I think this show is terrific. The pic quality is also great ota. If anyone form fox reads these boards, please renew this show!

If you tell them you like it they'll cancel it :(

That's the way that network has seemed to work. Cancelling good shows like Futurama and Family Guy and keeping crappy shows like the swan

Does "The Swan" even attract huge ratings? I agree, i look forward to Tues. and not missing "House"

watched it via D* in HD... quality was average IMO. looked grainy. hopefully 24 will look better.

looks grainy OTA too, nothing to do with D*, fyi.

The show is fantastic. Right up there with Lost for me so far as new shows.

I like the show a lot--the medicine is perhaps a tad too hard edged for its own good, though. I was about to watch an episode now. The PQ has been OK. I've been monitoring my cable HDTV bitrates (based on DVR filesizes). In 9 samples I've taken on my system, Fox has varied from 9.07 to 12.06 Mbps: 3 of them were of House, ranging from 10.5 to 10.98 Mbps (that 12 Mbps sample was an NFL game). Nothing on Fox thus far can touch the best quality of the big 3, but I certainly appreciate it being in true HD.

I tried to post about this show the other day, but it looks like the software here ate the post.

I said something like, "If you're not watching House you should. Imagine 'Medical Investigation', only as a good show."

I think House is terrific.

the medicine on HOUSE is NOT realistic AT ALL. ER, though often overly dramatic and exagerates what goes on in the Emergency Room, is at least somewhat realistic with their medical info. HOUSE is completely unrealistic with poor research on many of the topics which comes up on the show. It ruins the show for anyone remotely related to the medical profession.

What I meant by "hard edged" was that each episode is about one anomalous case which defies proper diagnosis, with names of lots of potential diseases bandied about without any explanation of what they are (some don't need much, like "Vitamin 'n' deficiency" or "allergy to so-and-so"). It's one session of differential diagnosis after another, followed by an unsuccessful course of treatment, rinse, repeat.

Of course, procedure is completely unrealistic. The young docs working under House are shown doing their own lab work, etc. You'd think that there were no technicians or nurses in this hospital.

It is, however, entertaining.

Originally posted by tomtnt
the medicine on HOUSE is NOT realistic AT ALL. ER, though often overly dramatic and exagerates what goes on in the Emergency Room, is at least somewhat realistic with their medical info. HOUSE is completely unrealistic with poor research on many of the topics which comes up on the show. It ruins the show for anyone remotely related to the medical profession.


Hate to break it to ya, but this shows NOT about the medicine. I think that is what may kill this show is that people will think its supposed to be a medical show.

I like House and have watched them all so far. My only complaint is that every episode is practically identical.

1. Mysterious illness they can't diagnose.
2. They brainstorm for ideas
3. They think they know what it is and try to treat it.
4. Turns out they were wrong, the treatment doesn't help.
5. House resorts to some controversial treatment to figure out what it is
6. They discover some new information regarding the problem that was never disclosed by the patients in the beginning.
7. This leads to the correct diagnosis and a cure
8. Meanwhile, House sees some regular patients and treats them bad.

We really like this show, too, and we are in the medical profession. If you watch TV dramas for the realism, no wonder you are disappointed. I work in a lab, and the only time we see a Dr. is when they are looking for the results of a test that takes an hour to run only 5 minutes after we recieved the order! Of course shows like this are a little over the top, most professions are rather boring day to day except for brief periods of "crisis". Networks have to make shows this way or we would be turning the channel to something else more attention grabbing. "COPS" is probably the most realistic show on TV, and I can tell you from many hours of riding with a cop friend of mine that there must be many hours of boring footage cut to get that exciting 30 minutes we see on the tube.

Jeraden your list is pretty much a synopsis of the show's premise--the writers who pitched the show to Fox in the first place couldn't have done a better job. isn't it kind of like someone who dislikes spy movies knocking GOLDENEYE because its a spy movie?
there seems to be a glut of forensic/medical investigation shows now. HOUSE stands out for me because of the title character--A Sherlock Holmes-level analyst who is impatient with petty dishonesty & doesn't suffer fools at all!!!(last nite when he acidly told that suffocating mom to "Get the kid an ice cream cake!!" i laughed for 5 min.)
for me the other reason i try not to miss this show is Hugh Laurie & his amazing performances. hard to believe its the samer actor who played the feckless Prince Regent on BLACKADDER 3 & a host of similar characters on so many BBC comedies. if he doesn't get at least an Emmy nomination then the awards are totally meaningless!.

jim

We watch "House" and enjoy it for the *entertainment* show that it is.

Paul

Was really grainy last night (my wife actually said "Are you sure this is HD?") but enjoyable. And I would disagree somewhat. She's got a PhD in Molecular Biology, and has been impressed with most of the science so far. Usually on these shows she laughs herself silly over the "science" involved.

