reported on the Wired site. Right now we’re going with “Eleventh Hour” as the actual title.

Lindsay is now following Britney again, but this time it’s not so bad. At least, not compared to what shenanigans they used to get into (Thanks Juno for that word).

After Britney’s successful guest appearance on How I met Your Mother, Lohan will be seen in the season finale of Ugly Betty.

She was so excited to shoot, a source tells Us, “Lindsay arrived on set 45 minutes early.”

Adds the source, “Lindsay and America [Ferrera] really hit it off!”

Variety reports she’ll play a down-on-her-luck old high school pal of Betty.

Lohan’s first episode airs on the May 22 season finale.

Her rep tells Us the actress will also appear in multiple episodes of the ABC hit.

I guess that means she’ll be back next season.

Some of you out there are fans of this show, so I wanted to pass it on, even if I don’t really get into it. I know there is a huge following though, it’s just not my cup of tea.

Apparently, the powers that be decided that another good reviews and a million viewers is pretty much a win-win for everyone so Spears will be reprising her role as the bubbly secretary, Abby, on the May 12 episode that is filming this week.

When last seen, Abby was flirting with womanizer Barney (cast member Neil Patrick Harris). The new episode, which began production Monday, has Abby and Barney sharing their mutual dislike of Ted (cast member Josh Radnor) and acting on it.

“Desperate to get a rise out of his former pal, Barney pops a surprising question to Abby,” CBS said in a release.

If you didn’t see last night’s episode you missed one of the funniest episodes of the show ever and the episode that will, apparently, set up the Spears episode as Ted and Barney had a bit of a falling out. The last time I checked CBS was still showing episodes on their website so I highly encourage you to check last night’s episode out if nothing else.

As for the Britney thing… It doesn’t really bother me. To be honest, any number of actresses could have played the part she played, but she did a decent job and played the part the way they obviously wanted it played. I wouldn’t tune it just to see Britney, but I wouldn’t not tune it because Britney’s on the show. Britney actually played the secretary to a character played by Sarah Chalke from Scrubs so it’s worth checking out just for the chance that she might make an appearance.

The troubled 26-year-old pop star will play Abby, a receptionist at a dermatologist’s office who falls for architect Ted (Josh Radnor) when he comes in to have a tattoo removed. The role will be Spears’ first return to the small screen since a 2006 cameo on Will & Grace.

Apparently it was representatives of Spears who first approached the show about doing a guest spot because “she was looking for a small part on a funny show.” Mother apparently fit the bill.

The writers were only given a short time to rework a character they had already been rewriting. Spears attended a table reading with the cast on Monday and her scenes will likely be shot this week.

How I Met Your Mother returns next Monday with all-new episodes following the writers strike.

Police were called to Spears’ house around 8 p.m. last night to respond to a custodial dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James. The dispute led to a three hour standoff that eventually led to Britney being taken away on a gurney and placed on an ambulance where she was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Officer Jason Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service that Spears appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. He declined to elaborate. No injuries were reported.

Spears and Federline have been involved in a long and very public custody battle. Federline has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has repeatedly defied court orders. The two were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.

Bizarre Behavior Of Britney Spears

Last night’s episode is just the latest in a growing list of increasingly bizarre behavior patterns for Spears. In the past year alone she has been photographed partying (sans underwear) and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control on multiple occasions. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab. She has had a handful of fender benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer’s foot and she has been filmed stealing a cigarette lighter from a convenience store for no apparent reason at all.

By Wednesday even Spears’ attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope had had enough and had filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a “breakdown” in communication with their client.

Someone Get This Girl Some Help

One wonders how much someone has to cry out for help before the people who claim to care about her actually begin to take steps to do something about it. Can there be any doubt at this point in time that Britney Spears is a very troubled young woman? I’m no psychologist but it’s obvious to even her most vocal defenders that Britney has some severe emotional issues and needs some serious help.

Details have yet to emerge on exactly what happened during last night’s “dispute” but at this point I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that Britney was waving around a handgun and threatening to shoot everyone in sight. That’s how crazy her life has become lately.