SPOILERS!

Question: Another episode of House this week with little or no Cameron and Chase. David Shore promised we'd see more of them -- but when? --Aleki

Ausiello: Soon. "I think your audience feels that we've teased them on that too many times, but this is not a tease," Shore told me yesterday. "The last four episodes of the season, [Chase and Cameron] are going to have a larger part." And what about next season? "I haven't mapped out next year yet," he hedges, "but, certainly, it would appear so."

Question: Are House and Cuddy ever going to talk about the fact that he tracked down her old med school desk and had it delivered to her office? --Zathrina

Ausiello: I asked David Shore about that, too. "No, it's too late," he says. "We had it in that one episode, and it was a wonderful thing. It turned her around and he, of course, found a different way of screwing it up, and she found a way of screwing it up, and we just left it at that."

Question: Can you give at least a hint about what's ahead for Wilson on House? --Monica

Ausiello: Big Robert Sean Leonard episode coming up on March 9 when Wilson at long tracks down his mentally ill, homeless brother. With Taub's assistance, Wilson gets his bro back on his meds and into an institution -- but he does so behind House's back. At least he tries to do it behind his back.

Question: Enough with all the Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy and Supernatural scoop. I want some dish on the hottest zip code, 90210! --Gina

Ausiello: Supernatural it is. The show is dedicating the March 12 episode to its late, beloved director Kim Manners, who passed away on Jan. 25. I'm told the ep will conclude with a 10-second photomontage followed by a brief message.

Question: We know that Tom Welling will be returning for Smallville's ninth season, but what about the rest of the cast? --Bill

Ausiello: My Small mole assures me that all principal cast members are on board for next season, with one possible exception: The dude who plays Doomsday. (I'm blanking on his name and I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Question: Do you have anything new on cable's ever-so-addicting Burn Notice? --Garrett

Ausiello: The over-arching theme of the show's third season will be Skeletons in Michael's Closet. "Michael has to deal with a whole new set of problems as various people from his past come back to haunt him," teases my Burn mole. In possibly-related news, the show is casting the role of Michelle Paxon, a Miami PD detective who's hell-bent on uncovering the truth about Michael.

Question: How about some 24 scoop? --Josh

Ausiello: Longtime executive producer-director Jon Cassar has left the show after failing to come to terms on a new contract. "I will not be involved with the upcoming eighth season," he tells me. "Although that's sad for me to leave after six years, it's also very exciting to be back in the marketplace working with different people and facing different challenges." (First up for Cassar is CBS' new Ed Bernero pilot, Washington Field.) His split from 24 is particularly surprising considering the close relationship he formed with Kiefer Sutherland. In fact, Sutherland himself expressed confidence that Cassar's contract negotiations would yield a positive result when I spoke to him last month. "There is no more integral part to the success of 24 than Jon Cassar, and I think [exec producers] Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon will tell you the same thing," he said. "We're a whole unit, and one part doesn't work without the other. He's also obviously one of my best friends and someone that I absolutely adore working with. I have all the faith in the world that things will work out, as they have over the last seven years." Or not!

Question: It's been a while since I've seen some good Prison Break series finale scoop. Do you have any spoilers on how it will end? -- Leah

Ausiello: Personally, I'm hoping producers pull an Alias and make the last scene a flash forward that shows us Michael, Sara, and their child living happily ever after in some remote location. Wouldn't that be awesome? I really hope they go in that direction (wink, wink).

Question: I'm dying to know who is playing Alpha on Dollhouse! Rumor has it it's... --Lelia

Ausiello: Let me stop you right there. Trust me, you do not want to know who's been cast in this role. Knowledge of this person's identity will ruin a major Alpha-related twist that Dollhouse boss Joss Whedon has been desperately trying to keep a lid on. Loosely translated into riddle form: What if we were to meet Alpha without knowing we were meeting Alpha? You with me, Lelia?

Question: Do you think the major-ish character that will be killed this season on Lost could be Juliet? Please say no. I have a girl-crush on her. --Michelle

Ausiello: Join the club. Nah, Juliet is considered a major character, no "ish" about it, so I think she's safe. In other Lost news, look for the season finale to intro two new, potentially recurring, characters: Jason is a former soldier whose gravitas makes him a natural-born Pied Piper; and Samuel is a J.R. Ewing (minus the Stetson, accent, and drunk wife) whose day isn't complete without a corporate takeover.

Question: Is Penny dead on Lost?! OMFG, what is this show doing to me! --Gaby

Ausiello: Penny, on the other hand, definitely falls under the "ish" category. And even more ominous than the big fat target on her forehead is the fact that her portrayer, Sonya Walger, has landed the lead role in a new ABC pilot that, appropriately enough, is already drawing comparisons to Lost. The show is called Flash Forward, and it's based on Robert J. Sawyer's apocalyptic tome that chronicles the mass chaos that comes after everyone on the planet blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The flash-forward part applies to the vision of the future that everyone experiences during the blackout. But even if ABC orders the show to series, as many expect it will, that doesn't mean Walger is done with Lost. Quite the contrary. As a well-placed Lost insider tells me, "She will juggle both shows."

Source: Ausiello @ EW