"House" will be helped immensely next month (at least we can hope) when it is scheduled immediately following "American Idol".
In the meantime, its ratings, although not great, have been steadily improving.
Which for Fox is a good sign in a (so far) dismal season.

Here are the top five Fox shows (by viewers in millions) for the week ending Dec. 19.
Fox
Rank Program Viewers
45 Trading Spouses 8.17
46 The Simpsons 8.08
48 The Swan 2 7.53
49 Nanny 911 7.47
57 House 6.91

(And, if you will indulge me in the plug, current ratings and show news is always available in the "Hot Off The Press" thread.)

Originally posted by Jeraden
I like House and have watched them all so far. My only complaint is that every episode is practically identical.

1. Mysterious illness they can't diagnose.
2. They brainstorm for ideas
3. They think they know what it is and try to treat it.
4. Turns out they were wrong, the treatment doesn't help.
5. House resorts to some controversial treatment to figure out what it is
6. They discover some new information regarding the problem that was never disclosed by the patients in the beginning.
7. This leads to the correct diagnosis and a cure
8. Meanwhile, House sees some regular patients and treats them bad.

I couldn't agree more. This is getting like Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare and, lately, 24. You know exactly what WON'T happen and what WILL happen is pretty narrowly defined.

As much as I like Hugh Laurie there's really no point to someone watching more than one episode unless you're into a Dead of Night thing (of course I do pointless things like watch every week). My wife had last night's "disease-of-the-episode" (Wilson's disease) pegged pretty early in the show.

The previews for last night warned us that there'll be a "shocking" ending. I'm still waiting. PLEASSSSE, let him kill somebody or something.

=NLK=

Oh, and I LIKE the Swan, for some reason. Actually managed to watch every episode and the two-hour pageant final. Still say they need a heck of a lot MORE therapy and a heck of a lot LESS surgery, but that's just me.

I watch it, mostly because it's HD. But at some point the formula is going to wear thin.

1) Diagnosed patient comes in.
2) House hears about it and makes a flippant diagnosis, which appears CLEARLY off base.
3) His team (and hospital admin) tries to fight him to prove him wrong.
4) He's slightly wrong, but mostly right.
5) He's now proven right and his team is wrong.

The last showed showed him w/ some compassion for the schizo mom. Quite a big turn of character for him, don't you think?

BTW, I find it interesting that a lot of the Fox characters show up on other shows. Wonder if the Fox actors are on contract w/ the studio vs the show? The hospital admin is the same person who played a transsexual on Ally McBeal. And on North Shore (horrible show, great vid quality), the new chef was the main character from John Doe. (Too bad they cancelled it just when they introduced the twist.)

Originally posted by oldskoolboarder
BTW, I find it interesting that a lot of the Fox characters show up on other shows. Wonder if the Fox actors are on contract w/ the studio vs the show? The hospital admin is the same person who played a transsexual on Ally McBeal. And on North Shore (horrible show, great vid quality), the new chef was the main character from John Doe. (Too bad they cancelled it just when they introduced the twist.)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0700712/
From the previews for next week's House, I think Purcell guest stars as the husband of a patient.

Originally posted by madpoet
Was really grainy last night (my wife actually said "Are you sure this is HD?")

Yes, you're seeing film grain..If I'm not mistaken, It's shot on 16mm just like
Northshore..

Last night was far worse than any of the other broadcasts. I don't mind film grain at all, but the quality was down as well. I've got the captures from the last few to reference, so I don't know if it was compression from Cox that changed, my local affiliate doing something, or just a grainy episode (as others have commented).

To all those who say the show is predictable, you are correct, BUT, your still missing what the show is about. It's about how screwed up House himself is, NOT the medical stuff. I enjoy watching how House reacts to the things and people in the show. The szcho woman last night was so perfect.

I'm glad to know there are several of you out there watching this show. I hope Fox sticks with it ala '24' and allows it to find an audience. They certainly are breaking their usual mold by continuing to run new episodes deep into December (including next week!).

Does anyone know how many episodes Fox ordered? Will the show at least run into the Spring, and get the 'Idol' audience pick-me-up (as someone mentioned earlier)?

P.S. Agree with the comments regarding the picture quality last night. It seemed lesser than previous weeks. I've also noticed that there will be an occasional 'sharp' scene in every episode, but the video quality itself seems to vary somewhat throughout - almost like a Fox football broadcast, with sharp closeups and varying full field shots.

Love House ...

Haven't watched last night's episode yet (recorded it, one of the few shows both my wife and I like).

Originally posted by nakedeye
To all those who say the show is predictable, you are correct, BUT, your still missing what the show is about. It's about how screwed up House himself is, NOT the medical stuff. I enjoy watching how House reacts to the things and people in the show. The szcho woman last night was so perfect.

couldn't agree more and thank you nakedeye for expressing the point of my earlier post in a simpler & more effective way than i did.

jim


PS what is NOT predictable is how House reacts to each new patient, serious case or silly hypochondriac. as i said earlier he doesn't suffer fools at all & lets it be known to everyone!!

