David Shore, the Emmy-winning creator and executive producer of Fox's medical drama "House," has inked a two-year overall development deal with the series' producer, NBC Universal Television Studio.

Under the rich seven-figure pact, Shore will continue to serve as showrunner/executive producer on the hit show for the next two seasons while also developing new projects for the studio.

Not only is Hugh Laurie's irascible Dr House swapping smouldering looks with Lisa Edelstein's Dr Lisa Cuddy, he also has Jennifer Morrison's Dr Allison Cameron casting glances his way in the background.

The former is House's beautiful and officious boss, the object of his obvious fascination, and the latter is his younger colleague, clearly infatuated with his genius and not afraid to let him know.

He seems keen on one, the other seems keen on him and all dance around happily trading sexual innuendo at a rate to give most HR managers a heart attack. Where will it end?

So the idea is that House -- who is cranky, mean, misanthropic -- is an extension of you?

Yup.

C'mon David. That's not true.

Well, I do have a cynical and cold attitude lurking within me. I'm not House, but those words that come out of his mouth -- I almost always agree with them. And I'm writing them because I believe them. They are my thoughts and my philosophy.

Jacobs mentioned that when they sold the show to FOX, House was supposed to be in a wheelchair. "FOX, to their credit, changed it," said Shore. "I will never again thank a network for changing a character."

The pickup is hardly a surprise, given the show's performance over the past year. "House" exploded after being paired with "American Idol" midway through last season, and this fall the show proved it could stand on its own, drawing 12.65 million viewers per week in the months before "Idol" returned (since then ratings have only improved, and it's now averaging 13.68 million viewers).