House (TV series)

*House*
House
	File:House titlescreen2.jpg House title screen
Created by	David Shore
Starring	Hugh Laurie; Lisa Edelstein; Omar Epps; Robert Sean Leonard; Jennifer Morrison; Jesse Spencer
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	35
Production
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	November 16, 2004 –; present

House (formerly titled House, M.D.) is an American television series; an hour-long medical drama that debuted in the fall of 2004 and stars Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning British actor Hugh Laurie. Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, a maverick medical genius who heads a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Despite his abrasive personality, the members of his team remain steadfast in their loyalty, going to extraordinary lengths to accomplish a common task: diagnosing and treating unusual ailments. Most episodes start outside the hospital, showing the events that will imminently lead to the onset of illness for that week's patient.

A recurring subplot on the show is Dr. House's begrudging fulfillment of his mandatory clinic duty, confounding patients with an eccentric bedside manner and often unorthodox treatments, but impressing 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 rather simple problems House faces in the clinic help him solve the main case of the show.

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), thus every episode lends more and more backing to House's beloved stock phrase, "everybody lies".

U.S. ratings and schedule

The show finished its first season on May 24, 2005. Though it started slowly, it began consistently ranking at the top in its time slot, and in the top ten highest rated programs almost every week. This jump has been credited to word-of-mouth advertising and placement right after American Idol. It is now one of the top-rated shows on Fox.

The second season premiered on September 13, 2005. The previous summer, Fox aired reruns of House in its usual timeslot, an honor rarely awarded to a series by Fox.

House currently airs Tuesday nights at 9 pm (Eastern/Pacific) on Fox. On November 30, 2005, Fox announced that beginning in January 2006 House will remain in its regular timeslot after American Idol. Fox originally planned to move House to Monday nights at 8 pm, to lead into new episodes of 24. However, since House has consistently high ratings during its Tuesday airings, the network decided not to go with their original plan. The network did temporarily air House on Mondays from 8–10 pm, for a few weeks in late December 2005 and early January 2006. During this time, House still ran at its normal timeslot on Tuesday nights on Fox. For a list of when new episodes will be aired, see List of House episodes.

The cable station USA (an NBC Universal sister network) began airing Season 1 in syndication on January 6, 2006 at 11/10c.

Main characters

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Clockwise from bottom left — Dr. Cameron, Dr. Foreman, Dr. House, Dr. Chase, Dr. Cuddy and Dr. Wilson

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) – Department Head: Diagnostic Medicine, infectious disease specialist and nephrologist. A Johns Hopkins University and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor alumnus, Dr. House is seemingly lacking in bedside manner and prefers to avoid direct contact with his patients whenever possible. Due to an infarction in his right thigh, House lost a substantial portion of the muscle in his upper leg and must use a cane to assist with walking. In addition, House is also forced to deal with constant physical pain, which he manages through a dependency on the prescription pain-medication Vicodin. Though his behavior can border on antisocial or misanthropic, House is viewed as a maverick physician whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts have afforded him a great deal of respect and an unusual level of tolerance from his professional colleagues.
Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) – Administration: Dean of Medicine. Though commonly seen as a thorn in Dr. House's side, Dr. Cuddy is an ally and frequently acquiesces to House's (often outlandish) medical requests. Though the writers of the television series have made allusions of sexual tension between Cuddy and House, nothing thus far has been definitively declared, leaving the final interpretation up to the viewer.
Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) – Department Head: Oncology. Dr. Wilson is Dr. House's best (and only) friend. House knows him well enough to know the schedule that he uses to rotate his ties. Wilson claims that his job and his and House's "stupid, screwed up friendship" are the two most important things to him. He also claims in 2.6 "Spin" that an unnamed "someone" that he met assumedly during his first marriage made him feel "funny, good" and that he "didn't want to let that feeling go", therefore sparking his affairs. Who this person is unrevealed so far, though speculation exists whether this is an unimportant character, Stacy, or even House himself. Wilson recently separated from his third wife, Julie.
Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, neurologist; attended Johns Hopkins Medical School. Of all the members of House's staff, it is strongly implied that Foreman performed best academically throughout college and medical school. However, during the pilot, Dr. House tells Foreman that a major factor in his hiring was the fact that he was a former juvenile delinquent who once broke into houses and had 'street cred'. Despite his youthful offences, Foreman may be the best-adjusted of House's medical team. As a result, he frequently voices his disapproval of House's maverick methods and daring decisions.
Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, immunologist. Dr. Cameron is earnest and committed to doing good, in contrast to Dr. House's misanthropy. Of all the members of House's staff, Cameron is the most empathetic, and appears to possess the best bedside manner. Cameron was widowed during her time in medical school; her husband died of thyroid cancer that had metastasized to his brain just months after their marriage. House and Cameron went on one formal date during the show's first season (and went to a monster truck rally together), but neither seems inclined to pursue a relationship any further.
Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, intensivist. Dr. Chase is ambitious, with an amoral and sycophantic streak. Chase's demeanor appears to have been either influenced or amplified by House, as he has previously displayed a penchant for insulting patients behind their backs, takes clear and vicarious joy in watching House tear into others, finds House's antics more amusing than others do, and repeats House's mantra of "everybody lies" whenever a patient's full disclosure of any required medical history is called into question. Moreover, when suggesting treatments to diagnoses, Chase is arguably the most creative member of House's staff, often proposing unconventional treatments that had not previously been considered, but whose perceived effectiveness is generally agreed upon.

