"Edelstein commented that the real question on everyone's mind at season's end will be: 'What will become of House and Wilson's friendship?' The series has already started filming season five and will continue filming without a break until August ‹ barring a much-feared actors' strike. (The Screen Actors Guild contract expires on June 30.) In addition to exploring the deepening relationship between House and Cuddy, the fifth season will kick off with a House/Wilson storyline, says Edelstein. 'Their friendship is on the line.' Of course, she added, it's anyone's guess what will happen if there's another strike. (And it's a distinct possibility). 'We're all holding our breath; it's very scary.' It is one reason why they've jumped right into season five without the customary break between filming seasons."
"...there's a very logical reason for how Lisa Edelstein came to be dressed in a schoolgirl uniform and working a stripped pole in this Monday's (May 12) episode.
"Since having Edelstein's Cuddy stripping in House's mind is a key piece of Monday night's episode, the actress figured she might as well get prepared....
"'I called Sheila Kelley, who has a company called S-Factor. She's actually the wife of Richard Schiff, who I've worked with on West Wing and Relativity and she did a movie a long time ago about strippers and realized that stripping is a great way to stay in shape and also a great way for women to explore their sexual power, so I went to her and she helped me choreograph this routine,' she says."
"...I'm jumping back on the House scoopwagon in a big way this week with news that Fox, in collaboration with producer NBC Universal, is quietly developing a House spin-off for next season. As I understand it, producers are introducing a new male character for a multi-episode arc and, assuming the actor they find really pops in the role, he may be spun off into his own show. But there's a twist, and it's a big one: Per multiple sources, this newbie is not a doctor, but rather a private investigator! And no, his name isn't Twitter. I'll have more details as they become available...."
April 28, "No More Mister Nice Guy": "House thinks an emergency room patient has a bigger problem than the E.R. initially diagnosed based on the fact that the patient is 'too nice.' Meanwhile, House and Amber (guest star Anne Dudek) are at odds vying for Wilson's (Robert Sean Leonard) time and attention in an all-new episode."
May 5, "Living the Dream": "In an all-new episode, House is convinced that one of the actors (guest star Jason Lewis) on his favorite soap opera, 'Prescription Passion,' has a serious medical condition, but has to take matters into his own hands when both the actor and House's own team dismiss his assessment, believing that nothing is wrong with the soap hunk."
May 12, "House's Head": "In Part 1 of the two-part season finale, House is in a bus accident and loses four hours of his memory. He slowly pieces together that a fellow bus passenger was exhibiting signs of a deadly illness. But the details of who it is or how House got on the bus in the first place are locked inside his brain, and he's desperate to add up the fleeting flashes in order to save someone who might not even know he or she could be dying."
May 19, "Wilson's Heart": "In Part 2 of the two-part season finale, clues inside House's head hold the key to a patient's condition, and House's friendship with Wilson is tested beyond limits as murky memories from the bus accident the night before threaten to change their lives forever."
"Sources confirm that the lovely and talented Ivana Milicevic (Love Monkey, Ugly Betty) will appear in the show's season finale in a top-secret role. Well, top-secret save for these two hints: Her character may or may not be dressed entirely in black, and she may or may not appear in House's subconscious."
• March 26, 2008 - Entertainment Weekly has information on what is coming up (they have obviously talked to Executive Producer David Shore and Lisa Edelstein, who plays Dr. Cuddy):
"The House/Wilson/Amber 'triangle' will deepen. Shore says
associates new and old will continue to have a presence, but won't
reveal as much character development due to the loss of eight
episodes. Still, says Edelstein, 'you'll see how everyone fits into
the new structure.' Look for Dr. Mean to treat a man afflicted with
acute niceness and a season-ending two-parter in which House must
battle through short-term-memory loss in order to solve a case. Will
the finale bring a possible cast shake-up? 'Believe it or not,'
says Shore, 'that's not a simple question to answer.' With House,
it never is. —Jeff Jensen"
• March 24, 2008 - "jag" emailed us this link The Chicago Tribune from March 21 that gives the following spoilers (one each of the four episodes to come this season):
"You'll recall that Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) was shocked and a little envious when he found out Amber and his friend James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) were dating. There's even more rivalry on display in the April 28 episode, 'No More Mr. Nice Guy.'
