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Question: Has it dawned on anyone that Taub and Thirteen’s three-year fellowships are about to end on “House”? Do you know if the show plans to follow through on that? And, if so, does this mean Peter Jacobson and Olivia Wilde are leaving? —Mindy
Ausiello: It certainly dawned on me. And it dawned on series creator David Shore — at least it did when I reminded him recently. He says he hasn’t figured out what will happen to Taub and Thirteen after their fellowships expire. Luckily, time is on his side. “It won’t be until the end of the season,” he says, adding that it’s not in his nature to gloss over such plot points. “I don’t like those things to be fake-outs.” What do you think? Do you want Taub and Thirteen to stay on? Or are you hoping they opt to seek greener pastures? Cast your votes in the comments section!
Question: Will Cuddy find out that House had real sex with that woman (aka Franka Potente) while in the asylum? —Gregory
Ausiello: Not anytime soon, according to Lisa Edelstein. “She doesn’t know about the real girl or the real sex he has in the season premiere,” she says. “So far in scripts I have read she has not acknowledged that she knows. They certainly haven’t discussed it. It might break her heart.” Regardless, Edelstein says the House-Cuddy dynamic “continues to have its ups and downs” this season. “She has to eventually deal with him coming back (to work) and what his role will be and how will she handle him and what kind of state is he coming back in. They have feelings for each other — deeper than colleagues. But who knows if they will ever be right for each other? They never seem to be coming at each other at the same time. We are having fun no matter how we play it. Being at odds and playing off Hugh is great fun. If we ever get together I just don’t want it to seems false or forced, but I trust Katie and David to make the right moves.”
Question: How about a “House” spoiler? —Jessica
Ausiello: I hear Cuddy will be getting a little action of her own this season. With whom, you ask? Here’s a clue.
Question: Where was the Lois Smith flashback Alan Ball said we were going to get on “True Blood”? —Kelly
Ausiello: There was no room at the inn. Per Ball, the episode she was supposed to appear in had reached capacity story-wise. “It was the show that could not be contained,” he explains. “Unfortunately, Lois was a causality of that. But there’s always next season. I’m pretty sure she would love to come back and do something on the show.”
Question: Any “Cold Case” scoop on Lilly Rush? —Sammy
Ausiello: “We are going to start where we left off — with the military school case,” explains Kathryn Morris. “Daniel Baldwin, who plays Moe Kitchener, the guy who tried to kill me and was covering up the murder we solved at the military school, gets off on bond. That means you have to be a good boy for nine months, so for the whole season we have this cat-and-mouse thing going where we are trying to screw each other over. Daniel will be in and out throughout the season. Lily has always been on the side of the law and it has always worked for her, but this time the justice system is not working to her advantage. This guy tried to kill her and she is a little shaken and a lot angry. She might just have to take things into her own hands. She might go a little rogue.”
She’ll get an assist from returning lover Bobby Cannavale, who “has been undercover in narcotics for awhile. He starts sending me signals from undercover that maybe I want to reconnect with him. He (ends up) helping me with the Moe Kitchener situation. Sometimes he’s had to blur the lines himself.”
Question: “Lost” scoop?! —Jarrod
Ausiello: Grab your season 6 scorecards and in the box next to episode 3 write, “Kate-centric.”
Question: “CSI: Miami” scoop, please! —Jordan
Ausiello: Delko was originally going to turn up dead in the season premiere. It’s true! When Adam Rodriguez failed to come to terms on a new contract over the summer, CBS allegedly recommended that producers simply write it in that Delko didn’t survive last May’s cliffhanger. “But I wasn’t comfortable with that,” says Rodriguez. “And I spoke to (exec producer) Ann Donahue and she wasn’t comfortable about this either; we really wanted to make sure that the character had a proper sendoff. So she petitioned CBS to make this work.” Now Rodriguez will return for a total of 10 episodes (not the seven I reported last week), during which he’ll change professions and sort out his complicated relationship with Calleigh. “Like any great love story, I don’t know that the books will ever be closed on them,” says Rodriguez of Calleighko. Housekeeping note: Rodriguez has shot three of his 10 “Miami” episodes so far. He’ll juggle the remaining seven with his five-episode arc on “Ugly Betty.”
Question: Any “Parks and Recreation” scoop? Does the show get funnier? —Mo
Ausiello: Yes. Thursday’s season premiere — in which Leslie becomes an unwitting gay icon — is hilarious. Easily the best episode of the show so far.
Question: I saw the first five minutes of the “Grey’s Anatomy” premiere on YouTube. Is there a chance George isn’t dead? Lexi seemed pretty convinced! —Brian
Ausiello: Yes, there’s a chance. A really, really small chance. Tiny. See where I’m going with this, Brian?
Question: So now that Katherine Heigl is adopting a child from Korea, does that re-explain producers’ decision to let her off the hook for five episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy”? —Jim
Ausiello: That’s not what I’m hearing. As I originally reported, all indications are that she’s taking off to make that Greg Berlanti movie. BTW, I’m now hearing that the five episodes she’ll be missing may not be consecutive.
Question: Can I please have a “Grey’s” scoop? —Sheryl
Ausiello: You may. The looming shakeup at Seattle Grace will have everyone fearing for his/her jobs. And that includes Cristina, who is forced to consider the unthinkable: a career in pediatrics.
