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Ask Ausiello: ‘Grey’s,’ ‘Gossip Girl’ spoilers

Will Owen and Cristina share a special moment on the ‘Grey’s’ premiere? And who is the new woman in House's life?
/ Source: Entertainment Weekly

Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? You can send any/all of the above to ausielloscoop@ew.com.

Question: Can you do me a huge favor and give me some “Gossip Girl” scoop pertaining to Blair-Serena? I’m dying to know if my favorite frenemies will be loving or hating each other this season. —Sally

Ausiello: They’ll start out loving each other, but by November, the hate is on! What triggers the war? Let’s just say Blair doesn’t follow the bros before hos belief system (or, in this case, hos before bros).

Question: Can you please tell me if there are any good Owen and Cristina scenes in “Grey’s Anatomy” season premiere? I know they won’t have sex in the episode, but will the tragedy bring them closer? —Iris

Ausiello: They have a really moving handholding scene. Does that count?

Question: After watching the “Grey’s Anatomy” premiere can you please tell me anything about Mer-Der? —Erin

Ausiello: If you were among those fans who thought their Post-It note wedding was some kind of bad joke, there’s a scene at George’s funeral that should put a smile on your face.

Question: Why exactly does Angie Harmon want Capt. Awesome dead on “Chuck”? —Paul

Ausiello: You haven’t heard? The dude’s a super spy now!

Question: I went to high school with Shonda Rhimes. I have the yearbook from her freshman year to show you. Now that I have your attention by shamelessly dangling the “Grey’s Anatomy” connection carrot, any news if Bonita Friedericy will be returning as General Beckman in the third season of “Chuck”? —Natalie

Ausiello: Yes. A lot. Now cough up that picture. That could prove very valuable when I start negotiating my next “Grey’s” cover.

Question: Will we be getting a fall preview issue of Entertainment Weekly this year? —Alexandra

Ausiello: It’s on sale this Friday. Some advice: Be sure to read my entry on “House.” Specifically, the last two or three sentences. UPDATE: Just found out those last two or three sentences were cut for space! But have no fear, they’ll see the light of day right here in my blog. And soon.

Question: Have you seen the “House” season premiere? I heard there were some steamy goings-on between House and she-who-shall-not-be-named. As a Huddy fan, I’m slightly annoyed that we got a hallucination and the new girl gets the real thing! —Alice

Ausiello: Yes, I’ve seen the premiere. And yes, there are some steamy goings-on between House and Franka Potente (she-who-shall-not-be-named). As far as it being a slap in the face to Huddy fans, I would urge you to watch the (mostly excellent) episode before drawing any conclusions. I consider myself a Huddy fan and it didn’t really bother me — but that’s probably because I possess insider knowledge that Huddy is far from over.

Plus, as exec producer Katie Jacobs points out, sex is so overrated. “The thing is this: real sparks and chemistry, which is what House and Cuddy have, are there,” she says. “That’s sort of hard to create. I don’t personally get hung up on whether they have sex, per se. I don’t mean any disrespect to the fans. Sex is great. But, whether they do it or not is sort of not the issue, exactly. They have an attraction. It’s an intense attraction. It’s intellectual. It’s physical. Where it will lead in the future, I really don’t know. But it has not dissipated.”

Question: Have we found out what brings Michael Weston’s Lucas back to “House”?

Ausiello: I’m not sure if we have, but I have. Remember me telling you last week about the little business trip House, Wilson and Cuddy go on in episode 7? Well, I hear Lucas is tagging along!

Question: Can I assume that Denis Leary getting shot in the “Rescue Me” finale was the basis of your recent ? —Karel

Ausiello: You know what they say about people who assume, right? They make an ass out of u and me. Except in this case, when they be right.

Question: ABC sent me an advance screener of this Saturday’s Ohio State-USC game. I won’t spoil the ending but I thought you might enjoy this asterisk hint: US* l*st. —Thomas

Ausiello: That joke would have been funnier had Ohio State not gotten their asses kicked by Navy last weekend.

Question: What’s the real reason “V” went on an unannounced two-week hiatus? —Margaret

Ausiello: Officially, Warner Bros. says it is taking “advantage of our November premiere to maximize creative opportunities and deliver the audience the best show possible.” Unofficially, I hear the studio wasn’t happy with the quality and the timeliness of the scripts show-runner Jeff Bell was delivering, so they bumped him to the No. 2 spot and put exec producer Scott Peters in charge. Too bad. I like Jeff Bell.

Question: I was bummed to hear that “Numb3rs” would be losing Peter MacNicol for a while. Why is he leaving? —Nicole

Ausiello: Budget cuts forced producers to trim his episode order for the season.

Question: A Canadian paper reported recently that Louise Lombard is set to return to “CSI” this season. Is this correct? —Anne

Ausiello: It most certainly is not. A “CSI” insider says it “hasn’t been discussed.”

Question: Is Adam Rodriguez leaving “CSI: Miami”? Please say it ain’t so! —Cynthia

Ausiello: It’s so. He’s only committed to doing seven episodes this season, after which he’ll make a beeline for “Ugly Betty” to play a love interest for Ana Ortiz.

Question: Can I get a “Bones” scoop? —Christopher

Ausiello: I have it on good authority that exec producer Hart Hanson is cooking up something good for the show’s 100th episode this spring. In related news, don’t forget to pick up EW’s annual fall preview issue this Friday!

