Ask Ausiello

Ausiello: More like a "spectacular kiss" — Damon Lindelof's words, not mine. In the new issue of Lost magazine, DL teased, "Romance is always blooming on and off the island. And I hereby promise you one of the most spectacular kisses you've ever seen on the show in this year's finale." Naturally, I pressed DL's partner in crime, Carlton Cuse, for further details on the earth-shattering smooch, to which he replied, "I can disclose no more details other than to say it's one of my favorite moments of the whole series so far. And contrary to some speculation, it is a male/female kiss." OK, so it's not Mr. Friendly and his little Rent Boy. Who does that leave? Oh, right: Pretty much every other couple on the frakkin' show! Damn you, Team Darlton!

Ausiello: The only thing I know for sure is that Claire is in significant danger in this season's Episode 9.

Ausiello: That depends. Does the sight of two extremely good-looking young men making out on your TV screen get you excited? If your answer is yes, then I guarantee you at least one of Grey's five post-strike episodes will be very good. According to my Seattle Grace mole, producers are looking for a pair of actors in their twenties to play gay soldiers in love. Interested thesps must be Caucasian, hot and be comfortable sharing a "very romantic kiss" with another dude. BTW, if you're wondering why we teased this item with a photo of Eric Dane, it's because a) the story pertains to Grey's and b) Dane is a member of that show's cast. Duh. 

Ausiello: I'm hearing something about another woman. And possibly [Don't shoot the messenger!] some sex.

Ausiello: Sticks and stones may break my bones but… short?! Since when is 5'11" with my Durangos on short!?!? How very dare you. I've never been so insulted in my life. (Last person to get that reference is a rotten, smelly egg-beater.) Anyway, yes, I have some House scoop for you. Sources confirm that the lovely and talented Ivana Milicevic (Love Monkey, Ugly Betty) will appear in the show's season finale in a top-secret role. Well, top-secret save for these two hints: Her character may or may not be dressed entirely in black, and she may or may not appear in House's subconscious. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Ausiello: Eenie, meenie, Nip/Tuck. Doogie Howser's headed to McNamara/Troy! Well, at least his East Indian doppelgänger is. Producers are casting the role of Dr. Raj, a 17-year-old child prodigy in the plastic-surgery world who is funny, frank and self-promoting.

Ausiello: Someone may be moving in on Mohinder's narrator turf. Tim Kring is said to be seeking an Australian Aboriginal actor in his fifties to appear in multiple episodes as a storyteller with great wisdom and a soft, soothing voice.

Ausiello: It depends on how successful the kids over at Operation: Renew Moonlight are at mobilizing fans. All I know for sure is that before the season is out, we'll meet Mick's BFF/former WWII army buddy, Ray, who, curiously, is only in his late twenties. Let's see here… WWII vet + present-day twentysomething = yep, vampire! (UPDATE: Another Save Moonlight campaign has sprouted up, and this one's bloody unbelievable!)

Ausiello: Look for Liz to channel her inner Angelina when she decides to adopt a world-weary Russian kid in an attempt to ease her misplaced liberal guilt. And this adoption may take: I hear the kid could be around all next season!

Ausiello: Yes! It's returning in January! (We did it! Sweet Jesus, we did it!) You can find NBC's Fall and Winter skeds right here.

Ausiello: Thanks, but I'm a little peeved. I specifically asked them not to airbrush my brows, but, as you can see, they ignored my request.  

Ausiello: I think it's fair to say that producers are keeping all of their options open. And thanks to the show's Brit-induced ratings bump last week, it looks like they'll have a little more time to make that decision. I'm hearing a fourth season is looking — wait for it, wait for it — very good.

Ausiello: Your guess is as good as mine. For the record, my guess is in the neighborhood of 40-1. I imagine Team P has a fair amount of wound-licking to do before they dive back into TV.

Ausiello: They're saying it'll premiere Thursday, July 10, at 10 pm/ ET.

Ausiello: He's in two episodes, so I wouldn't exactly call his part big. What I would call big is the trouble he stirs up — particularly for Jenny and Dan. A clue can be found in these pics.

Ausiello: It's airing on May 1, it's being directed by Tom Welling, it features the return of James Marsters as Brainiac, and, according to exec producer Al Gough, it's another one of those alt-reality romps, only this time "Clark has to look at a world where potentially he never crash-landed on Earth. It's basically a version that could have happened — and if Brainiac has his way, it will happen."

Ausiello: Help is on the way! In the aforementioned 150th episode, we'll get our first glimpse of Clark sporting an iconic Superman look. What does that have to do with Lois, you ask? Well, Ms. Lane's responsible for the wardrobe change!

Ausiello: KK will be in some, but not all, of this season's remaining episodes, as she's currently in Thailand shooting Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Regarding the finale, I can tell you that the final scene(s) very much involve Lex finding some important pieces of the Superman puzzle. Hint: The title of the episode is "Arctic."

Ausiello: Mitovich has one helluva DH mega-scoop in his vodcast/blog. At least that's what he told me. If not, I just wasted some valuable real estate promoting someone other than myself. And that's never a good thing.

Ausiello: Fenster, you don't hear so good. As far as I know, the show is still untitled, but I'd be very surprised if producers didn't go with… Beverly Hills, 90210. A glance at Rob Thomas' script for the pilot tells me that Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez (the spawn of Andrea and Jesse) now helms the news desk at the "West Beverly Blaze," which is now apparently a TV show. Also roaming the halls of West Bev is Kelly Taylor, who teaches fashion design. (Wait, wasn't Donna the fashion designer? Oh right, she's now the proprietress of Bao Thai.) Whether or not Jennie Garth would ever sign on to be this show's "Nat" is unclear. The pilot also reveals that one of the protagonists is David Silver's niece (but wasn't David an only child before the arrival of little Erin?). And if Kelly Bishop isn't cast as the show's hard-drinkin', faded, '70s-movie-star grandma, it will drive me to drink. Fun fact! Navid, the Persian guy who runs the TV station, says he doesn't drink because of his religion: Scientology.

Ausiello: I have seen the premiere and, unfortunately, I can't tell you much. Sci Fi made me sign a confidentiality agreement in which they threatened to castrate me if I spoiled any aspect of the episode — particularly the last 15 minutes. So I'll just say the episode is awesome (particularly the last 15 minutes) and leave it at that. Luckily, the spooky legal document didn't say anything about revealing future spoilers, but just to be safe I'll cover my naughty bits as I relay the following intel about the second half of Season 4 (airing whenever): Starbuck will become inexplicably drawn to a handsome, charismatic, slick and mysterious piano player over the course of two episodes. The two will become so connected that she'll find herself telling him things no one else knows. Like, for instance, what her relationship with Michelle Ryan was really like. I kid. I think.

Ausiello: It's the least I could do after they went and named a freakin' cocktail after my favorite people in the world: Ausholes! Look, proof! And a recipe! 

OK, I'm out of time. After you're done mixing your Ausholtini, head over to the Ask Ausiello Discussion Thread to comment on this week's AA. And, of course, questions/hot tips/Smurf sightings are always welcome via ask_ausiello@tvguide.com See you back here next week! — Additional reporting by Mickey O'Connor and Rich Sands