Other characters

Stacy Warner (Sela Ward) – Dr. House's former girlfriend (she lived with him for five years) and a Constitutional lawyer. Now married to Mark Warner. 9 episodes, 1.21–1.22; 2.01, 2.03, 2.06–08, 2.10-2.11. Stacy took a job at the hospital to be close to her husband during his treatment. Their relationship has been strained due to his suspicions that Stacy's feelings for House would return. Mark was eventually proven correct, as Stacy fell for House all over again and offered to leave her husband for him. House then rejected her, so she quit her job at the hospital and moved back home to Short Hills, New Jersey with Mark.
Mark Warner (Currie Graham) – Stacy's husband. A middle school guidance counselor by profession, he became a patient at PPTH against his will in episode 1.22 ("The Honeymoon") and was eventually diagnosed with porphyria by House. Mark is jealous of House, and House's sharp words and actions indicate the feeling is likely mutual. Still recovering from his illness, Mark is confined to a wheelchair and attends both physical therapy sessions and psychological counseling at PPTH; during this time, Stacy and Mark began arguing with increasing frequency due to Mark's frustration with his illness and slow recovery. In episode 2.11 ("Need To Know"), Mark confronted House about Mark's own fears of losing Stacy and his suspicions of House and Stacy's interactions; their confrontation led House to realize that Mark was willing to do the things House himself could never do for Stacy, leading to the final breakup of House and Stacy's relationship.
Edward Vogler (Chi McBride) – Billionaire owner of a pharmaceutical firm and former board chairman of PPTH, a position he gained through a major cash donation to the hospital. 5 episodes, 1.14–18. Vogler sought to reshape PPTH into a testing facility for his firm's new drugs and saw House's maverick ways and blatant disregard for rules and authority figures as a substantial legal and financial liability. When House refused to kowtow to Vogler's increasingly capricious demands (including an order for House to fire one of his fellows) and made a mockery of Vogler's company at a press banquet, Vogler gave the board an ultimatum: Fire House, or lose Vogler's grant. After an impassioned plea from Cuddy for the board members to put the hospital's independence ahead of Vogler's deep pockets, the board voted to retain House; true to his word, Vogler withdrew his grant and resigned from the board.
John and Blythe House (R. Lee Ermey and Diane Baker) – House's parents. One episode, 2.05 ("Daddy's Boy"). Mother Blythe seems to be the standard military housewife, and House calls her a "human polygraph". His father John used to be a Marine Corps pilot and never lied while raising House, which House seems to be quite bitter about. House's father is hard on him for not dealing with his leg better, once telling him "[your problem is that] you don't know how lucky you are".
Dr. Rowan Chase (Patrick Bauchau) – Dr. Chase's estranged father and acclaimed rheumatologist. He left his alcoholic wife and teenage son, and some unspecified time later, remarried. One episode, 1.13 ("Cursed"). In episode 2.08 ("The Mistake"), the character was revealed to have died of lung cancer six months ago, without ever saying goodbye to his son.