"In the May 5 episode, Jason Lewis ('Brothers & Sisters,' 'Sex and the City') will guest star as a soap actor. House is a big soap fan he's constantly watching them in various hospital rooms and lounges and from watching one daytime drama, he becomes convinced that Lewis' character has a medical malady.
"The two-parter that was supposed to air after the Super Bowl will now close out the season. In those episodes, House loses his part of his memory..."
Question: "House scoopage, please?" — Megan
Ausiello: "The Cutthroat Bitch is back! A Fox spokesperson confirms that Anne Dudek will reprise her role as Dr. House's female doppelganger for at least two more episodes this season."
"Sex and the City studmuffin Jason Lewis has signed on to guest-star in a pivotal post-strike episode of House that will reaffirm Doc Crotchety's obsession with dayime television.
"According to my candy-striped Princeton Plainsboro mole, House suspects that his favorite soap star (Lewis) may unknowingly be sick when he starts exhibiting strange symptoms on the air. Not one to wait around for the mystery ailment to cure itself, House takes matters into his own hands. I've got $100 that says he barges onto the set and causes a scene, prompting Cuddy to channel her inner Linda Blair."
• March 1, 2008 - about the season finale from USA Today
"A two-parter originally scheduled to run on Super Bowl Sunday... now will close the season, creator David Shore says. In that finale, House (Hugh Laurie) will be in an accident and lose memory of the preceding hours, Shore says.
"'He'll be finding out what he's forgotten and its significance. Bringing his memory back is crucial,' he says. 'It's going to be big.'
"Stories about doctors Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) and their relationship to House will have to be put off until next season, Shore says.
"He hasn't encountered any big problems resuming the show, though schedules will have to be adjusted because some actors took movie roles during the strike....."
"Nina" posted on February 20: "David Shore will be interviewed on the CBC Radio show Q tomorrow.... you can download the podcast.
"Blame Emma" then posted after the show: "According to this radio podcast in which David Shore is interviewed, the two-part episode that was supposed to air after the Super Bowl will be aired in May, and upcoming episodes will deal with how House reacts to Wilson's relationship with Amber. One of the PotWs will be the 'world's nicest guy.' Responding to a question about the old team, Shore said that he thinks they are more interesting and empowered in their peripheral roles because they are 'unanswerable' to House."
• February 19, 2008
Not too much yet in the way of spoilers but please see the News page for lots of general news on what is coming up.
• February 15, 2008
Long dry spell without any news of what is to come. Now we have The New York Times reporting from David Shore the following:
"On Fox's 'House,' ...the planned story arc for the second
half of the season 'is pretty much being thrown out,' David Shore,
the show's executive producer, said. 'We have to see how much we can
salvage.'
"The series, among the most popular on television, is not likely to
broadcast new episodes until late April or early May, Mr. Shore said.
"But 'House,' like several other hits, may stay in catch-up mode
through the early summer. 'I think we're just going to keep on
producing episodes now that we're back in production,' he said.
'We'll start working on next season.'"
Question: "Do you have any scoop on the post-Super Bowl episode of House?" — Suzanne
Ausiello: "Yes, but it's a little bit of a bummer. As I first scooped in this week's Ausiello Report vodcast, a planned two-part episode that was going to air after the big game and then continue the following Tuesday was scrapped due to the strike. Instead, a regular eppy guest-starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino will take its place. Not to rub salt in the wound or anything, but I am obliged to add that, based on my chat last week with exec producer Katie Jacobs, I suspect the original two-parter would've advanced either the Huddy or Hameron storylines in a big way. Speaking of which, as promised, here's what Ms. Jacobs had to say about how Chase and Cameron might fold back into House's team in '08. "The question is not really when, it's how, insofar as they're now each in their own domain doing really well. But is it bugging Cameron that she's not really in on all of House's business? And how is it for Chase to be head of a department? And when those things become clearer, then I think we'll know what the hospital is going to look like." Meaning that in the end, the new doctors and the old doctors will end up working together, right? Right? "That I can't say for sure," she demurs. "Right now, we're just exploring how Cameron and Chase running different departments either helps or hinders House. And how much they like being away from him and having their own space, or how much they don't like being away from them.""
