Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on 'Grey's,' 'House,' 'One Tree Hill,' 'The Office,' Supernatural,' 'True Blood,' and more!
Jan 14, 2009, 02:55 AM | by Michael Ausiello
Categories: Ask Ausiello
Question: C'mon, your info on Grey's Anatomy has been non-existent recently. Please give me some of the good stuff -- I want juicy plot goodness, Mer-Der related, preferably. -- Amanda
Ausiello: I'm hearing something about a ring and a possible proposal later this season.
Question: Loving Lexie and Mark on Grey's. Anything good coming up for them? -- Mike
Ausiello: They experience a little bit of a setback next week that's connected to this ABC teaser: "An injury leaves Mark in a compromising position in the ER." And now the official translation: McSteamy fractures his McPenis!
Question: What do you say you put aside your personal feelings and give us some One Tree Hill scoop. -- Tara
Ausiello: Okay, but just this once: Things are looking bad for the show's resident Tin Man (a.k.a. Dan). Like, really bad.
Question: Please, please, please tell me that the rumors about a new brother popping up for the Winchesters is completely untrue. Supernatural can do so much better than this stupid soap opera gimmick. -- Lindsey
Ausiello: I'm hearing the title of the episode is "Jump the Shark." I think that says it all. (You're an evil genius, Eric Kripke!)
Question: Got anything on Supernatural? -- Kelly
Ausiello: Dean's sex partner Anna is returning later this season. Presumably to hit that again.
Question: Burn Notice. Scoop. Now. Please. -- Dan
Ausiello: Michael. Fiona. Sex. "There's an episode halfway into the new season where you'll see Michael and Fi get it on," reveals series star Jeffrey Donovan. "It's pretty steamy." But that's not the big news. THIS is the big news: "Michael will find out in the season finale who burned him." Was. That. Good. Enough. For. You. Dan?
Question: I'm looking for a juicy Jim/Pam Office spoiler. Can you help me please? -- Kayla
Ausiello: I can indeed. A radiant Jenna Fischer told me at Sunday's Golden Globes that there are "some big Jim and Pam moments" in the post-Super Bowl episode on Feb. 1. "Pam gets some news that's pretty shocking, and it's something she and Jim have to deal with together," she teases. Speaking of the biggest Office episode in history, Fischer confesses that she's a little freaked out about it. "I'm nervous. It's so much pressure. We've always been able to fly under the radar; people find us slowly. This is, like, a big spotlight on all of us and on the show, and I'm more comfortable with less attention rather than more." Fischer can relax. Rainn Wilson told me the episode was aces, and Rainn Wilson doesn't lie. Speaking of which, scroll down to end of the column to see the fun little video I made with Wilson and his fellow Office mates at the Globes. I did it on this thing called a Flip Cam. All the cool kids are using it.
Question: Got any good intel on Heroes, specifically Sylar? -- Edward
Ausiello: Zachary Quinto just shot the episode that introduces his real dad, played by John Glover, and he offers this critique: "He was the perfect choice," gushes TV son Zachary Quinto. "The only downside was that we shot our scenes outside in a tarpaulin shack and it was pouring rain for two days, so we were literally slogging through mud. The logistics weren't that great, but the experience was. It traded off in the end."
Question: What are the chances of there being a fourth season of Heroes? -- Tim
Ausiello: Zachary Quinto is cautiously optimistic. "I don't make those decisions," he says. "I'm certainly hopeful. I'd love to be a part of the show for as long as it exists, but I feel like there's so much transition at NBC and in the industry right now that I really don't know. Those decisions are best left to others."
Question: Oh, how I need your scoop on How I Met Your Mother! -- Tamra
Ausiello: You've hit the Mother lode today, Tamra: The show is not only casting Barney's mom but his wife and son. All together now: Whatchootalkinbout, Michael?! Seems that to keep Mom happy, Barney has long lied that he's married... with child — and has actors on standby to play the roles for her benefit. Mom herself sounds like a pip. Though she seems as pure as the driven snow, the fiftysomething confesses to the gang that when Barney was young, "I was a bit of a whore... a dirty whore." Good times. In totally unrelated news, you must watch this.
