House (TV series)

House
File:HouseMD.jpg House title screen
Created by	David Shore
Starring	Hugh Laurie Jesse Spencer Omar Epps Robert Sean Leonard Jennifer Morrison Lisa Edelstein
Opening theme	"Teardrop" by Massive Attack
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	56 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 43 minutes/episode
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	November 16, 2004 – present

House, also known as House, M.D., is an multi-award winning American medical drama television series created by David Shore and executive produced by film director Bryan Singer. The Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning medical drama debuted on November 16, 2004, on the FOX Network.

House stars British actor Hugh Laurie as the American title character, a role for which he received a 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. The third season of House premiered on September 5, 2006, in the United States and Canada.

Characters

File:House3rdseasonpromo.jpg

The cast of "House" in a promotional picture for the 3rd season.

Main article: List of House characters

• Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) – The show's protagonist, he is the head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, an infectious disease specialist, and nephrologist.
• Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) – Administration: Dean of Medicine.
• Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) – Department Head: Oncology.
• Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) – Diagnostic Medicine, intensivist.
• Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) – Diagnostic Medicine, neurologist.
• Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) – Diagnostic Medicine, immunologist.

Template:Spoiler

Recurring characters

• Stacy Warner (Sela Ward) – Dr. House's ex-girlfriend , whom he used to live with, and former lawyer for Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
• Mark Warner (Currie Graham) – Stacy's husband.
• Edward Vogler (Chi McBride) – Billionaire owner of a pharmaceutical firm and former board chairman of the hospital.
• Brenda Previn (Stephanie Venditto) – Head Nurse
• Michael Tritter (David Morse) – Police officer who bears malice against Dr. House in a third season story arc.
• Coma Guy – Nameless character who House 'visits' for lunch, or to watch a TV show. Not to be confused with "Vegetative State Guy" Gabriel Wozniak (John Larroquette), who was awoken by House in an effort to get a better medical history for his son, Kyle Wozniak.
• Steve McQueen – Dr. House's pet rat which he caught one day in Stacy's attic.

Plot

Dr. Gregory House is a maverick medical genius who heads a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Each episode typically starts with a cold open somewhere outside the hospital, showing the events leading to the onset of illness for that week's patient, then features the team going to extraordinary lengths to diagnose and treat unusual ailments.

Dr. House's begrudging fulfillment of his mandatory clinic duty is a recurring subplot on the show. During clinic duty, House confounds patients with his eccentric bedside manner and often unorthodox treatments, but impresses them with rapid and accurate diagnoses after seemingly not paying attention. In one episode, House diagnoses an entire waiting room full of patients on his way out of the clinic. Often, some of the simpler problems House faces in the clinic help him solve the main case of the episode.

Many of the illnesses and conditions encountered during the series could have been solved earlier if the patient/patients' families had not lied or hidden other symptoms (lying about having an affair that led to the mystery disease, lying about an underlying disorder, lying about jobs that lead to the mystery disease, and so on). Each episode thereby backs to House's stock phrase: "Everybody lies."

The opening sequence of each episode introduces the patient who will be the focus of the story, but this sequence is often deliberately misleading, causing the viewer to assume that another (often secondary or background) character will be the one to fall ill.

Several episodes feature the unusual practice of entering a patient's house with or without their permission in order to search for clues that might suggest a certain pathology. The creator, David Shore, originally intended for the show to be a CSI-type show where "germs were the suspects", but has since shifted much of the focus to the characters rather than concentrating solely on the environment.

Character traits

House is the victim of an infarction in his right leg, which was misdiagnosed by his doctors and resulted in muscle death prior to the events of the series. Despite a corrective operation, House is in near-constant pain and walks with a severe limp, using a trademark cane. He bears a terrible scar on his thigh where the dead muscle was excised. He has developed what is arguably an addiction to Vicodin through the course of the series. His colleagues frequently suggest that his physical pain affects his medical judgment and exacerbates his irritable personality, although his ex-girlfriend Stacy later says House had the same personality before he was in constant pain. In Season 3, Episode 4, it is suggested that he might have Asperger syndrome, although this is quickly revealed by Wilson to be a plot to get the blood-stained carpet House was standing on when he was shot, back into his office. Unlike many (though not all) with Asperger's, House has a strong ability to read people and social cues. However, he simply doesn't care about the feelings behind them except when he can use them to his advantage. Also, it is suggested throughout the series by fans and sometimes by Dr. Cuddy that House's pain may be psychosomatic, and may be brought on by an unconscious need for the pain instead of his leg actually hurting.

