[Photo: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

IMPORTANT!! Don’t read any further until you watch this week’s season finale of House!! (I have to say it, since so many of us record the show and watch it later.)

After seeing Cuddy and House get together in the finale, I know most of us have tons of questions about where they’ll go from here. And Michael Ausiello at E! Online had those questions too. He talked to Katie Jacobs, one of the executive producers for House. Here’s what they discussed:

That was one hell of a final scene. What should we take away from it?

KATIE JACOBS: This is real and something that they are going to try. It’s something they stayed away from for a long period of time because it’s dangerous and the consequences could be severe. But now they’re going to give it a try.

They’re going to make a go of a relationship?

JACOBS: Absolutely. Yes.

What are we led to believe happened after the screen faded to black?

JACOBS: That’s exactly the conversation we had. Does the audience want us to pick up two or three months later? Or is the audience interested in us [picking up right where we left off]? And it’s really dependent on the narrative. Last year when House checked himself into the psychiatric hospital, I felt like it wouldn’t be good enough for the audience just to see him come out the other end and [return] to Princeton Plainsboro. Even though they knew he would [eventually] return there, I wanted everybody to see the moment after.

So which scenario will you choose this time around?

JACOBS: Put it this way… I’m certainly in the camp of not wanting to miss much after the fade to black. Because the truth is the challenges that are ahead for them are the things that kept them apart to begin with. It’s not chemistry or the spark. It’s “How are we going to deal with this? We’re going to be together. What does that look like?” Cuddy is his superior at the hospital. And she’s a mother. Those are the kind of things we’re going to have fun with.

I could be wrong but I think Huddy fans want to see a real, non-hallucinatory sex scene.

JACOBS: I get it. We’re in the process of figuring all that out right now, so I don’t have an answer. But this isn’t just about the [season premiere]. This isn’t something that will work or fail in just one episode. We’re going to attempt to make a true exploration of this relationship.

Were you on set when that last scene was shot?

JACOBS: Yes. It was amazing. Our prop guy, Eddie, had tears in his eyes. You never know how people are going to react to the story, but seeing Eddie with tears in his eyes and happy with the fact that House and Cuddy were finally going to give it a try was very satisfying.

[Photo: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

It’s actually for real. On this week’s House finale episode, we saw that Thirteen was taking a leave of absence because of her health. Now we find out that it’s actually because Olivia Wilde is taking time off from the show to film a big budget sci-fi western movie called Cowboys & Aliens.

Olivia usually works on other projects when the show is on hiatus, but this one overlaps the beginning of shooting for House season 7. According to Katie Jacobs in an interview with E! Online, she’ll be away from House for about two months. Here’s more from that interview:

“Olivia will be there at the very beginning of the season, and then she will not be there for a period of time,” explains executive producer Katie Jacobs.

The film also stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Sam Rockwell. (Fun fact: Lost boy Damon Lindelof co-wrote the script with Fringe exec producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.)

“She had this opportunity and she was really excited about it,” says Jacobs. “We’re very proud of her and very happy for her.”

“The two things — the dates that she was going to be away and the story line [we wanted to tell] — worked out,” says Jacobs. “When the story unfolds, it will [all make] sense.”

[Image: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

K. Penn: [laughs] No, it was my grandparents actually and no, it was never preachy. These were stories they would tell you at the dinner table. I remember my grandmother telling me stories about boycotting some salt and cotton. You just think that every grandparent has stories and it was not until much later, probably in high school or college that you go back and say, “Wait a second. Grandma told me a story about this chapter in this history book? That’s insane.”

But, it was never preachy. It was never used to try and coerce us into doing anything and by the same token, when I shared that with Mike at Entertainment Weekly it certainly wasn’t to draw any sorts of big comparisons or to be ostentatious about anything. That was always on my mind growing up, almost second nature, knowing that it was those types of small public service actions that have made a difference. And so, if I can make some sort of a small difference, I’m certainly honored to do it.

Q: You mentioned earlier in the phone call that you talked to the President about the job. Can you just relay a little bit more expansively what that conversation was like and what he said to you?

K. Penn: Sure. We talked about it briefly during the Inauguration. I spoke at the Staff Ball backstage very briefly, had mentioned that I was looking to work for him and we sort of talked a little bit about what sorts of areas I might be able to hopefully serve in. There were no huge discussions at that point, but obviously there are a number of folks, like Tina Chen and Mike Strautmanis who deal with a lot of this stuff. So, I had some follow-up calls with them afterwards and also a number of friends who worked on the campaign to try and figure if in fact I would be a good fit and where.

Q: You mentioned a couple of times on the phone call that there were going to be some financial repercussions here. Can you be a little bit more explicit – how much you’re going to be making at the White House and how does that compare to what you’re making now?

K. Penn: Sure. I won’t talk numbers right now, but obviously going from a private career where you’re working for a big company to a public service career, there’s a huge pay cut. So, the concern with that, quite frankly, is I own a home. There’s a terrible housing market and my concern is the same as everyone else’s concern. If I’m moving to a different city, can I sublet my house? Can I sublet it for the same price that my mortgage is? Can I refinance? It’s the same thing that everyone else is going through – similar concerns. So, we’ll see. It’s not something that I’ve entirely figured out just yet to be perfectly honest.

Q: You haven’t figured out whether or not you’re going to sublet or refinance or sell?

K. Penn: No. This is all the kind of stuff I’m looking at. It seems like you can’t effectively do either of the three right now in the Los Angeles area because banks are not very keen on letting you refinance; the rental market because it decreased significantly. But also, you don’t want a house sitting there barren. We’ll figure it out.

Q: On behalf of Harold & Kumar, what’s your position on legalizing marijuana?

K. Penn: Oh, I don’t smoke weed in real life. So, it’s honestly not something I’ve given much thought to. Those movies are all very frivolous and fun to do. I remember somebody wrote some article when we shot the first one. When we shot the first movie, I was also a vegetarian. So, there was this mini uproar amongst stoner White Castle fans – “How can you hire a vegetarian who doesn’t even smoke weed to play this character in the movie?”

I know that it is a serious issue, especially in California – legalization of medical marijuana and questions about taxation and things like that. But sadly, that’s not my area of expertise at all and admittedly, I probably didn’t try and learn about it because I knew that people would ask me about it.

At this point in the interview, Katie Jacobs & David Shore, the executive producers for House joined the conference call. There’s much more info to come…keep reading! It gets more and more interesting. What a great opportunity for Kal Penn!!

Q: Kal, is there any chance that they’ll be having you do commercials or public service spots on behalf of the Administration?

K. Penn: I don’t know. That’s not something that we discussed. I would imagine that my role is not going to be any different than the other talented staffers who are already on that team. So, I would imagine not, but I don’t know for sure.

Q: Okay, and now for the producers, I assume this is going to resonate through the rest of the season, or how long will it resonate?

D. Shore: It’ll resonate at least through the end of this season. The impact on “House” and the rest of the doctors and the people that work there… is what we’re looking forward to exploring.

Q: Are you proud you were able to keep a secret in Hollywood as well as you did?

D. Shore: I’m absolutely startled, yes.

Q: It was a brilliant episode; just stunning. It’s no secret that in this climate, show producers are going to have to tighten their belts. Did Kal’s decision fit perfectly into that? Were you asked at all to bring the show in cheaper?

K. Jacobs: No. We were not asked to bring the show in cheaper. We have an immense amount of support from the studio and network with this show. These are purely creative and personal decisions and it’s just been fantastic the amount of support that we’ve gotten from the studio and network. I’m not saying we’re a cheap show, but you have to figure we’re pretty much on stage most of the time, not on location, but we have a tremendous amount of support. So, this had nothing to do with that.