Question: Will you be at the Emmys this Sunday? —Jeremy
Ausiello: Not only will I be at the Emmys, I’ll be a party-hopping whore in the days preceding the main event. So here’s what you need to do: Follow me on Twitter for instantaneous scoop throughout the weekend. That’s the first thing. Second, stick close to my blog (yes, the one you’re reading now) for breaking news and exclusive video interviews. Finally, help me find something to wear to Entertainment Weekly’s pre-Emmy bash Thursday night. I’ve got the jacket, jeans and shoes, I just need some kind of fun shirt to pair with it. Shoot me your ideas at ausielloscoop@ew.com. I’m in a bit of a time crunch, so if you’re able to deliver the garment to my hotel in Beverly Hills, even better. (Note to designers: Yes, you will receive an on-air plug.)
Question: The French bit was nice, but what a sneak you are! Do you actually have any new spoilers about “HIMYM” or “The Big Bang Theory? — Kate
Ausiello: What French bit? Anyway, I saw the “HIMYM” premiere and there’s a cool-funny twist with the whole mother-in-Ted’s classroom thing. But the episode belongs to Barney and Robin and their struggle to define their relationship.
Question: Dying for some “Desperate Housewives” scoop re: Bree and Karl. —Karin
Ausiello: Marc Cherry tells me that through the affair Bree will “discover her sexuality in a major way. And it’s going to change that character a little bit. Marcia’s been having a lot of fun playing a newly sexual Bree.”
Question: Have you seen “Bored To Death”? Will it help cure my “True Blood” withdrawal? —Olivia
Ausiello: Not sure it’ll cure it, but it may relieve some of the symptoms. I found the first five episodes to be adequately amusing. Speaking of which, “SNL’s” newest castmember, Jenny Slate, appears in two episodes as a love interest to Jason Schwartzman’s amateur private eye. “I play Stella and I’m a major pothead, an Oberlin grad, and a very free spirit,” she says. “I decided she should be very young and sweet and sincere. They have a little romance in episodes 7 and 8 and there’s a little cliffhanger.”
Question: Any interesting “Fringe” news? —Sara
Ausiello: We’ll find out what makes Broyles tick this season. Among the revelations: “He’s ex-military,” reveals his portrayer, Lance Reddick, “which probably won’t surprise anyone. You will find out that he’s a colonel and has a very long history with the Fringe division. You will also find out why I got divorced later in the season and my ex-wife will be on screen. We will meet her and that is interesting. That’s actually a big episode for Broyles. In the same episode, we revisit an old case of mine that comes back and rears its ugly head.”
Question: I love the idea of the 100th episode of “Bones” flashing back to Booth and Brennan’s horrendous first encounter. I hope it happens. —Connie
Ausiello: You’re not the only one. “I would love to play that first meeting and hate on each other,” says Emily Deschanel with a laugh. “It would be a fun, creative way to explore these two characters and their relationship without just moving forward like we have been. It’s fun to go back.”
David Boreanaz is on board, too! “I think it is a pretty great idea for the 100th episode,” he says. “Those episodes are supposed to be special. They’re supposed to be a big deal, and I think that first Booth and Brennan meeting would certainly qualify. I’m directing it, too, so I hope they figure it out soon.”
Question: What can you tell us about Summer Glau’s character Bennett on “Dollhouse”? —Derrick
Ausiello: She’s not some lowly Dollhouse employee — she’s a chief programmer like Topher! Speaking of D’house, the new Entertainment Weekly contains a major spoiler about Ray Wise’s character. You might want to pick one of those up.
Question: How about some new “Dollhouse” scoop, please? —Peter
Ausiello: I’m going to let Tahmoh Penikett take this one. “At the end (of the premiere), there is a very important conversation between Echo and Paul where she lets me know that she’s functioning with all these personalities in her mind at once and that she knows what is going on. It changes the playing field if the main doll has awareness of her situation. I like that it isn’t all damsel in distress, and Paul is starting to realize that.”
Question: Please tell me that ABC will air the remaining episodes of Defying Gravity. I can’t believe they would end the show with that episode and leave all of us hanging. —G. Lucio
Ausiello: I’m told there’s a chance the unaired episodes may see the light of day at the end of the season, but it’s a slim one. Sorry. Wait a sec, why am I apologizing? I didn’t do anything wrong. I take it back. I’m not sorry.
Question: We’ve heard “Smallville” spoilers on Clark, Lois, Oliver, Chloe, Zod, Wonder Twins and Shelby, but what about Tess? —Daniel
Ausiello: In the early going, Tess will be interacting mostly with Zod. They’ll eventually align, but they’ll have different agendas: She wants to protect the Blur, he wants to find it. In other “Smallville” news, I hear episode 3 — featuring a zombified Lois — is spooktacular.
Question: I really need scoop on “Sons of Anarchy.” —Laura.
Ausiello: Katey Sagal says the fallout from her character’s brutal rape in last week’s premiere will reverberate throughout the season. “Everybody is asked to pick what side they are on and everyone is reacting to what happened to me and trying to get vengeance,” she reveals. “There is a lot of stuff about protecting the club and protecting individuals. And they assume they know who is responsible for this horrible thing that happened, but they may not be correct. Things get worse before they get better.”
Question: When will Kurt discuss/explore his sexuality on “Glee”? —Dana
Ausiello: His coming out tour kicks off this week with Mercedes and wraps up next week with dad.
Question: Please give us a hint about the “Lovers’ Biggest Obstacle the Network” blind item.
Ausiello: The couple in question is not on “Bones.”
That’s a wrap! Send questions/comments/anonymous tips/wardrobe assistance to ausielloscoop@ew.com. Thanks for playing! (Additional reporting by Carrie Bell and Aly Semigran)