Latest from Ausiello - Various Shows - 1st September 2010

Question: Where is the Hugh Laurie interview you promised us from the Emmys?! House fans are an impatient lot! —Gillian
Ausiello: First off, simmer yourself. I’ve had a lot on my plate the past few days, if you hadn’t noticed. Second, the interview is RIGHT. HERE.
So they’re finally going there with Huddy.
HUGH LAURIE: It seems that way.
Scared?
LAURIE: I’m scared for him. Terrified. But so far so good. Baby steps.
Are you happy they finally took the plunge?
LAURIE: I care less about what happens than how it happens. And if you do it right, it will work. And if we don’t do it right, nothing works. But I think we’ve danced around the idea long enough, it was time to take some action.
Is it safe to say that if it doesn’t work with Huddy it won’t work with anyone?
LAURIE: That’s a possibility. He might be fatally flawed.

Question: Please give me some scoop about Jenny’s return to Gossip Girl! —Giovanni
Ausiello: I was right. Jenny reappearance is directly connected to Tim Gunn’s upcoming cameo. Turns out Blair permits her nemesis to return to the scene of her last crime (i.e. Manhattan) just long enough for her to interview for a job with Gunn at Parsons. Without giving too much away, Raccoon Eyes inadvertently gets caught up in Chuck and Blair’s latest drama, and the whole mess comes to a head at (natch) a big fancy party.

Question: How long is Mayim Bialik (Amy) sticking around for on The Big Bang Theory? —Holly
Ausiello: Exec producer Bill Prady tells me the actress fka Blossom is booked for a handful of episodes and there’s “no end in mind.” He adds that after embarking on their first date in the season premiere, Sheldon and Amy “are going to settle into a very peculiar relationship that doesn’t involve a lot of physical proximity—lots of video chatting and texting. But the big crisis coming up for Sheldon is the possibility that Amy is expressing feelings for him. That’s going to be a big problem for him.”

Question: I will literally take anything you’ve got on One Tree Hill. —Jasmine
Ausiello: A major-ish character is going to do some time in the slammer this season. That’s literally all I’ve got.

Question: Got anything on the Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice crossover involving Derek’s sister? —Nick
Ausiello: I’ve got this quote from exec producer Shonda Rhimes: “Amelia goes to visit Derek in the third episode of Grey’s. Derek got shot and he hasn’t been returning her phone calls. He’s never returned her phone calls. And what I love about the episode is that it really illuminates Derek. Remember: Derek’s father was shot when they were kids—something that both Amelia and Derek witnessed. And for both of them, Derek’s shooting brings up all of these memories of that. And you also get to see the two Shepherd neurosurgeons operating together, which I think is kind of badass.”

Question: I thought for sure the Grey’s couple tying the knot was Callie and Arizona. Imagine my surprise to find out it was Cristina and Owen! Anyhoo, what’s in store for Calzona if not wedding bells? —Steve
Ausiello: A very crowded house. Arizona decides to move in with Callie, who is currently sharing an apartment with Cristina—who just got married to Owen! That’s enough to put a little strain on any relationship. And another obstacle looms later in the season. Teases Rhimes: “Some stuff happens with their careers that’s going to take them in opposite directions possibly.”

Question: I’ve had a rough day. Do you think you could give me a Chuck scoop and make it better? —Jenny
Ausiello: Chuck and Sarah will be swapping genders this season, and their relationship could suffer as a result. Allow exec producer Josh Schwartz to explain: “In their relationship, Sarah is kind of the guy and Chuck is a little bit more of the emotional one. Chuck is someone who is very comfortable with commitment. And Sarah’s only real commitment is to people that she feels are probably going to die in the line of duty.” Adds fellow EP Chris Fedak: “Chuck also has a lot of access to his emotions and Sarah is one who likes to keep her emotions under wraps to a degree.”

Question: Any chance Steve Carell might change his mind and stick with The Office for another year? —Sandra
Ausiello: There was a chance, but that ship has long since sailed, according to exec producer Greg Daniels. “We held out a lot of hope at the beginning of the year when it was first coming out that [Steve] might leave,” he tells me. “We didn’t comment on it at the time because we were making a last-ditch effort.” But Carell stuck to his guns, and, at this point, Daniels does not anticipate an 11th hour reversal. “Steve doesn’t play a lot of games. He said what he wants to [leave] and he’s doing it in a very classy, typical-Steve fashion. I’m 100 percent confident it’s not some kind of ploy. He gave us plenty of lead time to really construct a great exit for him as well as a great ongoing storyline for other people.”

Question: I’d love a Lie to Me scooplet! —Jonathan
Ausiello: As it happens, I have a capital-S Super one for you: The Man of Steel’s mother, Smallville fave Annette O’Toole, is about to guest on the show and give what I assume will be a tour-de-force performance. She’s been cast as a 60-year-old harboring the proverbial dark secret that makes it extra tricky for her to be treated for her early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Question: Any juicy scoop on CSI: Miami that doesn’t involve Calleigh and Delko? —Ann Marie
Ausiello: Yep, but you may feel like you’ve heard this one before—because, in a way, you have. Just as Bones has a Jersey Shore-inspired episode coming up, so does CSI:M. If ever there was a good time to be a Sookie or Situation look-alike, I’ll be damned if this isn’t it.