Template:Spoiler In the Season 2 finale, House is shot by a man who he believes is a former patient's husband, and receives an experimental ketamine treatment that results in a complete recovery of function in his leg and the absence of pain. Nearly the entire episode is later revealed to have been hallucinated in the minutes between the actual shooting and being wheeled into the emergency room, where upon House asks to be given ketamine. This results in the cessation of House's leg pain, albeit temporary. The early episodes of season 3 concern House's struggles with his returning leg pain and his ongoing Vicodin addiction.

House hated to be bored; he is seen juggling, listening to music, watching soap operas, constructing elaborate contraptions from objects in his office, playing with a ball or yo-yo and, most frequently, twirling his cane with one hand. In many episodes, House can be seen playing a handheld video game console (typically Metroid Zero Mission on the Game Boy Advance SP at the beginning of Season 1 and Metroid Prime Hunters on the Nintendo DS towards the end of the season). At the end of the fourth episode of the third season ("Lines in the Sand"), House acquires a patient's Sony PSP.

In spite of this apparent frivolity and impatience (with a "nine to three" job), House is nevertheless dedicated once a problem takes his attention, and he cannot resist a challenge. Many of the critical diagnoses in the show come at the end of a long night's study. True to his tenacity, he enacts an elaborate plot and learns Hindi in order to avenge a slight by a former colleague from decades earlier.

House shares a number of personality quirks with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The show's creator, David Shore, has said in an interview that the character of Dr. House is indeed partly inspired by Holmes. This comes full circle as Arthur Conan Doyle modeled Holmes on his mentor and gifted surgeon, Dr. Joseph Bell.

Among the characteristics the two characters share are

• the characters' surnames (Holmes and House) are homophonically-related synonyms;
• their ability to come to rapid conclusions after the briefest examination of a client/patient;
• opiate addiction (opium for Holmes and Vicodin for House) Holmes also used cocaine; House also has used morphine and LSD, as seen in "Who's Your Daddy" and "Distractions" respectively;
• heavily misanthropic personalities and a desire for solitude;
• the fact that each character has only one real friend (Dr. Wilson being a direct reference to Dr. Watson) who connects the cerebral hero to human concerns;
• both House and Holmes play a musical instrument, House plays the piano and guitar, and Holmes plays the violin.
• their use of deductive and inductive reasoning

Incidental parallels include:

• In one episode House's apartment number is revealed to be 221B, Sherlock Holmes's Baker Street address.
• Another patient, whom House failed to diagnose twelve years ago, has the name Ester Doyle which evokes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories;
• In the third season opener, the name of House's attacker, although it is never stated in the episode, is listed in the script as Moriarty; in Conan Doyle's short stories, Holmes' celebrated nemesis was Professor James Moriarty.
• In "Failure to Communicate", while explaining his understanding of what his patient with aphasia is actually saying, House gives a relatively common riddle about a room with an all southern view and a polar bear to his lackeys. This is the same riddle given by Sherlock Holmes to Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes.
• When one of a patient's symptoms has itchy feet, House jokingly writes "The game is a itchy foot," echoing Holmes' catch phrase.

Awards

Main article: List of House awards

House received a Peabody Award in 2006, for what the Peabody board called an "unorthodox lead character – a misanthropic diagnostician" and for "cases fit for a medical Sherlock Holmes," both of which helped make House "the most distinctive new doctor drama in a decade."

Creator David Shore won a writing Emmy in 2005 for the first season episode "Three Stories."

Episodes

Main article: List of House episodes

Season	Episodes	Originally Aired
Season 1	22	2004 – 2005
Season 2	24	2005 – 2006
Season 3	24	2006 – 2007

Response

Before it premiered on November 16, 2004, House received early critical acclaim - so much so, that FOX used a quote from the Washington Post in its ads for House stating that the show is "the best medical drama since the debut of E.R.."

The show's procedural structure, bizarre scenarios, and headlong dives into controversy via the hazardous and sometimes blatantly illegal conduct of the characters has gained the show some detractors.

Professional critics, however, have focused their attention on the complex inner life that British actor Hugh Laurie brings to the title role, and much of the media's attention has been focused on him. The characterization of House himself, as a brilliant, irascible, grating and oddly sympathetic personality, as played by Laurie, is what has been credited with the show's success:

• New York Magazine: "With House, we are in the hands of professionals: accomplished actors playing doctors who come to care about their patients, whose afflictions range from tapeworms to brain tumors."

• USA Today: "Any series that matches a great actor with a great character is halfway home."

• Washington Post: " "House" introduces us to the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years. No, the show is not about a house or even life as a house; it's about life as Dr. Gregory House, who, as played perilously close to perfection by Hugh Laurie, catapults this Fox series into a select group: the finest shows of the season."

Numerous publications have named it one of the best shows of the year.

