Though whether or not this will be House‘s final season, the future is looking a little bleak for our favorite intelligent doctor. But, FOX has a decent success with the J.J. Abrams crime mystery Alcatraz, which just began its run three weeks ago. Now, the network has decided to put it to the ultimate test, pairing it up with sneak preview hit Touch, but shoving House out the door for the time being.

The Futon Critic reports that FOX has decided to “extended”Alcatraz‘ run. But, it won’t be adding any more episodes. The network had three two hour blocks of the first season set: the series premiere, one in February, and the season finale). So, what FOX is deciding to do is split the season finale so that the season runs until March 26th.

This will pair the freshman drama up with the other buzzed about new series Touch for three straight weeks, as FOX will encore the pilot on March 12th, and airing new episodes every Monday at 9PM until the first season is over. It should be noted that after the two hour block of Alcatraz on March 5th, the series will move to a permanent timeslot of 8:00 PM until the end of its run.

As for House, the doctor will air his last new episode on February 27th, and then won’t return until February 2nd, where it will be paired up with Touch and air new episodes until May. Will it be back for another season? That’s a gigantic question that will be answered when it goes on hiatus after this month, or possibly during sweeps in the coming weeks.

What do you think of the schedule switcheroo? Bummed Houseis going off the books for a month? Happy Alcatraz is sticking around for another week?