Question: "Any spoilers on House?" — PE
Ausiello: "Yes, and it's a fairly big one. Even though Cutthroat Bitch was the final doc voted off House's island last night, I have it on good authority that we have not seen the last of Anne Dudek on House. For more on that, head over to my Ausiello Report blog later today."
• November 27, 2007 - In reference to the note on November 23:
The Amazon sale is now discontinued.
• November 23, 2007 - Not a spoiler but we wanted people to know as soon as possible:
Amazon has the first two seasons available at the moment for $12.99 each (a 78% discount) - at that price these would be a great gift even. We have no idea how long this price will be available:
"From the latest "Watch with Kristin" (posted yesterday):
Amy in Cedarville, Ohio: "Just wondering...are Cameron and Chase ever going to be more than cameos on House? I'm loving some of the new characters, but I'm getting sick of the walk-on roles that the two of them are getting."
"I'm thoroughly missing the ducklings, too! Still, sadly, I don't have good news—and neither does Jesse Spencer (Chase). He showed up at the recent Lamborghini Calabasas event for the Epilepsy Foundation, and when asked if he and Cam would ever be in the same room with House doing differential diagnosis together again, he said with a sad smile: 'It doesn't look that way, does it?' Jesse said he's hardly shared a scene with Hugh Laurie all season and doesn't expect that to change anytime soon. Arrrgh! Perhaps we can start a campaign to bring the Ducklings and House back together? I love the newbies, too. But enough already!"
"Apparently, 13's hands are shaking and House finds out that her mother died of a genetic disease she has a 50% chance of inheriting. She hasn't taken the genetic tests because she is avoiding knowing. It sounds like Huntington's Disease to me.
By the way, Cole wins the challenge and gets to nominate the next two to be fired."
• November 2, 2007 - We have two sources of information about Thirteen's real name:
"Jade" emailed us a photo with this explanation: "In episode 5 of season 4, we get a short glimpse of a receipt as Chase is taking down bets. Under the heading 'Princeton Plainsboro Redundancy Outcome', there's a checkbox next to each of the applicants' name. All the names corrospond with a known applicant except the third. It may be Thirteen's name. I can make out the last name as Hadley. Good luck on figuring out the first name. Might start with an 'R'"
"pinup" posted on the Television Without Pity's House Forum, ""Olivia Wilde, joins HOUSE as candidate Remy Hadley aka 'Thirteen' [the name given to her by House thanks to the candidate bib he made her wear on her chest]."
House and his fellowship candidates take on baffling cases this month as the competition at Princeton Plainsboro for the slots on House's team comes to an exciting conclusion.
In "Whatever It Takes" airing Tuesday, Nov. 6 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), House is recruited by the CIA to treat an agent with an illness as mysterious as his previous assignments, and Michael Michele guest-stars as a CIA doctor who offers up very little information about the operative's history. Meanwhile, the fellowship candidates race to diagnose a stock car driver who passed out after a race.
In "Ugly" (Tuesday, Nov. 13, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), House and his team are followed by a documentary film crew as they treat a teenager with a major facial deformity who suffered a heart attack prior to a reconstructive procedure. As they work to diagnose the teen, House finds himself distracted by several of the candidates vying for a spot on his team, causing him to question his own motives for having chosen them.
Next, in the Tuesday, Nov. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) episode "You Don't Want to Know," House encounters a magician whose heart failed while performing an underwater escape act. While the remaining fellowship candidates work to diagnose the illusionist, House is determined to prove that he's a scam artist faking his ailments to cover up the fact that he nearly drowned during his act.
In "Games" (Tuesday, Nov. 27, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), House assigns the candidates to a particularly challenging case involving an uncooperative, over-the-hill former rock star with a history of drug abuse and civil disobedience while Cuddy orders House to make a final decision and hire the members of his team.