Originally posted by Joseph
I'm glad to know there are several of you out there watching this show. I hope Fox sticks with it ala '24' and allows it to find an audience. They certainly are breaking their usual mold by continuing to run new episodes deep into December (including next week!).

It will be after American Idol starting in January which will boost its ratings, although they are currently respectable considering it's lead-in's terrible ratings (The Rebel Billionaire). Being after Idol helped 24.

Three's Company --> Every single episode about a sexual double entendre that is misunderstood by 1-3 characters.

Gilligan's Island --> Nearly every episode about some ludicrous scheme to leave the island.

American Idol --> Every episode about people singing and getting voted off

Pretty much any reality show --> Ditto

Pretty muchy any detective show (e.g. Columbo) --> Crime, convoluted solution to crime, bad guy apprehended

CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, Law and Order --> Ditto ^4

I'm not sure how "same premise each week" is such a negative

Glad to see others enjoy this show as much as I do. Hopefully it stays (although fox does like to kill great shoows, futurama, family guy)

Fox is in no position to kill a show that this many people are watching. If they actually had hits, it'd be one thing, but right now, I don't think so.

In fact, on today's Fox, Boston Public would be a huge hit, Futurama would be highly desirable, etc....

rogo: on today's Fox, LAX, Hawaii and dr. vegas would be huge hits.

Originally posted by rogo
Three's Company --> Every single episode about a sexual double entendre that is misunderstood by 1-3 characters.

Gilligan's Island --> Nearly every episode about some ludicrous scheme to leave the island.

American Idol --> Every episode about people singing and getting voted off

Pretty much any reality show --> Ditto

Pretty muchy any detective show (e.g. Columbo) --> Crime, convoluted solution to crime, bad guy apprehended

CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, Law and Order --> Ditto ^4

I'm not sure how "same premise each week" is such a negative


So you're saying House is just like all the other shows? Maybe that's why it's garnering relatively good ratings. Although I do like Laurie a lot, that's basically what everyone else who feels the show is predictable is saying.

Of course that's what makes a horse race but I don't think anything about the show is unpredictable. It IS funny and sometimes moody and I'm glad it's on but anyone who thinks there are twists and turns I respectfully submit is seing things that aren't there (wasn't that one of the plots?). :) For comparison the first season of 24 was unpredictable. Some of the episodes (especially the first) of the Shield were unpredictable. Anyone else KNOW that when House chose to treat the infants with different drugs they'd either BOTH have to live or BOTH have to die?

Maybe some others shows had unpredictable parts, but certainly not House. You all are certainly entitled to your opinion but please don't try to tell others they're wrong. We just disagree.

=NLK=

Well, in between the "formula plot", there is supposed to be acting, character development, humor, drama, kinda like what supposedly made ER so "good". That's why I watch it. In fact, I could probably watch it just for Dr. House's quotes every week. (I think my favorite was to the nun, paraphased, well if you don't believe, you sure are wearing a funny hat). Some of them are pretty da$% funny!! Also get a kick out of some of the clinic patients, and their assorted ailments and hypochondria.

Originally posted by tomtnt
the medicine on HOUSE is NOT realistic AT ALL. ER, though often overly dramatic and exagerates what goes on in the Emergency Room, is at least somewhat realistic with their medical info. HOUSE is completely unrealistic with poor research on many of the topics which comes up on the show. It ruins the show for anyone remotely related to the medical profession.

I don't think it's so bad you can't still enjoy it. Quiz: What was the major "fopah" on the last episode? Hint: It was during the part where the residents were drawing blood from the Schizo Lady.

House to some extent shows how many doctors would like to act but know they can't IMO.

"House" is a great show; I haven’t missed a single episode. Sure it's a little repetitive, but like rogo pointed out, what show isn’t?

Originally posted by Jeraden
I like House and have watched them all so far. My only complaint is that every episode is practically identical.

1. Mysterious illness they can't diagnose.
2. They brainstorm for ideas
3. They think they know what it is and try to treat it.
4. Turns out they were wrong, the treatment doesn't help.
5. House resorts to some controversial treatment to figure out what it is
6. They discover some new information regarding the problem that was never disclosed by the patients in the beginning.
7. This leads to the correct diagnosis and a cure
8. Meanwhile, House sees some regular patients and treats them bad.

Jeraden,

Actually made a similar claim to my wife (BTW - we both love the show). I said that depending on what time it was, you could tell whether the primary case would be getting better, or worse. This also sets up viewers, as they can change up the formula once ot twice for a bit of a twist. Right now, the mystery is ultimately in the ilness.

To us, with the quality acting, this is the only show, that we bot agree is "Must See". Having said that, we also love "24" and "The Shield". However, I find both shows better to watch on DVD - as we really enjoy being able to watch them as quickly as possible - but that's a whole other subject.

