'How I Met Your Mother' pulls an acrimonious public father-swap

Neil Patrick Harris and Eric Braeden exchange heated words online

By HitFix Staff Saturday, Dec 18, 2010 2:00 AM

Ray Wise

Credit: The CW

It seems Robin Scherbatsky is going to have a new father on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother."

Soap opera legend Eric Braeden played the role in the 2008 episode, "Happily Ever After," though Braeden's comments to the press at the time of his cameo left a good deal of doubt about his enthusiasm for the CBS comedy.

Robin's (Cobie Smulders) father -- Robin Sr. -- will appear in an upcoming episode, but he will not be played by Braeden.

On Friday (Dec. 17) morning, Neil Patrick Harris first tweeted, "Eric Braeden is a D-Bag. the actor, (Robin's dad) agreed to a cameo, then last night bailed, saying the part wasn't 'substantial' enough."

He followed that up with, "We've recast with Ray Wise, a fantastic actor who makes any part 'substantial'. Super excited to welcome him to the family!"

Wise is best known for a presumably very different paternal role, as Leland Palmer on "Twin Peaks." The veteran character actor has also appeared on "24," starred on "Reaper" and was briefly seen earlier this season on "Mad Men."

Not surprisingly, Harris had some twitter-regrets later in the day, writing, "Now I feel bad for the D-bag comment. Don't know the guy personally. I'm just fiercely protective of our show."

For his part, Braeden fired back in an interview with EW.com, literally calling NPH "a young whippersnapper," apparently without a trace of irony. He also questioned the former Doogie's longevity in the business and claimed to have enjoyed his original time on "How I Met Your Mother."

Since we'd ideally prefer not to report based on tweets, HitFix sought confirmation on the chain of events from CBS, but received no response.