Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Walking Dead, Once, Castle, Gossip Girl, New Girl, SOA and More!

Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? Send any/all of the above to askausiello@tvline.com

Question: Okay, after watching that new Castle promo, Sept. 24 can’t come soon enough. Can you tell us anything else about the season premiere? —Cheryl
Ausiello: I’d much rather flash forward to November sweeps and tell you to be on the lookout for a big twist involving the return of [spoiler].

Question: Will a series regular die on The Walking Dead by the end of first half of Season 3? —Soso
Ausiello: I can confirm that a series regular will become zombie kibble during Season 3, but whether that death takes place in the first half or second half I can’t say.

Question: Could you please provide some scoop on CSI? —Jane
Ausiello: Well ring-a-ding-ding, Jane, I certainly can. Executive producer Don McGill tells us that an upcoming, Greg-centric episode will be heavily influenced by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Called “It Was a Very Good Year,” the hour looks at a murder at a Rat Pack theater in Vegas, and it involves a cold case “that has now become a hot case with the murder of a journalist with whom Greg had a relationship,” McGill says. Expect to hear a lot of Sinatra standards in the ep, because the crooner’s estate “was really awesome in working with us,” he adds. “It’s just going to be a great music episode with some really cool, stylistic flashbacks to the ’60s and Vegas.”

Question: Okay, I’ll bite — what’s the big Lost-esque twist coming up on Once Upon a Time involving Mary Margaret and Emma? —Victoria
Ausiello: Remember how Lost would forever find new angles from which to tell a story? And you know how Once already uses flashbacks to the fairytale land that was? Well, you didn’t think they’d leave the narrative as linear as that, did you?

Question: I miss Happy Endings so much but it’s not coming back until October 23! I’ve been going through Penny withdrawal for several months now. Please send an addict some juicy spoilers: that would be a-mah-zing. —Magaii
Ausiello: Looks like someone didn’t get the memo. A-mah-zing is over. Kaput. Finished. Not sure what’s replacing it, but that is for sure dunzo. You know what’s also dead? Mandonna. In Season 3, Brad and Max launch Boyz 2 Menorah, a potential cash cow that proves to be a big hit at (major spoiler alert) bar mitzvahs!

Question: How about a Glee scooplet on Brittany for a change? And notice I said Brittany, not Brittana. —Theresa
Ausiello: Yep, I can read. I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I’m able to do it in a pinch. It probably comes as no surprise that the show’s second Britney Spears tribute will be a big episode for Heather Morris’ IQ-challenged chanteuse. “It’s one of the funniest episodes we have done,” declares exec producer Brad Falchuk. “Brittany is having some troubles and Will and Emma come up with a plan to [cheer her up].” But whereas the last Spears-athon “inspired her and brought her out of her shell, this time it backfires in a very bizarre way,” teases Falchuk. Bonus spoiler: It all works out in the end!

Question: What the heck is up with Finn on Glee? Lea Michele keeps teasing that his storyline is shocking and unexpected, and the wait for the reveal is maddening! —Quinn
Ausiello: Here’s what I know: In Episode 4, which just so happens to be the big “Break-Up” episode, he will encounter a drill sergeant. In Episode 5, he helps McKinley newbie Ryder (played by Glee Project champ Blake Jenner) get into New Directions. And at some point after that, per Falchuk, he will get a new love interest. Does that help at all?

Question: Any Suburgatory scoop? —Lori
Ausiello: When George meets up with some former colleagues from New York, the architect is forced to examine whether his relocation to the ’burbs has turned him into, in essence, a Real Housewife. Yikes!

Question: Counting the nanoseconds until New Girl returns. Got anything to tide me over until Sept. 25? —Carla
Ausiello: You betcha. Jess is about to find out how tough Cece’s “glamorous life” really is when she tries her hand at modeling at a car trade show. Cue Zooey Deschanel falling into and/or out of a convertible in 3, 2… Bonus Spoiler: We’re going to meet Schmdt’s cousin during November sweeps. The twist? His name is also Schmidt!

Question: How about I trade you a pineapple upside-down cake baked in an Easy Bake Oven for a scoop on Psych? — Esaul
Ausiello: You had me at cake, Esaul. How about some new deets on two-hour musical episode I told you about at Comic-Con? Apparently, the plot is going to revolve around an institutionalized playwright composer — paging Mandy Patinkin! — who is suspected of murdering the theater critic who was bent on trashing his show.

Question: I am completely obsessed with Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23. I need recaps, I need spoilers, I need a shrine built to Krysten Ritter for playing the bitch I wish I could be. — Sue Ellen
Ausiello: Your favorite B is about to become a VIP at People magazine, which means a whole bunch of new characters. Among them: Chloe’s schlubby cousin, Jonah; grand dame Marjorie, who gets to pick the Sexiest Man Alive every year; mousy underling Carol; Peter, aka the publication’s resident Joe Cool; and Liz, the executive editor that Chloe cans (or tries to!). Oh, and as for the shrine, that one’s on you, Sue Ellen.

Question: Any chance Paige Turco’s character will return for more episodes of Person of Interest? —Carole
Ausiello: There’s a very good chance seeing as how I can confirm that Turco returns in the fifth episode of Season 2 (premiering Sept. 27). She’s not the POI that week, but helps out in a way that only Zoe can.

