'How I Met Your Mother': John Lithgow explains dynamic for upcoming guest role

After a painful few weeks in reruns, "How i met your mother" will be back on Monday for an all-new episode that focuses on Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) finally meeting his father for the first time. The news that may make even more people exciting, though, the the news that this father character is going to be played by John Lithgow.

We have already heard that Lithgow enjoyed the experience so much the first time that he decided to come back for another episode (which will air in May). So what does the former "Dexter" guest star have to say about this arc? Speaking in a new interview with Zap2It, Lithgow says that there will be plenty of emotion mixed in with humor:

"It is very intense. If this weren't a comedy, it would be 'East of Eden' or something. He's the lost father. There's a pool of serious emotional stuff underpinning all of the comedy. [Barney] is what he is, in so many ways, because he was abandoned by his father. We make comedy out of that, but it's not necessarily the stuff of comedy. What's great is that there are moments in it that are extremely touching. They've set this show up in such a way that it allows for that."

Stay tuned for some video footage of the episode, which is set to be entitled "Legendaddy." What are you the most excited about when it comes to seeing Lithgow on the show?