TVLINE | Was it always your plan to start the season off with House in prison?

No. It was certainly one of the possibilities, but it hadn’t been defined initially.

TVLINE | Did the strong reaction from fans following the finale — specifically that House needed to pay for his actions — play into your decision?
We recognized the truth of aspects of that. [Laughs] I feel strongly that House was not trying to kill anybody. It was certainly an act of violence. And it was certainly an irresponsible act. But I do feel strongly that he was not trying to kill anybody. He was acting out in a violent way, which is not a responsible action. And we feel strongly on the show that actions have consequences. And House has to pay a price. We also wanted to play with the notion of how much does he feel a sense of responsibility [over what happened]. He would never admit it but it’s there.

TVLINE | How much time will he spend behind bars?
Quite a bit. It’s months, not days.

TVLINE | But in terms of actual episodes…
Not a lot. Season 8 is going to start months after Season 7 ended. And we want to get back to the core of our show. Our show isn’t about House in prison. He should be in prison. [Laughs] But the show isn’t about that. So we want to get back to the core values of our show as soon as possible, but obviously with a slightly different set-up.