Robin Sparkles

Oh, How I Met Your Mother. Not only did they bring us a legen — wait for it — dary kiss last night, they also premiered the long-awaited B-side to Robin Sparkles' "Let's Go to the Mall," a mournful breakup ballad called "Sandcastles in the Sand." We got a preview of the video last week, but that didn't make the ultimate reveal any less amusing. (Admittedly, my biggest laugh in the episode came from a well-timed Degrassi joke — but that could just be me.)

The overwrought, obviously-written-by-a-16-year-old ballad included lines like "Together we were going to travel the globe/from Alberta to Ontrario," an awesomely bad makeout session with a character played by James Van Der Beek, and cameos from Tiffany and Alan Thicke to bring real '80s cred. I think the best description might be Barney's from the episode: "You know, if you re-edit it, there's a tampon commercial in there somewhere." It also made me think of this Wilson Phillips video for the first time in a decade or so, which I suppose is something to be proud of.

Did you think "Sandcastles in the Sand" lived up to the promise of "Let's Go to the Mall" and "You Just Got Slapped"? To check out the full video, just read more

The moment that How I Met Your Mother's Robin first revealed that she was the Canadian teen pop sensation Robin Sparkles, complete with hit single "Let's Go to the Mall," was one of the show's truly classic moments — not to mention one of my favorite online TV spots of all time.

On Monday, Robin Sparkles is back — this time with a little help from James Van Der Beek as an ex-boyfriend of Robin's who happened to star in the video for the B-side to "Let's Go to the Mall," a wistful breakup ballad called "Sandcastles in the Sand." Variety already has the whole song streaming online, but I'm holding off on listening to it until Monday. It's probably silly, but I want to be at least a little bit surprised.

I did, however, cave and watch some of the video teasers that have been released via CBS and MySpace. From the peeking I've done, I can tell the videos have a great, dated vibe, with a dose of Heidi Montag beach video and an amazingly awkward Dawson-related make-out scene. Can't wait till Monday? You can check out both video teasers if you read more

Seriously, won't someone give James Van Der Beek a full-time job? At least the ex-Capesider is staying busy with some decent guest-starring roles — first on Ugly Betty, then on the guest-star-happy How I Met Your Mother. (Don't tell anyone, but I might be more excited about this than I was about Britney.)

Van Der Beek will pop up in an upcoming episode that revisits Robin Sparkles, Robin's past life as a Canadian teen pop sensation. E! reports that while it's not confirmed yet, it's likely that he'll play Robin's crush from back in the day, whom she runs into again (and re-crushes on).

The episode will also reveal the B-side to the Sparkes single "Let's Go to the Mall" — apparently a soulful breakup ballad, rumored to be shot on a beach in black-and-white. Man, I can't wait to see that video.

There's no date set yet for Van Der Beek's appearance, but with only a few weeks left in this TV season, we shouldn't have to wait long. Here's hoping the next time I write about this guy, it will be for a job longer than one episode. I mean, not to get all competitive, but Pacey's doing pretty well for himself.

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