Criticism

House is famous for diving into controversial matters. Dr. Eric Foreman is quite often the subject of Dr. House's jokes about race. The show tackled religion in the episode "Damned If You Do", and shortly afterward did an episode about a homosexual mafia member in "Mob Rules". That began a series of embarrassing family issues, including gender, intersexuality, BDSM, beastiality and the overall practice of keeping secrets. The show also touched on teenage pregnancy in the episode "Kids".

The accuracy of the medical procedures dramatized in House has been questioned in the media and on the show's internet message boards. The show is generally quite accurate, but some instances show rather egregious medical errors. In one instance, a doctor was bitten by a patient infected with Rabies. The doctor displayed symptoms the next day that usually take several weeks to manifest. In addition, rabies is usually fatal after the appearance of symptoms; in this episode, it was treated as easily curable. (See the "House Medical Reviews" link for more analysis.) Fans have pointed out in the forums that the Dr. House character often neglects to disinfect the site of an injection.

As well as overt errors, patients frequently begin displaying symptoms with suspiciously fortuitous timing, important yet obvious details are overlooked (for example a vast termite nest in a patient's home) and the doctors (especially House) show startling degrees of skill (identifying a bacterial infection by a trace odor on a patient's sheets, for instance). While not errors per se, these plot devices frequently resemble deus ex machina.

At the same time, the show has helped increase awareness of real-life medical conditions that frequently are confused for other conditions thanks to their rarity; an example is an episode depicting a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia when she in fact has Wilson's disease, which, in her case, is treatable, mirroring the experience of many real-life Wilson's patients; similarly, a young man is shown suffering from subacute sclerosing panencephalitis as a result of a measles infection as a newborn, reinforcing House's impatience and anger at skeptics about the necessity of vaccination.

Dr. House is occasionally criticized by reviewers and casual fans as having a strong misogynistic streak that borders on sexual harassment, particularly in his dealings with Drs. Cuddy (whose cleavage-baring outfits he often comments upon) and Cameron (whom he once said he hired because she was "pretty to look at, like having a piece of art in the lobby"). The pilot did go on to establish that Cameron's beauty told House that she was supremely motivated in her work, as a woman of her attractiveness could have coasted through life, in House's opinion. House also constantly berates Chase for his "pretty" appearance, once speculating that he might "grab [both Cameron's and] Chase's ass".

The mysogyny criticism itself is often countered by the explanation that House isn't so much a misogynist as he is misanthropic, pointing to the abuse he usually heaps upon Foreman and Chase, the patient of the week, and humanity as a whole. Cameron herself retorts "Nice try, but you're a misanthrope, not a misogynist" to one of his comments in the show's first season.

Along similar lines, House's relationship with Foreman often includes House making outright racist jabs at Foreman without provocation, though, as with everything House says, they are normally laden with irony and ultimately intended to spur Foreman to work harder and fulfill his potential in order to show up House. Race is also the only thing that can regularly get under Foreman's skin, and House tends to go for weak spots. Foreman himself is shown to be better than his two fellowship counterparts at retaining his professional demeanor and calm in the face of House's comments about his race and its relationship to his shady past; however, even Foreman could not hold back his anger at House during an argument with House over how to deal with an elderly black man who refuses his prescription of BiDil. It is notable that while Foreman is treated with much greater courtesy and surface respect by a former (white) boss, Dr. Hamilton, who serves as a foil for House in one episode, Foreman ultimately rejects the opportunity to work for Hamilton because, it is implied, he realizes that in reality House respects his abilities more and cares more about the quality of his work.

