House, M.D.

You can keep it.

Of course you are right. But goddammit, Hugh Laurie just is really funny.

My only problem with it is that the procedures are filmed with such gleeful disregard for my squeamishness that I miss several minutes of each programme. Every time the spinal tap comes out I have to remind Bloke that if he suspects I have meningitis, he is under strict instructions to just drop a brick on my head and end it. I am not having anyone puncturing my lumbar.

I am an American and had the reverse reaction. That is, I had never seen Hugh Laurie before seeing him on House (which is an excellent show). I saw Blackadder III for the first time this weekend. Mr. Laurie as the Prince Regent ("well, enormous trousers certainly!") is creating a great deal of cognitive dissonance for me.

I will never watch it

silly old hugh laurie

Yeah, true. But I think the problem many Americans might have with our problems with this is that we know that that actually is the way he speaks; it's not a schtick.

I like the fact that Laurie's character is something of a misanthrope and sees no reason to change that. I also like the fact that the reason he is this way is because he cares.

Like cynics, I've always suspected that misanthropes are actually romantics with a realistic worldview.

Oh yeah, and the lass who plays his foil Dr Cuddy is HOTT.

sounds like he's totally biting Dr Cox style in Scrubs.

Had it on in the background a couple of weeks ago and got sucked in.
I'll probably be watching this again...

-- Sororah T Massacre (stevem7...), December 14th, 2005. (later)

Well it is a standard trope in both drama and comedy that the bitter cynical character actually is the one that cares the most.

No, no, it isn't, it really really isn't! I know it's not my place as a Britisher to say this, but his accent isn't perfect. It's decent, but it's wrong. I can't get over it, I just can't.

so this show... the medical stuff is pretty fun but the character stuff can be pretty DIRE.

i'm just hoping that the writers don't have some asinine belief that the most challenging and artistically fulfilling thing for them to try to do is to bring it all home in the end and show that HE REALLY DOES CARE, HAPPINESS IS WITHIN REACH, etc.

I'm just hoping they manage to quit while they're still ahead and don't drag it out

defend the later seasons if you want, but seriously, it's too late for that

Here's hoping that House doesn't lose his 'freshness'

el otmboto

http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/charlyne-yi-joins-house-as-new-regular/#more-152903

http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/charlyneyi_20110803020042-150x150.jpg

wow, and i was thinking i'd watch the final season of house - even tho it had become horrible - out of acknowledgement for all the years of enjoyment it did give me. but charlyne yi tells me that it's time to let go.

http://battellemedia.com/images/Shark%20Jump.JPG

sad to have confirmation that they're gonna have him sitting back at his desk within 2-3 episodes, per youzh.

Check her teeth for toxins

I caught part of Paper Heart a couple of weeks ago on cable when I was sick at home, and it made me want to go out on a hipster killing spree.

I still like this show but her character is really obnoxious. Apparently House tries to get her fired next episode, I hope he succeeds. She has such a dorky, ugly voice, and I don't mean that in an endearing way either. Plus the character is deadly boring. Still I feel like I should watch this since its almost certainly the final season and I'm interested to see how they wrap it all up. Thought the episode where he's in jail was good and it kinda proved that the show doesn't really need any other characters.

they're really hard-pressed to exploit robert sean leonard's comic talents what with him having to constantly despise house's entire being

I just picked it up again after having watched the first five seasons. I used to love this show so much, but since the start of s7 it has gone really downhill. :-(

Fin

i thought that was pretty much foregone before the beginning of this season?

Hugh Laurie said he expects to retire from TV acting once the show goes off the air.

yeah i bet he does.

this new one actually seemed pretty good, after the lifeless first half of the season.

The last 3 or 4 seasons have been pretty dire. I suppose the Dibala episode was where it went from merely spinning its wheels into "actively bad" territory.

i'm pretty sure it became actively bad about 2 seasons ago

Series finale on Monday. Some pretty uhh...interesting developments the last two episodes. Kind of falls under "misery porn" at this point but there was a really gut-wrenching 'twist' at the end of the last one, as manipulative and stupid as it was, I dunno, I think you guys may want to see this

Haven't really followed this since, oh season 5 I guess, but I'ma get the complete 8-aeason box set when they release it (christmas probably)

i even thought there were a few worthwhile episodes in the previous season, despite everything, but in the current one they have pretty much run every single thing about the show into the ground. it's kind of instructive. i can't imagine that the last episode is going to make me think any differently. but i haven't seen this week's yet.

basically I'm just hoping for as crazy a finale as possible, something to justify keeping up with this show even though it really hasn't been good in years

like a lot of the storylines they've done lately have been kinda stupid, but they usually lead up to one good episode or a few great scenes. as dumb as the Cuddy/House relationship storyline was, the one where House basically hallucinates he's on different TV shows was pretty brilliant

I think this season has been mildly more interesting than the previous couple, despite Charlene Yi's character being pretty annoying. I'm expecting the finale to ratchet up the misery even more.

SPOLIERS (if you haven't seen the last episode) SPOILERS

I was starting to cringe at the sentimental scene in the cafeteria and was about to get on a "oh come on, fuck this show" thing, but thankfully the "twist" stayed true to House's character.

