House Preview: Will Dr. Taub Bust Up TV's Great Bromance?

One might think it can be a lousy lot in life to be regularly berated by House's titular crankpot, but at least one actor actually relishes every barrage of barbs. Peter Jacobson (aka Dr. Chris Taub) gave TVGuide.com a look at the new batch of episodes kicking off this Monday (8 pm/ET, Fox) and their accompanying guest stars. Plus: Jacobson remembers monkeying around in a very nutty way.

TVGuide.com: As of late on House, there seems to be a little less "the spleen must have an aneurysm" medi-babble, and a bit more on Taub's home life.
Peter Jacobson: Yeah, and there are three or four episodes coming up where we're going to get a little more into that. We're also going to dive more intensely into House's abuse of Taub, which is fun. It's fun to read, fun to act, and fun to watch! 

TVGuide.com: Where do things stand with Taub and his wife? Are they going to go for kids?
Jacobson: At this point I'm not sure where were going to go with that. That issue is still hanging a bit, but we do get into more of Taub's inner turmoil. 

TVGuide.com: In this week's episode, "House suspects that Wilson and Taub are hiding something from him." Why?
Jacobson: I can't reveal too much, but I will say that Wilson and I have some plans to do something, and House gets very suspicious about it. He does not want anybody poking around with his best friend there, so I once again get used and abused as a result. 

TVGuide.com: Beyond that, we have a death-predicting cat, Mos Def, and Meat Loaf. Which is your favorite of those three upcoming episodes?
Jacobson: I don't know, those are three really good episodes. I'm not necessarily a big cat fan, but all of us fell in love with this cat. I mean, a death-predicting cat? That should be enough said. 

TVGuide.com: I imagine the cat is actually picking up on something that's causing the nursing-home deaths...?
Jacobson: That's sort of what we are suspecting — beyond the paranormal that might be at play. It's House, so you never know. 

TVGuide.com: And Mos Def's episode sounds interesting because the story is told from his character's point of view.
Jacobson: He has something called "Locked-in Syndrome," and the audience gets "locked in" with him. It's a fantastic, fantastic episode. Mos Def is just a fabulous actor. And continuing that move towards musicians-as-guest stars, we have Meat Loaf, who is also wonderful. 

TVGuide.com: [House exec producer] Katie Jacobs told me the team might be down one by the season finale. Is that still the plan?
Jacobson: That I don't know. We're going strong right now, and at the moment it's all of us, and we're solving cases as normal. Trying to get some sense of where they're going, even in my short tenure here, has proven futile. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: I always see you and Kal Penn (Kutner) work red carpets together. You must be good buddies.
Jacobson: Yeah, we are good pals. Olivia [Wilde], too. And Annie Dudek (ex-Amber), when she was here. We just have a lot of fun. 

TVGuide.com: I felt bad for you when The Starter Wife recast Debra Messing's "ex-husband" — but in retrospect you got the better end of the deal.
Jacobson: Yeah. We tried to figure out if we could make both happen — I had a great time making The Starter Wife [miniseries] — but by the time they came around with the [weekly] series, I was entrenched with House. Getting two shows at once is too much of a blessing! 

TVGuide.com: Lastly, here's a "Six Degrees" thing for you and me: Years ago you costarred — with a chimpanzee — in a commercial my wife's former ad agency produced for Planters Peanuts.
Jacobson: That is crazy! I remember that shoot so well. You know, they told me at the time that a monkey was equivalent to a 6-year-old child. Now that I have a 6-year-old son, I'd say it's not quite the same. I just remember getting really tan and hanging out under the palm trees all day.

TVGuide.com: What was your line in the commercial? "Coochie, to the lounge chairs"?
Jacobson: It was. It raised some eyebrows because Coochie isn't far from a certain kind of slang. But the commercial ran, so what can I say? [Laughs]

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