Question: Thanks for the awesome Q/A with House's David Shore and Katie Jacobs. Did you talk to Jesse Spencer at the Globes? Has he been frustrated by his lack of screen time, too? -- Brendan
Ausiello: I did talk to Jesse, and, believe it or not, he says he "really enjoyed" all the downtime. "I've had time to pursue other interests. I think a lot of actors in this town, because there's a lot of unemployment, are afraid. But I decided, 'You know what? I'm not going to be fearful of this.' I know that the show is good. I know that I'm a part of the show. And I know that I'm still going to be part of the show, so I never really had a problem with it. And I think they did the right thing. Normally in Season 4, you have a slump. It's standard practice in a hit show for some reason -- season 4 always slumps. So they tried to change things up before that happened." That being said, two years of backburneritis is enough. "The last two years they've been integrating the new characters into the show," he says, "and now it's time that they brought us in more often." Amen!
Question: Got anything on House's 100th episode on Feb. 2? -- Aleki
Ausiello: Sadly, I'm told Chase and Cameron aren't in it at all. In David Shore and Katie Jacobs' defense, they said C&C would be re-integrated next season. Patience, people.
Question: Are you kidding me? You tell us in last week's AA that the 100th episode of House is a gift from the TV Gods, and then you fail to explain what you mean? -- Christina
Ausiello: When Cameron proves a most unworthy successor to her throne, Cuddy reluctantly returns to work and proceeds to take out all her frustrations out on House. She basically spends the entire hour terrorizing him -- i.e. stealing his cane, installing a tripwire in his doorway, screwing with the elevators so he's forced to take the stairs, etc. Good stuff. And if you're wondering why Cameron failed so miserably in Cuddy's post, Jennifer Morrison's happy to explain.
"She's a little afraid of herself in that position because she has trouble saying no to House," she explains. "It's tough, because she knows first-hand that sometimes his crazy requests are ultimately very important. It was fun [doing the episode]. Hugh and I had a really great time."
Question: Okay, so Michael Weston's character Lucas isn't getting his own show, but the real question remains. Is he coming back to House? -- Cindy
Ausiello: Doubtful. I asked David Shore about the character's sudden (and unexplained) vanishing act. "He did just kind of disappear," he concedes. "He came in when Wilson was gone so House could have someone new to play off of, but in a different way. But once Wilson came back, we didn't dramatically have a need for him anymore." Regarding the now-scrapped Lucas-centered spin-off, Shore says the decision not to move forward "had nothing to do with" Weston. Then what did it have to do with? "Beyond that, I can't say." (Memo to self: Do some digging -- there's a story there!)
Question: Anything momentous coming up on Sarah Connor Chronicles? -- Jesse
Ausiello: Nothing aside from THE DEATH OF A MAJOR CHARACTER.
Question: Any news on whether ABC plans to air the final episodes of Dirty Sexy Money? -- Kevin
Ausiello: No, but Blair Underwood told me at the Globes that he's headed to the set this week to "do some looping" on the probable series finale -- which indicates that the remaining episodes will at least be completed. Another piece of good news: "We're still under contract," he says. "They haven't released us yet." Underwood went on to confirm what I told you previously -- that there's a "big twist" in the final episode that "answers a lot of questions."
Question: Thanks for telling us that True Blood started shooting its second season last week, but could you tell me when the episodes will start airing? -- Katie
Ausiello: This summer, which means season 2 will air roughly eight months after the conclusion of season 1 -- a lightning fast turnaround by cable standards. "Alan Ball is a very fast writer," explains an HBO source. In other True Blood news, I caught up with Sam Trammell (Sam) at the Globes and he teased that his new love interest (played by The Bold and The Beautiful's Ashley Jones) is up to no good. "I don't know the whole storyline, but I've read the first three episodes, and it's going to be really twisted and dark and exciting. She's got some serious secrets and questionable intentions."
Question: What's the latest on TR Knight leaving Grey's Anatomy? -- Peter
Ausiello: I posed that question to exiting Grey's star Melissa George, and she claimed reports of TR's unhappiness have been greatly exaggerated. "The day the rumors came out we were doing a scene in the cafeteria, and the admiration for him and his set persona was so high and so brilliant, that we were all laughing about it." However, Melissa didn't deny that TR has been frustrated by his lack of screen time this season. "He's an extraordinary actor, and when you care about your craft, you want to work -- you want to use it. It's like being a doctor and they never give you a surgery...But you know what? The guy's got a future beyond Grey's, whether that's now or later, or whenever."
Question: Is Ugly Betty writing in Anna Ortiz's real-life pregnancy? -- Fran
Ausiello: Kind of. Although Hilda won't be with child, I hear producers may work her imminent weight gain into the show, a la Daphne on Frasier.
That's all for this week, kids. Send questions/anonymous tips/random stuff to ausielloscoop@ew.com. But first, scroll down and click play. You might be disappointed, but I doubt it! (Additional reporting by Lindsay Soll)
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