Q: Now, there are clearly lots of shows violently killing off major beloved characters. I’m not even talking about Lost and 24, which almost kill for sport, but of course Edie on Housewives, Derek on Terminator. What does it bring creatively? I don’t know if you can speak in a more general way for lots of shows, but what does killing a beloved character like this bring creatively?

D. Shore: I don’t know I can speak generally at all. I know what it brought to us. I guess, obviously, stirring the pot brings something to any show. Kal came to us with his issues and his opportunities more specifically and we were very excited for him, but it created a creative problem for us. I’m very happy with the way it worked out. It gave us an opportunity to do something unexpected.

What’s fascinating about it is it’s a question that “House” can’t answer and he’s the man who has the answers to everything. It’s so unexpected for the “Kutner” character and that what was really exciting about it was the unexpected nature of it and the fact that there are no simple answers and not even complicated. I mean they were very complicated, but nothing that “House” can figure out and that’s what was very exciting to us and then, of course, just the very opportunity of dealing with the fallout for any human being, which is, I guess, the general answer because anytime somebody you’re close to dies, people react differently.

Q: Will you bring someone in to replace “Kutner”?

K. Jacobs: There is no replacement for “Kutner”.

D. Shore: Exactly.

Q: Are you going to leave it out there, the question of whether it was in fact a suicide, or is that going to be dropped from here on?

K. Jacobs: It was a suicide. It was a suicide.

Q: So, anybody out there super-analyzing the scene and looking for contradictory evidence, that’s just not going to go anywhere.

D. Shore: They’re being like “House”. They’re looking for more answers where they may not be more answers.

Q: Which individual would you say is going to be most impacted by the aftermath of “Kutner’s” death moving forward?

D. Shore: Everybody is going to be impacted. We are going to see perhaps surprisingly “Cameron” and “Chase’s” reaction to it. We’re going to see more of that. That doesn’t say that they’re going to have a greater reaction to it, but we are going to see more of that and, of course, “House’s” reaction and “Wilson’s” reaction and everybody’s reaction. It was important to us that we be as truthful with this as we possibly could and see how everybody react, but we are going to bring “Cameron” and “Chase” to the forefront a little bit.

K. Jacobs: Yes, I mean everybody feels the impact of such a significant loss and people process it and characters process it in different ways, I think that the greatest impact, correct me if I’m wrong, David, is ultimately with “House” because he is not at peace. He’s unable to rest with the idea that he did not see it coming and cannot explain it. So ultimately, I think it has the greatest impact on “House”.

D. Shore: Yes, he is the one who has the least ability to cope with it and as a result, it has the greatest affect on him.

K. Jacobs: Yes. He has no resources. He has no sort of family to go home to.

Q: I have kind of a chicken and egg question for you in terms of how far back you knew you were going to do this. It seems as if there hasn’t been much done with “Kutner” in quite a while, which allowed you to do this ending where we didn’t know much about him and it was ambiguous why he would have done it. Was this a case of you knew you were going to kill him off and therefore you wanted to put him to the sideline a little bit, or did you look back and realize, “We haven’t done a lot with “Kutner”. Therefore, we have the ability to do this”?

K. Jacobs: That’s not how we felt about it at all. We knew a while ago. David figured out how he wanted to envision this in December and I’m actually surprised. You might be right, but I feel like he’s been an important part– I mean in the very last episode, he solved the case. He solved the case a couple of episodes before that too. He was sort of riding a wave of success in “House’s” team. He had given Kal the go ahead to take credit for it, but I feel like we played him a lot recently. David?

D. Shore: Kal, are you feeling under utilized?

K. Penn: No.

D. Shore: [laughs] You’re free to say it now. You don’t have to kiss my ass any more.

K. Penn: I never felt under utilized. In fact, what I talked about earlier was one of the nice things about having had the chance to do a series that’s an ensemble is you’re constantly learning about your character. So, it’s constantly fresh. It’s fresh in learning about himself, but also learning about the way in which he reacts with the other cast members, the other characters. I think that was especially true in a couple of episodes where you see the banter between “Kutner” and “Taub” or “Thirteen” and “Kutner” talking about something or other that had nothing to do with medicine. Actually, I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I was under utilized at all.

Q: Well, maybe the way I should have phrased it then is that we saw quite a bit of “Kutner” professionally, but not personally to the degree that we’ve seen pretty much every other character this season.

D. Shore: I think it is true that had we seen some major dilemma in his personal life we could not have done this story the way we did because one of the integral elements of this story is that there are no easy answers available. If he married and have an affair, if he just broke up with a girlfriend– Even though the answer would have been much more complicated than that, that would have been something that somebody could just hang on to and feel that that was the answer and we didn’t want that there.

Q: You mentioned a couple of minutes ago about bringing “Cameron” and “Chase” to the fore a little bit. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

D. Shore: No. Again, as Katie said, the impact is mainly on “House”, but of the other people, we do see some fallout with “Cameron” and “Chase” in, I think, an interesting way. Again, I don’t want to spoil it.

Q: Well, it was worth a shot.

D. Shore: I can tell you that everybody has a slightly different reaction and it was important to us that we see varied reactions. Both “Cameron” and “Chase” do not have a unified reaction.

Q: Is there any sort of longer range plan for bringing a new member into the team?

D. Shore: I go with Katie’s answer, that “Kutner’s” irreplaceable.

Q: The “Kutner” memorial site that you put up on the FOX website, how long was that in the works and Kal, do you find it kind of creepy?

K. Jacobs: Do you, Kal?

K. Penn: No, not really. When I heard that it was going to happen, that was the first question I asked. I think what I said was just don’t put any of my real family photos on the website. Make sure they’re the ones from all the photo shoots that we did when we wrapped up episode 20. They said, “Of course. Obviously.”

It’s sad certainly. It’s sad because I loved playing the character and to see that the character is not around and took his own life, obviously, is incredibly disturbing, but I mean it’s very, very clear that’s it’s a “Lawrence Kutner” memorial page.

K. Jacobs: Our motivation came from that it felt like such a significant thing that we were doing that I didn’t want the audience in any way to feel that we took it casually, as if everything can go on the day after the same as it was the day before because we felt profoundly changed and I was thinking if the audience, the fans of the show felt that change, that they would want to know that we thought about it a lot beforehand and that we took it really seriously and that we would want them to have somewhere to turn to express any or all of their thoughts and emotions and feelings about the show and about what we did to the show.

But mostly, we’ve been working on it for a while. It came from the notion of letting our audience know that this was a big deal to us. And so, it felt like a big deal to them that we sort of have that in common.

D. Shore: Let me just add to that. This has nothing to do with the memorial per se, but it relates to what Katie was saying. This was a big deal. I wasn’t on at the beginning of the call when Kal was speaking, and Kal knows this and he’s expressed this same sentiment in reverse. This is not something that would have happened if not for these wonderful opportunities that Kal’s been presented with. We loved him. We loved working with him. Once this happened, we were not going to stand in his way. We were thrilled for him as human beings, but as executive producers we had second thoughts. We were thrilled for him and we found a way that I think is very exciting for us creatively, but it would not have happened if not for this great personal opportunity.

K. Jacobs: It was the only reason why I didn’t want Obama to be the candidate and then– no. I mean seriously, this has been on Kal’s mind for a long time and I remember saying to David, “Well, he hasn’t even won the primary yet. Well, he hasn’t even”– Do you know what I mean? Because I think I was in a state of denial. Just for the record, I obviously was the hugest Obama supporter that there had been, or one of them. I mean I was just trying to avoid the reality that we would actually have to face this moment.