• October 21, 2007 - This Auction Is Over
Interested in running your own House Website? Type this into the search box to the left: "House MD Quotes Website" End time: Oct-22-07 18:30:00 PDT
"According to sources, Kal Penn, Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson will continue on the hit medical series 'House' as regulars....
"Originally, the plan was for two of the characters to stick around and for the actors playing them to become regulars on the UMS-produced series. But the producers ended up picking up three actors, sources said.
"The script for the episode, which would reveal Dr. House's final selection, is expected to be distributed today [October 3]."
"Two new clips from 4x02 'The Right Stuff' and a new interview with Omar/Jesse/Jennifer are up on the Fox website http://www.fox.com/house/.
• September 22, 2007:
We now have the official Fox description for #403.
• September 21, 2007 (2nd): "407" of House's House of Whining has a post in their Spoilers Thread that names the Season 4, Episode 4 as "Guardian Angels" (editor's note: this forum is getting to be a good source for Spoilers).
"The title has, as most House titles do, a double meaning. House keeps doing a Bosley/Charlie's Angels thing, calling the new fellows on the phone and being put on speaker phone. Also, the patient sees people who are dead, I guess these would qualify as guardian angels.
"There is, much to my dismay, very little Wilson (and my source didn't really understand the scene he was in)
"When House crosses the line trying to upset a new fellow, he gets punched...
"Cameron takes one of the new fellows under her wing and coaches him how to impress House (much like a 'guardian angel')"
Our Patient of the Week is an Air Force pilot named Captain Cooper. She had a trippy, psychedelic experience in a simulator, crashing it. She blames it on a tech malfunction, but something's very wrong with the way she's seeing the world. She visits House and plops $50,000 in cash on his desk. She wants his help, but it all has to be hush-hush, because if NASA finds out she has medical issues, she will be booted from the space program. So House has to figure out what her problem is without charting anything or letting Cuddy know what he's doing. Her problem is that she "hears with her eyes."
House introduces Cooper to his hopefuls as Osama bin Laden and they start on her case, taking a medical history, doing tests, B&E, etc. Most of these are designed to introduce us to the hopefuls. The class starts with 40. Most of them are gone by the end of the episode. The most interesting of the remaining ones are Kai Penn, Carmen Argenziano, the black Mormon (don't know the actor's name) and another character I can describe only as the Anti-Cameron. House's interactions with the hopefuls are, IMO, very entertaining, but I can't do it justice here, so I won't prattle on. He fires Kai Penn, who simply refuses to leave; he has an interesting religious debate with the Mormon, who turns out to be both thoughtful and secure in his beliefs; he figures out the Anti-Cameron's game pretty quickly; and he seems impressed with Carmen Argenziano's character, who is older than House. Turns out Argenziano isn't even a doctor: He's been auditing classes at a medical school for 30 years, and he knows a lot. This is his dream, and House doesn't quite know what to do with him, so he lets him stay on as his assistant.
Throughout the episode, House thinks he sees Chase, then Cameron, then Foreman. He tells Wilson about Chase and Cameron, and Wilson tells him they are both working at the Mayo clinic in Arizona, so he must be hallucinating. It turns out he really did see Cameron and Chase, who are both working at the hospital. Cameron is senior attending in the ER and Chase is in surgical. Chase gives House a last-minute assist, and the hopefuls ask whether House is going to hire Chase instead of them. House looks at him a little questioningly, Chase shakes his head, and House assures the hopefuls that he loves them. He later finds Cameron in the ER and expresses his displeasure with her career choice. But he likes her new blonde hair, which he says makes her look like a hooker. Cameron is the one who told Osama to talk to House. Foreman has been working at NY Mercy, so it appears he really did hallucinate that. House doesn't seem mad at Wilson on any real level.
Ultimately, Osama is diagnosed with a genetic disease. House really should tell NASA, but this is her dream, so he decides not to. He doesn't even seem to know why he didn't. Cameron thinks it's because he's not a dream-killer.
