Quick Takes: CBS renews ‘How I Met Your Mother’

Mother’s Day has come early at CBS: Its veteran comedy “How I Met Your Mother” will return next season — the final one for the series.

The entire gang is set to return for the show’s swan song. And patient viewers of the long-running comedy will finally learn the identity of the enigmatic mother in the title.

CBS and 20th Century Fox TV made the news official Wednesday after much speculation about the show’s fate. The series, from Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, premiered on CBS in September 2005 and is averaging about 10 million viewers per episode this season.

—Yvonne Villarreal

Timberlake will sing at Grammys

The Grammy Awards still have the ability to surprise. The Recording Academy said Wednesday that Justin Timberlake will perform on the Feb. 10 telecast, his first musical appearance in support of his first new solo material since 2006.

Timberlake, a six-time Grammy winner and two-time nominee for album of the year, will release “The 20/20 Experience” on March 19. Still a mystery — for now, at least — is whether Timberlake will use the Grammys to unveil a new song or perform his recently released “Suit & Tie,” his retro-minded soul single that features an assist from Jay-Z.

—Todd Martens

Rihanna talks about Brown

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Rihanna tells Rolling Stone that she’s glad to be back together with Chris Brown, who’s currently serving five years’ probation after pleading guilty to assaulting her the night before the 2009 Grammy Awards.

“I decided it was important for me to be happy. ... I wasn’t going to let anybody’s opinion get in the way of that,” Rihanna told the magazine. “Even if it’s a mistake, it’s my mistake.”

Rihanna goes on to express her belief that Brown has mended his ways and that their relationship has improved.

—Reed Johnson

Jim Nabors and partner marry

Jim Nabors, beloved to audiences as TV’s Gomer Pyle, has married Stan Cadwallader, his partner of 38 years.

The wedding took place Jan. 15 in front of a judge at a Seattle hotel, said Hawaii News Now, which first reported the news. Washington state legalized gay marriage in December.

“I’m not ashamed of people knowing. It’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” said Nabors, 82, a resident of Honolulu. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years, and I feel very blessed.”

Nabors and 64-year-old Cadwallader, then a firefighter, met in 1975 in Honolulu.

“The Andy Griffith Show” and “Gomer Pyle, USMC” alum told Hawaii News Now that he hadn’t acknowledged his sexuality before to the media, though he said he was open about it to friends and co-workers when he was working in Hollywood in the 1960s and ‘70s.

“I haven’t ever made a public spectacle of it. Well, I’ve known since I was a child, so, come on. It’s not that kind of a thing. I’ve never made a huge secret of it at all,” Nabors said.

—Christie D’Zurilla

Bolshoi ballerina stays in Canada

A top dancer at Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet is seeking refuge in Canada following the acid attack earlier this month on the company’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, according to news reports.

Ballerina Svetlana Lunkina told the newspaper Izvestia that she fears returning to Russia and has notified the company that she wants to prolong her stay in Canada. The company has accepted her request, the Associated Press reported.

Lunkina said that her relationship with Filin had been “strained” in recent weeks, according to the AP.

The dancer’s situation is further complicated by her statements that she has been the victim of threats in recent days. She was quoted as saying that she and her husband, Vladislav Moskalyov, had a falling out with Vladimir Vinokur, who heads the Vinokur Foundation for Arts and Culture.

—David Ng

Animal Planet goes fishing

How far can reality television go? A new competition series will debut this summer called “Top Hooker.”

Get your mind out of the gutter. It’s on Animal Planet, and it’s about fishing.

The network says the show will pit teams of expert fishers competing in odd challenges, like fishing with outlandish tools and catching fish blindfolded.

—Associated Press

Finally

Adapting: Warner Bros. says a film version of HBO’s series “Entourage” is in the works for the big screen, with series creator Doug Ellin set to write and direct.

Renewed: Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, “Katie,” has been picked up for a second season.