Q: Actually, let me ask a follow-up question because it seems like you’ve been working towards a suicide storyline for a while. From my understanding, this is something that you’ve been planning for a while if not with this character. You’ve had your–

K. Jacobs: Only with this character.

D. Shore: It was only with this character. The plans are this. We were noodling stuff around. We knew that we might have to face this. And so, we had been noodling stuff around since the fall. It really came together concretely, I guess, very early December – right after the election basically, but we had the thoughts in mind and then we mapped out the end of the season at the beginning of December.

Q: You’ve been pulling a bit of a bait and switch though because you certainly made it seem like “Taub” was not in a good way.

K. Jacobs: Everybody has problems and different ways of dealing with it. “Taub” is struggling in his own way. But as I said, I think that’s more close to real life. It’s a little silly to think that we all don’t have our struggles on the inside. It’s how they manifest and how we deal with them.

Q: There’s a point in there where “Thirteen” says, I think, about 25% of people kill themselves with no sign of it at all. I assume from your research that’s a correct number. I just wanted to double check if that is the case.

D. Shore: Yes, that’s not a number we just pulled– Well, we don’t pull any numbers out of our hat. That is something that research supports. I know there is conflicting research, but it’s certainly a surprisingly significant number.

Q: Did you consider any other ways to have the character leave?

D. Shore: We considered many ways to have the character leave. Ultimately, as I said before, this has been the story that allowed us to really have the greatest impact on “House” in particular; have an impact on everybody, but in particular the man who craves answers not having an answer. That is what really excited us about this story.

Q: Okay, and although you said you’re happy for Kal, this obviously threw a wrench into your plans. You hear stories about producers sometimes deciding violent ways for characters to leave when they’re not pleased. Was there any of that?

K. Jacobs: No. We’re, I’m devastated. This phone call is making me more sad than I was the other day when I saw Kal.

D. Shore: If he had come to us and said, “I’ve been offered a great part on CSI,” then yes, we would have had him–

K. Penn: I’m actually going to do Grey’s Anatomy, David.

D. Shore: It would have been auto erotic asphyxiation or something like that. [laughing] No, we’re thrilled for Kal. This is something that as human beings you hear about this and you go– If anybody on our crew had come to us and said, “I need to leave because I’ve had this sort of opportunity,” we would have wished them well and been thrilled for them and gone back into our office and go, “What do we do now?” We would have been thrilled.

Q: Kal, actors/celebrities going into public service goes back as far as Shirley Temple, maybe even earlier. I noticed on the FOX website that there’s a lot of viewer comments, very positive for the most part, but there’s also a strain of cynicism amongst some of the comments; people saying, “Oh, another actor trying to be a celebrity, using a celebrity to go into public service.” How would you respond to that?

K. Penn: I mean I can certainly understand that sentiment, but I would respond to that by just being open about the fact that I’m not a democrat or a republican. I’ve been a registered independent for a number of years. I’ve made it very clear to the White House that I should not be given any special treatment. It’s a privilege to be asked to serve there and I’m looking forward to being just one member of an incredible team that already exists in the Office of Public Liaison. I’m going to be putting acting on hold and it was also made very clear to me that I was being hired because of qualifications that had nothing to do with being a “celebrity.”

So, I certainly understand any of the cynicism that comes along with that. Fortunately, in my particular case, none of the – and I even hate the word – celebrity aspects of this had anything to do with me going into public service.

Q: or when we had the Kal, you’re a funny guy. You’re the kind of person that people– You’re funny. When I see your face, you make me laugh. So, are you going to use humor much at all in your new job? Does humor have a place?

K. Penn: You mean I’m funny when smart writers write witty things for me to say.

Q: I guess.

K. Penn: I always pursue things with a sense of humor. I think it keeps things lively and active, but I also think that there’s a time for humor and there’s a time to be more serious and hopefully life brings a balance of both.

K. Jacobs: Actually, we’ve cut that part of his brain, the funny part of his brain out and we’re holding on to that here at House.

K. Penn: They actually have the right to hold that for I think it’s another four years. So, I can get it back after that.

Q: To the producers, I’ve worked in the newspapers for 20 years and newspapers/media in general are very, very cautious about reporting suicides of any kind because suicides often cause rashes. You’ve seen it in high schools and the native reserves and that kind of thing. I know you put some resources on the FOX website for people who are contemplating suicide, but are you concerned that you may have an incident in the future or that you may precipitate an incident at all involving suicide? Was it a risk that you consider worth taking?

K. Jacobs: I certainly hope that that’s not the case. The intention was to bring to light the fact that this can happen and at the end of the show, we ran a NAMI ad. If you are all contemplating suicide, there’s help out there for you and we placed a number. If anything, we were hoping quite the opposite, that we would have people who are feeling in a desperate way realize that they are not alone and that there’s help out there for them.

D. Shore: I concur. Thank you, Katie. We did not want to glamorize it. We wanted to show that there are alternatives, that you communicate, you reach out to your friends.

K. Jacobs: The other thing is that even if it’s not directly related to everybody, take a good look. If you feel like one of your friends or someone you know is in distress, again, there is somewhere for you to go. So, we were trying to be very responsible about it and very human about it. I think one of the things about mental illness that troubles people so much is that they feel that it’s stigmatized and that they can’t talk about it and they feel very alone. We want to convey that it is a medical illness, because it is, like any other medical illness and there is treatment. So, that was our hope.

Q: Just to be clear, there’s no evil twin brother doctor who’s likely to return in three or four seasons on House.

K. Jacobs: You come up with a great script for it, we’ll consider it.

Q: This is for David. I’m just wondering; will there be a major change in “House’s” character because of this?

D. Shore: Look, “House” says nobody changes and I sort of agree with them. This will prompt him to question some of the choices he makes and it will, perhaps, promote him to try and change. Whether he succeeds or not is a completely different question.

Q: This is for Kal too. I wanted to go back to the cynicism out there. I’ve had people saying, “Has he paid his taxes?” making cracks about Washington. Are you worried that the way the character died will overshadow your new job?

K. Penn: No, and I certainly hope that most of us out there recognize that there’s a big difference between fact and fiction and that the characters that an actor plays are very different than his or her real life. Superman flies and Anthony Hopkins eats people in Silence of the Lambs, but I think we’re all rational enough to know that those are both fictitious. By the same token, the same goes with television.

What I am hoping that folks recognize for all us, no matter what your political affiliation, the last couple of months have been incredibly exciting. It’s definitely a new day. I’m hoping to put that sort of cynicism behind and move forward collectively with something a little more positive. I have a feeling that the majority of folks are in that mindset as well.

Q: I was kind of curious; is “Kutner” going to be the cupid who is going to bring “House” and “Cuddy” together?

K. Jacobs: Another good idea. What do you think, David?

D. Shore: Yes. I think being dead might put a crimp in that, but no, not in the foreseeable future.

The serious answer is this, and what David saying earlier about how everybody reacts differently. I think you’re so right to say that certain people would take the impact of this horrible event and want to be closer and want to sort of couple up and be closer to people. But with “House,” it sends him in the opposite direction. So, no.

Q: Are there any plans to kind of explore more maybe any motive behind “Kutner’s” decision?

D. Shore: No. The issue is it’s unknown. I mean obviously, there ultimately is a reason. Something went on in that man’s head, but it went on in that man’s head and it is ultimately unknowable. I think that in our show is a more interesting question. The question of dealing with that and accepting that is a more interesting issue than trying to put a little pin in the answer.

K. Jacobs: It’s a struggle.

Q: Did you shoot any flashback scenes, or is that really the last time that we have seen “Kutner”?