The show has also been criticized for its portrayal of nurses. The Center of Nursing Advocacy published a press release summing up their annual list of the best and worst media portrayals of nurses. The press release stated that House is one of the shows which "portrayed nurses as mute servants, while heroic physicians provided all important care — much of which nurses do in real life. Worse yet, the physician characters made vicious anti-nurse slurs that were never rebutted".[1]

Production information

House is an American television series aired by the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a co-production of Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions, and Bad Hat Harry Productions in association with the NBC Universal Television Studio for the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Heel & Toe Films is the production company of Paul Attanasio and Katie Jacobs. Bad Hat Harry Productions is Bryan Singer's company. Shore Z Productions is David Shore's company. All three companies are responsible for the production of House; all four people are Executive Producers of the show.

As of the 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).

Season 1 of House was released on DVD as a 3-disc set on August 30, 2005 in Region 1. The Region 2 release was on February 27 2006, as a six-disk set. Note that the R2 release does not have any subtitles.

Awards

Won

2005 AFI Awards — TV Program of the Year - Official Selection;
2005 BMI Film & TV Awards — BMI TV Music Award - Robert del Naja, Grant Marshall, Mushroom Vowles;
2005 Emmy — Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series: for the episode, "Three Stories"; written by creator, David Shore;
2005 Television Critics Association Awards — Individual Achievement in Drama - Hugh Laurie.
2005 Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama - Hugh Laurie;
2005 Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Lisa Edelstein;
2005 Satellite Awards — Outstanding Television Series - Drama;
2006 Golden Globe — Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama: Hugh Laurie;
2006 Writers Guild of America — Episodic Drama (any length, one airing time) - "Autopsy" written by Lawrence Kaplow;

Nominated

2005 Casting Society of America — Artios Award: Best Dramatic Pilot Casting - Amy Lippens, Coreen Mayrs (location casting), Heike Brandstatter (location casting);
2005 Emmy — Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series - Hugh Laurie;
2005 Emmy — Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore);
2005 Emmy — Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series;
2005 Emmy — Outstanding Main Title Design;
2005 NAACP Image Award — Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Omar Epps;
2005 Motion Picture Sound Editors — Golden Reel Award: Best Sound Editing in Television Short Form: Sound Effects/Foley (for the episode, "Paternity");
2005 Satellite Awards — Outstanding DVD Release of a Television Show (for Season One);
2005 Television Critics Association Awards — Outstanding Achievement in Drama;
2005 Television Critics Association Awards — Outstanding New Program of the Year;
2005 Teen Choice Awards; Choice TV Breakout Performance: Male - Jesse Spencer;
2005 Teen Choice Awards; Choice TV Breakout Show;
2005 Teen Choice Awards; Choice TV Show: Drama;
2006 Screen Actors' Guild Awards — Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Hugh Laurie;
2006 Directors Guild of America Awards; — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series, Night: for the episode, "Three Stories", directed by Paris Barclay;
2006 NAACP Image Award; — Television: Outstanding Drama Series;
2006 NAACP Image Award; — Television: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series; — Omar Epps;

