House, also known as House, M.D., is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American medical drama, which debuted on the FOX network on November 16, 2004. The show was created by David Shore and executive produced by Shore and film director Bryan Singer. During the 2007–08 United States television season, the series was the most-watched scripted program on TV and the third-most-watched program overall, behind American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.[2]
House stars English actor Hugh Laurie as the American title character Dr. Gregory House, a role for which he received the 2006 and 2007 Golden Globe Award and the 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama. House has aired for four seasons, with a fifth scheduled to begin on September 16, 2008.[3][4]
Series overview
- See also: List of House episodes
Gregory House, M.D., is a maverick medical genius, who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Most episodes start with a cold open somewhere outside the hospital, showing the events leading to the onset of symptoms for that episode's main patient. The episode follows the team in their attempts to diagnose and treat the patient's illness.
House's nationally-renowned department typically only sees patients who have failed to receive a correct diagnosis at other hospitals, so the cases tend to be exceptionally complex and subtle. Furthermore, House tends to resist accepting cases that he does not find interesting. The medical cases featured are often rare but realistic, and described by Andrew Holtz, the author of The Medical Science of House, M.D., as "a conglomeration of all the worst things that can happen to people from all over the world, crammed into one little community."[5]
The team arrives at diagnoses using the Socratic method and differential diagnosis, with House guiding the deliberations. House often discounts the information and opinions from his underlings, pointing out that their contributions have missed various relevant factors. The patient is usually misdiagnosed over the course of the episode and treated with medications appropriate to the misdiagnoses. This usually causes further complications in the patient, but in turn helps lead House and his team to the correct diagnosis by using the new symptoms.
Often the ailment cannot be easily deduced because the patient has lied about symptoms and circumstances. House frequently mutters, "Everybody lies," or proclaims during the team's deliberations: "The patient is lying," or "The symptoms never lie." Even when not stated explicitly, this assumption guides House's decisions and diagnoses.
Because House's theories about a patient's illness tend to be based on subtle or controversial insights, he often has trouble obtaining permission from his boss, hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy, to perform medical procedures he thinks are necessary, especially when the procedures themselves involve a high degree of risk or are ethically dubious.
Cuddy also requires House to spend time treating patients in the hospital's walk-in clinic; House's grudging fulfillment of this duty is a recurring subplot on the show. During clinic duty, House confounds patients with an eccentric bedside manner and unorthodox treatments, but impresses them with rapid and accurate diagnoses after seemingly not paying attention. Realizations made during some of the simple problems House faces in the clinic often help him solve the main case.
Episodes frequently feature the practice of entering a patient's house with or without the owner's 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 the "germs were the suspects,"[6] but has since shifted much of the focus to the characters rather than concentrating solely on the environment.
Another large portion of the plot centers on House's abuse of Vicodin to manage pain stemming from an infarction in his quadriceps muscle some years earlier, an injury that forces him to walk with a cane. Although the substance abuse acts to increase many of his more objectionable character traits, it helps prevent his pain from impairing his medical acumen. This leads him to often self-medicate with other drugs such as oxycodone and morphine.
House is in many respects a medical Sherlock Holmes. This resemblance is evident in various elements of the series' plot, such as House's reliance on psychology to solve a case, his reluctance to accept cases he does not find interesting, his drug addiction, home address (apartment 221B), playing of an instrument, relationship with Dr. James Wilson (who parallels Dr. John Watson),[7] and his encounter with a crazed gunman credited as "Moriarty", which is the same name as Holmes' nemesis. Also, series creator David Shore has said that Dr. House's name is meant as "a subtle homage" to Sherlock Holmes (i.e., homes).[8]
Characters
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During the first three seasons, House's Department of Diagnostic Medicine consisted of three other doctors: Eric Foreman, Allison Cameron, and Robert Chase. At the end of season three, Foreman announces his resignation, telling House, "I don't want to turn into you."[b] In the season three finale soon after, House fires Chase, saying that he has either learned everything he can, or he has not learned anything at all. Cameron subsequently resigns, having developed a soft spot for Chase. This leaves House without a team for the season four premiere. At the end of the fourth season premiere, House is seen hiring forty new fellows to the Department of Diagnostic Medicine. Most of the first half of season four consists of cases that House uses as a tool to narrow the forty fellows to three employees. He makes a reality TV style game out of it using diagnostic cases as contests and eventually eliminates thirty-seven of them, hiring Chris Taub, Lawrence Kutner, and "Thirteen" as his new team members. The new doctors join Foreman who, after getting fired shortly after starting a new job at a different hospital, is rehired by Cuddy back to House's team in the middle of the contest. As of the end of the fourth season, Chase and Cameron are still employed at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in different departments.