D. Shore: We didn’t. We actually thought about that and we specifically rejected that because again, any flashback would have to be chosen for it telling us something. This story is about us knowing nothing. The answers are in his head and we can’t get there. And so, we ultimately decided that we should know what we know and not what “Kutner” knows. So, we decided that because this is so unfathomable, we shouldn’t see that.

K. Jacobs: It’s the way that it is. When you lose somebody, it is a shock and there’s such a mix of emotions. You feel sadness. You feel anger and I think the intensity of those emotions are made even greater by the fact that you cannot go back. Once someone is gone, they’re gone. David’s decision to make this happen at the beginning part of the episode and in a way that gave us no clues, I applaud because it’s devastating, but it’s how we feel when something like that happens. You’re just caught off guard. There are no answers and there is no going back. We wanted to put the audience in “House’s” and in our characters’ shoes and feel it in that kind of raw, unexplainable way.

D. Shore: Inexplicable?

K. Jacobs: [laughs] Either way.

Q: I wanted to know how much, if at all, your association with the National Alliance on Mental Illness influenced the choice of the story.

K. Jacobs: It did not influence the choice of the story at all. This is something that, as David said, has been ruminating in his brain and I always find he’s thinking about; David is thinking about ways of telling stories in his head and then on this writer’s retreat that we took in early December, the whole story sort of came out and poured out. Then it just seemed like a natural connection to reiterate our alliance with National Association on Mental Illness. So, the story comes first here and then we try to– Story comes first above all else and then we try to have everything fall in line to follow that.

Q: Was the decision to sort of align with the National Alliance on Mental Illness influenced at all by the story kicking around in your brain, David?

D. Shore: No, that alliance was in there for quite some time.

K. Jacobs: We made that alliance to NAMI years ago.

What do you think of the things they had to say? It was worth the long read, wasn’t it?

Read Part 1 of the interview

[Image: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Whew! Finally! Here’s the complete conference call interview with Kal Penn, Katie Jacobs and David Shore. It’s so much more than you got in all the other sites’ interview posts. The entire thing is 62 typewritten pages long! No kidding! I gave you some of the highlights already, but I know you want all the scoop, just like me!

So take a second to refill your beverage of choice and start reading the interview. It’s definitely worth it for House fans!!

Q: Now, I know that you had requested to leave the show to go work for the White House, which is awesome. I just wonder; were you taken aback at all when they said that they were going to kill you off I mean because it does rob you of the opportunity to ever return to the show. Were you taken aback at all?

K. Penn: I think everyone is always taken aback with every episode on that show to be perfectly honest. I know in this case they’re unique circumstances because the character is actually being eliminated. But I feel like House is one of those shows, at least from the actor’s perspective, when we get each script every week, we really don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s on a page-to-page basis partially because obviously the writers are so brilliant in creating and crafting these characters, but also the character of House, it’s virtually impossible to get into his head.

So, we’re sort of used to going page-to-page and going, “Wow. Is this actually going to happen?” and that goes for any episode. Obviously, yes, you’re connected to the character. I love playing “Kutner” and so, there’s a little bit of shock and loss- more than a little bit of shock and loss when I found that out also, but I think that’s sort of, plot-wise, what they were going for as well. So, yes, I was probably as shocked as the audience was when I first found out.

Q: Was there any discussion of you appearing in that final episode in any capacity?

K. Penn: I was there when Olivia and Omar shot that scene, where they discover “Kutner”.

Q: So, those were your legs?

K. Penn: They were.

Q: You got paid?

K. Penn: I did. Greg Yaitanes directed that episode [note: he also directed the episode, House's Head, another heart-wrenching episode] and, even though we were being shot from way back in the other room, he wanted it to be as authentic as possible. So, we were fully in that moment.

Q: I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about your decision to leave the show and how long this has been in the works and if your managers and agents are telling you you’re crazy for walking away from such a successful show.

K. Penn: Well, I think I’ve had people tell me I’m crazy from the time I was 17 and said, “I want to be an actor.” So, that’s nothing new. I think every actor has been told they were crazy.

I mean it is a little insane in the sense that this is an incredible show to have been part of. There were certainly no problems. If anything, I was having a great time. I have a tremendous respect for the writers and the other actors and obviously, David and Katie. So, it was tough all around. The word that I still use to describe it is bittersweet because it’s not like I’m retiring from acting. I certainly intend to come back at some point. But right now, I just felt like my calling was in public service and so we moved forward with that.

Q: When do you start your new job?

K. Penn: It’s kind of up in the air right now. There are a couple of things that I need to finish up, but I’m going out to D.C., I think, next week to do some apartment hunting.

Q: Would the actor in you, the showman in you, the ego in you, have liked to have gotten a big showy performance and farewell death scene, or do you like the way it happened?

K. Penn: I like the way it happened. The thing that I enjoy about being an actor and the thing that I enjoy about the arts in general is the ability to make the audience feel an emotion that they weren’t intending to feel before they went in. I think that Greg who directed the episode, and obviously David and Katie, did that in such a great way that people did feel the types of loss and anger and confusion about this fictional character. I don’t know that you would have gotten that same sense if it were some sort of a very “Kutner”-heavy episode where you see the trials and tribulations. I think part of the loss that the team on House feels from what he did is transitioned over into what the audience feels because there was no explanation. I’m sort of glad that we didn’t have a big kind of “Kutner” dramatic scene to wrap it up.

Q: I’m quite sure there’s no way to document how many people will see the episode, read the information at the end of the show with the phone number, who to call if they’re in a suicidal condition and make the call and save their lives, but how does it feel for you as an actor and as a person to be able to do some work that puts that information out there in such a big way?

K. Penn: I’m really glad that the producers and FOX decided to put that on the end. I know all of us, unfortunately, know folks who have taken their own lives and you always go back and think about what you could have done differently. You realize that in a lot of cases, there wasn’t that awareness or there wasn’t that recognition of what to look for, how to look for it, how to reach out to somebody who you think might need that help.

So, I’m glad they mentioned it on the website and there are a number of resources online. I hope people do take advantage of them because I’m sure, sadly, out of the 18-plus million viewers that we have every week, I’m sure some folks might be struggling and I definitely hope they take advantage of websites like that.

Q: Well, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if somewhere along the way, years from now, weeks from now, somebody reaches out to you and says, “This happened because of that episode.” I hope so.

K. Penn: Well, that would be something good to come of it.

Q: It’s a big lifestyle change, particularly after the success you’ve had as an actor, to be coming to live in Washington. I’m kind of curious about your view of the place culturally; not arts particularly, but just living in this city and what that’s going to be like and how much you know about it.

[My] second question is who at the White House and in Washington did you talk to before making this decision? I don’t know if you talked to the President himself as part of this or the Chief of Staff. I’m kind of curious to see who you talked to and what convinced you to make this move. I know the public service part. So, I’m looking for the other aspect of it.

K. Penn: Sure. Well, let me address the first question first then. I grew up on the East Coast; I grew up in New Jersey and so, D.C. was always accessible to us during high school. We would come down frequently. My two interests, like I said, were public service and the arts. So, I would always take advantage of both New York and Washington. I have college friends and certainly friends from a number of the presidential campaigns who are in Washington, who have worked there for years. While I haven’t lived there before, I think I have a pretty good sense of what D.C.’s all about and I’m definitely looking forward to being part of it.

And so, to see that there was a candidate who was reaching out to those folks, kind of transcending those lines that you think of when you think of politics was incredibly moving, especially with regard to a lot of these kids who either couldn’t afford college or were in college and worried about student loans or the economy.

The types of change that President Obama had campaigned on and now the opportunity to bring those changes to fruition was something that was so incredibly moving that after he won and after having had the chance to talk about a potential opportunity with some of my fellow campaign staffers, the President, some of his aides, I reached out and said that this was something that I really wanted to do and I’m deeply honored and feel deeply privileged to have this opportunity now.

