Questions: I just finished watching the Gossip Girl finale, and it was awesome. My question for you is about Georgina: At the end of the episode she announced she was going to be Blair’s roommate at NYU — strongly implying that she would be a presence, if not a regular character, in season 3. But Michelle Trachtenberg is in NBC’s new fall drama, Mercy. What does this mean about Georgina and Gossip Girl? –Cory
Ausiello: It means producers thought ahead and made sure Trachtenberg negotiated a three-episode Gossip Girl “out” in her Mercy contract. You didn’t really think the Georgina-Blair roommate thing would last longer than that, did you?
I’m curious to hear your take on the whole Scrubs renewal. The “series finale” was so wonderfully sweet and sappy, how can they come back from something so final? –Sydney
Ausiello: I would have preferred it end right there, but it’s hard to argue with Bill Lawrence’s justification for continuing. “There are 107 people that work on that show,” he reminded me earlier this week. “I’ve worked with them for eight years now. If there’s a chance for everybody to work another year, my attitude, business-wise, is ‘legacy-schmegacy.’ I couldn’t give a f–k, to tell you the truth. I thought the first eight years of Scrubs was great. I’m super proud of it. There’s absolutely nothing that could possibly happen that could change that… On the creative side, some people are like, ‘It should end on a high note creatively. It shouldn’t be something that taints our memory.’ And I get that. [But the other] 50 percent of the people are like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so glad to have a show back that I care about.’ The way to bridge that gap is I’ve got to consider Scrubs over. The way that I’m viewing it is the way Frasier was to Cheers: It’ll be essentially a new show with some characters that people liked.”
Question: What will the ninth season of Scrubs look like? Will Sarah Chalke be taking over JD’s duties? –Tony
Ausiello: Probably not, considering Chalke isn’t looking to return
full time, per Bill Lawrence. “I would’ve had Sarah in a
heartbeat,” he says. “I think she’s got enough going on in her career
[right now]. I’d say it’s 50-50 she’s in some episodes. I know she’ll
at least be in one or two.” My guess? In light of the fact that ABC
passed on Donald Faison’s comedy pilot, The Law, Lawrence
will go with the “Turk teaching at med school” premise he’s been
kicking around. Whatever idea he ultimately goes with, “The one promise I would make to people is that if this does suck, it won’t suck in a lame fizzle-out kind of way,” he says.
“It will suck in a huge way. It will really, really suck.” If I’ve said
it once, I’ve said it a million times: Few things in life are as
entertaining as interviewing Bill Lawrence.
Question: Wasn’t a character from the early seasons of Desperate Housewives
supposed to return in the last five minutes of the season finale? What
happened? –Laura
Ausiello: Change of plans. And it’s probably for the best. From what I hear, it really
wouldn’t have been all that exciting. (And despite rumors, it wasn’t Jesse Metcalfe.)
Question: That 24 finale was awesome! Do you have any scoop about Carlos Bernard’s role in season 8? –Rob
Ausiello: As of now, it’s non-existent. But did you see who they cast as Cherry Jones’ new Chief of Staff?!
Question: So I’m at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood last Friday, and I
see Zachary Quinto with a group of people. Cool to see New Spock. Plus
he was really funny as Sasan on So NoTORIous. Then I realize he’s
there with Kristen Bell, and it starts to feel creepy. This isn’t New
Spock or Sasan. It’s Sylar and Elle. Together. I couldn’t decide if I
should wrap my head in tinfoil to keep him from stealing my superpowers
or put on rubber soled-shoes to keep her from zapping me. Then I went
to see Angels & Demons. Afterward, I realized I had more fun in the
lobby than in the theater. –Jeffrey
Ausiello: Look, the column was running short and this made for good filler. It’s upfront week — I’ve been busy!
Question: During your interview with Chuck boss Josh Schwartz, did he happen to
mention if Chuck’s new abilities will be all over the spectrum? –Dana
Ausiello: No, but speaking of that Q&A, here’s the (extra spoilery) portion of the interview I held over for Ask Ausiello:
MICHAEL AUSIELLO: Will Chuck and Sarah start the season off as a full-fledged couple?
SCHWARTZ: Chuck having the Intersect in his head will severely
complicate their ability to be a couple … [And] look for
a potential new love interest on the show.
Really? For who?
Someone who could triangulate between a couple of characters.
Male or female?
Gosh, isn’t it more fun to tease?
Question: I just finished watching the NCIS finale. Will Ziva be back next season? Please say yes! –Bethany
Ausiello: Yes, Cote de Pablo will be back next season. But she’ll be a changed woman.
Question: Kirk Acevedo has apparently been fired from Fringe, according to his
Facebook status. This is so sad, Charlie was just getting interesting.
Do you have any info on that and what it means for his character? –Caroline
Ausiello: It means his character won’t be back.
Question: The Glee pilot was more than priceless. I can’t remember the last time
a show captivated from the get go. Oh yeah, Pushing Daisies. But I
digress …. I’ll take anything you can give me on the upcoming season
and/or on Matthew Morrison (a.k.a. Fox’s newest hottie-in-the-making)!
–Kathleen
Ausiello: Morrison’s Will
is not going to cheat on his psycho wife — even though it’s obvious that
he and Emma are made for one another.
Question: I’ve been watching Smallville since day one, but after last week’s
finale, I’m feeling like for every two steps forward the show takes one
step back. Give me some hope for next season by giving me some big
scoop. –Jeff
Ausiello: It’s moving to Fridays at 8 p.m.! Here’s The CW’s new Fall sked:
Monday
8 Gossip Girl
9 One Tree Hill
Tuesday
8 90210
9 Melrose Place (NEW)
Wednesday
8 America’s Next Top Model
9 Beautiful Life (NEW)
Thursday
8 Vampire Diaries (NEW)
9 Supernatural
Friday
8 Smallville
9 Top Model encore
I’ll be Twittering live updates from today’s CW upfront presentation, so best start following me!
Question: Do you have any idea who Mike was marrying on Desperate Housewives? –Flore
Ausiello: I do. And if you think about it for a second, you do, too.
Question: How have your Smurfs settled into your new surroundings at the EW? Any adjustment issues? –Jason
Ausiello: They don’t like the dirty looks Tim Stack’s been giving them, but other than that they’re cool.
Question: OMG. Grey’s finale. George or Izzie? What’s the deal? –Olive
Ausiello: My guess? One will live, another will die. Although I have to
say I’m intrigued by this theory from an Aushole named Keven: “T.R.
Knight is leaving the show, but George is staying. What with being
grossly disfigured in the finale, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to
let George live and then, a few weeks later, Mark Sloan works his
plastic surgery magic and, voila, a new George!”
Question: Is the Veronica Mars movie a goner? –Liz
Ausiello: Just checked in with Rob Thomas and there’s nothing new to report. The ball remains in Warner Bros.’ court.
Question: Why wasn’t Lauren Graham’s new show picked up by ABC? –Claire
Ausiello: I didn’t see the pilot, but one of my moles did, and this is
what he e-mailed me immediately after watching it: “If you ever get
your hands on Lauren Graham’s pilot, do yourself a favor and don’t
watch it.” Consider that your explanation.
Question: Since Amy Acker’s show Happy Town has been picked up, what does that
mean for Dr. Saunders on Dollhouse? Is she headed for the attic? –Mike
W.
Ausiello: Not if puppetmaster Joss Whedon has anything to say about it.
He tells me he’ll be “sending [Happy producers] chocolate and flowers,”
he laughs. “We’re desperate to have her.” As such, he is disinclined to
put another doctor in the d’house. Only if “we find out that we’re not
going to use her for the bulk of the season” would he do that, he says.
“[But] everyone is not going to be in every episode, so it’s perfectly
possible that there will just be stories that don’t involve Dr.
Saunders.”
Question: What is your take on CSI:NY pulling a Dynasty and having all
of the main cast potentially gunned down in a hail of automatic weapons
fire (fade to black) cliffhanger? –Eric
Ausiello: My take is that if Gary Sinise doesn’t accept CBS’ salary
freeze proposal, Det. Jessica Angell won’t be the only supporting
character headed six feet under.
Question: Got any news on the new HBO show Hung? –Sasha
Ausiello: Just watched the pilot and I predict it’ll be huge.
That’s a wrap! Send questions-anonymous tips-Without a Trace eulogies
to ausielloscoop@ew.com. And don’t forget to vote for me in PETA’s
Sexiest Veggie contest. I’m in it to win it this year. I’ve been
working out really hard. I even have an ab! Okay, it’s half of an ab, but, hey, it’s a start!
Comments (1-30) of 184 Add your comment
Yeah I suppose being taken captive and tortured in Somalia would change me too. Glad to see Cote is back though, now I can stop sweating and start anticipating the next season.
Smallville moving to Fridays?? Well, that’s the kiss of death. I guess I better enjoy this last season since I don’t think any show in the history of TV has ever seen a spike in ratings moving to Friday.
Please please please tell me that “a changed woman” doesn’t mean that Ziva is pregnant. Please.
Maybe the bad guys in NCIS are doing us a favor and torturing the Mossad Barbie Ziva has turned out of her and returning her to kick ass Israeli ninja status. Doubt it though. More likely, she’s going to be even more screwed up than she was already.
Please no more Chuck love triangles. We’re sick of it already.
Seriously, if they have Ziva come back pregnant, NCIS will have officially jumped the shark. With rocket boots.
No hope for the Veronica Mars movie is not news. Stop kissing up to Rob Thomas and wasting time with notions that anyone besides the show’s 200 remaining fans actually cares.
Ok, I have to say about TR Knight, Kill him, keep him of let him walk off into the sunset, don’t do any of this change the actor bs. The have jerked around him and the character too much already. I say keep him and actually give him some scenes.
Well, say goodbye to Smallville. Being bumped to Friday nights will officially kill this show. But after Season 8’s finale, I doubt too many people will be very upset.
