Exclusive: Is 'House' bringing Amber back to life?!

One would think the stench from Grey's Anatomy's much-maligned afterlife love story between Denny and Izzie would've scared all the ghosts away from primetime for good.

But one might be wrong.

The producers of House are engaged in preliminary talks with Anne Dudek -- a.k.a. Wilson's deceased girlfriend, Amber/Cutthroat Bitch -- about returning later this season, sources confirm to me exclusively.

As who? Or, better yet, what? That's the $1 million question.

"I can confirm that we loved Anne, and I can confirm that we loved the character of Amber," responds executive producer Katie Jacobs. "But I cannot confirm that [she] is coming back."

But Jacobs also can't deny it, which brings us to the other $1 million question: Is House planning to take a page from Grey's Anatomy's loopy medical journal and have Wilson start spooning his dead ex-girlfriend's ghost?

Not on your life, insists series creator David Shore (who, for the record, also isn't denying Dudek's return).

"It would never be a dead ghost sex love triangle thing like on [Grey's]," he says. Adds Jacobs: "That is a situation where we cannot just do whatever and expect the fans to accept it. I think that would make a large [number] of people switch off their TVs. I think if we tried that, heads would roll.

"But," Jacobs continues, "if we could figure out a way to bring her back that is not a ghost sex plot, we'd be thrilled to do it and have her back."

Let's pretend for a second that Shore and Jacobs aren't already concocting such a story (tee-hee), let me ask you: Would you be open to the idea of Amber returning to House -- provided she doesn't have to jump over any sharks to get there? (Additional reporting by Carrie Bell)

Maya in Milford, Del.: Any truth to the rumor that Ethan Hawke or Campbell Scott are being cast as Wilson's homeless brother on House?
None whatsoever. I caught up with House executive producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore, and they firmly debunked both those casting rumors. Katie says, "Wilson does have this brother, and David has just written a beautiful episode where that comes into play again." Any thoughts on who the brother should be? I vote for Kyle Bornheimer. Worst Week's season finale is coming up, and there's a resemblance, right?

Lily in Tennessee: Please, more House scoopage! About anyone but Foreteen!
How about the other two new kids then? Kal Penn (who just got back from Obama's inauguration) tells me, "[Kutner] does have an arc this season—you'll see him more at home, with the giant bowl of cereal, for example, and we'll see how the thing with his parents affects him," and Peter Jacobsen tells me, "There's trouble in paradise with Taub's marriage. Nothing too drastic at the moment, but there's difficulties looming."