Question: Thanks for the awesome video of Chris and Mariska on the Emmy red carpet! Did you get any other SVU scoop there? —Jennifer
Ausiello: Not from them, no, but I did hear that Numb3rs’ David Krumholtz is about to guest in an episode. He plays an expert on fancypants mushrooms who’s mixed up in the same murder investigation that involves Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Rosemary Harris.

Question: What’s this I’m hearing about Lux having an affair with her teacher this season on Life Unexpected? —Kayla
Ausiello: Can’t confirm an affair. Can confirm a crush. “They definitely have a dynamic between them,” acknowledges exec producer Liz Tigelaar of Lux and her new hottie teacher, played by Melrose Place‘s Shaun Sipos. “It’s a different kind of story. Lux is a character that doesn’t have any desire to play by the rules. She’s also an old soul. She’s drawn to someone different than the typical high school guy. What do you do when you’re not allowed to be drawn to that? And how do you deal with it? And how does it make you feel? What we really want to do is tell a story that gets underneath this girl [and find out] where boundaries should be crossed with her and why she kind of feels like she’s kind of above the rules.”

Question: Any Emmy stuff you didn’t tell us about already that you probably should have? —Janet
Ausiello: Come to think of it, yes. I have a new hero: Eva Longoria Parker. You see, I was taping my red-carpet interviews right next to TV Guide Channel, and unfortunately, their celebrity wrangler, in her zeal to keep their live coverage seamless, busted in on one Q&A after another in a way that brought to mind the word “inexcusable.” As you can imagine, this peeved me, and many of my fellow reporters, to no end. Even more frustrating was the fact that the stars’ publicists allowed it to happen, over and over. But then there was Parker. When the aforementioned wrangler tried to pull her away mid-conversation from another journalist, the Desperate Housewife said, in essence, “No. That’s rude. I’ll be there as soon as I’m done here.” And, with that simple display of common sense and impeccable manners, she rose to the top of my list of favorite people. (BTW, you can get a glimpse of said wrangler doing the devil’s work at the tail end of my interview with John Krasinski.)

Question: Can I just say that your interviews were so cute I just want to pinch your cheeks. Now do you have any good Bones spoilers? —Madeline
Ausiello: You can touch the cheeks, but no pinching. They bruise easily. Here’s your Bones spoiler: Brennan is having a change of heart about Booth!! “What happened at the [end of last season] was that we saw Booth move on and not have any regrets,” recounts exec producer Stephen Nathan. “He did his best. He professed his love and when she couldn’t reciprocate he realized at that point this is now crazy, I have to be happy. I have to try to make a life for myself. And he’s moved on. Now Brennan—who felt very secure in her decision last year—has had seven months alone to think about this. And we think that she’s come back reevaluating her situation and the choice she made with Booth. Brennan is seeing things differently. She seemed to have one take for five years and I think the time away has made her reevaluate what she wants from life and perhaps a relationship with Booth. I don’t think this is something that she has an easy time admitting to herself. And perhaps it hasn’t even bubbled up from her subconscious yet, but it’s something that’s real this season.” I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: This is the season it happens! I can feel it in my, er, bones!

Question: Enough about Booth and Brennan. How about something on Angela and Hodgins? —Missy
Ausiello: The buzz is it’ll be smooth sailing for the newlyweds this season, but Michaela Conlin isn’t buying it. “I don’t believe that,” Angela’s portrayer tells me, before hinting that “something happened” during the seven-month flash forward between the two that “will come up” later in the season. Hmm….

Question: More Bones scoop, please! —Matt
Ausiello: Daisy and Sweets will “reconnect” in the season premiere, but “their relationship is different,” notes EP Stephen Nathan. “Sweets has become a free man in his seven months without Daisy and isn’t initially willing to give that up.”

Question: Since Jason Segel reportedly wants out of How I Met Your Mother when his contract expires after season 8, does that mean that’s when the show will end? —Chip
Ausiello: Maybe… maybe not. “It was funny to see that [quote] become such a story,” laughs executive producer Craig Thomas, “because all our contracts are through eight seasons. [But we all love it] so much, we’d be willing to talk about going beyond that point, too.” Especially since the series’ heart soon will be once again in the right place. Says fellow EP Carter Bays: “We gave our director our little document, [our] Season 6 Map, and she came in with tears in her eyes and said, ‘We’re back!’”

Question: We already know Kate (Alexandra Daddario) is returning to White Collar, but do you know anything about the story—aside from the fact that it’s a flashback episode? —Julie
Ausiello: The episode—the first one back in January—focuses almost entirely on the origin of the Kate-Neil relationship and how it folds into the show’s mythology (i.e. the music box).

Question: A Smallville spoiler in honor of the show’s 10th and final season? —Nelson
Ausiello: Sources confirm to me exclusively that there will be at least one huge “Clois” moment in each of the first eight episodes.

Question: 30 Rock scoop….please? — Randy
Ausiello: On the red carpet at the Emmys, Jane Krakowski told me that as the show enters its fifth season, the show within the show is entering its fifth season as well. And “Jenna has all these wacky things built into her contract [that kick in at this point], because nobody thought we’d still be on the air,” she said. “So I get to be a producer.”

Question: You’re always so nice about making with the 30 Rock spoilers. Please don’t let the streak end today. —Henna
Ausiello: Since you lied about me being so nice, how can I resist? At the Emmys, Keith “Toofer” Powell revealed that, in one of the first new episodes, he’d be getting a big storyline. And not just that, “it involves one of the funniest scenes I have ever read,” he teased. Okay, I’m intrigued. You?

Source: EW