The first television appearance of Britney Spears in the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother" drove up a record-breaking 10.62 million viewers for the series according to Nielsen Media Research.

The figure is up more than 1 million viewers from the week before, and some 2.4 million from what the sitcom averaged before the season was upended by the Hollywood writers strike.

Monday’s much-awaited telecast also generated the largest audience between the ages of 18 and 49 in the show’s three-year history.

Watch the video clip of “How I Met Your Mother” – All Britney Spears Parts