What happened with Fox last night?

I recorded House and 24 and was going to watch House tonight when Cam warned me that everyone at school was complaining because House didn't have an ending. They didn't mean that the episode ended unsatisfactorily, they meant something else was broadcast instead.

I fast forwarded through the first 45 minutes and sure enough the last fifteen minutes is Gossip Girl. Which is all right if you like that sort of thing, but not if you want to know what's going on with House. And in fact it wasn't all right because the sound was wonky. There was music and ambient noise but no dialogue. Which was weird, let me tell you.

The first 23 minutes of 24 was also another show, no idea which one, with the same problems with sound.

Curious as to whether this was a local phenomena or something that happened everywhere.

(Last week's Fringe was also foafed up with the first so many minutes American Idol and then the episode just ending when things were getting interesting, but I suspect that was a failure of my DVR, not so much the broadcast.)