Wish you all a great holiday, and a Happy, Healthy and Successful 2005.

David

In case it escaped you notice this holiday season, Fox is airing a pair of House repeats tonight (Monday, Dec 27th) starting at 8 PM ET.
If you have missed any episodes, are new to House, or have just gotten access to Fox HD, its a good chance to catch up.

is house DD 5.1?

Topic title edited.

Originally posted by the-sloth
is house DD 5.1?

Yes indeed.

Originally posted by videojanitor
Yes indeed.

ok. count me in. :)

" For comparison the first season of 24 was unpredictable. "

And wonderful, except for the Dennis Hopper hours.

No show is perfect.

I have no idea if there are genuine twists and turns in House or if it is merely consistently entertaining. Hugh Laurie leaves us both in awe of the characters genius and laughing hysterically at his sarcasm.

It would be a terrible shame if more shows were this entertaining.

Originally posted by fredfa
In case it escaped you notice this holiday season, Fox is airing a pair of House repeats tonight (Monday, Dec 27th) starting at 8 PM ET.
If you have missed any episodes, are new to House, or have just gotten access to Fox HD, its a good chance to catch up.

Just started watching the show last week(finally getting Fox in HD), I like it a lot, it's better than a lot of the stuff out there.

I thought House was GREAT tonight :). The consult was just hilarious.

-MP

Originally posted by madpoet
I thought House was GREAT tonight :). The consult was just hilarious.

-MP

I agree. If nothing else (just a disclaimer), the show is consistently VERY funny.

But at the end when the husband whispers into his wife's ear to not die (I think) and they had the wide shot of the monitor, I said to myself "even THESE writers wouldn't be THAT dumb" but sure enough, beep-beep-beep. Despite that, I really enjoyed this episode(for peripheral reasons), more than any other. And, although no "Narrow Margin" or "Witness for the Prosecution", the script did hold a bit of a turn.

I think the reason this show is so entertaining is, apart from Laurie, that the other actors are pretty good as well. It wouldn't be the same without Hugh but they all play off each other very well, IMHO.

=NLK=

My wife was cracking up over the "calibrating the centerfuge" scene, since there's no such thing ;)

Good acting, crappy show...

In comparison to what? :). It's better than most of the cannon fodder out there.

I thought you could calibrate a centrifuge? I read something a while ago about having to adjust the voltage to make it sure it runs at the right RPM.

But I don’t know, she obviously wasn't running it, maybe she was just getting to that part. ;)

I watched it the other night for the first time and I actually liked it. That house is one rude SOB. That being said, I think the show actually seems good to me because the rest of the junk the networks are putting out lately.

Originally posted by da_burl
I could probably watch it just for Dr. House's quotes every week
My favorite is when he says about the guy with an MP3 player stuck in his rectum:

"He's going to be sued by the RIAA for illegal dumping."

I liked the consult also with the story about the drugs; I thought they were going to end up on a posture-thing because of, um, the unequal distribution of the load. :)

One thing last night that made my wife (the RN) and I die was when they were doing the MRI, and you could plainly see large bubbles in the IV line as they were injecting the contrast. :D If the medical advisors didn't catch that, I'd fire them. I can live with some errors, but bubbles in an IV line?! Eek!

Originally posted by Symbios
I thought you could calibrate a centrifuge? I read something a while ago about having to adjust the voltage to make it sure it runs at the right RPM.

But I don’t know, she obviously wasn't running it, maybe she was just getting to that part. ;)

According to my Ph.D. wife, no :). You have to make sure whatever you put in there is balanced correctly, but there is no calibration required.

-MP

OT, but what would you calibrate? How many RPMs it's doing? It's a centrifuge, not a scale... I do have to say this is the worse medical/science fact content drama I've seen in a while.

Given that any show of this type always has at least one, if not several, "medical advisors" listed in the end credits, you have to wonder how this kind of blunder makes it through?

Well, I don't know a thing about medicine*, so I get a kick out of this show. The writing, and especially Hugh Laurie's delivery, puts it several notches above most of the other network TV offerings. I can only hope that more people start watching it, lest FOX decides to cancel in favor of another "Who's Your Daddy?" ...

*On the other hand, if I watch a show about the inner workings of a TV station, the factual errors make me crazy ... with the exception of The Larry Sanders Show, which was quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen ...

While it's true that these shows have advisers, those advisers understand that accuracy must sometimes take a backseat to the advancement of the plot, or to accommodate the time and budget restrictions under which these shows operate. It is sometimes a little hard to take, when you are an expert in the field, but that doesn't apply to enough people to make it worth the producers while to go over budget to correct all factual errors.

