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The Sunday NY Times profiled upcoming CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother executive producers Craig Thomas and Carter Bays (strangely, and perhaps fittingly, pictured clinging to each other for dear life), who played a dangerous game in devising the pilot for their series: trying to get inside the mind of Les Moonves:

As they set out to write a pilot last year, Mr. Bays and Mr. Thomas were intent on capturing the attention of one viewer in particular: Leslie Moonves, the CBS chairman. Though they didn't know much about him, they did remember reading that he had gotten married (to Julie Chen, a host of "The Early Show" on CBS) last December.

"He's got to be happy," Mr. Bays remembers saying to his writing partner. "Maybe he thinks it's time for a show that's optimistic and romantic and believes in something." [...]

But when asked, during an interview, if he had seen something of himself in the journey of the romantic lead, Mr. Moonves - who is 55, and previously divorced- responded with a roaring laugh.

"There is absolutely nothing about this show relatable to my story, in fairness," Mr. Moonves said. "This is about a 20-something-year-old guy looking for the love of his life. One of the things I love about my job is the naïveté of people, thinking what things will affect me."

We can see Moonves sitting behind his desk, stroking a hairless feline, waiting for the echoes of that booming, bemused guffaw to fade before continuing. Bellowed Moonves, "Don't these sillies know I discarded all useless emotions like love when I took over this network? That being said, if those guys had written a show about a charismatic TV executive with plans for world domination who dumps his wife of 24 years for a trophy morning show cupcake, well, that would've hit me"—he lightly tapped the left side of his chest—"right here."