Production
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 Group 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 are inspired by the writings of Berton Roueché.[9][10]
As of the season two episode "TB or Not TB", a German production company, Moratim, is credited in the copyright notice instead of Universal Media Studios. (Moratim Produktions GmbH & Co. KG, of Pullach im Isartal, Germany.)
The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards nominated Derek R. Hill (Production Designer) and Danielle Berman, S.D.S.A.[c] (Set Decorator) for a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series for the season two episodes "Autopsy", "Distractions", and "Skin Deep".
The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards awarded a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or Special (Prosthetic) to Dalia Dokter (Department Head Prosthetic Makeup Artist), Jamie Kelman (Prosthetic Makeup Artist), and Ed French (Prosthetic Makeup Artist) for the season three episode entitled "Que Sera Sera".
Casting
The producers were reportedly dissatisfied with early auditions for the role of Gregory House. When Hugh Laurie auditioned, he apologized for his appearance as he was filming Flight of the Phoenix at the time.[11] 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.[12] Laurie later stated that his original impression was that the show was about Dr. James Wilson. The script referred to Wilson as a doctor with "boyish" looks, and Laurie assumed that Wilson was the central character and that House was the "sidekick" (the show was not yet titled House at that point). It was not until he received the full teleplay of the pilot that he realized that House was the protagonist.[13] 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.[14]
Theme music
In North America (and some countries elsewhere) the opening theme of the series is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. "Teardrop" has 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, in most countries a piece of music named "House End Credits" is used, which was composed specifically for the show by Jon Ehrlich, Jason Derlatka, and Leigh Roberts. With the second season, this was replaced with a similar track by only Ehrlich and Roberts. This theme tune, however, is only used in the televised broadcast. In the DVD release (Season 2), the original (American) theme is used. In Italy, opening themes for season 1–2 and season 3 are switched, so that the original "Teardrop" is used for season 3, while both seasons 1 and 2 use the edited version. In season 4, Australia began using "Teardrop" as the opening theme, replacing the specifically composed "House" theme. The satirical 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 and region 4 release, replacing the "House" theme at the beginning of the episode. In the fourth-season finale, a version of "Teardrop" performed by José González (with lyrics) is heard during the episode as part of the background music.
Filming
The back entrance of Frist Campus Center
Exterior shots of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital are actually of Princeton University's Frist Campus Center, which is the University's student center.[d] Filming does not, however, take place there. Instead, it takes place on the FOX lot in Century City.[15]
House episodes often use the "walk and talk" filming technique (also called "pedeconferencing") made popular by Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme in television series such as Sports Night and The West Wing.[16][17] The technique consists of tracking two or more characters backwards as they walk from one location to another, usually discussing the topic of the meeting they are heading to, or in this show's case, the patient's condition, test results, and diagnosis.
Reception
U.S. television ratings
Below is a table of the seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of House on FOX. Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
The highest-rated episode of House, as of season four, is "Frozen", the episode that followed Super Bowl XLII; it attracted slightly more than 29 million viewers.citation needed It was ranked third for the week, tied with that week's seventh season episode of American Idol (also on FOX) and outranked only by the Super Bowl game and the Super Bowl post-game show.
Hugh Laurie at the Emmy Awards in 2007
Awards
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House received a 2005 Peabody Award 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."citation needed At the 2005 American Film Institute Awards, House was an official selection as TV Program of the Year. House was nominated for the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama but lost to Mad Men.[23]
Creator David Shore won a writing Emmy in 2005 for the first season episode "Three Stories".[24] Writer Lawrence Kaplow won a Writers Guild of America Award in 2006 for his season two episode "Autopsy".
In 2005 and 2007, lead actor Hugh Laurie was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2006 and again in 2007, when he also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. Laurie was nominated for Best Actor in a Television Drama again for the 65th Golden Globe Awards but lost to Jon Hamm.[23]
Merchandise
DVD releases
| Title |
Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 4 |
Season One
|
August 30, 2005 |
February 27, 2006 |
November 28, 2005 |
Season Two
|
August 22, 2006 |
October 23, 2006 |
October 23, 2006 |
Season Three
|
August 21, 2007 |
November 19, 2007 |
September 17, 2007 |
Season Four
|
August 19, 2008 |
October 27, 2008 |
August 20, 2008[25] |
Despite the series being filmed for widescreen (16:9 standard) television, the Season One DVD set is in 4:3 standard format, although the Region 1 release has letterboxes, thereby still presenting images in their entirety, whereas the other regions have a cropped fullscreen format, thereby losing the later portions of the image.[26] The Season Two DVD set, on the other hand, presents the show in its original widescreen format in all regions, except for the Spanish release that still has fullscreen format.
