House (TV series)

House (also called House, M.D.) is an American television medical drama that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004 to May 21, 2012. The show's main character is Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a pain medication-dependent, unconventional, misanthropic medical genius who leads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH) in New Jersey. The show's premise originated with Paul Attanasio, while David Shore, who is credited as creator, was primarily responsible for the conception of the title character. The show's executive producers included Shore, Attanasio, Attanasio's business partner Katie Jacobs, and film director Bryan Singer. It was filmed largely in Century City.
House often clashes with his fellow physicians, including his own diagnostic team, because many of his hypotheses about patients' illnesses are based on subtle or controversial insights. His flouting of hospital rules and procedures frequently leads him into conflict with his boss, hospital administrator and Dean of Medicine Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). House's only true friend is Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), head of the Department of Oncology. During the first three seasons, House's diagnostic team consists of Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), and Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps). At the end of the third season, this team disbands. Rejoined by Foreman, House gradually selects three new team members: Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley (Olivia Wilde), Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson), and Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn). Kutner makes an appearance late in season five and then reappears in season 8 episode 22. Chase and Cameron continue to appear in different roles at the hospital until early in season six. Cameron then departs the hospital, and Chase returns to the diagnostic team. Thirteen takes a leave of absence for most of season seven, and her position is filled by medical student Martha M. Masters (Amber Tamblyn). Cuddy and Masters depart before season eight; Foreman becomes the new dean of medicine, while Dr. Jessica Adams (Odette Annable) and Dr. Chi Park (Charlyne Yi) join House's team.
House was among the top 10 shows in the United States from its second through fourth seasons. Distributed to 66 countries, House was the most-watched television program in the world in 2008.[1] The show received numerous awards, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Peabody Award, and nine People's Choice Awards. On February 8, 2012, Fox announced that the eighth season, then in progress, would be its last.[2] The series finale aired on May 21, 2012, following an hour-long retrospective

Conception

In 2004, David Shore and Paul Attanasio, along with Attanasio's business partner Katie Jacobs, pitched the show (untitled at the time) to Fox as a CSI-style medical detective program,[3] a hospital whodunit in which the doctors investigated symptoms and their causes.[4] Attanasio was inspired to develop a medical procedural drama by The New York Times Magazine column, "Diagnosis", written by physician Lisa Sanders, who is an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), and Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH) is modeled after this teaching institution.[5] Fox bought the series, though the network's then-president, Gail Berman, told the creative team, "I want a medical show, but I don't want to see white coats going down the hallway".[6] Jacobs has said that this stipulation was one of the many influences that led to the show's ultimate form

After Fox picked up the show, it acquired the working title Chasing Zebras, Circling the Drain[8] ("zebra" is medical slang for an unusual or obscure diagnosis, while "circling the drain" refers to terminal cases, patients in an irreversible decline).[9] The original premise of the show was of a team of doctors working together trying to "diagnose the undiagnosable".[10] Shore felt it was important to have an interesting central character, one who could examine patients' personal characteristics and diagnose their ailments by figuring out their secrets and lies.[10] As Shore and the rest of the creative team explored the character's possibilities, the program concept became less of procedure and more focused upon the lead role.[11] The character was named "House", which was adopted as the show's title, as well.[8] Shore developed the characters further and wrote the script for the pilot episode.[3] Bryan Singer, who directed the pilot episode and had a major role in casting the primary roles, has said that the "title of the pilot was 'Everybody Lies', and that's the premise of the show".[11] Shore has said that the central storylines of several early episodes were based on the work of Berton Roueché, a staff writer for The New Yorker between 1944 and 1994, who specialized in features about unusual medical cases.[4]

Shore traced the concept for the title character to his experience as a patient at a teaching hospital.[12] Shore recalled: "I knew, as soon as I left the room, they would be mocking me relentlessly [for my cluelessness] and I thought that it would be interesting to see a character who actually did that before they left the room."[13] A central part of the show's premise was that the main character would be disabled in some way.[14] The original idea was for House to use a wheelchair, but Fox rejected this. Jacobs later expressed her gratitude for the network's insistence that the character be reimagined—putting him on his feet added a crucial physical dimension.[11] The writers ultimately chose to give House a damaged leg arising from an incorrect diagnosis, which requires him to use a cane and causes him pain that leads to a narcotic dependency.[14]

References to Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes serves as an inspiration for the series.