Production information

House is aired by the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a co-production of Heel and Toe Films (Paul Attanasio and Katie Jacobs), Shore Z Productions (David Shore), and Bad Hat Harry Productions (Bryan Singer) in association with the NBC Universal Television Studio for Fox. All three companies are responsible for production and all four people are executive producers of the show. David Shore's ideas for House, M.D. are inspired by the writings of Berton Roueche.

The 58th Primetime Emmy® Awards and Creative Arts Emmys Nominations recognized Derek R. Hill, Production Designer and Danielle Berman, S.D.S.A., Set Decorator for their "Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series" for the FOX Network series, House, M.D. produced by Heel and Toe Productions, Shorez Productions and Bad Hat Harry Productions in association with Universal Television Studios.

As of season 2, episode - "TB or Not TB", a German production company, MORATIM, is credited in the copyright notice instead of Universal Network Television. (MORATIM Produktions GmbH & Co. KG - of Pullach im Isartal, Germany). Moratim produced five episodes.

Airing

House currently airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific) on Fox, and is simulcast on Global in Canada. The second season premiered on September 13, 2005 and ended on May 23, 2006. During the summer of 2006, Fox showed reruns of the show in its current timeslot. The show was then renewed for a third season and premiered on September 5, 2006, moving up to the 8 p.m. slot for its four episodes in September.

For four weeks in October, House moved to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. and was replaced by Major League Baseball playoffs in the Tuesday time slot; however, the episodes aired were not new, but rather reruns from earlier in the season. New House episodes returned to Tuesdays on October 31, 2006, but back at its older 9 p.m. time slot (switching places with the FOX show Standoff).

Before the fall 2005 television season, FOX planned to move House from Tuesdays 9 p.m. to Mondays 8 p.m. for January 2006. However, the surprising success of the serial drama Prison Break (which later occupied the Monday 8 p.m. timeslot) nixed the plan. House remained airing Tuesdays 9 p.m., gaining an even bigger audience and cracking into the top 10 of most-watched primetime shows.

In a rare move for the network, FOX continued to air the series in reruns over the summer of 2006, rather than preempting it for summer series.

The cable station USA (an NBC Universal sister network) began airing Season 1 in syndication on January 6, 2006 at 11/10c. The USA Network began airing repeats of Season 3 episodes on September 15, 2006 (One week post their first run on Fox). House is scheduled to air in syndication in the fall of 2008[1].

In Australia, House is broadcast on Network Ten, Wednesdays at 8:30pm. Network Ten aired reruns of House at 7:30pm (a while after the Season 2 finale) for several weeks, between the finale of Tripping Over and the premiere of Australian Princess. Because of the early time, it was classified PG, instead of its usual M rating. In December 2006, House Season One will be airing on Foxtel and Austar Channel TV1

Casting

The producers were reportedly dissatisfied with early auditions for the role of House. When Hugh Laurie cast on the audition tape, he apologized for his appearance as he was filming Flight of the Phoenix at the time of the casting session. Laurie's audition tape compelled director Bryan Singer to get up out of his chair to get as close to the television screen as he could. Laurie's American accent was reportedly so flawless that Bryan Singer singled him out as an example of a real American actor, being unaware of Laurie's background. Laurie later stated that his original impression was that the show was about Dr. James Wilson, as the script referred to him as a doctor with "boyish" looks, assumed this to be the star and that Dr. House was the "sidekick" (the show was not yet titled House at that point). It wasn't until he received the full teleplay of the pilot did he realize that House was the protagonist. Laurie, whose father was a doctor himself, said he felt guilty for "being paid more to become a fake version of my own father" after being cast as House.

Theme Music

The opening theme is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. "Teardrop" itself does have lyrics, sung by guest vocalist Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins; however, the version used in the opening credits uses only the beginning and ending sections, which are solely instrumental. Due to rights and licensing issues this music is not used for the show in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland (German version), Belgium, Denmark, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Hungary, Latin America, Greece, Hong Kong, and Turkey. In those countries, a piece of music named "House," composed by Scott Donaldson and Richard Nolan, is used, which was written specifically for the show. With the second season, this was replaced with a similar, but modified, track. The parodic British television show Dead Ringers, which sometimes spoofs House, uses "Teardrop" for the spoof's opening theme. "Teardrop" is also used in the Season 2 Region 2 release, replacing the "House" theme at the beginning of the episode.

Another common theme is "Any Other Name" by Thomas Newman, which typically plays during the melancholy moments in the show.