Question: "I'm dying for some scoop on House." — Rachel Moore
Ausiello: "I have — brace yourself — seen the first two episodes of the new season, and they are awesome. Although we all know that Cameron, Chase and Foreman will eventually wind up back at the hospital, I was shocked to find out that not a single one of them makes an appearance in Episode 1. Even more surprising, when we do see them in Episode 2, and more significantly, when House sees them, he thinks they are figments of his imagination. (And you thought you were going to miss them.) By the end of the hour, however, Cameron is revealed to be the real deal, and House, bittersweet-talker that he is, has resumed their flirtatious exchange in exactly the manner you'd expect of him. It's hysterical."
• September 15, 2007 (1st):
"dealan" posted on the Television Without Pity's House Forum summaries of and links to YouTube Interviews with the cast about the new season:
Cameron is "nowhere to be found" at the beginning and then resurfaces by the end. Cuddy has hired Cameron and Chase without telling House, and Wilson makes House think that he's hallucinating about a blonde Cameron ("merging Chase and Cameron"). JM confirms that she's hired as one of the senior attending doctors in ER, and she "is getting her do-gooding" out of her system while working there, though "Cameron isn't sure she wants to stay there forever." (YouTube Video)
Chase is definitely on the surgical staff, so he "has a sense of power" now because he can decide "do I help, do I not help." (YouTube Video)
Cuddy "spends the first episode trying to get him to hire a new team" and the second epsiode "dealing with the 40 new doctors" he's hired. And she and the veteran cast are still thinking up of new ways to "torture the new one" but it's a fast turnover. Apparently they flip to the end of the script to see "who's been slaughtered that week" because we get new firings at the end of each episode. She also thinks that eventually House and Cuddy will hook up. (YouTube Video)
Wilson spends most of the time trying to get him to hire a new team. He's also "blithely without care as to whether House notices" that he's writing a ransom note that House gets later on in the episode. Preview clips show that it's House's guitar that Wilson "kidnaps." (YouTube Video)
Anne Dudek's character, Amber Volakis, is nicknamed "Cutthroat Bitch" by House. She is "incredibly assertive" and "really wants the job and will do anything to get it." (YouTube Video)
Kal Penn's character, Lawrence Kutner, "likes to think outside the box" and after being fired, turns his 6 upside down to a 9 to stay on. House catches on and fires him again but "on the way out, he comes up with a diagnosis so he gets to stay." (YouTube Video)
Olivia Wilde's character is "very self-possessed, confident, but not arrogant," "cool, calm, and collected" and "a bit of a mystery because no one knows her name." She's just referred to as "13" and no one really knows her. House apparently "pulls a bunch of tricks" to try to get her to give up some personal details but she doesn't. She "doesn't seem the bookish type, science nerd" so "she's really mysterious," even to the actress. (YouTube Video)
B-roll clip show House looking over as Chase operates on someone, Amber and 13 with the PoW, and Foreman outside the hospital. (YouTube Video)
• September 14, 2007: Four video clips from "Alone":
• September 12, 2007: "Willowbrook" posted on the Television Without Pity's House Forum EXTENSIVE SPOILERS... for "Alone" (including information about the "ducklings": Foreman, Chase and Cameron, and the "PotW": Patient of the Week):
"No ducklings appear in the first episode, but they're mentioned several times, and they're all in the opening credits."
"The PotW is a woman in an office building. She's on the phone with her boyfriend, who is trying to get her to see a movie she doesn't want to see because she's not feeling well. He's kind of a jerk about it, but more in an 'average guy' way than an abusive way. She starts to see the walls collapsing and the building shaking, and she thinks she's hallucinating until the whole building actually collapses."
"Next we see House, in his office jamming on his guitar. Cuddy walks in and they do the song and dance where she tries to get him to take a case and he refuses. She also gets on his case about hiring a new team. Eventually, they make a bet: If he can diagnose the case by the end of the day, she will back off a bit on forcing him to hire a team."