The Season Two and Season Three DVD sets have not yet been released in Region 3; their possible release dates have not been confirmed yet.
Soundtrack
-
House M.D. Original Television Soundtrack was released on September 18, 2007 by Nettwerk. The soundtrack includes full length versions of songs featured in the television series and previously unreleased songs especially recorded for the series.
House: The Mobile Game
Exelweiss developed a House game for mobile phones in Spanish and English.[27] The plot of this game is similar in some parts with the Humpty Dumpty episode.
Notes
- ^ Due to rights and licensing issues, "Teardrop" cannot be used in some countries, so "House End Credits" replaces "Teardrop" as the opening theme in those countries.
- ^ Foreman tells House this at the end of episode 21 of season 3, "Family". He then tells House, "You'll save more people than I will, but I'll settle for killing less. Consider this my two weeks notice."
- ^ She's a member of the Set Decorators Society of America.
- ^ McCosh Health Center, Princeton University's infirmary, is situated adjacent to Frist, and can be seen in some shots.
References
- ^ FOX Broadcasting Company: House, Show Info. FOX.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ a b Gorman, Bill (2008-06-12). Top Season To Date Broadcast Shows By Viewers Through June 8. TV by the Numbers. TVbytheNumbers.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ a b c Fall & Mid-Season FOX 2008–09 Network Primetime Schedule. FOX.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
- ^ a b Fox Announces Fall Premiere Dates. TV Guide News. TV Guide (2008-06-05). Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Final Cut Fox 12 - Stories Behind House (Flash Video (.flv)) [Television production]. Fox News Channel. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Frum, Linda (2006-03-14). Q&A with 'House' creator David Shore. Macleans.ca. Rogers Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
- ^ O'Hare, Kate (2005-01-05). Building 'House' Is Hard Work. Zap2it. Tribune Media Services, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ House and Holmes parallels. Radio Times. BBC Magazines Ltd. (January 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Gibson, Stacey (Winter 2008). "The House That Dave Built". University of Toronto Magazine. University of Toronto. Retrieved on 2008-04-05. (last sentence of 8th paragraph)
- ^ Cowles, Matthew Dixon (2007-05-11). Book: The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueché. Mondo's Info. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Casting Session with Hugh Laurie House DVD Special Feature, [2005]
- ^ Radio Times magazine, 23 March 2007
- ^ Inside the Actor's Studio Hugh Laurie Interview, BRAVO Network, [2006]
- ^ Keveney, Bill. "Hugh Laurie gets into 'House'", USA Today, Gannett Co. Inc., 2004-11-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Behind The Scenes At "House". ETonline.com. CBS Studios Inc. (2006-01-29). Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
- ^ Kristine, Diane (2005-09-02). Review: House, M.D. Season 1 DVD. Blogcritics Magazine. Blogcritics.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-27. (Quote on page 4: "The gorgeous wood and glass sets must be a pain to shoot properly, and walk-and-talk shots are a signature, but otherwise the direction tends to the clean and simple.")
- ^ Hess, Sara (2007-04-17). Transcript of House, M.D. 3X19 - Act Your Age. Twiz TV.com. Polterghost Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-05-27. (At a little less than halfway, the transcript says, "Cue walk and talk.")
- ^ Primetime series. The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media (2005-05-27). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ Series. The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media (2006-05-26). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ 2006–07 primetime wrap. The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media (2007-05-25). Retrieved on 2008-07-04. (Subscription required)
- ^ a b "House Returns After Writer's Strike", House M.D. Guide, 2008-02-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ FOX Broadcasting Company: House, Recaps - 416. FOX.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ a b HFPA - Nominations and Winners. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ Elber, Lynn. Emmys Love 'Raymond'; 'Lost' Finds Acclaim. MSN TV. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ House, M.D. - Season 4 (4 Disc Set). EzyDVD. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ Quotenmeter.de :: Thema anzeigen - Dr. House
- ^ House, the java game for mobile (Spanish)
House, the java game for mobile (translated to English)
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