Princeton-Plainsboro is undergoing another major shake-up: Sources confirm to me exclusively that Jennifer Morrison is leaving
House.
Neither Fox nor Morrison’s reps would comment, but I’m told the actress did not quit; her exit was a creative decision on the part of producers. Morrison — the first of the show’s original cast members to depart — shot her last scene earlier this week and her final episode will air in November.
Suspicions about Morrison’s
House future were raised last week when she was MIA at the show’s premiere screening in Hollywood.
Here’s what else I’m hearing about this surprising and, I’ll say it, disappointing, turn of events.
* Unlike Kal Penn’s dearly-departed Kutner, Cameron will
not be killed off.
* Morrison’s on-screen husband, Jesse Spencer (Chase), is not leaving the show. (Do the math and you can probably figure out how she’ll be written out.)
* Producers are leaving the door open for Morrison to make a guest appearance later in the season.
The last point will prove little comfort to Cameron fans, especially since
this was the season Morrison’s nearly three-year stint on the backburner was supposed to end. In fact, just last month series creator David Shore told me (video below), “Chase and Cameron fans will be happy with the way we’re going to reintegrate them into the team — at least on a temporary basis.” (That temporary qualifier should’ve been a clue.) Even
Morrison recently admitted it was “great” being front-and-center again. “I have been working a lot,” she told us, “and there are things that happen to House very early in the season that have a domino effect on all of the other characters.”