References to the fact that Gregory House was based on the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appear throughout the series.[15][16] Shore explained that he was always a Holmes fan and found the character's indifference to his clients unique.[13] The resemblance is evident in House's reliance on deductive reasoning[15] and psychology, even where it might not seem obviously applicable,[9] and his reluctance to accept cases he finds uninteresting.[17] His investigatory method is to eliminate diagnoses logically as they are proved impossible; Holmes used a similar method.[8] Both characters play instruments (House plays the piano, the guitar, and the harmonica; Holmes, the violin) and take drugs (House is dependent on Vicodin; Holmes uses cocaine recreationally).[15] House's relationship with Dr. James Wilson echoes that between Holmes and his confidant, Dr. John Watson.[8] Robert Sean Leonard, who portrays Wilson, said that House and his character—whose name is very similar to Watson's—were originally intended to work together much as Holmes and Watson do; in his view, House's diagnostic team has assumed that aspect of the Watson role.[18] Wilson even has a dead-beat brother who may be dead, like Watson's dead alcoholic brother. (season 1, episode 10) Shore said that House's name itself is meant as "a subtle homage" to Holmes.[8][19] House's address is 221B Baker Street, a direct reference to Holmes's street address.[9] Wilson's address is also 221B.[20]

Individual episodes of the series contain additional references to the Sherlock Holmes tales. The main patient in the pilot episode is named Rebecca Adler after Irene Adler, a character in the first Holmes short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia".[21] In the season two finale, House is shot by a crazed gunman credited as "Moriarty", the name of Holmes's nemesis.[22] In the season four episode "It's a Wonderful Lie", House receives a "second-edition Conan Doyle" as a Christmas gift.[23] In the season five episode "The Itch", House is seen picking up his keys and Vicodin from the top of a copy of Conan Doyle's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.[24] In another season five episode, "Joy to the World", House, in an attempt to fool his team, uses a book by Joseph Bell, Conan Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.[8] The volume had been given to him the previous Christmas by Wilson, who included the message "Greg, made me think of you." Before acknowledging that he gave the book to House, Wilson tells two of the team members that its source was a patient, Irene Adler.[25] The series finale pays homage to Holmes's apparent death in "The Final Problem", the 1893 story with which Conan Doyle originally intended to conclude the Holmes chronicles.

Production team

Bryan Singer directed the pilot episode and the third episode, "Occam's Razor".[27]

House was a co-production of Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions, and Bad Hat Harry Productions in association with Universal Media Studios for Fox.[28] Paul Attanasio and Katie Jacobs, the heads of Heel and Toe Films; David Shore, the head of Shore Z Productions; and Bryan Singer, the head of Bad Hat Harry Productions, were executive producers of the program for its entirety.[12] Lawrence Kaplow, Peter Blake, and Thomas L. Moran joined the staff as writers at the beginning of the first season after the making of the pilot episode. Writers Doris Egan, Sara Hess, Russel Friend, and Garrett Lerner joined the team at the start of season two. Friend and Lerner, who are business partners, had been offered positions when the series launched, but turned the opportunity down. After observing the show's success, they accepted when Jacobs offered them jobs again the following year.[29] Writers Eli Attie and Sean Whitesell joined the show at the start of season four. Since the beginning of season four, Moran, Friend, and Lerner have been credited as executive producers on the series, joining Attanasio, Jacobs, Shore, and Singer.[28] Hugh Laurie was credited as an executive producer for the second[30] and third[31] episodes of season five.

Shore is House‍ '​s showrunner.[32] Through the end of the sixth season, more than two dozen writers have contributed to the program. The most prolific have been Kaplow (18 episodes), Blake (17), Shore (16), Friend (16), Lerner (16), Moran (14), and Egan (13). The show's most prolific directors through its first six seasons were Deran Sarafian (22 episodes), who was not involved in season six, and Greg Yaitanes (17). Of the more than three dozen other directors who have worked on the series, only David Straiton directed as many as 10 episodes through the sixth season. Hugh Laurie directed the 17th episode of season six, "Lockdown".[33] Elan Soltes has been the visual effects supervisor since the show began.[34] Lisa Sanders, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, is a technical advisor to the series. She writes the "Diagnosis" column that inspired House‍ '​s premise.[35] According to Shore, "three different doctors... check everything we do".[36] Bobbin Bergstrom, a registered nurse, is the program's on-set medical adviser.