Dear lord Josh Schwartz, ANOTHER love triangle?! I am so sick of the “new guy comes into town, wants Sarah, Chuck gets jealous” or vice versa. I love the show to bits, but we’ve been through this for two seasons. Give us a little credit, we saved your job.
Aw, our first Glee scoop. Warms my heart. Can’t wait for the season proper to start. I just hope Emma doesn’t end up dating the COACH! Ugh!
Kirk Acevedo will not be on Fringe next season??? That truly sucks.
Wow–Great column this week….NOT! Nothing in here. Just a waste of time. If you don’t have time to write something worthwhile, here’s a shocker: DON’T.
Um, get over yourself you sad sad little man(?). I’m sure there are lots of people who are interested, and just because YOU aren’t doesn’t mean it’s not news. I’m sure you’ve been told this before, but the world does not revolve around you– or your taste in television.
Thanks for the CSI: NY answer.
Since Sinise is rumored to donate entire paychecks to charities, I have a hard time believing he would insist on his scheduled raise at the cost of someone’s job.
“dearest” comment is directed at “Logan Echolls”, below.
i really was hoping Georgina would be a regular. her complete evilness is fantastic on the show.
Yeah, I definitely agree with you MDP. That news really sucks. Almost as much as the news that they’re moving the show to Thursdays to make room for another hour of their dancing show…
So despite what you said, I swear that there really was a cast member from the first 2 seasons of Desperate Housewives that appeared at the end of the episode…Did anyone else see Felicia Tillman leave Dave’s cell?!? or was I seeing things?
I would really like to think that Gary Sinise isn’t so much of an a$$hole that he’d have a regular fired so he could keep a higher salary. Of all the things we know about Gary Sinise that doesn’t strike me as one of them.
New triangle on Chuck?? Unless the triangle has a bi element (please no) or Ele/Awesome break up (please no), Chuck and Casey are the only two major same-sex singles, but a girl who appeals to both of those two would be … a violation of the laws of physics? So maybe a sexy CIA analyst joins the team and catches Casey’s eye, but she has a crush on Chuck? Sort of a reverse-Sarah.
wow, this was all useless. as usual assiello, you’re useless. why not take another week off like you do…well, every week.
The upside of watching literally year after year of “shocking” cliffhangery season finales? I officially don’t care anymore. Kill Hotch. Bring Sylar back. Have Mike marry Bree. Kill Juliet. Kill the whole CSI:NY crew while you’re at it. Have Echo be back to square one. Have Redjohn slip through Jane’s fingers. Kill the Kitty-Senator marriage. Wipe Booth’s every memory of Brennan forever. Kill Jimmy. Kill Sam AND Dean. Kill Ziva. Trap Olivia in Alterna-world. Seriously… finales have become the real filler episodes.
Michael,
Please pass this on to Josh. We worked really hard to get his show back. Campaigned to Subway, Wrote letters to NBC etc. If Josh goes and throws more triangles at Chuck and Sarah and uses the same BS angst he used this year well you can count out my support for Season 4. I am not going to bust my tail to get a show renewed and have the show runner mock the fans. Thought Chuck and Sarah were the framework of the season doesn’t sound like it to me. There is allot of TV on Mondays and I have 10 months to make a decision to come back. Maybe Josh can rethink the constant screwing with Chuck and Sarah. It is making this show not fun to watch and almost makes me want to move on. Hope Josh gets this.
Thank you so much for (finally!) putting another show other than Grey’s Anatomy as the first question.
I was getting REALLY annoying. GG wouldn’t be my first pick, but still really good ausiello. slowly get yourself off the GA bus.
If Bill Lawrence changes the premise entirely to Turk teaching at med school, then I’ll be there ’cause it really won’t be the same show — and, well, it’ll star Turk.
.
However, it’ll still need a name change ASAP to either:
.
a) Turk!
.
or)
.
b) My Chocolate Teddy Bear
.
And in any case, it’d be okay with me if they were to call the new show “Scrubs: Turk!” or “Scrubs: My Chocolate Teddy Bear” for the first season of what will be a spin-off show.
.
– Rob
You know, people forget that the three parter in Hollywood when Fonzie jumped that shark was EPIC!
The expression you’re looking for is “let bobby out of the shower”.
Mike married Susan. why else would Karl be at the ceremony?
I don’t get all the negativity towards the “Smallville” finale. I thought it was great. I don’t think they could afford a bigger fight between Clark & Doomsday. Plus, what they did matches up w/ the comics. When Superman battles Doomsday, isn’t he unearthed somewhere & starts to wreak havoc? It makes sense that Clark put him underground & he had to do it quickly or Doomsday would’ve kicked his a$$. I’m still surprised that The CW moved the show to Fridays. I know it’s almost over, but it’s the highest-rated scripted program they have. Did they move it expecting it to maintain its ratings, or to die a slow death? They should have left it w/ “Supernatural” on Thursdays.
I’m sorry, but that George idea is horrible. I’m shocked you liked it…wow.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/05/20/tv-tonight-thursday-may-21st-2009/