Originally posted by videojanitor
*On the other hand, if I watch a show about the inner workings of a TV station

That would probably bore most folks here to tears..except the part where
the phone rings with viewers yelling "flip the switch"....:
As we all know, it goes something like this:

Lee drops the phone and tears down from the newsdesk, headed for master control,yelling at the top of her lungs: "Flip the switch! Flip The switch! the HD is in SD! Flip the switch!" As she trips over a news photog
and his camera gear, tumbling down the hall, CSI suddenly pops up in HD...

:D :D

D* ch.88 keeps stuttering where I live, only when House comes on. It's annoying, because commercials during the show flow perfectly smoothly. I have to resort to OTA, but have to deal with occasional airplane interference.

Otherwise, I really enjoy the show. Even if every episode boils down to someone risking a patient's life. Whether House screams that line out loud or not. You're risking a patient's life!

Originally posted by oldskoolboarder
BTW, I find it interesting that a lot of the Fox characters show up on other shows. Wonder if the Fox actors are on contract w/ the studio vs the show? The hospital admin is the same person who played a transsexual on Ally McBeal. And on North Shore (horrible show, great vid quality), the new chef was the main character from John Doe. (Too bad they cancelled it just when they introduced the twist.)

Ah, John Doe. One of the few bubble shows (though very typical of Fox) that got positive USA Today readership feedback only to get cancelled anyway. Futurama, Firefly, the list goes on and on.

People keep just skipping out on their rights agaiinst self incrimination and unreasonable searches on CSI pretty much each episode.

Somehow, it doesn't stop me and about 20 million other people from finding the show entertaining.

After 10 years, most of the medical stuff on ER is still gibberish to me -- even if accurate. I'm tolerating the inaccuracy because it doesn't hurt the entertainment value of the end product.

Anyone else think that Massive Attacks's Teardrop seems apt as the theme song? Even if only for a few seconds!

Boy tonight looked terrible. the color was all off and the sound was only out of the center channel. I dont remember it being this way the first time this one aired, but maybee i just missed it?

Originally posted by nakedeye
Boy tonight looked terrible. the color was all off and the sound was only out of the center channel. I dont remember it being this way the first time this one aired, but maybee i just missed it? The pilot did have poor color. See here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4668924#post4668924

Boy, I can't believe they aired the pilot AGAIN.

I agree the color was horrible; too much contrast and the whites were way off. It definitly wasn't like that the first time. I did however have full 5.1 audio.

Originally posted by leesweet
OT, but what would you calibrate? How many RPMs it's doing? It's a centrifuge, not a scale... I do have to say this is the worse medical/science fact content drama I've seen in a while.

Umm, are people actually watching the show, or do they need to do the 'for the Producer' thing and describe everything to the audience? 'Calibrating the Centrifuge' was just a cover. She was trying to find something to do to get away. Dr. House caught on, but, obviously some in the audience didn't. Sorry to be so harsh, but, that was actually a plot device, and not a medical 'device'.

Otherwise I must say I like the show. Laurie is very good, though I do enjoy the irony that he as to use an American accent, whereas Chase can use his own--he's Australian. And, with Massive Attack as the theme it's a winner.

Originally posted by nakedeye
Boy tonight looked terrible. the color was all off and the sound was only out of the center channel. I dont remember it being this way the first time this one aired, but maybee i just missed it?

Nothing changed between the first airing and this time -- it looked just as bad during the original run.

No audio problems noted here though. I'm monitoring with a Wohler 5.1 digital audio monitor, and all channels are operating.

Hmm, so it seems the colors were always like that. I wonder why I thought it looked fine the first time?

Originally posted by gaderson
Umm, are people actually watching the show, or do they need to do the 'for the Producer' thing and describe everything to the audience? 'Calibrating the Centrifuge' was just a cover. She was trying to find something to do to get away. Dr. House caught on, but, obviously some in the audience didn't. Sorry to be so harsh, but, that was actually a plot device, and not a medical 'device'.Ummm, do you actually ever read this forum? This is what people do here. No matter how entertaining or enjoyable we find a show, we find something we consider "technically inaccurate" and try to push our intelligence by pointing it out to everyone. Just like you're doing by explaining the "plot device" for us a full week after the show aired. Thanks, professor. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by videojanitor
Nothing changed between the first airing and this time -- it looked just as bad during the original run.

No audio problems noted here though. I'm monitoring with a Wohler 5.1 digital audio monitor, and all channels are operating.


I guess I should have specified a bit.

Shure there was some music comming out of the other chanels, but it seemed to me that all dialog and sound effects came diredtly form the denter channel only

Originally posted by gaderson
Umm, are people actually watching the show, or do they need to do the 'for the Producer' thing and describe everything to the audience? 'Calibrating the Centrifuge' was just a cover. She was trying to find something to do to get away. Dr. House caught on, but, obviously some in the audience didn't. Sorry to be so harsh, but, that was actually a plot device, and not a medical 'device'.
My *point* was that these shows have relevant consultants for their field (medical, in this case). They are there to be sure (supposedly) that stupid things don't happen.