After Fox picked up the show, it acquired the working title Chasing Zebras, Circling the Drain[8] ("zebra" is medical slang for an unusual or obscure diagnosis, while "circling the drain" refers to terminal cases, patients in an irreversible decline).[9] The original premise of the show was of a team of doctors working together trying to "diagnose the undiagnosable".[10] Shore felt it was important to have an interesting central character, one who could examine patients' personal characteristics and diagnose their ailments by figuring out their secrets and lies.[10] As Shore and the rest of the creative team explored the character's possibilities, the program concept became less of procedure and more focused upon the lead role.[11] The character was named "House", which was adopted as the show's title, as well.[8] Shore developed the characters further and wrote the script for the pilot episode.[3] Bryan Singer, who directed the pilot episode and had a major role in casting the primary roles, has said that the "title of the pilot was 'Everybody Lies', and that's the premise of the show".[11] Shore has said that the central storylines of several early episodes were based on the work of Berton Roueché, a staff writer for The New Yorker between 1944 and 1994, who specialized in features about unusual medical cases.[4]

Shore traced the concept for the title character to his experience as a patient at a teaching hospital.[12] Shore recalled: "I knew, as soon as I left the room, they would be mocking me relentlessly [for my cluelessness] and I thought that it would be interesting to see a character who actually did that before they left the room."[13] A central part of the show's premise was that the main character would be disabled in some way.[14] The original idea was for House to use a wheelchair, but Fox rejected this. Jacobs later expressed her gratitude for the network's insistence that the character be reimagined—putting him on his feet added a crucial physical dimension.[11] The writers ultimately chose to give House a damaged leg arising from an incorrect diagnosis, which requires him to use a cane and causes him pain that leads to a narcotic dependency.[14]

References to Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes serves as an inspiration for the series.

References to the fact that Gregory House was based on the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appear throughout the series.[15][16] Shore explained that he was always a Holmes fan and found the character's indifference to his clients unique.[13] The resemblance is evident in House's reliance on deductive reasoning[15] and psychology, even where it might not seem obviously applicable,[9] and his reluctance to accept cases he finds uninteresting.[17] His investigatory method is to eliminate diagnoses logically as they are proved impossible; Holmes used a similar method.[8] Both characters play instruments (House plays the piano, the guitar, and the harmonica; Holmes, the violin) and take drugs (House is dependent on Vicodin; Holmes uses cocaine recreationally).[15] House's relationship with Dr. James Wilson echoes that between Holmes and his confidant, Dr. John Watson.[8] Robert Sean Leonard, who portrays Wilson, said that House and his character—whose name is very similar to Watson's—were originally intended to work together much as Holmes and Watson do; in his view, House's diagnostic team has assumed that aspect of the Watson role.[18] Wilson even has a dead-beat brother who may be dead, like Watson's dead alcoholic brother. (season 1, episode 10) Shore said that House's name itself is meant as "a subtle homage" to Holmes.[8][19] House's address is 221B Baker Street, a direct reference to Holmes's street address.[9] Wilson's address is also 221B.[20]

Individual episodes of the series contain additional references to the Sherlock Holmes tales. The main patient in the pilot episode is named Rebecca Adler after Irene Adler, a character in the first Holmes short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia".[21] In the season two finale, House is shot by a crazed gunman credited as "Moriarty", the name of Holmes's nemesis.[22] In the season four episode "It's a Wonderful Lie", House receives a "second-edition Conan Doyle" as a Christmas gift.[23] In the season five episode "The Itch", House is seen picking up his keys and Vicodin from the top of a copy of Conan Doyle's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.[24] In another season five episode, "Joy to the World", House, in an attempt to fool his team, uses a book by Joseph Bell, Conan Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.[8] The volume had been given to him the previous Christmas by Wilson, who included the message "Greg, made me think of you." Before acknowledging that he gave the book to House, Wilson tells two of the team members that its source was a patient, Irene Adler.[25] The series finale pays homage to Holmes's apparent death in "The Final Problem", the 1893 story with which Conan Doyle originally intended to conclude the Holmes chronicles.[26]

Production team

Bryan Singer directed the pilot episode and the third episode, "Occam's Razor".[27]

House was a co-production of Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions, and Bad Hat Harry Productions in association with Universal Media Studios for Fox.[28] Paul Attanasio and Katie Jacobs, the heads of Heel and Toe Films; David Shore, the head of Shore Z Productions; and Bryan Singer, the head of Bad Hat Harry Productions, were executive producers of the program for its entirety.[12] Lawrence Kaplow, Peter Blake, and Thomas L. Moran joined the staff as writers at the beginning of the first season after the making of the pilot episode. Writers Doris Egan, Sara Hess, Russel Friend, and Garrett Lerner joined the team at the start of season two. Friend and Lerner, who are business partners, had been offered positions when the series launched, but turned the opportunity down. After observing the show's success, they accepted when Jacobs offered them jobs again the following year.[29] Writers Eli Attie and Sean Whitesell joined the show at the start of season four. Since the beginning of season four, Moran, Friend, and Lerner have been credited as executive producers on the series, joining Attanasio, Jacobs, Shore, and Singer.[28] Hugh Laurie was credited as an executive producer for the second[30] and third[31] episodes of season five.

