Keck's Exclusives: House and Cuddy Get Closer

House's seventh season will open with Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) acting like "a teenager in love skipping school," whisking Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) away for an idyllic day without the pressures of their hospital and her child, says House executive producer Katie Jacobs. "Anywhere other than Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital is an easier place for them to be together in a relationship," says Jacobs. "That's where we start — 'What if we only have each other?' As their day goes on, Cuddy will learn that the locales they visit hold a secret significance.
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Naturally, the lovers can't avoid reality forever. "It would be impossible for Cuddy to spend every day as if her child and her professional life don't exist; a little easier for House, since he is somewhat of a child himself," says Jacobs. "But what's cool about Season 7 is that House is going to try to stay off drugs and have a meaningful relationship. We don't rush through this. It's taken six years to get there, so this is not a story that's going to be done in three episodes.
The true test will come in Episode 2, when the couple returns to work — where she's always on top. What happens, asks Jacobs, "when you're sleeping with your boss and she says 'No'?" As the season progresses, Huddy will toy with getting domestic — and try to do normal "couple" things with Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) and Sam (Cynthia Watros), which could cause additional tension. "Will the four of them get along?" teases Jacobs.
As for the rest of the hospital staff, while Jennifer Morrison signed a deal to return for a few episodes as Cameron (at the producers' discretion), don't expect her to fill the slot temporarily vacated by Thirteen while Olivia Wilde shoots a film. Rather, a search is on for a new female doc, likely a romantic partner for one lucky surgeon. For Cuddy's sake, let's just hope this new addition isn't House's type.
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