kal penn's new role... at the white house

Okay, spoiler alert. If you watch House, and didn't didn't see last night's episode, stop reading this now. Skip over elsewhere. Final warning. Okay. Last night on House, Kal Penn's character, Dr. Harold Kutner, was unexpectedly killed off. Or rather, he killed himself.

I didn't see it, but I read about it last night over at Sepia Mutiny. Thought it might be some kind of joke, but it ain't. Then checked over on Kal Penn's Twitter, and saw the tweet from the man himself: "Thanks for watching, and thanks for a great 2 seasons on "House"!" Cutner is dead.

For fans of the show, it was apparently a rather shocking departure that nobody saw coming. However it had actually been planned for a while, between Mr. Modi and the show's producers. Here's the scoop: 'House' exclusive: The shocking story behind last night's big death.

Kal Penn has definitely left the show for good. He wasn't fired. He asked to go. Why? Well that's the thing. The guy we all know and love as Kumar has a new job... in the Obama administration. No joke. For the time being, he's moving out of acting.

Kal, who was extremely active during Obama's campaign, is going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison, where he'll reportedly be working with the Asian American and arts communities. He's apparently been thinking about going into politics for a while, and this seems like a pretty good fit for him.

His start date isn't set yet... but I guess we won't be seeing a third Harold and Kumar movie for a loooong time. More here: Kal Penn leaves House for Obama... no, seriously. And here: Actor Kal Penn joining Obama administration in Valerie Jarrett's shop. Will work with Asian-American, arts communities.