They could have made up a far better 'plot device' that could have been even real! :) How about calibrating a piece of test equipment that actually needs it? That's all it would have taken.

The real thing is that people that know something, even a little, about the subject area shouldn't have their immersion in a show disrupted by nonsense. As another example, I already mentioned the monster bubbles in the IV last week as something that distracted totally, and could have been done correctly with no special steps needed. Heck, about everybody knows that putting air in an IV is 'not a good thing'. :D

Originally posted by nakedeye
Shure there was some music comming out of the other chanels, but it seemed to me that all dialog and sound effects came diredtly form the denter channel only

Ah, well except for off-screen voices, the dialogue should always be coming out of the center channel. As for the sound effects, certainly they can place them wherever they like. I wasn't actually LISTENING in 5.1 though -- just watching meters and discretely monitoring different channels -- and just wanted to confirm that there was *something* being sent to all channels. Apparently I misunderstood your original message -- sorry for the confusion!

I know that most dialog is out of the center channel, but they also pan across from time to time to open up the soundstage on this show. last night had EVERYTHING locked in the center only (save the music)

I thought House looked great last night. It seems like it has suddenly improved PQ-wise. Maybe Fox is getting the hang of this HD thing.

Sooke

No to mention the plot was differnt than what people here complian about as being to predictable. One of the best so far!

Love the new show House. Become part of my must see lineup. My wife, who's an RN, says it's corny and farfetched.

Ahh see thats the problem. Its not about the medicine. Its about how screwed up house is!

Atleast it was in HD for you. In Chicago (via Comcast), we got the black bars.

Chicago[via Comcast]was definitely messed up last night.

Best House quote of the season so far: This is how medicine evolved. Patients sometimes get better. You have no idea why, but unless you give a reason, they won't pay you.

Did anybody notice if there's a full moon?:D

Taht ones good, but I still like the illegal dumoing qoute about the mp3 player!

I'm going to have to go with this one, "Like I always say, there's no 'I' in team. There's a 'me', though, if you jumble it up."

I've got to say, that was the best episode I've seen yet.

EDIT: Fixed “corrupted” characters.

Is it just me, or are the last two posts virtually unreadable?

Originally posted by spwace
Is it just me, or are the last two posts virtually unreadable? You must be tired. Go to bed :p

Originally posted by spwace
Is it just me, or are the last two posts virtually unreadable?

Yes, the are. The first had spelling so bad I couldn't make sense of it. The second one looks like it was corrupted some how.

"Taht ones good, but I still like the illegal dumoing qoute about the mp3 player!"


"I'm going to have to go with this one, “Like I always say, there’s no ‘I’ in team. There’s a ‘me,’ though, if you jumble it up.�"

Corrupted? That my friend, is proper spelling.

I'm not too sure what Nakedeye's story is though!

1337 speak i guess :S

If you set View/Encoding to UTF-8, you will be able to read Symbios' posts.

does anyone else have trouble following the show? I like that the show doesn't stop to explain most things to the lay audience (though they found it necessary to say ALS=Lou Gherig (sp?) disease), but so much of the details fly over my head I'm having trouble following the arc of the show. For ex, on last ep. I got that they found some kind of growth/obstruction preventing the guy from walking, but if somebody held a gun to my head, I couldn't say how they got there from the beginning.

Originally posted by JTAnderson
If you set View/Encoding to UTF-8, you will be able to read Symbios' posts.

So, because Symbios is doing something differently than every other poster on this forum, we all need to change our settings? I'll pass.

Good lord, it actually is corrupted! Sorry guys, I thought you were complaining about all of the quote marks. I’m using Internet Explorer right now, and now I see what you’re talking about, I have no clue why Firefox is doing that.

Edit:

Wow, I've been looking at a few of my other posts on the board, and most of them are corrupted. No one (except Keenan) has ever said anything about it, that's like letting someone walk around with a huge piece of food stuck between their teeth!

Originally posted by Symbios
Good lord, it actually is corrupted! Sorry guys, I thought you were complaining about all of the quote marks. I’m using Internet Explorer right now, and now I see what you’re talking about, I have no clue why Firefox is doing that.

Edit:

Wow, I've been looking at a few of my other posts on the board, and most of them are corrupted. No one (except Keenan) has ever said anything about it, that's like letting someone walk around with a huge piece of food stuck between their teeth!

Glad I could offer a little tough love.:)

Originally posted by Symbios
that's like letting someone walk around with a huge piece of food stuck between their teeth!

Could be worse...:D :p

Eh my problem is that I type too darn fast. Usualy hit the keys on the worng sequence. Hardly call it un-readable. In fact it doesnt mttaer waht seqeunce you hvae the lettres in, as lnog as the frist and lsat ltteers are crrocet and you have the corerct amnout of ltters you shuold be able to raed it.