Question: Did I miss your annual list of what to watch and what to avoid among new shows this fall? I learned long ago that if you love a show, I’ll probably love it. And if you hate it, I’ll probably hate it, too. —Melissa

Ausiello: Nope, you didn’t miss it. I decided to publish it a little later than usual to maximize creative opportunities and deliver the audience the best list possible. I think you’ll agree it was worth the wait:

Take it: “Modern Family,” “Melrose Place,” “The Good Wife,” “Community,” “Cougar Town,” “FlashForward,” “V” and “The Vampire Diaries.”

Take it or leave it: “Bored to Death,” “Accidentally on Purpose,” “Trauma,” “The Beautiful Life” and “The Middle.”

Leave it: “Mercy,” “Brothers” and Hank.”

Question: What’s the deal with Charlie on “Fringe”? Staying? Going? —Jeremy

Ausiello: The question isn’t so much if he’s going as it is when. And that’s one I’m not answering.

Question: Merci pour les infos et scoops sur toutes les séries et surtout merci pour ta réponse! Je savais que tu n’avais aucun défauts mais je ne savais pas que en plus tu parlais le français! En tout cas si tu viens en France et que tu passes par Grenoble je serais ravi de te servir de guide! Au passage si tu as des infos sur “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother” ou “Glee”! Bonne continuation! —Xav

Ausiello: Salut. C’est moi, une journaliste du magazine “EW,” dont le nom de famille veut dire “noir” en allemand. Tu peux trouver mon identité assez facilement sur EW.com, mais je ne veux pas l’écrire ici, de crainte qu’IL ne commence à se douter de ma fidélité. En fait, Ausiello ne capte pas un mot de français. Il avait pensé que ce serait marrant de faire semblant de parler français, alors depuis quelques semaines il m’envoie tes questions pour que je les lui traduise. Mais je commence à culpabiliser d’avoir participé à ce gros mensonge. Qui plus est, aujourd’hui il a fait un truc qui m’a vraiment enervée, alors c’est fini, j’arrête avec ces conneries. Voilà.

Question: Is there a possibility this season that Andy and Oscar will become a couple on “The Office”? A recent NBC promo seemed to hint at that. —Sarah

Ausiello: I haven’t seen the promo you’re referring to but I have seen the premiere, and I can confirm that Andy finds himself wrestling with the very real possibility that he likes both girls and boys. And because I know you’re dying for some Jim/Pam scoop, let’s just say the episode features one of the most unique and funny pregnancy reveals I’ve ever seen on TV.

Question: My daughter is a “Supernatural” fanatic. Can you tell us anything about season 5? —Rhonda

Ausiello: According to series creator Eric Kripke, this season is all about “building Sam and Dean back up in a way that makes them older, sadder, wiser and, ultimately, stronger. It’s funny, we’ve been feeling in many ways that this is the most optimistic season of ‘Supernatural’ we’ve ever done. Because even though the exterior circumstances are a massive cluster f--k, internally, the boys aren’t tearing each other apart every episode. It’s more like, ‘Hey, maybe we’ll lose, but, dammit, let’s go down swinging.’”

Question: Are we going to see more of Dell on “Private Practice” this season? Chris Lowell is so talented, it’s a shame to see it go to waste. —Deven

Ausiello: Believe it or not, we’re going to be seeing less of Dell this season. Sources confirm to me exclusively that Chris Lowell’s episode order has been reduced from 22 to a minimum of 13. Technically, he still remains a series regular though. Conventional wisdom says the move was budget-related, but a “Private Practice” insider says Lowell wanted more freedom to pursue other projects.

Question: Any scoops on “Private Practice”? —Lee-Ann

Ausiello: The premiere flashes back to Oceanside’s pre-Addison days to show how Pete, Violet and the gang first met. (BTW, the editing technique the show employs to transition between the past and present is utterly original and highly effective. It more than makes up for the laughable wig they slapped on Audra McDonald’s head.) The episode also features a funeral (no, not Violet’s), two harrowing surgeries, and an answer to this question: How will Chris Lowell’s aforementioned reduced workload be addressed on screen?

Question: Will Naomi ever find out that Annie was not the one who slept with Liam on the night of the prom on “90210”? —Gia

Ausiello: Yes, but not until later in the season. In other “90210” news, California University makes a comeback in episode 5 when Naomi starts planning for life after high school. And by planning I mean seducing the dean’s tree-hugging son (played by “The O.C.’s” Jonathan Trent).

Question: “Brothers & Sisters” spoilers, please! —Arilana

Ausiello: Saul takes Ryan under his wing at Ojai this season, but a dark cloud looms over their relationship. “Saul has a secret, which is that he was there the night before Ryan’s mother committed suicide, not William,” explains exec producer Alison Schapker. “So that’ll be interesting when that comes out.” Today the role of Interesting will be played by S**tstorm.

Question: There is this little show called “Smallville.” Ever heard of it? How about some scoopage? —P. Maynard

Ausiello: One of the following is true about this season’s sixth episode:

  • Lois and Clark go on a date together.
  • Lois goes on a date with someone other than Clark.
  • Clark goes on a date with someone other than Lois.
  • Lois and Clark both go on a date with other people.

That’s a wrap! Questions/comments/anonymous tips go here: ausielloscoop@ew.com. Thanks for playing!