"Wilson thinks Cuddy's idea sucks. He's worried that House may actually solve the case, thus proving he doesn't need a team. Cuddy is certain he can't do it on his own."
"This next bit is a B plot that unfolds throughout the episode. Wilson formulates his own plan: He kidnaps House's guitar. He even leaves a ransom note made out of cut-up newspaper words. House runs over to Wilson's office and starts rummaging through his things, but Wilson won't admit he took the guitar, although his sense of smugness speaks for itself. In the middle of the night, House fakes a call from the hospital to Wilson's beeper, and while a bleary-eyed Wilson is at the hospital, House demolishes his hotel room looking for the guitar. They have a 'hostage negotiation' over the phone. Wilson is steadfast, and House deletes everything Wilson has on TiVo in revenge. Wilson vows to up the ante. Wilson sends a box to House office with a piece of his guitar. House predictably loses his shit. He's bored with this nonsense and agrees to look over some resumes Wilson has on his desk, but Wilson won't release the guitar until House actually conducts the interviews. House flips through a series of apparent losers until he gets to one that he likes for whatever reason. He calls the guy, who is apparently the World's Most Cliched Frat Boy, who keeps whooping it up about how 'I got the House interview!' House hangs up in disgust."
"As for the PotW: House bounces his ideas off of some empty seats in his office. A janitor walks by, whom House deputizes as Dr. Buffer, and throws some questions at him. 'Buffer' is game to play, and House even gives him a white coat and a clipboard. Turns out Buffer has a better bedside manner than House does. House decides to do a little B&E. Buffer won't come along for less than 50 bucks, so he tricks Wilson into it. (A running point throughout the episode is that nobody is supposed to help House, but he gets around it. Cuddy sends out a memo saying so, and House send out a 'revised' memo. That's how he gets techs to do tests for him. He gets some help from another young doctor who clearly wants a fellowship spot.)"
"Wilson ends up doing most of the physical work, since House can't bend down easily, but he does find a diary in the woman's room. From what she has written, he deduces that she was on antidepressants, which reacted badly with other meds she received. The boyfriend insists she wasn't, but House gives her the treatment (with the consent of her mother), and she improves. House thinks the case is solved until she has another serious reaction, and House concludes that she is also an alcoholic. The boyfriend has a fit, and the mother acknowledges that she doesn't know her daughter very well. I have to give the makeup department props here, because they did a great job on the PotW. She's horribly disfigured from the building collapse. The woman improves again, and House thinks he's won again. Then she has another horrific reaction, internal bleeding from five different places, and she needs surgery. House notices that her uterus is larger than it should be: She had an abortion that isn't in her medical files, and the hospital gave her blood thinners. The boyfriend is horrified, because he thought they'd wanted kids together. Problem solved again, until she has a reaction to a drug that House knows for a fact that she is not allergic to, because she was on it two weeks earlier with no problems.
"The ultimate solution: Mistaken identity. The girl they thought they were caring for is dead and was misidentified. House was right about pretty much all the diagnoses, and the boyfriend was right, too: His girlfriend hadn't lied to him."
"House insists that he solved the case, and Cuddy tells him that, with his team, he would have solved it days earlier. She orders him to do interviews."
"The last scene is an extreme close-up of House, seemingly talking to someone. He's talking about how grueling the interview process will be, Survivor-style. In six weeks, one will be gone — as well as 28 others. We pan out and he is talking to a bunch of fellows candidates in what looks like a classroom."
"... former ER M.D. Michael Michele" will play a part on a future episode where "Doc Crankypants meets the CIA medicine woman when he's called to the agency to care for a patient. She wows him with her bedside manner, and wham, bam, thank-you-ma'am, he invites her to come work for him at PP."
"House opens Season 4 short of staff and growing more unpopular by the hour. His support team has dwindled to Drs. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), who are stretched to the max, especially after a building collapse brings an onslaught of injured victims in the first episode. House hires a new team, specifically to find three new docs, and makes 40 of them jump through hoops. Meanwhile, Cameron has been reassigned to the ER and Chase now works in surgery. Foreman's the last to return. A few episodes in, he gets canned from his fancy job at Mercy Hospital and comes crawling back. By midseason, House will have two or three new staff members, which means a whole new set of buttons to push and feelings to hurt."