Originally posted by nakedeye
Eh my problem is that I type too darn fast. Usualy hit the keys on the worng sequence. Hardly call it un-readable. In fact it doesnt mttaer waht seqeunce you hvae the lettres in, as lnog as the frist and lsat ltteers are crrocet and you have the corerct amnout of ltters you shuold be able to raed it.

I usually can, but I need a little help decoding "dumoing".

lol........dumPing

Doh!!

Wow, next weeks episode looks real good!

I'm surprised that no thread has previously been started about this show.
Regardless of the things that may annoy me about many of the characters, the important thing is that I make a point to watch and record it every week. So, it must have something I enjoy, even though I haven't yet been able to define it.

This week, on 4-12-05, the highlight was House's brief speech at a convention, labeling the boss's development of a so-called new version
of an old drug, as being a money-grabbing fraud. His following line, as he walked by the boss, as "having thrown in a little joke", was a good one.

On the critical side, there was a medical blooper, that makes me wonder about the technical advisors the show must have. They referred to an affliction a patient had, called toxoplasmosis, as being caused by a fungus. It is in fact, caused by a parasitic protozoan. This may seem like a minor mistake, but if you're involved with medicine or biology, it's a glaring error.
Despite this, the episode was informative about the role H.I.V. and Epstein-Barr virus play in making people susceptible to infections that would otherwise be blocked by their immune systems. That's one good side to the program-----it makes people think about the complexity of diagnosing illnesses.

Good thing this show is not a documentary or on the Discovery Channel then.

Threads merged.

Steve:

I posted your toxoplasmosis blooper on the House forums at Fox.
I'll report back any responses. Most (OK all) of the medical stuff goes
right over my head.

OK, after further surfing the House forums, others had picked up on this
blooper, making the same point about toxoplasmosis not being caused by a fungus but by a protozoal infection.

The science on a lot of programming is pretty bad. Sometimes the stuff that's done on CSI makes it hard to suspend disbelief. House's stuff is usually enough out of my knowledge range to not bother me as much. I know better than to use the show for medical information though. Even my limited medical knowledge has caught some errors.

hey did they really fire the 'stuffed animal made by grandma'? she's cute! did the actress quit or something?

Jennifer is still in the cast list, so Cameron will probably come crawling back (or House will go to her, maybe) in later episodes.

The condition is apparently real, but the show had the name wrong. From WebMD:

The type of fungus involved in the infection, Cryptococcus neoformans, has been linked to birds in the past, so researchers turned an eye toward the woman's pet.

Perhaps someone on the show confused toxoplasmosis with "histoplasmosis," or some other pet / immune deficiency related disease.

Do I get bonus points? :D

I"m hoping that the mafia guy from a few episodes ago comes back and threatens to whack the new chairman of the board. House does seem to have made some pretty powerful allies the last few episodes (mafia guy, US Senator, big donor to the hospital who had leprosy and the corporate bigwig that got the heart transplant).

Does anyone else think the whole "firing" subplot is really stupid?

Otherwise I love the show.

Originally posted by LSpera
Does anyone else think the whole "firing" subplot is really stupid?

Otherwise I love the show.

I do, nobody in that position would force someone to fire an employee just to make a point. It's ludicrous.

Originally posted by keenan
I do, nobody in that position would force someone to fire an employee just to make a point. It's ludicrous.

I gather you're self employed. Or maybe you didn't hear about the Bolton hearings in Congress. He tried to get a couple of intelligence people fired, and got a diplomat fired (OK, to resign) because he didn't like what they were doing (i.e. using facts to come to conclusions). Or, check up on the Martha Stuart trial--the way she treats her employees.
Didn't you remember House talking bad things would happen with the guy's take-over (e.g. the things the hospital will be force to do to appease the Parmas and such--not to treat it's patients). And, this show is characterized as a 'Drama' and having to fire an employee (employees he picked himself) certainly creates drama. Previous to the 'take-over' House has been able to be the eccentric that gets away with everything, but, this situation means he has to make a real decision--and it has consequences. Though I do miss this particular clash of personalities, and they way she's toyed with poor Chase.

Of course "in real life" House would've been fired long ago. He's a huge liability. The way he treats his patients, even the ones he cures may sue him. Plus his kind of brilliance probably isn't a moneymaker for the hospital. If anything, he costs them money. If he were a brilliant surgeon or researcher, they might put up with him. But a diagnostician? Don't they have (computer based) expert systems for that now?

Originally posted by barth2k
Of course "in real life" House would've been fired long ago. He's a huge liability. The way he treats his patients, even the ones he cures may sue him. Plus his kind of brilliance probably isn't a moneymaker for the hospital. If anything, he costs them money. If he were a brilliant surgeon or researcher, they might put up with him. But a diagnostician? Don't they have (computer based) expert systems for that now?

True, he probably would have been fired. But isn't this a research type hospital? Research institutes have probably put up with all sorts of idiosyncratic characters. The research for a computer type system has to be done by humans first.

