SummaryHouse (aka House MD), from executive producers Paul Attanasio, Katie Jacobs, David Shore, and Bryan Singer is a new take on mystery, where the villain is a medical malady and the hero is an irreverent, controversial doctor who trusts no one, least of all his patients.
SummaryHouse (aka House MD), from executive producers Paul Attanasio, Katie Jacobs, David Shore, and Bryan Singer is a new take on mystery, where the villain is a medical malady and the hero is an irreverent, controversial doctor who trusts no one, least of all his patients.
Funny, probing and unsentimental, House may shock the systems of viewers used to sweetie M.D.s like ER's Dr. Carter. But as an honest look at techno-medicine and the prerogatives of genius, it's a tonic.
When I first watched House I wasn't expecting to like it. But the thing is, I do, even if it has its minor problems along the way, it is a truly interesting and fun show, that is also witty, funny and intelligent.
House is great to look at, particularly with the photography and lighting which are very good and skillful, while the music is good too with some very interesting song choices. The direction is solid, and the pacing is fine so none of the episodes feel boring or tiresome. The writing is witty and fresh, especially in the one-liners, while the story lines are somewhat original and intelligent. True, realism can go out of the window and there are some plot points that may go over your head at first, but I am still entertained by them. And the acting is superb, all the actors are wonderful and the characters are believable but it is Hugh Laurie's show all the way. Gregory House is a bit of a bastard granted, but Laurie's performance is so good that you can't help like him, in fact it is my favourite Laurie role with his roles in Jeeves and Wooster and Black Adder not far off.
All in all, a great show, not 100% perfect but it is still thoroughly entertaining- and these flaws are occasional and very minor to me- with a brilliant Hugh Laurie. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Between Laurie's more-great-than-good doctor and cases that encompass everything from bad ham to complete body meltdown, House preys on all that's wrong (and some of what's right) with modern medicine.
House could well be one of those development stories where the operation is successful but the patient still dies. A well-made medical hour with an intriguing star, the show feels somewhat mismatched with Fox's lineup and instantly stale based on its resemblance to NBC's "Medical Investigation," which was clearly grown in the same Petri dish. [15 Nov 2004, p.4]
His team is formulaic - and that's not a good thing. Omar Epps plays neurologist Dr. Eric Foreman. He's African-American, and even though he had great medical school grades, House says he was chosen for his "street smarts." Jennifer Morrison is immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron, and, while she is beautiful and brainy, in the second episode, she acknowledges some sexual issues. Jesse Spencer, as intensive-care specialist Dr. Robert Chase, is from the WASP world of old money, but nothing he says or does in the first two episodes offers any social-class insights. [16 Nov 2004, p.1C]
Not only will reality-show fans be disappointed, so will anybody looking for a little humanity sprinkled in with the enormous overdose of pretentious claptrap. [16 Nov 2004, p.F1]
House,MD is really cool series! Because it is my favorite topic of the series is the medicine. I am really interested in the series and I think it is because it has a good story. I want to be a cool doctor like House, MD and I will in medicine all my life)
Dr. House was the most entertaining medical drama on TV (Scrubs is a comedy). He is Sherlock Holmes level brilliant which is interesting because the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels (Arthur Conan Doyle) had a doctor(Joseph Bell) as model for Sherlock Holmes deduction skills. The main appeal are the characters and the cases they get. Dr. House is sarcastic and a misanthrope who does not like personal contact with patients (They are a bunch of liars that make matters only more complicated) but he is the doctor you want more than anything else if you have serious health troubles. He is also a drug addict to pain killers because he had an injury in his leg that can not be fixed otherwise. Then there is his team consisting of Dr. Cameron, Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman. All of them have to deal with him while having their own ideals, different opinions and are often shocked and in disbelieve of Dr. House. They are also much less sarcastic and more social competent. There are many good (side)stories about them. Later you get Dr. Hadly (Called 13), Dr. Taub and Dr. Kutner. They are a good addition to the team and brought fresh air to the series, Then there is Dr. Willson his best friend which means he is not safe from Dr. Houses pranks ;-). At last there are Dr. Cuddy his female boss. Each one trying to manipulate the other with often interesting and hilarious results. For the medical cases: Some are so good that real life doctors are impressed. While not scientifical accurate they did a lot of research (There is at least 1 book that analyses the cases and some medical schools use material for studying). The cases go often hand in hand with interesting people, situations and events. My only complaint / The only weakness of the show was that it got repetitive. Not in a bad way. The cases are still entertaining and the character interactions are always well but its more of the same. Overall this is a brilliant series that is well remembered. Dr. House became an iconic character that will live on forever in pop culture history.
I'm at season 6 of this show currently, and I have decided to stop watching. I've stuck with this show to see if I ever got to the part as to explain why it gets such high praise, but I apparantly already watched the "best" part of House MD with the first 3 seasons. And even those were just ok.
House is a horrible human being. Not only that but he isn't even an amazing doctor, as we get shown every week because he's wrong 80% of the time. Yet despite this everybody around him still acts as if he's the medical messiah. To the point where they excuse and aid his illegal drug addiction and his antics. He almost killed a baby simply to prove he was right (he was wrong).
I get tv shows aren't realistic. Hence why I can ignore the almost weekly occurrence where doctors break into houses to see what the cause of a disease might be.... But showing the viewers that House is not only a despicable human, but a bad doctor at that. Then how everybody praises him despite his obvious shortcomings becomes just too unbelievable. He would have been fired even if he was a great doctor, let alone one who misdiagnoses patients on a weekly basis. At times with life threatening consequences.
During the run of the show the rest of the characters turn into unlikeable persons as well. I can not honestly name one of the cast who I would want to root for. Maybe Wilson, but even he has shown to be manipulative.
I mean if the show was funny or there was some intriguing story, then one could forgive all the these characters. 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' has more horrible characters, but they are funny. However House is simply a hospital procedural which follows a pretty basic formula: House doesn't want to take a case - House gets intrigued by a case - the entire team misdiagnose the disease - in the last 10 minutes they miraculously find out what the actual disease is - House acts like a doofus throughout the show. That's 90% of House MD, the rest of the show is used to make all the characters unlikeable with all their personal stories.