HOUSE Creator David Shore Talks Thirteen’s Return and a Possible Season 8

Tonight, HOUSE airs its 150th episode and it’s a big hour. Thirteen is released after a brief stint in prison and House is determined to find out what she did in her time away from Princeton-Plainsboro.

So why did the show decide to have the MIA doc spend a good portion of her time away in prison?

“I obviously don’t want to give anything away to the audience before they watch the episode, but it was all about the reason she was in prison more than the fact that she was in prison,” HOUSE creator David Shore said during a conference call with reporters last week. “There’s obviously a very emotional reason behind it, and a very personal reason behind it. So we had a wonderful combination dramatically of an ultimately personal reason and a very provocative start to the episode and then a lovely long mystery, so that was it.”

As for the actual reason Thirteen was in prison? We don’t want to spoil the juicy reveal, but Shore did say that the powers that be debated several reasons for why she ended up behind bars.

“We bandied around a lot about ideas, which I don’t want to mention because viewers may well think, ‘Oh, we should have gone with that’ and I’d rather not throw that at them,” Shore said. “But [the reason we chose] made a lot of sense. It told us something about her. It connected us deeper to her, and it was a lovely little mystery for the episode.”

Aside from tonight’s milestone 150th episode, everyone is awaiting word on whether HOUSE will return next season. Shore said he would be “absolutely astounded” if the series didn’t get an eighth season and they are operating under the assumption that Fox and NBC Universal will resolve their negotiations.

What is less unclear is which cast members will be around next season. Olivia Wilde (Thirteen) spent her break away from the show filming several movies, Shore said he hoped she’d return next year. “That’s also yet to be worked out,” he said. “I certainly hope we have her; she’s wonderful.”

Additionally, original series star Robert Sean Leonard (Wilson) has expressed doubt about his future with the show and his commitment to the Broadway show, BORN YESTERDAY, would conflict with the start of HOUSE’s new season.

“I don’t want to speculate on what would happen if he didn’t make a deal [for next season],” Shore said. “I can tell you he also said in that same article that he’ll probably be back — I think he said somewhere in there. I’m operating on the assumption that he’s going to be back, and negotiations are ongoing. We love him, and we value him, and you’re absolutely right. That relationship is, I think, one of the cornerstones of this show. That male friendship thing is one of the things I’m proudest of on the show, just the whole exploration of male friendship in, I think, a more honest way than a lot of shows, unfortunately, do it.”

However, someone who is definitely on her way out is Amber Tamblyn’s Masters.

“We’ve got an episode coming up which answers [her future on the show],” Shore said. “It’s an Amber-centric episode, a Masters-centric episode. But, it’s all about that, and [we] loved her. She’s great. The plan was never to have her stay forever, but it became very, very tempting. Then we did an episode dealing with exactly that.”

Are you looking forward to tonight’s episode of HOUSE?

Related:

Thirteen Returns to HOUSE: You Ask, I Answer

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