Q: Just to clarify; you did talk to the President about this?

K. Penn: Yes, ma’am.

Q: Did he say, “Hell, yes; come on down”?

K. Penn: Not in that language. We discussed it briefly. I was trying to find the right fit and to see if I would be helpful and to be of service somehow.

Q: I wanted to be a little clearer on what exactly the job is, why you want that job and who offered the job to you.

K. Penn: Sure. Well, the job itself is that I will be an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. What the OPL does is similar in a sense to what I was doing on the campaign in that now that it is the actual Administration, what they try and do is take the Administration itself out of Washington.

Like I said, I’m not giving up acting; I’m not retiring, but since this seemed like the opportunity that presented itself and it seemed like something that I would enjoy doing and be honored to serve at, I figured it was something to do.

Q: Who offered you the job?

K. Penn: There was a bunch of discussions. I don’t know that there was any one point person. My point folks in the Office of Public Liaison are Mike Strautmanis, Valerie Jarrett.

Q: Does this mean no more Harold & Kumar movies?

K. Penn: That’s probably true, yes.

Q: You said you’re not retiring from acting. Does this job allow you to do any acting projects at all, or is this it for a specific amount of time?

K. Penn: I won’t be acting while I’m working at the White House, no.

Q: Do you know how long? Is there a certain amount of time that you’re going to do this for? Are you going to do it while Obama is in office, whether it’s for this four and possibly eight?

K. Penn: There’s no set limit. I mean I definitely intend to go out there for at least a year or two and figure it out. There are certain financial concerns to consider with all of it. There are career, both public service and arts-related, concerns to think about. So, we’ll see. The reason that I say I’m certainly not retiring is I’m not packing up and saying I’m leaving Hollywood and all this sort of stuff. It’s just pursuing another passion right now. I’m equally as passionate about the arts and will also continue to be. But right now, I wanted to pursue this sort of thing and we’ll see for how long and under what circumstances.

Q: Would you have made this decision and done it, do you think, if it had been any other president than Obama?

K. Penn: I don’t know. I certainly don’t think so. Like I said, this wasn’t the intention. This was not part of any master plan for the last couple of years. It was something that I was inspired by and someone I was inspired by. And again, formerly being a very cynical independent who agreed with both democrats and republicans on different things, it’s really refreshing to have a president who is listening to all three of those parties’ voices and I’m looking forward to this.

Q: I’m just curious about whether or not you’ll actually be traveling around the country to talk to people, or are you going to be staying most in Washington, D.C. during this time.

K. Penn: I would imagine it would be a little bit of both. The Office of Public Liaison is known as the front door to the White House. Like I said, one of the things that they do is to really take the Administration itself out of Washington; so, the ways in which communities are represented. Often times, they have folks who come to Washington to meet with the White House or with Congressional representatives or what have you. By the same token, we also do go into the communities and work with them directly as well. So, I would imagine it’s a fair amount of both.

Q: So, I understand your job to be the associate director, one of the things is kind of being the liaison between various communities and the President. I’m wondering; are there any communities that you particularly would like to reach out to to kind of help the President accomplish some of his missions? I know you had a conversation with him and I’m assuming that came up.

K. Penn: Yes. Well, two of the communities that I’m sort of going to be the point person for are the arts and Asian American folks. Part of that was during the campaign itself, I served on the Arts Policy Committee and a lot of the outreach we would do was to arts groups, students and under 35 voters and Asian Americans. So, two of those – the arts community and the Asian American community – are two of the groups who I’ll be reaching out to.

Part of the stimulus bill had a certain amount of funding for the arts and of course, the arts, especially in America, have always been extremely relevant to documenting history and providing educational opportunities. It’s something that I’m really looking forward to. It’s obviously a big shift from the last 12 years of my life, but it’s something I’m looking forward to.

Q: I know you said that you are an independent, but do you think you might switch over to being a democrat now? Has President Barack Obama swayed you at all?

K. Penn: I don’t know. Something that I really admire still is that in the White House, there are folks from both major parties and a couple of nutty independents like myself. So, we’ll see. I’m certainly not getting any pressure to change my political affiliation; let me put it that way. Everyone’s respectful.

Q: Do you know of other people in the entertainment industry; are there other people that you talked with before you decided to make this decision? Are there people who kind of share the same passion that you do of wanting to work in Obama’s White House?

K. Penn: That’s a good question. I think the folks who I shared it with; obviously, while it’s a decision based almost wholly on passion and something that I want to do with my life, you can’t ignore the other career-related aspects of it or the financial aspects of it or things like that. So, I obviously had a number of discussions with agents and managers and accountants and folks like that, as well as a number of friends who are in and outside of the industry to basically say, “This is what I really want to do, but am I crazy?”

The caveat being, of course, I kind of talked about this a little bit earlier; the caveat being I don’t think there’s any actor who I know who wasn’t told they were crazy when they were an aspiring actor moving out to California to follow some sort of a dream. And so, the way that I view it, it’s a journey. I’m certainly not trying to burn any bridges and say that I’m never coming back to acting because it remains a passion. By the same token, I’m incredibly honored and privileged to be able to serve in the Obama Administration.

Q: Do you have any plans to run for office yourself one day?

K. Penn: No.

Q: What did your parents, family, friends think when you told them about the career switch and when did you tell them?

K. Penn: I discussed it with them kind of off and on, I guess, maybe the last eight or nine months or so. I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone because when I joined the Obama campaign I wasn’t as involved– I think I joined in October of 2007 and then slowly became more and more involved through the Iowa caucuses during the writer’s strike and ended up moving to Des Moines for, I think, that last month and a half before the January caucus. I think at that point, a lot of my friends and my family said, “Wait a second; what are you doing? Is this something that you’re getting caught up in? Is this something that you’re actually passionate about?” From that point, the discussion has always ensued.

The folks who know me the best always have known that those have been the dueling passions, shall we say – the arts and public service. So, I don’t think they were shocked at all, but it was certainly nice to bounce some ideas off of people about whether or not this was the best decision for me right now.

Q: This was already asked and you kind of gave, “I don’t think so;” but really no more Harold & Kumar? You couldn’t turn this into something?

K. Penn: I don’t know. I certainly don’t want to squash anyone’s hopes or dreams of that, but right now I’m going to be moving to Washington to take on this position. I’m certainly not going to be acting while I’m serving in the White House. Who’s to say what would happen three, four, five years from now. But at this point, it’s not on my radar, no.

Q: When you first met the President, did he mention he recognized you from any particular roles?

K. Penn: I’m trying to think. I think the first time I met him was late in 2007. Yes, he did mentioned House actually, but it was a passing comment. I had met him at a fundraiser, the rope handshaking line towards the end. I introduced myself and he said, “Oh, yes. You’re on that show. What show are you on?” I said, “I’m on House.” He was like, “That’s right, the doctor show. Nice work.” I said, “Thanks” and that was it. I didn’t really get to know him until later on during the campaign.

Q: Did he ever or any of the staffers ever joke about Harold & Kumar or drugs or any of that sort of thing?

K. Penn: No, no. This was probably one of the other reasons that I was so drawn to the campaign was the folks who were on staff even as early as pre-Iowa caucus back in 2007 were incredibly inclusive, incredibly respectful and also very driven by actual issues. I never had an experience where I thought anyone was distracted by anything other than getting people registered to vote, discussing issues with them, reporting those issues back. It was really quite remarkable to see how the whole operation was being conducted.

There was never any conversation about any of the more frivolous items from any of us who came from different fields. There were folks who were formerly musicians or sports folks or teachers or whatever. We just didn’t really talk much about that. It was very focused on the issues at hand, which was really nice. I had not had an experience like that before.