Question: "Is there any hope of House getting a new love interest in the new season?" — Sophia
Ausiello: "Depends on how he feels about fast women, because there's a speedy one headed to Princeton-Plainsboro. An upcoming patient-of-the-week story will revolve around a Danica Patrick-esque NASCAR driver. In a separate episode, House will tend to a patient with a craniofacial deformity à la Eric Stoltz in Mask."
• August 28, 2007: - David Lomazoff sent us a link to a TV Guide Preview, which says:
"Season 4 of the Emmy-winning Fox series kicks off Sept. 25 with House putting a gaggle of fellows to the test just to watch them squirm (he even makes them wear numbers). 'It's classic House sadistic behavior,' says executive producer David Shore. 'No other character on TV — aside from maybe that guy on Survivor — could get away with hiring practices like these.'
"Over eight episodes, House will winnow down the group of fellows with his usual grace and sensitivity ‹ which is to say, expect him to be a heartless boor. 'At one point House just fires the entire back of the room,' says Peter Jacobson (The Starter Wife), who plays a Park Avenue plastic surgeon hoping to bring fresh meaning to his life. 'Boom, gone! Except one woman he thinks is hot.'"
• August 15, 2007: In case you missed the ad/promo run for "House" and "Bones" last night, a copy is viewable from the August 14 entry on MaryKir's Hugh Laurie Archive:
According to "Annathaema" on the Television Without Pity's House Forum the promo "Shows House bouncing ideas off the janitor, Wilson calling House out on bouncing ideas off the janitor, House playing either a Gibson Explorer or Guitar Hero, the hapless numbered potential ducklings, 'Bring it on,' and House co-opting Cuddy's rubber band habit."
Question: "I heard a House spoiler that Cameron and Chase will be moving to Arizona to work together. Say it ain't so!" — Hannah
Ausiello: "Half of it's true, half of it's not."
The "House" episode that is set to air after the 2008 Super Bowl will be the first part of a two-parter, but other than that, Jacobs didn't divulge much about what's in store for that episode, beyond the thought that the show would try not to do anything too "wacky" or "gimmicky" after the big game.
One of the newbie doctors whom House tries out is a former plastic surgeon. "But what House discovers about him is, having done plastic surgery, he has amazing insights into human behavior, you know, because of his experience. So it's that kind of thing that we're having fun with," Jacobs said.
According to Jacobs, Laurie's pal Emma Thompson said she'd like to be on the show; Laurie said he liked the idea but joked that the Oscar-winning Thompson "had certain excessive demands, which I couldn't agree to."
"'House,' which has ridden its clever blend of fine acting, moral excavation and tightly plotted medical mysteries to the top echelon of the Nielsen ratings chart, is a success for a reason — it usually finds ways to zig just when you thought it was going to zag.
"I will add that the first three scripts that I read of this season are not only three of the best 'House' scripts I've ever read, they're three of the best scripts I've ever read," Laurie said. 'It may be that in the execution of it, we'll make a dreadful hash of it and you'll go, 'Well, I don't see what the fuss was about. That was a terrible piece of television.' But purely as scripts, I find them absolutely phenomenal.
"'I've never read anything that so ambitiously tries to mix broad comedy and gut-wrenching tragedy and philosophical musings and bizarre literary references all in the space of five seconds,' Laurie continued. 'The speed with which it jumps from tone to tone is quite phenomenally ambitious.'"
"The inner dynamic of the unique drama will be eviscerated."
"Spencer, Epps, and Morisson.... will all return, but they will be drastically scattered away from the center of the season's action."
"House will be attempting to go it alone, but it will be Cuddy who convinces him he needs to put together a new team. The beginning of the season will see House auditioning team members. Ultimately House may end up with a larger team.... House will be particularly rough on his new team, referring to them by numbers instead of their names."