Shore is House‍ '​s showrunner.[32] Through the end of the sixth season, more than two dozen writers have contributed to the program. The most prolific have been Kaplow (18 episodes), Blake (17), Shore (16), Friend (16), Lerner (16), Moran (14), and Egan (13). The show's most prolific directors through its first six seasons were Deran Sarafian (22 episodes), who was not involved in season six, and Greg Yaitanes (17). Of the more than three dozen other directors who have worked on the series, only David Straiton directed as many as 10 episodes through the sixth season. Hugh Laurie directed the 17th episode of season six, "Lockdown".[33] Elan Soltes has been the visual effects supervisor since the show began.[34] Lisa Sanders, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, is a technical advisor to the series. She writes the "Diagnosis" column that inspired House‍ '​s premise.[35] According to Shore, "three different doctors... check everything we do".[36] Bobbin Bergstrom, a registered nurse, is the program's on-set medical adviser.

Series overview

Gregory House, M.D., often construed as a misanthropic medical genius, heads a team of diagnosticians at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey.[71] Most episodes revolve around the diagnosis of a primary patient and start with a precredits scene set outside the hospital, showing events ending with the onset of the patient's symptoms.[17] The typical episode follows the team in their attempts to diagnose and treat the patient's illness,[77][81] which often fail until the patient's condition is critical.[77] They usually treat only patients whom other doctors have not accurately diagnosed,[68] and House routinely rejects cases that he does not find interesting.[17] The story lines tend to focus on his unconventional medical theories and practices, and on the other characters' reactions to them, rather than on the details of the treatments.[3]

The team employs the differential diagnosis method,[81] listing possible etiologies on a whiteboard, then eliminating most of them, usually because one of the team (most often House) provides logical reasons for ruling them out.[82] Typically, the patient is misdiagnosed at least once and accordingly receives some treatments that are at best useless;[81] this usually causes further complications, but—as the nature of the complications often provides valuable new evidence—eventually these help them diagnose the patient correctly.[17] House often tends to arrive at the correct diagnosis seemingly out of the blue, often inspired by a passing remark made by another character.[81] Diagnoses range from relatively common to very rare diseases.[83]

The team faces many diagnostic difficulties from patients' concealment of symptoms, circumstances, or personal histories, so House frequently proclaims during the team's deliberations, "The patient is lying", or mutters "Everybody lies"; such an assumption guides House's decisions and diagnoses,[9] and makes the countermeasure of housebreaking a routine procedure. Because many of his hypotheses are based on epiphanies or controversial insights, he often has trouble obtaining permission for medical procedures he considers necessary from his superior, who in all but the final season is hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy.[84] This is especially the case when the proposed procedures involve a high degree of risk or are ethically questionable. Frequent disagreements occur between House and his team,[85] especially Dr. Allison Cameron, whose standards of medical ethics are more conservative than those of the other characters.[77]

Like all of the hospital's doctors, House is required to treat patients in the facility's walk-in clinic.[71][86] His grudging fulfillment of this duty, or his creative methods of avoiding it, constitute a recurring subplot, which often serves as the series' comic relief.[77][87] During clinic duty, House confounds patients with unwelcome observations into their personal lives, eccentric prescriptions, and unorthodox treatments.[71] However, after seeming to be inattentive to their complaints, he regularly impresses them with rapid and accurate diagnoses.[15] Analogies with some of the simple cases in the clinic occasionally inspire insights that help solve the team's case

A significant plot element is House's use of Vicodin to manage pain, caused by an infarction in his quadriceps muscle five years before the show's first season, which also forces him to use a cane.[90] In the first season, 11th episode "Detox", House admits he is addicted to Vicodin, but says he does not have a problem because the pills "let me do my job, and they take away my pain".[b] His addiction has led his colleagues, Cuddy and Dr. James Wilson, to encourage him to go to drug rehabilitation several times.[91] When he has no access to Vicodin or experiences unusually intense pain, he occasionally self-medicates with other narcotic analgesics such as morphine,[92] oxycodone,[93] and methadone.[94] House also frequently drinks liquor when he is not on medical duty, and classifies himself as a "big drinker".[95] Toward the end of season five, House begins to hallucinate; after eliminating other possible diagnoses, Wilson and he determine that his Vicodin addiction is the most likely cause.[96] House goes into denial about this for a brief time, but at the close of the season finale, he commits himself to Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital.[97] In the following season's debut episode, House leaves Mayfield with his addiction under control.[98] However, about a year and a half later, in season seven's 15th episode, "Bombshells", House reacts to the news that Cuddy possibly has kidney cancer by taking Vicodin,[99] and his addiction recurs