Q: I’m kind of curious; what did you think about suicide as a choice for “Kutner” to take after playing him all the time?

K. Penn: I was shocked by it, but I think that was the nature of what they were going for. When we discussed or when they told me about it, I asked if there was anything in his background that would have indicated or if there were any warning signs beforehand and the answer was generally no, that this is something that was just as shocking to the team as it is to the audience and it’s something that nobody sees coming.

It’s kind of tough to wrap your head around that, especially as the actor who plays the character, to know that he was obviously tormented about something, but didn’t share it with anyone. I think that’s indicated pretty well at the very end when “House” goes back into “Kutner’s” apartment and starts going through photos, searching for some sort of an answer and he sees pictures that we had never seen a side of “Kutner” before. We never knew that he had a girlfriend. We never knew that he hung out with his college friends at the beach regularly. That last picture that he pulls out right before the episode airs is of “Kutner” looking very different than we’ve ever seen him before. The look on his face is so completely different from him being kind of jovial in the hospital or even saving somebody’s life. It’s this distraught look that we just don’t have an answer to. He didn’t leave a note. He never discussed it with anyone. For the first time, “House” doesn’t have an answer to something.

So, it was disturbing to me as an actor, but recognizing that that was also kind of the journey that the audience would go through made it disturbing and also a little bit strange because I wasn’t allowed to talk about it with anybody. So, at least when the audience gets to see it, they can talk about it with their friends and watch it, but there was a lot of Peter Jacobson and Olivia Wilde and I going, “Isn’t this insane? Wow. This is so sad.”

Q: Well, were you sad that you didn’t get to portray that other part of him, of having a girlfriend and all that?

K. Penn: No, because I think you saw the different layers to all the characters. We rarely see, with the exception of “House” of course and a little bit with “Taub” and his wife, the characters – you don’t see them that much outside the hospital. Most of the plot ends are based there. Despite the fact that they’re all based around medicine, you know an incredible amount about these characters and a lot of their back story really informs their behavior and informs how they deal with patients.

So, I definitely don’t regret that because I don’t think it’s really that type of show. If anything, I think it accentuates the shock and the anger and depression that the rest of the team feels surrounding the way in which he passed away.

Q: Are you a little nervous about going from the set to going to a 9 to 5 desk job?

K. Penn: Not really. I’ve had experience in that field over the last couple of years. It’s something I’m actually looking forward to. I’m incredibly honored to have the opportunity to do it and we’ll take it from there.

Q: I want to congratulate you not only on the new job, but on having the best reason for leaving a show I’ve ever heard. I mean you get like creative differences, I want to do movies, but you have getting a job in the White House. So, I think you get some sort of prize for that.

K. Penn: Thanks.

Q: My question is just going back to the shock of the suicide and finding out, how many episodes did you shoot after you found out that this is how “Kutner” was going to end, but before the actual final episode? Did that affect your performance at all?

K. Penn: I think I found out while we were shooting episode 17. It was – I’m trying to think. I think it was episode 17 or maybe halfway through 18. It was probably halfway through 18 actually and no, the performance didn’t change. That was the first thing that I asked David Shore was, “Do you want me to change anything? Do you want this to be informed that he’s struggling with something?” The answer was, “Not really.” This is something that really does come out of left field in episode 20 and we don’t want to lead anyone on. We also don’t want to mislead anyone. It just is what it is and there’s no explanation for it.

Q: So, the audience shouldn’t go back to the last couple of episodes and try to look for a sad face somewhere or something like that?

K. Penn: No. I mean by all means watch the episodes again for enjoyment, but no, there was nothing hidden in there. There were no codes that we put in for people to decipher.

Q: I have to ask because I read the interview that you did with Entertainment Weekly where you mentioned that your parents marched with Gandhi. Did they pull that out growing up like all the time on you? When you were doing Harold & Kumar for instance, were they like, “Oh, yes. That’s great. We marched with Gandhi, but that’s cool too”?

Continue reading Part 2

[Photo: © 2010 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

This week, I was able to take part in a conference call interview with House Executive Producer, Katie Jacobs. She gave some insight into the Huddy relationship and tells us more of what we can expect to see with the characters this season. We also get a bit of information about the possible Private Investigator spinoff… Here’s what was discussed:

Q: I have to wonder, when you were preparing for the hostage episode, did you come across any real instances where anything remotely like this happened where someone went a little crazy in the hospital just to get treatment?

K. Jacobs: Yes. In fact, I talked to several SWAT guys. One had a really interesting story about how the hostage taker was moving outside the hospital, from one area to the other, and they were all poised to get him. When he came out, he and the hostages that were surrounding him all had on surgical scrubs and masks so they could not figure out who the hostage taker was and who the victims were. Yes, we researched this.

Q: That’s straight out of that Denzel Washington movie, I think.

K. Jacobs: Oh, is it? Inside Man?

Q: It’s similar, yes.

K. Jacobs: Yes, so he’s worked on several situations like this. What we were really interested in tapping into – because obviously guys pulling guns is not all that original, but what we were interested in tapping into is the frustration that many of us feel when we go in to see a doctor or a hospital, and we’re not diagnosed, when they simply don’t know what’s wrong. This patient had been to 16 hospitals and has been through every imaginable test and he feels that there is a certain indignity, and he’s not being seen, and yet, at the same time, he’s lost everything because, also, people with illnesses know, you miss a certain amount of work because you’re not feeling well, or you’re not able to carry on even the closest of relationships, so you can lose your life to this illness. That’s what we’re more interested in is patients’ frustration and their need to be seen.

Q: I’d like to talk about whatever we’re on the brink of with House and Cuddy. Would you say that viewers should brace themselves for one of the most unorthodox love affairs in TV history?
(click on “Read More” for the rest of the interview)

K. Jacobs: It’s funny because you’re right to say “unorthodox,” and at the same time, I think it’s probably more real than any other love relationship on TV insofar as relationships are complicated. House and Cuddy work together. There’s obvious chemistry; there’s obvious respect, but there’s barbs, and there’s jousting. It is unorthodox and, at the very same time, incredibly real. So, yes.

Q: It seems like scheduling and rescheduling have become a fun game for the Fox network lately. What are your thoughts on the move to Mondays?

K. Jacobs: Well, this is the deal, it’s not my job to schedule the show. In fact, I have very little, if any – practically no say – over where they put us. What I will say is that my job is to contribute to making the best show possible. So, that’s what we try to focus on. I will say that I don’t think they move us cavalierly although it may seem that way. I think what they’re interested in, and we share that interest, is building the strongest network possible. If that means getting a foothold in other one-hour dramas, I think that’s what they’re interested in. We support that. I don’t like moving; I don’t like being on at 8 o’clock. I do want to be on a really strong network, so all of those things come into play.

Q: I understand that obviously you want to make the best show you can, you want to make it as creatively rewarding as possible, but it feels like a lot of people are genuinely concerned about the ratings this year. Your show is obviously still doing very well, but in light of the strike and this splintering audience, are you happy with the numbers so far this year?

K. Jacobs: It’s so funny because I so try to be unaffected by the numbers because I’m not sure how it helps me do my job. I am discouraged by the fact that 8 o’clock offers fewer viewers. Certainly, we make the shows as good as we can to be seen by as large an audience as possible. I’m proud of how we’re doing given the fact that we’re on at 8 o’clock when there are so few viewers, the fact that we’re still incredibly competitive and one of the top shows given the fact that there are fewer viewers at 8:00. I’m always reassured by our number between the 9:00 and 9:01 time slot that we’re on. They always air us to 9:01. Then, Fringe takes over the last 29 minutes. So, check that number out. It’s kind of impressive.

