House creator David Shore has spilled more details about his show's eighth season premiere.

We already know it will feature the title character in jail, where he'll meet a fellow doctor, played by Odette Annable, who will eventually join the Princeton-Plainsboro team. Now, Shore has opened up to TV Line:

The October 3 episode will pick up one year after events from the May finale.

“The advantage of going forward a year is that everything’s changed, and changed dramatically," Shore said, citing a new Dean of Medicine as one major shift that has taken place in the 12 months between seasons.

Typically, I find time jumps to be a form of lazy storytelling. But with Shore admitting that the show was forced to scramble after Lisa Edelstein exited, I can make an exception in this case. It's understandable that some kind of reboot would be needed.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.