Tonight's Fall Premieres: 'House' Returns to Fox, and He's Behind Bars [Monday, 10/3]

At the end of season seven, House (Hugh Laurie) loses his marbles and drives his car through Cuddy's home.

As the new season opens, House is in prison, serving out the final days of his one year sentence. Cuddy is gone from the show for good, as Lisa Edelstein was unable to come to terms with the show's producers and has gone on to work in a multi-story arc in the Emmy Award-winning series "The Good Wife."

It was a tough decision reached this last May, and Edelstein said as much:

“After much consideration, I am moving onward with a combination of disappointment at leaving behind a character I have loved playing for seven years and excitement of the new opportunities in acting and producing that lie ahead,” she said in a press release at the time.

Whether viewers will continue to tune into "House" without Edelstein's sharp, intelligent feminine counterpoint to Laurie's virulent genius madman is yet to be seen, though the show will be introducing a new young woman who is presumably poised to make a run at taking over the role.

Odette Annable will play Dr. Jessica Adams, a doctor in the prison infirmary who piques House's interest with her obvious intelligence, good looks and desire for an extreme medical challenge.

Will House get out of the clink, escaping possible danger from neo-Nazis and hardened criminals? Will he be able to function in the real world without Cuddy's powerful counter-balancing act to help him along? Will Odette Annable play the Rebecca to Lisa Edelstein's Diane? We'll find out soon enough.

Watch the preview for the premiere of "House" season 8: