House

[shmeep]

Okay...I didn't post anything after last week's episode because I thought it was just okay. Nothing spectacular, but a good solid show. But last night...

I am now officially in awe of this show. I don't know how something can be poignant and cynical and funny and--wow. So many things all at once. And David Spader stole the Emmy away from Hugh Laurie?? WTF??? That's a crime.

I loved the whole concept of House not wanting to believe a child with cancer could really be that brave so he decides her bravery must be a symptom. But he says the words "I was wrong" at the end! That's a first. If this show is any indication, I think House is going to be even stronger than it was last year.

[inuvik]

Does anyone remember Hugh Laurie from Jeeves and Wooster? I loved him in that! Thinner, younger, (weren't we all ), and it was a hilarious show! English too, so we got to hear his natural accent.

[verorl]

What is this show about? I have been tempted to look if it is out on DVD. (never have seen any of it.)

[shmeep]

verorl said:

What is this show about? I have been tempted to look if it is out on DVD. (never have seen any of it.)

If you're talking about House and not Jeeves and Wooster...Season One just came out on DVD. House is a medical drama with a flawed, sarcastic, bitter, but strangely lovable doctor at its center.



He and his team of "ducklings"--three young doctors handpicked for their diagnostic abilities but always kept in their places by House's verbal abuse--are there to find the causes of freak illnesses others have failed to diagnose. The show is fairly formulaic, particularly in the beginning of the first season, in that there is always a person collapsing in the beginning and then they somehow end up with House and his team, who spend the rest of the episode going through a process of trial and error--usually almost killing the patient--before eventually coming up with a cure or, at least, an answer. This isn't why I love the show. I watch because Dr. House is one of the most intriguing characters I've ever seen on television and his interaction with his ducklings and with Dr. Cuddy (the hospital administrator who hates him but respects him in spite of herself) and with Dr. Wilson (an oncologist who is the only friend House seems to have) is fascinating. And House has some of the greatest one-liners I've ever heard, delivered as only Hugh Laurie can deliver them.

And talk about nuance, and about an actor who can speak without saying a word! House's words may be mean and abusive, but his face can break your heart at times. Only this show can take a story about a terminally ill little girl and make the audience cry, laugh out loud, and then come away thinking it wasn't sappy or melodramatic. I'll say it again, last night's episode was great. I said "wow!" aloud as it ended, something I haven't done since Blind Justice.

If any show can help fill that void for me, this is it.

[mlm828]

I started watching "House" last season, mainly because I had to have something to do to pass the last hour before "Blind Justice" came on. I have continued to watch it, mainly because of Hugh Laurie. He is an excellent actor -- not to mention those blue eyes! I, too, remember him from "Jeeves and Wooster." As "Bertie Wooster," he was the quintessential upper-class English twit -- about as different from "Dr. House" as one could imagine. I agree with shmeep that most of the episodes in the first season fell into a predictable pattern. I'm hoping they get away from that this season; last night's episode did.

Even though I watch "House," the show definitely requires a suspension of disbelief on my part. I never cease to be amazed at the double standard applied to "Blind Justice," which required no more, and sometimes less, suspension of disbelief than many other shows. In the real world, "Dr. House" would long ago have been reported to the licensing authorities as an "impaired physician," and defending the malpractice cases against him would have been a nightmare.

[doobrah]

ohhhh.... don't get me started about Hugh Laurie. He's one of those who could read the phone book (in his English accent) and I would swoon. And those blue eyes.

Yes, he was great as Bertie Wooster! Such a toff! (toffee nose = upper class, sometimes a snob).

The show is predictable: Medical case defies diagnosis. Enter Dr. House and his team. They spend 45 minutes trying to diagnose the patient, until..... AHA! ... they determine the problem and solve it by the end of the episode. But how they get there is the fun. And the sarcastic/snide/snarky lines they give House are a hoot.

He is an excellent actor... but I miss his English accent. And his team of young doctors are kinda nice to look at too.

When BJ was on (sniff!), I'd watch House at 9, and BJ at 10. Very satisfying TV, it was.

[inuvik]

mlm828 said:

I never cease to be amazed at the double standard applied to "Blind Justice," which required no more, and sometimes less, suspension of disbelief than many other shows.

So agree! Like I said in the Prison Break thread--a guy who got himself imprisoned to spring his brother! Give me a break! Once the suspension of disbelief passes, you can have a great show. And don't even get me started on implausible plots of movies!

[shmeep]

Here's a little exchange from House that cracks me up. House prefers to cure his patients from afar (most of the people he saves ask him who he is when he makes his appearance at some point) and Dr. Cuddy forces him to work a certain number of hours a week at the hospital clinic. Here is what he says in the Pilot the first day he has to do clinic duty:

Dr. Gregory House: [to the crowd in the walk-in clinic's waiting area] Hello, sick people and their loved ones! In the interest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I'm Doctor Gregory House; you can call me "Greg." I'm one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning.

Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Short, sweet, grab a file.

Dr. Gregory House: This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Doctor Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she's much too busy to deal with you. I am a board-certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease and nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will.

[to Lisa]
Dr. Gregory House: That is true, isn't it?

[to crowd]
Dr. Gregory House: But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you're particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It's mine! You can't have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem... but who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm too stoned to tell. So, who wants me?

[nobody moves]

Dr. Gregory House: And who would rather wait for one of the other two guys?

[everybody raises their hand]

Dr. Gregory House: Okay, well, I'll be in Exam Room One if you change your mind.

[hoosier]

I got hooked on this show last season--always watched it before BJ Anyway--I love House! He really has a heart under all that attitude. That little girl really got to him last night and when Wilson said that she would probably outlive him, WOW. Then he took off test-riding that motocycle---hmmm, a really,really long test ride!

[verorl]

WOW! It looks like this is a must see then. I'll go to Best Buy and look for the DVD set.

[Katryna]

mlm828 said:

I started watching "House" last season, mainly because I had to have something to do to pass the last hour before "Blind Justice" came on. I have continued to watch it, mainly because of Hugh Laurie. He is an excellent actor -- not to mention those blue eyes! I, too, remember him from "Jeeves and Wooster." As "Bertie Wooster," he was the quintessential upper-class English twit -- about as different from "Dr. House" as one could imagine. I agree with shmeep that most of the episodes in the first season fell into a predictable pattern. I'm hoping they get away from that this season; last night's episode did.

Even though I watch "House," the show definitely requires a suspension of disbelief on my part. I never cease to be amazed at the double standard applied to "Blind Justice," which required no more, and sometimes less, suspension of disbelief than many other shows. In the real world, "Dr. House" would long ago have been reported to the licensing authorities as an "impaired physician," and defending the malpractice cases against him would have been a nightmare.

You are ABSOLUTELY right about House. He would have lasted about two hours in the hospital that I work for - no matter how skilled a diagnostician he is! Though his character does make the program entertaining and without him no one would be interested, would they? But the parallel between House and Blind Justice as far as the "unbelievability" of the premise is definite.

(Did anyone see Hugh Laurie in Blackadder? He played a totally inept Prince.)

[shmeep]

kathy said:

You are ABSOLUTELY right about House. He would have lasted about two hours in the hospital that I work for - no matter how skilled a diagnostician he is! Though his character does make the program entertaining and without him no one would be interested, would they? But the parallel between House and Blind Justice as far as the "unbelievability" of the premise is definite.

Heh. Yeah, I know what you mean. I think House did a little of what Blind Justice did when it came to anticipating the weak points of the believability of the story and responding to them before people had a chance to ask. Here is a quote from Cuddy:

Dr. Lisa Cuddy: When I hired you, I knew you were insane. I will continue to try and stop you from doing insane things, but once they're done, trying to convince an insane person not to do insane things is, in itself, insane. So when I hired you, I also set aside fifty thousand a year for legal expenses. So far, you've come in under budget.

[mlm828]

"So when I hired you, I also set aside fifty thousand a year for legal expenses."

Fifty grand isn't enough!

[housemouse]

I have watched House from the beginning. Early on it was tough to stick with it because, as Shmeep noted, the episodes were pretty much exactly the same. A seemingly incurable patient would arrive at the hospital and after two or three mis-diagnoses, House would save the day by proving his first theory correct.

Then, late in the season Chi McBride came in as the hospital's new benefactor and chairman. That is when it got interesting. House had a real foil for once and I saw it as a turning point. McBride was more than capable of going one on one with Laurie, it was a great story arc. As much as I loathed McBride's character I hated to see him go.

In my opinion this season is already better than last and I am looking forward to more. Hugh Laurie is adorable in a rugged disheveled kind of way, and as so many have said, oh those eyes!

[hoosier]

House has a method to his madness. You do have to be willing to spend disbelief. After all, who would believe a cranky but brillant doctor could solve all those mysteries abet medical ones but a blind cop couldn't??? They both used logic!