Q: I want to go back to House and Cuddy. How big a part of this is this going to be of the show from here on out? Have you thought about how risky this story is for you?

K. Jacobs: Well, how big a part in terms of how much screen time?

Q: Right.

K. Jacobs: It’s pretty much going to fold in the way that all of our stories fold in, in terms of character and the narrative plot procedural aspect. Hopefully, we do the best job we can to have the patient-of-the-week, as it were, tie in and reveal in some way something thematically about our characters and give them the opportunity to reveal a character. So, it’s going to play very much in the way that we’ve done that in the past.

Then, risky: risky how? You tell me more.

Q: Well, I took a poll in my office about people – do they like it? Don’t they like it? I’ve heard from some people who really don’t like it, don’t think that they’re right for each other.

K. Jacobs: They may not be right for each other. First of all, I love the fact that you took a poll. Believe it or not, I love the fact that some people like it and some people don’t because I think that’s what’s so interesting to us about the relationship is that I could, right now, make a case for it and make a case against it. That’s interesting to me. That’s actually real. That feels real to me, the fact that there are two sides.

Q: But this is going to go on for weeks, right?

K. Jacobs: I don’t think that it will go on in a predictable, “Okay, now everything is shifting, and this is the story” kind of way. Hopefully, we explore it in a very House-ian way, which is, it’s there, and now, what do we do? But, don’t expect to see dates and they go to the movies. It’s not going to unfold like that. It’s going to unfold in a House-ian way. Is that okay?

Q: House-ian. Define that.

K. Jacobs: I like to think that we take our own slant on the world. It’s usually a bit harsher or rough around the edges or spicier than most shows, but at the very same time, I think that gives us an opportunity to hit real sweetness and comedy.

One of the things that I’m most proud of about the show is that, if you look at our one-hour drama in comparison to many other of the popular one-hour dramas, both on cable and on network TV, our actors are so completely gifted as dramatic actors and gifted as comedic actors, whether it’s Hugh or Robert or Lisa, they’re all seriously gifted comedic actors, so House-ian meaning hit it hard, but hit it funny at the same time and hit it sweet. The Christmas episode really has a very satisfying surprise for Cuddy and House in a personal kind of way. I do not mean that they wind up embracing each other. It’s House-ian. It’s left of center.

Q: I’m going to pick up where Hal left off and Matt. Because I’m a girl I’m seeing this whole triangle of love for Hugh Laurie. So, let’s talk. If there was ever a character in televised history that needed to get bedded properly, it’s Dr. Gregory House.

K. Jacobs: I’m with you.

Q: So, you’ve got Dr. Cameron who’s totally pining for him. You’ve got Cuddy. It seems that the chemistry is there regardless of what Hal’s co-workers say. The chemistry is there between him and Cuddy, not him and Cameron. Elaborate.

K. Jacobs: I hope that there’s chemistry between House and Cuddy, House and Cameron, House and Wilson, House and Thirteen. I certainly hope we go for as much chemistry as possible. I think what it is, is House, as a character, has a hole, has an emptiness. What most of these women want to do is somehow see if they can ease his pain because everybody knows on the inside, or they think on the inside that there’s a lot of pain and if they can somehow be the one to make House smooth out those rough edges, wouldn’t it be sweet? It’s mostly going to be up to House. He could have a relationship with any one of them, but he’s got to be in the mind space and be at a place where he’s ready to make himself vulnerable. I don’t see him as being at that place entirely at the moment. At times, we’ve seen glimpses of his getting closer. Tell me what more you want.

Q: Technical question. I love the work that Danielle Berman does, your set decorator. I was wondering if you could talk about the unusual props that she has to procure for your production, medical…

K. Jacobs: First of all, I love the fact that you notice her work because she really is a gem and works so hard and is so good at her job. What we try to do, I remember in particular for some reason, this episode that we did where House goes into a second-hand store. It’s a scene between House and Wilson. What we try to do – she does it, I do it and when we’re at our best, everybody tries to do it, it’s sort of in the dressing of one of our sets if we know that House is going to be in that set, we try to give as many opportunities for House to do something that would come out of character and out of Hugh Laurie’s brilliant mind. So, for example, we don’t write in all of the toys that he may play with, right? But we dress sets to give Hugh opportunities in the exploration of the character to reveal things about the story through the props we put around. He always does. It’s amazing. So, if we put a sculpture of a brain, or if we put lollipops – do you know what I’m saying? The more we dress it, the more opportunities there are for Hugh to figure out a way, if he wants to, to incorporate them into his performance.

Q: The cast of the show seems like it’s gotten bigger and bigger. Is it a constant challenge to give everybody a little chance to be in each episode?

K. Jacobs: Yes, it is a challenge. It’s something we really wanted to expand for our own stories and broaden out and do things a little differently, just to keep it fresh for ourselves, but absolutely you’re right. It is hard, and yet, I always find it satisfying when we’re able to do it because what I love about what David Shore has created is, every character, I feel has their specific point of view on the topic of conversation that we’re exploring that week. So, it’s hard to do, but very satisfying when we get to hear the different voices and different opinions – Kutner, Taub, Cameron, Chase – they all have different slants. The hostage episode that’s coming up reveals that, how they all feel about what House is doing inside while trying to get the gun away from the guy and treating the guy. So, yes, the answer is yes.

Q: I know you’re directing that episode. How do you approach directing? Do you ever get surprised at what you see from the director’s eye as opposed to the writer and producer eye?

K. Jacobs: For me, it’s a total dream insofar as, as a producer, we’re always in a constant state of prepping, casting one episode, shooting at least one episode or picking up – we only shoot one at a time, but sometimes, we have to pick up other things and then we’re in post on at least three. So, that kind of juggling and having to split your mind in so many different directions and keep so much in your head is something, as a producer, that’s challenging with 24 episodes a year.

As a director, it’s kind of the dream part about it. It’s an excuse. I’m forgiven for just focusing on one show. I really like the way that feels when I choose to do that.

Q: You were just talking about incorporating all of the characters that you have. Cameron and Chase were sort of really heavy in last night’s episode, which I know a lot of the fans are excited about. How much more of them are we going to see?

K. Jacobs: Well, this is kind of a trick question because I know whatever I say that the fans are going to think that I made it up or am lying, so that’s kind of weird. I think it’s weird and great in a way because they want more of them. I want more of them. We are currently shooting episode – last night was #7. We are currently working on Episode #13. I don’t know the way the entire season is going to unfold or how much you’re going to see of anyone. They’re going to be woven in the way they are. I’m always happy, as is David Shore, when we get to focus on them because I’m really interested in their point of view. It’s kind of a hot topic because we want to see all of our characters. We never can give enough time space to Hugh either because we want to see all of our characters and we want to see Hugh. So, it’s an embarrassment of riches.

Q: Exactly. When we talked right before the season started, you were saying that, this year, maybe it would be more of incorporating everyone. Last year, because of the strike, you guys had a limited amount of episodes. You didn’t get to the point where Cameron and Chase were folded back in. I’m asking -

K. Jacobs: I hope we’re doing a better job of that this season.

Q: I think you are, but will we see more of the same as the episodes go on?

K. Jacobs: I hope so. Initially, last season – I remember we did talk about this when we were repopulating with the “Survivor” game and who was going to be on House’s new team. It was hard to weave everybody in. I certainly hope we’re doing a better job of it now because that is our desire.

Q: The whole arc with Cuddy and the baby was great. I want to know if we’re going to hear more about that as the season goes on. Will she still be thinking about the baby?

K. Jacobs: Yes. I thought Lisa did such a beautiful job with her performance on that episode. That really is something that’s on Cuddy’s mind. So, you will hear more about it.