Question: I saw on Facebook that you watched the first two episodes of Sons of Anarchy‘s new season. And… ? —Kevin
Ausiello: And… holy crap. Something ghastly happens in the Sept. 11 opener that raises the stakes in the war between Damon Pope (a frightening Harold Perrineau) and SAMCRO tenfold. On the bright side, the incident in question could land an underrated member of the show’s ensemble if not an Emmy nomination in 2013 than certainly a place in the kudos conversation.

Question: Any Sons of Anarchy scoop on Jax and Tara? —Megan
Ausiello: As much as parts of the premiere made me turn away in utter despair, there’s a sequence in Episode 2 featuring Jax and Tara that had me looking on in pure bliss. I laughed, I cried, I scratched my head in disbelief that Charlie Hunnam and Maggie Siff have never been nominated for an Emmy for these roles.

Question: Any 90210 scoopage? —Adam
Ausiello: The soap is going to Comic-Con — kind of but not really. Allow me to explain: To promote the action movie he shot last season, Liam heads to a Comic-Con-ish convention. Resident fanboy Max tags along, presumably to show him the ropes.

Question: Any Season 2 scoop on my favorite Revenge character, Ashley? —Joey
Ausiello: Would you settle for something on the Hamp tramp known as Fauxmanda? We’ll meet the knocked up interloper’s spunky BFF Destiny (shocker: she’s a stripper too!) this season when she attends her pal’s baby shower. Destiny tries to act like a lady but her inner skank cannot be contained!

Question: Any intel on which member of the How I Met Your Mother crew will find Abby Elliott irresistible? —Amy Marie
Ausiello: My money’s on Ted, and here’s why: Back in July, exec producer Craig Thomas confirmed that Mosby will find himself in a turbulent romance after he breaks up with Victoria. (Elliott’s character has been described as borderline psychotic.) “Ted and Victoria will have their arc, but then Ted will be single again at some point because Victoria’s not the mother,” Thomas said. “Ted will date at least one more person before he meets the mother, and it’ll be very interesting and chaotic.”

Question: I’m dying for some Downton Abbey scoop on Lady Sybil and Branson! —Ashley
Ausiello: The relative newlyweds are back at Downton in Season 3, which doesn’t sit well with the onetime chauffeur’s former colleagues. “When they come back from Ireland, where does he belong?” muses series creator Julian Fellowes. “It’s difficult for him because here are all these people he worked with and now they’re bending over and serving him. It’s a difficult journey he has to make.”

Question: Hey, any info on the casting for Cary’s family on The Good Wife? —Lisa
Ausiello: Nothing concrete, but it sure sounds like the show is getting ready to introduce his father. Producers are seeking an actor aged 55 to 70 to play a booming-voiced Suit named Nestor who’s the “kind of guy who kicks his son out of the house at 18 to fend for himself.” Bonus Spoiler: The Sept. 30 opener will find Kalinda channeling her inner Charles Bartowski circa April 27, 2009 (or to be more precise, this scene.)

Question: Any news about Community Season 4? —Craig
Ausiello: Summer Glau’s ears must be burning. The show is looking for a jaw-droppingly beautiful thirtysomething actress to play a groupie at the Inspector Spacetime convention that Abed (and possibly Troy) attend. The casting notice describes the character as a “Sci-Fi nerd trapped inside the body of a gorgeous woman.” If not Glau, then who?

Question: Anything on The Mentalist, for God’s sake? I am dying here. – Kah
Ausiello: Far be it for me to deny aid to the dying, so here goes: Jane’s declaration of love to Lisbon will play a big part in the year ahead, when she’ll run into “complications in her feelings for Jane as the season rolls on,” says executive producer Bruno Heller. “Lisbon is not so much revealing feelings for Jane, but she’s discovering feelings for Jane.” But the senior special agent better hurry up, because she may have competition in Lorelai, Red John’s agent (Entourage’s Emmanuelle Chriqui), whom he must seduce in order to obtain information.

Question: Hey Ausiello, can we please get a Rufus/Lily Gossip Girl spoiler? Is there any hope for a reunion? —Anais
Ausiello: Considering who Rufus schtups in the premiere, I hold out little hope for a reunion. Granted, Lily is now with Bart but still.

Question: Will Michael Scott return for the final season of The Office? —Carter
Ausiello: That remains to be seen. A more pressing question is whether the show is going to stage a musical episode during sweeps. Reason I ask is that returning boss man Greg Daniels is casting a young male who can carry a tune to play a college student in a November-ish episode.

Question: I know Suits just finished it second season, but I’m desperate for some spoilers regarding next January’s episodes! What do you got? – Raquel
Ausiello: I got a casting scoop: We’re going to meet Rachel’s dad, a well known lawyer who goes head-to-head with Harvey on a high profile case. Father and daughter have a strained relationship, something Harvey uses to his advantage by having Rachel sit in on the depositions.

That’s a wrap! Please send questions, comments, and anonymous tips to askausiello@tvline.com. (Additional reporting by Kim Roots and Vlada Gelman)

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