FINALLY, The Season Return of HOUSE!

You didn’t seriously think I’d make my glorious return to blogging with that foot post, did you?

No no…In honor of the season return of House MD, I thought I would return after my little posting sabbatical with a post all about House. And, in response to intense pressure and pleading, I’ve decided to finally reveal whether or not I find Hugh Laurie attractive! I know for some of you this is a long-awaited revelation, so please, take a moment to contain yourself.

First, I need to recap about why I like House so much. It’s not easy to see at first glance what would be so likable about the show. The main character and namesake is a hateful, spiteful, insulting, arrogant, rude, at times cruel, cynical, sarcastic, Vicodin-addicted man who will go so far as to catheterize himself to avoid facing his pain management problem. (Oh, wait, he doesn’t have a pain management problem, he has a “pain problem.”) He’s not exactly a likeable kind of guy. And the show can be intense, controversial, and very heavy. Amid projectile vomiting, bleeding from every possible orifice, and raging gangrenous infections, however, there is much to be gleaned from this show, and I think that explains in part why it’s such a hit. After watching so many hours of brainless (yet beautiful) women make fools of themselves over pompous jerks on <i>The Bachelor</i>, even the least discriminating TV viewers are bound to crave at least one intellectually stimulating show in their TV diets. Thus, House could be described as <i>Grey’s Anatomy</i> for thinking people.

The strength of House lies not so much in the medical drama (although it’s interesting), but more in the character development. It’s fairly obvious that Drs. House and Wilson are types of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Holmes and House share a number of similarities, including an affinity for drugs when life just isn’t interesting enough. House is even shot by a certain Moriarty. The similarities are fun, but they’ve been written about elsewhere, so I’ll keep it short. If you haven’t read any Doyle, I don’t even want to hear about it…. Just go read “A Scandal in Bohemia” and you’ll start seeing similarities.

Up until this season, House’s three proteges, Drs. Chase, Cameron, and Foreman, worked closely with him to solve each case. Cameron serves as House’s counterpoint, with an impossibly optimistic outlook on life, yet an insatiable need to rescue any and everyone around her. At one point House even postulates that Cameron married her late husband because he was dying with cancer, implying her motivation was more to be needed herself than to love someone else. The foremost target of Cameron’s rescue attempts is always, of course, House. In fact, Cameron has been in love with House for some time, only leading us to speculate about her reasons for only being interested in romantic relationships with no prospect of longevity or success.

Dr. Chase is somewhat of an enigma to me. I haven’t quite figured out why his character exists, and it seems that part of his character remains yet to be developed. I don’t know if this is a failure on the part of the writers, a failure on the part of the actor, or neither. Part of me doubts seriously that writers of a show as good as House would fail to develop a main character. I’m not familiar with the actor, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he is dead weight on the show. He seems to do a good job with what he’s given…I’m just not sure he’s had the opportunity to give a breakout performance. My mom has suggested that Chase is on the show because he’s “cute.” It’s true that he is nice to look at, but (and this is the moment you’ve been waiting for) I think his character’s lack of depth has lead women in the audience to turn their attention more toward the handsome nature of Hugh Laurie! There you have it: I admit it…I do find Hugh Laurie attractive. It’s difficult to say why (he’s old enough to have fathered me!), but I know I’m not alone in this opinion. It seems House has drawn quite a lot of attention to Hugh in this respect. A coworker of mine made a keen suggestion that perhaps it has to do with his power. He is a strong, powerful (yet evil) character, and for whatever reason, we womenfolk tend to swoon for this. This theory would also explain why Chase, who is definitely more of a pretty boy than House, wouldn’t automatically be the eye candy favorite. Chase is submissive, snivelly even…He lives to please House and tends to crave his respect (perhaps to earn back some respect he doesn’t feel he earned from his own father), but he’s willing to sell House out (like he did with Vogler) to benefit himself.

But while we are on the subject of the handsome qualities of Hugh Laurie, I should point out that none of the men on the show are bad looking…each is handsome in his own way. I think that’s what sets it apart, however, from Grey’s Anatomy with its endless strew of “Mc-hotties.” Too many pretty boys on one screen!

But I digress. Next to House, my favorite character on the show is undoubtedly Foreman. Omar Epps has shown incredible talent as this character. One of the episodes that will always stick out in my mind when I think of the show is where Foreman misdiagnoses and kills a patient. This involves a subplot with his mother and family which also sticks in my mind. Another standout series of episodes is when Foreman himself becomes ill and nearly dies.

I could go on and on about House…but I think you probably understand by this time that I’m pretty excited about the season return of House.

Before I sign off, a few predictions for the show:

Although it doesn’t appear that House’s team will rejoin him fully, I believe that they will eventually return to working in close proximity with him.

House will NOT grovel or beg for this to happen, however.

I think there might be a new character addition this season

And finally, an observation…House hasn’t been chomping on Vicodin like he usually does. Why???

Only time will tell…but I welcome any other conjecture as to what will happen this season on this great show!

That’s all for now, but I will try and post more often, I promise! My sabbatical is over now, and I am happy to return to the World.

Here’s a Houseism (one of House’s best monologues, in my opinion) to close…

“Hello, sick people and their loved ones! In the interest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I’m Doctor Gregory House; you can call me “Greg.” I’m one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning. This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Doctor Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she’s much too busy to deal with you. I am a board certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease and nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will. That is true, isn’t it? But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you’re particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It’s mine! You can’t have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem… but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m too stoned to tell. So, who wants me?”