Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on 'The Office,' 'Supernatural,' 'HIMYM,' 'Bones,' 'Heroes' and More!

Question: Can you give us some Supernatural scoop? — Deborah
Ausiello: I’ll give you some scoop and save you a call to your TV repairman: The show is staging an entirely B&W episode this fall. "It’s an homage to the horror films of the ’30s," says series creator Eric Kripke. "The boys are up against Dracula, the Wolfman and the Mummy. It’s the most fun episode we’ve done in a long time." More fun than the one where Dean confessed his love to Rory? Oh, wait, wrong show.

Question: More Law & Order: SVU spoilers please! — Rachel
Ausiello: Prepare yourself for some serious Stabler drama this season. "We’ll be meeting someone in his life who we haven’t met before," teases exec producer Neal Baer. "As a result, he’ll be dealing with some unexpected problems." Like, perhaps, one very pissed off wifey? That’s my guess.

Question: It would be much appreciated, Master Ausiello, if you could hand over some How I Met Your Mother scoop. It’s the only way to survive the dog days of summer TV. — Smythe
Ausiello: OK, but only because you addressed me by my preferred title. New evidence has turned up in my ongoing investigation into the identity of Ted’s future wife on How I Met Your Mother — and it points toward Sarah Chalke being the mysterious mama! (It also ranks as a DEFCON 1 on the spoiler scale, so beware.) A Mother insider reveals that in the show’s Sept. 22 season premiere, Stella will accept Ted’s cliffhanging marriage proposal! Next up: We find out if my search of her apartment yielded the elusive smoking gun (aka the yellow umbrella). Stay tuned…

Question: Any chance we will be seeing Elizabeth Banks in any of the new Scrubs episodes next season? — Troy
Ausiello: Looks like just one: The season (or series) finale.

Question: How will Christina Applegate’s cancer diagnosis affect Samantha Who? — Kelly
Ausiello: It won’t. The show is already in the midst of a planned hiatus and isn’t scheduled to resume production until early September. Applegate, meanwhile, is expected to make a full recovery. But don’t let that stop you from clicking here and making a big fat donation.

Question: Anything on the 90210 front? — Reese
Ausiello: Someone’s hiding an autistic relative at home. 

Question: How big a role will Rebecca Romijn have on Ugly Betty this season? — Will
Ausiello: A bigger one than first thought. Initial buzz had her only returning for one or two episodes. But now I’m hearing she’ll be back for at least four.

Question: Thank you so much for the scoop about Shane West returning to ER! You totally made my day! Now spill the beans: What didn’t you tell us? — Andrea
Ausiello: Glancing over my notes, it appears I, um, forgot to tell you about the, um, big, fat obstacle standing in the way of a potential Ray/Neela reunion. (Sorry, I didn’t want to rain on your "Reela" parade!) Turns out, Ray and his two new bionic legs will be walking straight into another freakin’ love triangle! As exec producer Joe Sachs reveals, "Ray comes back to town just as Brenner (David Lyons) starts to make some overtures to Neela." Don’t pistol-whip the messenger!

Question: On CSI, does Grissom’s replacement have the XYY chromosome, otherwise known on TV as the violent criminal gene? — Amber
Ausiello: That’s an interesting theory.

Question: Please set the record straight. Is Jorja Fox doing just the season premiere of CSI, or will she be in additional episodes? — Shane
Ausiello: I don’t want to give away the exact number, so let’s just say she’s doing two more than Gary Dourdan and seven less than William Petersen.

Question: Got anything on 30 Rock? — Jamie
Ausiello: Liz’s stint as a mom may be short-lived. In the season opener, an adoption agency official decides to shadow her at work to see if she’s a fit mother. Naturally, the evaluator chooses a day when all hell is breaking lose at The Girlie Show.

Question: Do you have more information about the season premiere of Criminal Minds? — Gael
Ausiello: I’m seeing a beautiful woman. She’s appears to be lying on the ground. She’s surrounded by lots of blood. An attractive middle-aged man is running towards her. He looks like… Damn, I lost it.

Question: I hope I’m not the only person out there wondering this, but what the heck are those crazy Palladino kids up to lately? — Jay
Ausiello: I’m seeing surfers. Pretty surfers. And they’re breaking into…. Damn, I lost it. 

Question: Did Gossip Girl sign Michelle Trachtenberg as a regular yet? — Brett
Ausiello: Nope, and I’m kind of OK with that. I think Blair Waldorf put it best when she told Georgina in the finale: "Haven’t you heard? I’m the crazy bitch around here." Speaking of GG, the show is about to start production on an episode shot almost entirely at Yale University. Or at least some corner of Central Park dressed up to look like Yale University. Anyway, the whole gang (i.e. Blair, Serena, Dan, Nate, etc) will be there for their first round of college interviews and to, you know, party like it’s 2010.   

Question: I am dying, dying, for anything you have on The Office. Please tell me you have something! — Meghan
Ausiello: I have something! Thanks to Monday’s Aus Files scoop, you already know that Mad Men‘s Rich Sommer is guest starring in the Sept. 25 season premiere. Well, what you don’t know is that if it weren’t for the writers strike, it probably never would have happened! Sommer says the idea for his Office visit first came up when he met producer/star Mindy Kaling last winter on the picket line. "Mindy is a big fan of Mad Men and she knew that I was a big fan of The Office," he explains, "so we mused about finding some way to get me over there." Sommer insists he’s been "sworn to secrecy" about the specifics of his guest stint, although he does admit that he’s playing a "very different character" from Harry Crane, the 1960s ad exec he portrays on Mad Men. "When you see it," he adds, "you’ll understand why I can’t say anything." And when you pick up this week’s issue of EW and turn to page 54, you’ll understand why I had to.

Question: The Office returns in seven weeks. Surely, that deserves a scoop. — Mark
Ausiello: Based on what I’m hearing about the premiere, it’s either going to go down as the funniest Office episode ever or NBC’s most blatant piece of cross-promotion yet. Or some combination of both.

Question: Three Ask Ausiellos and still no Bones scoop! — Katie
Ausiello: And the streak ends there. A casting notice has gone out for Brennan’s newest grad student. In addition to being bright and taciturn, the early twentysomething will be sexy in a blue-collar sort of way (see Jack Slattery, not Dan Connor).

Question: Got any news on Ghost Whisperer? — Anna
Ausiello: Anne Archer’s returning as JLH’s mama. That’s all I got.

Question: What is up with Kristen Bell and Heroes? It’s been ages since we’ve heard anything.  — Steven
Ausiello: She’s back on the set shooting her multi-episode arc as we speak! Woo-hoo! In other Heroes news, look for the action (or at least part of the action) to shift to a comic book shop in Athens, Georgia around Episode 11.

Question: In my dream last night, I ran into you on the street and asked you who was the 5th and final Cylon. I don’t remember your answer. Can you remind me? — Laura
Ausiello: I said, "Shut your eyes and you’ll burst into flames."

Question: Why do you hate Monk? — Joan
Ausiello: What? I don’t hate Monk. I hate all the awards Tony Shalhoub wins for Monk, but I don’t hate the show itself. I’ll even prove it by giving you some exclusive casting scoop: The West Wing‘s Richard Schiff will play a hypnotist in the Sept. 12 season finale.

And with that, another Ask Ausiello comes to a close. Remember: Questions, hot tips and other assorted nonsense should be forwarded to ausielloscoop@ew.com. Thanks for playing! — Additional reporting by Tim Stack

Thirsty for more AA? Good news — archives below!
Ask Ausiello July 29, 2008
Ask Ausiello July 23, 2008
Ask Ausiello July 8, 2008