That was hardly a "twist" - he pulled the same stunt like, 3 episodes before that

The female characters since Cameron have pretty much all been bad (well, 13 was pretty okay), but what the hell is Yi even doing on this show?? I just really dislike the tone of her voice. At least her character is more interesting than Adams (requisite hot doctor who serves no purpose whatsoever)

well. maybe i already posted that

Well I just used "twist" to avoid being too spoilery, "reveal" was probably more accurate.

So anyway it ended.

the last minute was good. right after the terrible montage.

Did anything think for even one second the producers of this show would actually end it with him dying? Because I sure didn't. But I'm sure glad they avoided doing anything interesting so they could stunt-cast Kal Penn and Jennifer Morrison and what's-her-face and the other what's-her-face.

House could never be anything other than a jerk. He figured out he had to quit being House.

no lisa edelstein which is really... i mean, c'mon, i know she left with some harsh feelings but they couldn't get her back for the LAST EPISODE EVER? srsly now???

;_;

I was wondering where she was

First 45 minutes were boring, but overall I kinda liked the way the series ended. Though it was definitely on the high end of the "how the hell could he have accomplished all that" scale. It did go nicely against the "everybody changes" theme in the beginning of the show. Also I realize now why they had him get into legal trouble for flushing tickets (no aspect of which made sense) instead of trying to kill a patient, as this way he could get someone to take the fall for him.

Also Camerson trying to convince House to commit suicide was pretty creepy and amazing (the other cameros sucked though)

I was happy to see Kal Penn, if only in shadow.

Suicide causes weight gain.

I read a thing earlier this year that said Lisa Edelstein wouldn't be coming back for any reason, no way no how. I didn't see the finale (or even any of the past season), but it seems wrong to end it without one last bit of Cuddy.

This was kind of bad, apart from Cameron egging him on. Also, surely they could have cobbled together some Cuddy voiceover footage or something at least. Though there was a end-of-show documentary on beforehand on Britisher telly (I guess you got that too?) which Edelstein participated in, so she evidently hadn't completely washed her hands of the whole thing?

Would totally have welcomed a Tritter or a whatever-the-private-detective-that-ended-up-with-Cuddy's-name-was cameo, but they'd probably have arsed that up too.

More cameos definitely would have been cool - the Amber and Kutner parts were all the same kind of boring character studies that the show's been doing for pretty much every single episode. "You care about the puzzle more than you do yourself! The puzzles are what make you live!" Yeah okay, that's good and all, but wasn't that the theme of like 10 other episodes??

Cameron's was pretty awesome though. "You deserve the gift of death" or whatever she said; maybe one of the freakiest moments on the show

Sela Ward has had a lot of work done. Her face is so plastic. Surely getting that level of surgery makes you less likely to get hired as an actress, not more?

I mean, I know *technically* it makes you look less old, but it doesn't necessarily make you look younger. And certainly not better. I agree with everyone that Cameron's cameo was the best one, although I was not pleased to see her hideous slacks 'n' waistcoat combo make a comeback.

in this season 2 episode, house was in the OR pacing around the surgeons and making them uncomfortable with his mirthless jokes. now he is snorting a white powder in his office, which has glass walls that anyone can see through.

now he is trying to make sure he doesn't become emotional about this little girl with cancer he just saved because sentimentality is weakness. then he test drives a motorcycle on a winding road near green pastures where there are herds of sheep that aren't behind fences. i have lived in central jersey my whole life and have never seen a road like this.

house's ex wife is always hovering around, obliquely warning cutty not to fall in love with house without ever explicitly addressing this issue. she never talks to other characters, except house sometimes, so i think she is like a manifestation of cutty's anxieties and not actually a hospital employee -- this reading is not mainstream

*cuddy not cutty, lol.

seriously though, this is the best medical drama of all time. right now foreman is arguing with an old black man, telling him that he is "seeing" racism in places where it doesn't exist. foreman is a condescending asshole.

Finally saw the final episode. Hated it. Hate that kind of romantic idea of cancer that suggests you'll be able to have a lovely time in your final months alive, too.

Did quite enjoy bits of the final series, though. Had got sick of the Cuddy/House relationship.

yea this was a good example of why even great dramas need to end after 4 or 5 seasons. I mean it's all pretty watchable and well done but things got awfully cartoonish for a while. the story arc where House is under investigation for forging his own pain scripts was resolved so poorly, like four straight episodes of "House is screwed", then "House is REALLY screwed", then "there's no way out of this one!" and then finally "ok Cuddy lied for him so it's all fool". the ending sucked for me too, no real resolution on House's character, plus they (essentially) kill off the only genuinely likeable character on the show.

i've thought about compiling a "best moments of House" youtube video, but nah that's too much work. 8 seasons and the last 3 were mostly shit.

scenes would include:
house blaring a boombox outside a patient's window
house being taught how to properly use his cane
house trying to beat his speed record for diagnoses
house solving the mystery of the week right after the opening credits
a lot of the short cases where house is forced to do normal family doctor stuff

this commercial's been coming on a lot and it always makes me do a double take

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT8MngZuaR8