Trivia

The opening theme is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack, although due to rights and licensing issues this music is not used for the show in Australia, Great Britain, Portugal,Italy, New Zealand and Latin America which instead use a piece of music named "House", written specifically for the show. "Teardrop" itself does have lyrics, however for the opening credits only the beginning and ending sections of the song are used, which contain no lyrics.
In many episodes House can be seen playing on one of Nintendo's portable devices while he is waiting. In season 1 he could be seen playing a Game Boy Advance (the occasional shot of the device's screen revealed that the game was Metroid Zero Mission). House also has a Nintendo DS which was first seen in the season 1 episode "Mob Rules". In episode 2.10, "Failure To Communicate", House can be seen putting away a Nintendo DS while at the airport. He has also been seen with a Sony PSP in season 2.
The building used for external shots of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital is actually Princeton University's Frist Campus Center. It is named after the family of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
Hugh Laurie auditioned for the role as Dr. Gregory House in his hotel room bathroom in Namibia. He was rehearsing his role for the film The Flight of the Phoenix and claimed that the bathroom was the only place with enough light. He also apologized for his appearance on tape before the audition as he'd just come back from filming. The fact that House has a somewhat scruffy and unkempt look, particularly his constant five o'clock shadow, has been attributed by creator David Shore to Laurie's appearance in this audition tape.
Hugh Laurie's own father was a real doctor. Laurie has commented that he feels bad that he's being paid more than his father was for pretending to do his job.
Jesse Spencer, who plays Dr. Robert Chase, has several family ties to the medical profession: his father and two brothers are doctors in Australia while his sister is currently in medical school. When watching House, Jesse's brothers try to diagnose the problem based on the symptoms and medical jargon presented in the show. They also look for medical slip-ups in the dialogue.
Like his character, Jesse Spencer is Australian; Spencer is from Melbourne. He played the role of William "Billy" Kennedy in the Australian soap opera Neighbours for six years.
Although many Australian actors have found success in American film and television, Spencer is one of the very few to actually play an Australian character in a core role. This is a source of great relief to many Australian viewers of House who tire of seeing Australians play Americans, such as Rachel Griffiths in Six Feet Under or being subjected to the usually woeful attempts by American actors to play Australians, such as many questionable bit-parts in Lost.
Hugh Laurie is English, of Scottish descent, despite Dr. House's Northeast-American accent. Laurie's American accent was convincing enough that when House producer/director Bryan Singer (unaware of Laurie's true nationality) saw his audition tape, Singer pointed to him as an example of a compelling American actor.
Robert Sean Leonard, ironically, played a student who committs suicide rather than becoming a doctor in the movie Dead Poets Society.
The show's creator, David Shore, has said in an interview [2] that the character of Dr. House is partly inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Among the characteristics the two characters share are their ability to come to rapid conclusions after the briefest examination of a client/patient, their drug use (cocaine for Holmes, Vicodin for House), and the fact that each character has only one real friend (Watson and Wilson, respectively) who connects the cerebral hero to human concerns. (The drug Vicodin is often distributed by Watson Laboratories, Inc., with Watson written on the backside of each pill) Also, in one episode House's apartment number is revealed to be 221B, Sherlock Holmes's Baker Street address. Additionally, when asked why he chose the name "House", Shore explained that he was inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
Writing by David Shore inspired by writings of Berton Roueche
The end credit animation for Bad Hat Harry Productions — "That's some bad hat, Harry" — is based on a minor scene in the film Jaws (note the shark fin in the background.)
Many of the wings in the hospital (e.g., Cuyler Wing and Witherspoon Wing) are named after influential people in Princeton University's history.
The show was parodied in a skit from MADtv, in which Dr. House flinging extremely racist and misogynistic insults at everyone he sees (everyone else justifies his rudeness due to his physical ailment, his brilliance, etc.). He is also seen taking comical amounts of Vicodin (to the point of dumping the entire container into his mouth). The patient of the skit illustrates the basic premise of each episode: patient comes in, House diagnoses treatment, patient falls in worse condition, House diagnoses another treatment, patient gets better but becomes critical, House saves patient at last second and patient has no problem being insulted by the man who saved his life.
The music at the end of the Season 1 finale is "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones, the same song that is quoted by House in the Pilot when he states "But as the philosopher Jagger once said, 'You can't always get what you want.'" Later in the episode Cuddy quotes the song once again, stating she looked into this philosopher, and found that "as it turns out, if you try sometimes, you get what you need."
Executive producer Bryan Singer guest stars in the season 1 episode "Sports Medicine". Shortly after the opening credits, Chase remarks that the patient of the week's history shows "None of the usual suspects".
The UK's Channel 5 showed the first season episode "Damned If You Do" out of sequence (in December), due to it being near Christmas in the episode.
The cast is said to be addicted to Sudoku, which has subsequently been banned from the set. ^[3]

Crew

David Shore — series creator, writer, executive producer
Bryan Singer — executive producer
Paul Attanasio — executive producer
Roy H. Wagner, ASC — cinematographer

International

Outside the US, House has been broadcast by the following stations:

Asia: AXN
Australia: Network Ten
Brazil: Universal Channel
Canada: Global
Estonia: TV3
France: TF6
Hong Kong: TVB Pearl
Israel: HOT
New Zealand: TV3
Portugal: FOX, TVI (Portugal)
South Africa: M-Net
Spain: Fox and Cuatro
Turkey: DiziMAX
United Kingdom: Five
Chile: Televisión Nacional de Chile, TVN

References

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