Q: She’ll think of other options perhaps?

K. Jacobs: You will hear more about it.

Q: What was the decision behind using the walk-and-talk technique of filming in the show? You guys call it pedi-conferencing, I guess.

K. Jacobs: That’s so funny. When we do walk-and-talk’s on our series?

Q: Yes.

K. Jacobs: First of all, I’m phenomenally grateful for the fact that Hugh Laurie spans 6′2″ and is taller than everybody else because it certainly makes those walk-and-talks pop in a way. It’s funny because one of the very first things before even the idea for the show House came about, my partner, Paul Attanasio, and I were meeting with the different heads of networks and seeing what they wanted. Gail Berman, at the time, was at this network. She said, “I want a medical show, but I don’t want to see white coats going down the hallway.” That was one of the many scenes that contributed to the idea of House. When you put a scene on the move, it’s a different way of creating an urgency and an intensity. I think that Hugh is so mesmerizing. Here he is with a cane and a limp; yet, he’s able to lead the charge. It was never a conscious decision. It was more of just a creative, “Oh, that seems right” kind of decision.

Q: Since most of his cases involve very weird or strange medical conditions, how do you guys pick and choose which ones you’re going to use from all the research that you do?

K. Jacobs: That’s also a good question. Unfortunately, there are so many cases to choose from, more often than not, maybe not more often than not, a surprising number of times when something is wrong with you, and you go into the hospital, they don’t know what is wrong with you.

The way that they figure out, the only option that they have, is this high stakes trial and error, where they start to treat and see if you respond to that treatment. It eliminates certain possibilities and puts other possibilities. So, very few, if any, doctors take it to the extent that Dr. House takes it to, but the way of thinking about how do you figure out what’s wrong with someone is all-around quite unfortunately.

Q: What I meant was, are there certain ones that are just tops, and you’ll be like, “Okay, we got to do this one,” or “We’ll wait for that one.”

K. Jacobs: I don’t think so. No because then you have to put in the twists and the turns to getting the diagnosis. I suppose occasionally all of our writers bring their individual, medical mystery ideas to the table. They all are responsible to come up with those medical mysteries and then bring them to us. So maybe I’m not the best person to answer that question.

Q: We kind of talked a little bit already about the back and forth over the Cuddy/House kiss. How much do you take into consideration what fans are saying online? Do you read them? Do you follow them?

K. Jacobs: I will say that I used to because I care, but I stopped because I found that – this could be just my own personal shortcoming, but it felt to me like it wasn’t a productive part of the process for me that no matter how I tried to recognize what the issues that were important to them were, it didn’t feel like I was doing a satisfactory job. So, I have retreated. I care immensely about the fans. I think we have the most amazing fans. I don’t mind the controversy or the arguing between them, but at the same time, I think you could lose yourself in trying to make too many people happy all at the same time.

Q: Also, just really quickly, can you talk a little bit about the storyline right now, happening with Thirteen and her whole downward spiral? How are we going to continue to see that play out?

K. Jacobs: She’s kind of at a spirally place, kind of lost all hope, and feels like since she’s been diagnosed with Huntington’s, and we know that to be a terminal illness, and she watched her mother die from Huntington’s, she’s kind of given up. It’s one of the stories that is in “Last Resort” – the hostage-taker, played by Zeljko Ivanek, decides that every drug that Dr. House is going to try on him to see what’s wrong with him, he’s going to make somebody else take it first. That person has to take all the drugs to see how they interact together. Thirteen, as part of her spiral, volunteers for this. She thinks there’s no better candidate, since she’s sick anyway, to take all of these drugs. By the end of the hostage episode, she’s going to come to a very interesting, different place than we’ve seen her before, having gone to the very edge in this episode. So, we are going to deal with it. Then, it continues on, her Huntington’s and how her new point of view or new ideas about how she wants to deal with it – that’s a story line that we will carry on into the New Year.

Q: Kind of following up on Thirteen, the whole bisexual situation – and there have been some fairly graphic scenes. I wanted to find out how you’ve been following the Grey’s Anatomy situation, and if you’ve taken into account the fan reaction to seeing that kind of stuff, especially now that you guys are on …

K. Jacobs: Oh, you can fill me in because I don’t know what’s going on, on Grey’s Anatomy. I have no idea.

Q: They ended very abruptly, a lesbian storyline, and got rid of the actress who was playing the part of one of the women in it.

K. Jacobs: Oh. That was their response to…?

Q: Well, it’s gone very much back-and-forth. There was something that Shonda Rhimes said she was excited to pursue coming into this season, and five episodes in, it was just sort of snuffed out completely.

K. Jacobs: Oh, so I didn’t know about that. I think Thirteen’s – the episode that started with her picking up a girl at a bar is – and you just see them having sex after, the episode ends with her being in the same place. She’s just trying to lose herself, lose what’s ever-present on her mind, which is how am I going to deal with the fact that I have a terminal illness? So, she’s just looking to sex to numb her pain, which ultimately is not going to be that satisfying for her. She’s going to have to figure it out. The fact that it’s a woman in that episode – it’s not about that at the moment. That’s not what we’re exploring or talking about. We’re dealing with the character who wants to figure out how to numb her pain, and how to not deal, and how to go as far away from the reality of what’s going on as possible. So, she goes out at night. She uses sex as a way of trying to avoid. It’s not going to work ultimately. She’s going to have to deal with it.

Q: Are you satisfied at this point, right now, with how, particularly Cameron and Chase have been worked back into the fold?

K. Jacobs: Am I satisfied? I’m never satisfied. We work really hard. I think we do a lot of really good work. I’m the kind of person who always thinks, “Oh, maybe a little better, we could do a better job.” So, you’re talking to the wrong person to get a satisfied answer.

Q: I just want to say I did like, very much, this week’s episode, the love episode, and seeing Cameron and Chase again, but will the detective come back or was that just…will we see him again in another show?

K. Jacobs: don’t know the answer to that. We really liked having him. He fits in well, I think, in our show. We really liked playing to him, but right now, he’s not in any more episodes, but I wouldn’t rule out completely him coming back. I liked it. Did you like it?

Q: I wanted to see more of how he would be integrated, to be honest. I kind of liked…whether I liked it for one moment or more. I mean, what happened to the talk of the spin-off with him?

K. Jacobs: We are so in the middle of it. It’s funny. We came back from the strike, and we did four episodes to end Season Four and went right into Season Five without a break, so 28 episodes we’re shooting back-to-back. So, it’s all I can do to keep things straight in my head. That’s a poor answer, but it’s unfortunately true. So, I don’t know right now about this spin-off. David Shore and I are just getting through. It’s up in the air.

K. Jacobs: I love the fact that you guys are interested. I hope I’ve given you sufficient answers. Please keep watching and please keep giving me feedback on the polls you take in your office and what you like and what you don’t like.

Many thanks go to Patrick for posting about the Blogcritic’s interview with Katie Jacobs.

The interview has a ton of interesting things in it, but here’s a quick excerpt:

Cameron, who’s still obviously harbouring feelings for her boss, has for now turned to the “very practical “friends-with-benefits arrangement with coworker Chase.” They slept together once last season and it didn’t screw things up, so why not,” Jacobs laughed. “So we’re having a really good time playing with that. How long can that go on? Maybe it will be entirely successful, but somebody always starts to feel more of an attachment than the other person.”

Though Jacobs doesn’t hold out much hope of romantic success for House himself, she said “it would be hard not to” show him in future relationships. While she’s cagey on the possibility of one being with a regular cast member, she loves the escalating tension between Cuddy and House in the second part of season three. “There’s always been a tension there, and we have slightly more fun in dealing with that. ”

You can read the entire interview here.