Filming

Exterior shots of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital actually are of Princeton University's Frist Campus Center, which is the University's student center (a disproportionate number of these shots show a UPS truck sitting in the hospital driveway, implying that several of the overhead shots of the hospital that are used in all three seasons were actually taken on the same day). Filming does not, however, take place there. Filming takes place on the Fox lot in Century City. Exterior shots of the university campus are filmed at UCLA.

Dubbing

Parts of the script are regularly changed in content during translation in order to make contexts understandable also for people unfamiliar with American culture. For example in the episode "Honeymoon" (1-22) Dr. Cameron asks Stacy about people with mental diseases in her husband's family. In the original version she answers: "His sister voted for Nader - twice!" while in the German dubbed version Ralph Nader's name is replaced by that of George W. Bush.

DVD releases

Cover Art	DVD Name	Ep #	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
File:HouseDVD.jpg	The Complete First Season	22	August 30 2005	February 27 2006	November 28 2005
File:House s2dvd.jpg	The Complete Second Season	24	August 22 2006	October 23 2006	October 25 2006

International broadcasters

Outside the US, Canada and the United Kingdom House is aired under the title Dr. House, House, M.D. or (in Italy) Dr. House - Medical Division and has been broadcast by the following stations:

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere
Argentina	Dr. House	Canal 13 and Universal Channel (cable)
Australia	House	Network Ten, TV1	June 26 2005
Belgium		VTM and RTL-TVI
Brazil		Universal Channel
Canada		Global Television Network and Fox Broadcasting Company
Chile	Dr. House	TVN and Universal Channel
Colombia	Dr. House	Universal Channel
Croatia	Dr. House	HRT
Cuba	Dr. House	Cubavision
Czech Republic	Dr. House	TV Nova	October 4 2006
Denmark		Canal+ and Kanal 4	October 25 2006
Estonia		TV3	December 16 2005
Finland	House	Canal+ and MTV3	September 21 2006
France	Dr House	TF6	March 1 2006
Germany	Dr. House	RTL Television	May 9 2006
Greece	Ιατρικές Υποθέσεις ("Medical Affairs")	Star Channel	July 23 2006
Hong Kong	"醫神"(TVB Pearl) ("God of Medicine") "怪醫豪斯" (AXN) ("Weird Doctor House")	AXN and TVB Pearl
Hungary	Dr. House	TV2	March 22 2006
Iceland	House	Skjár einn	September 1 2005
India		AXN
Ireland		Channel 6
Israel	House	Channel 3
Italy	Dr. House - Medical Division	Italia 1 and FOX	July 1 2005
Japan	ハウス	FOX
Latvia	Dr. Hauss	TV3
Lithuania	Daktaras Hausas	TV3	December 13 2006
Malaysia	House	AXN
Mexico	Dr. House	Universal Channel
Netherlands	House	SBS6	August 17, 2006
New Zealand	House	TV3
Norway	House	Canal+ and NRK	September 20 2006
Panama	Dr. House	RPC
Peru	Dr. House	Channel 2 and Frecuencia Latina
Philippines		AXN
Portugal	Dr. House	FOX and TVI
Saudi Arabia and Arab World		Showtime Arabia, Tv Land and Tv Land +2 (Subtitled)
Singapore		AXN
Slovakia	Dr. House	Jednotka
Slovenia	Zdravnikova vest	Pop TV
South Africa		M-Net
South Korea	하우스("House")	OCN
Spain	House	Fox, Cuatro, Imagenio, Digital+	September 27 2005
Sri Lanka		Channel One and MTV
Sweden	House	Canal+ and TV4	September 19 2006
Switzerland	Dr. House	SF zwei	May 1 2006
Thailand		AXN
Turkey		DiziMax
United Kingdom	House	Five (Analogue & digital terrestrial, digital satellite & cable) and Hallmark (Digital Satellite & cable only)	June 9 2005
Uruguay	Dr. House	Canal 4 MonteCarlo
Venezuela	Dr. House	Universal Channel and Televen

Terminology

The show has become popular enough that several terms have arisen among fans to describe elements of the show and its characters.^{reference needed} One term has been "Ducklings" to describe House's three assistants, who constantly follow after him rattling off, or "quacking," different prognoses. Another term, made popular at Hiram College has been the "House-enberg Uncertainty Principle," used to describe an episode in which, nearing the dramatic reveal, the viewer has absolutly no idea what the solution might be. In such a case, the medical scenario may prove so confusing to the viewer that finding out the real answer may clarify little, as the diagnosis is so obscure or bizarre as to make it beyond an average viewer's understanding.

External links

• Official website
• The House Guide
• Spanish official microsite
• House Medical Reviews discussion of medical accuracy
• "Complete List of the Commercial Tracks Used on House"
• The Brazilian Fan Site
• House episode reviews on TV Squad