House tests out replacements. "Exec producer Katie Jacobs pointed out that while all the candidates are creditable physicians, what appeals to House might not necessarily be medical bona fides. She noted, 'He might be interested in a veterinarian...or just someone he can't get a handle on.' For example, the new guy played by Peter Jacobson appeals to House because his years of experience in the plastic surgery field give him insight into human behavior and psychology."
Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer all appear in the early episodes, but it seems that House may see them only in his head. Chase and Cameron are in Arizona at the start of the season... Foreman is doing diagnostic work at Mercy.... Cameron, Chase and Foreman will definitely return to the Housian fold but not immediately or gratuitiously."
• July 21, 2007 (2nd): "oscarsgiant" posted on the Television Without Pity's House Forum some speculation as to what the name Thirteen (the reported name of one of the new doctor's) could mean
Thirteen:
The number of steps, according to Egyptian lore, between life and death.
The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil spirit Loki (making 13) who killed one of the guests with a poison arrow.
executive producer Katie Jacobs says House will, "'struggle to decide if he needs a team. He'll call in more [doctors] than he can use and whittle them down over the weeks in a very Survivor-like fashion.' But expect some of the 'contestants' to be left standing. 'We'll have new cast members,' assures Jacobs. 'We're going to have a lot of fun with it.'"
• July 17, 2007: A. Dudas emailed us the following link and information:
E!Online - Exclusive: New Docs in the House? "Peter Jacobson (In Justice, Transformers) and Anne Dudek (Big Day) have been hired for a minimum of eight episodes of the coming season!"
• July 13, 2007:
There are pieces of a supposed script going around that indicate that House decides to amputate his bad leg. Nothing to indicate that he actually does go through it, just that he is trying to change to get over the pain, etc. or that he is trying to persuade people that that is what he is planning to do (you never know with House).
Question: "There's been a lack of House spoilers lately. Think you can give me a tiny glimpse into Season 4?" — Sara
Ausiello: "New details are emerging about the four new underlings joining House's crew who I first told you about last week. Of the two women, one is described as being in her thirties and "mysterious," while the other is in her twenties and a "real go-getter." The dudes, meanwhile, consist of a plastic surgeon in his thirties and a possibly single dad in his early forties. Also, two of the characters will be on for multi-episode arcs, and the other two will stick around as series regulars."
Question: "Now that Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars are over, I've directed all of my attention to House. Got scoop?" — Alison
Ausiello: "It's official: Replacements are being sought for Foreman, Chase and Cameron! Producers will be introducing four new underlings ‹ two male, two female ‹ at the start of the new season. But before you freak out, keep in mind what I've been telling you every week for the past month: It's my understanding that Jennifer Morrison, Jesse Spencer and Omar Epps all will be returning, making for one very crowded canvas."
Question: "I am a huge fan of House. Any scoopage would be awesome." — Jeffrey Horne
Ausiello: "You know that group of interns Cuddy was leading around in the season finale? Expect to see a lot more of that type of thing next season."
• June 12, 2007: What do we know about Season Four?
Question: "I am willing to fork over $10 million if you'll give me any bit of House scoop you have. Because I can't take this anymore. Everyone leaving? Cameron actually liking Chase? Anything you have, please fill me in. It'll keep me from defenestrating myself." — Sam
Ausiello: "It's my understanding that everyone will be back, although they probably won't be taking orders from House anymore. I'd like the $10 mil in small bills, please."
"Tonight's delayed season-finale cliffhanger (9 ET/PT) will shake things up and 'address what has been the cumulative experience and how has that impacted each of them,' [executive producer Katie] Jacobs says. 'Next season will be different. We're not saying who is coming back and who is not, just that it'll look very different.'
"Actually, Jacobs confirms that one resident, Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps), whose future has been in doubt the past few episodes, does leave the hospital ‹ but it doesn't necessarily mean he's gone.
About House and Cuddy, "Producers are talking about plotlines for the fourth season that will deal more with their mutual attraction, Jacobs says. 'I can't see them pairing them in a permanent fashion. But they are close; they have gone through a lot together. Might there be a moment of weakness in which the two might explore their chemistry? Maybe.'"
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