Several weeks ago, I was watching a new episode of How I Met Your Mother, and there she was”another A-list pop singer. This time, Katy Perry, guest-starring as a dumb brunette the guys call Honey because they can’t remember her real name. That’s when it dawned on me: Though it has absolutely nothing to do with music (Is there ever even anything playing on the jukebox at McLaren’s?), HIMYM attracts more pop talent than any TV comedy this side of Glee.

A musical flashback: Enrique Iglesias had a two-episode arc at the beginning of the third season as Robin’s post-break-up-with-Ted Argentine holiday fling, while Mandy Moore appeared in that season’s premiere as Ted’s tattooed rebound bad girl. Britney Spears also worked two appearances into her comeback plan during season three, popping up as a receptionist who was obsessed with Ted but ended up getting sucked in by womanizer Barney.

So did Jennifer Lopez. Before scoring her American Idol gig, she showed up in 2010 as a The Rules-type author who tried (and failed) to beat the man-slut at his own game and ended up breaking her own rules. Last year, Idol alumnus Carrie Underwood also waltzed into McLaren’s as a pharmaceutical sales rep who swept Ted off his feet and strung him along, and earlier this season, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger did her own guest stint as Robin’s former BFF from Canada.

What do the hitmakers of pop see in How I Met Your Mother? Why that show and not, say, The Big Bang Theory? A few, um, theories: HIMYM is a popular, trendy sitcom with cool characters (unlike the nerds that populate, say, TBBT), and though it won’t boost anyone’s thespian cred the way a stint on Modern Family might, it could certainly raise the hipness quotient of very mainstream pop stars.

Also, there isn’t much real acting involved. Iglesias, Underwood and Perry merely had to memorize their lines and look good. Scherzinger got to do what shedoes best: sing. And Spears, Lopez and Moore were required to do no more than they’d have to do in a Saturday Night Live skit. Getting onto HIMYM is an excellent way to tell the world, “Look, I’m still in,” without having to exhibit any Emmy-caliber acting talent or even be particularly funny. (Six seasons in, the show’s crack ensemble does all the heavy lifting without so much as breaking a sweat.)

Compared to Will & Grace, which in its later seasons depended too much on celebrity stunt casting, How I Met Your Mother still uses big-name guest stars pretty sparingly. You can accept a spot on the show without feeling like everyone else already beat you to it. And unlike on Glee, you don’t have to sing unless you want to, which must be music to the ears of lip-syncing, Auto-Tuned pop stars.

Who’s next? Jessica Simpson is too five years ago, Pink is too cool for Barney or Ted, Gaga is too Glee. (Despite the presence of Neil Patrick Harris, she’d no doubt want to go more gay than HIMYM for her first big TV guest spot.) Usher would be a great match for Robin, and Beyoncé would be an interesting choice for the titular “Mother,” but I can’t imagine the ultra-white show going there.

So might I suggest Ke$ha, the whitest pop star on the planet, as a tart who drinks Ted under the table, leaves blue lipstick marks all over Barney and cat fights with Lily. In other words, she’d basically be playing herself. They can even invite back her “Blow” video costar and season-three guest James Van Der Beek as Robin’s loser ex, a washed-up musician who gives Ke$ha a hard time and a preview of what might be in store.