Originally posted by barth2k
Of course "in real life" ... Don't they have (computer based) expert systems for that now?

Oh, great I go to the doctor and have Clippy (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-255671.html?legacy=cnet) diagnose me.

This Doctor Is In
'House' Calls To TV Viewers, And the Quirky Minds Behind It
By Ceci Connolly Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 17, 2005; Page N01

LOS ANGELES—Despite reading Scientific American as a kid, David Shore never really knew much about medicine. So when the honchos at Fox put out word they were looking for a fresh medical drama, Shore wrote what he knows: cops and crooks. "I figured, what if instead of looking for bad guys, we're looking for germs," says Shore. "The germs are the suspects."

After years writing legal dramas such as "Family Law," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue," Shore, 45, substituted a cranky medical sleuth for his standard crusty police detective and started pumping his physician friends for ideas. "I'd go to a party and ask, 'Tell me about the weirdest case you ever had,' " recalls Shore. And he started scouring medical journals, looking for the rare diseases, missed diagnoses and just plain icky cases that had real doctors scratching their heads.

The result was "House," arguably the finest in a trio of new medical shows aimed at bringing the familiar genre into the 21st century. Named for the lead character, Dr. Gregory House, the show is an addictive blend of psychedelic special effects, Sherlock Holmes-style mysteries and -- in an unusual move for a prime-time series -- an ill-tempered physician. From "Marcus Welby" up through "ER," blood and guts -- or at least a hefty dose of human suffering -- have made for good television ratings. But screeching ambulance sirens and frantic interns yelling "Stat!" now seem awfully '90s.

This season, "Medical Investigation" on NBC went the deadly-disease route on Friday nights, with plenty of "CSI"-like graphics. "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC is more soap opera than medicine, and the ideal dessert after "Desperate Housewives."

But "House" is something else entirely. Not quite somber, not quite fluffy, it appeals to our inner Columbo. "Patients only come to House with things other doctors can't solve," says Shore.

Every Tuesday night the clock ticks down as the team at the fictitious Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital races to figure out just what the devil is about to kill this week's patient. Why, we wonder from the comfort of our living rooms, haven't they done a full body scan? Have they checked for vasculitis, cellulitis, encephalitis and transverse myelitis? Come on! There's only 11 minutes left in the show.

Played by a Brit, Hugh Laurie, House pops pain pills, watches his favorite soap opera on the job, shuns the traditional white coat and avoids patients because they'll only lie and mess up the diagnosis. This is not the physician you want at a loved one's deathbed. And yet we are drawn to him in the way we could not resist Archie Bunker or Andy Sipowicz all those years they behaved like Class-A jerks.

These days, Shore presides over a stable of young writers, and Laurie is yukking it up with Jay Leno. "House," which airs Tuesday nights at 9 on the Fox network -- is drawing an average of 12 million viewers, in part because it follows "American Idol" -- and has been renewed for a second season.

But before there was a show at all, it was just Shore and his neighbor Harley Liker, brainstorming over family barbecues. "It was pure nepotism," Liker jokes, describing the friendship the two struck up while their children attended Valley Beth Shalom nursery school.

An internist who once conducted research at the National Institutes of Health, Liker embodies the Hollywood cliche of Physician to the Stars. His official bio gives as much weight to a mention in Town & Country magazine as to any academic writings. In addition to his high-end private practice, Liker is medical director for the trendy pomegranate juice company POM Wonderful. And although he wouldn't dream of naming names, Liker readily offers that he has treated more than a few Academy Award winners.

In pressed slacks and tie, Liker looks out of place on a recent visit to the Fox lot in Century City. All around him are scruffy creative types in hiking boots, sweat shirts and jeans. Not a medical journal is in sight, not even in the office of David Foster, the physician-writer on the team. Although he has advised a handful of other medical programs, Foster gave up his own practice to work full-time on "House."

From the start, Shore knew the traits he'd give his central character: House had to be a superb diagnostician; he'd be unsentimental and smug, someone who doesn't talk about his past and shows little interest in other members of the human race. "I write what I like, and I find likable characters boring," Shore says.

Part of the inspiration for the show came from Shore's guilt over pestering his doctors with trivial problems, such as the hip pain that had disappeared by the time he arrived for an appointment. "I'm saying to the guy, 'It used to hurt here,' " Shore laughs. "They shouldn't be so nice to me. I've got to be wasting their time."

Liker's job was to give House the right credentials and keep the science relatively accurate. To make Shore's fictional doctor both brainy and exotic, Liker proposed board certification in three specialties -- internal medicine, nephrology and infectious disease, because in the post- 9/11 era bugs are "kind of a sexy thing."

House gets the lines we all wish we could deliver, resulting in a cascade of medical -- not to mention etiquette -- breaches. What other physician could get away with giving a pill container of breath mints to a hypochondriac patient or prescribing cigarettes for the Santa Claus with irritable bowel syndrome? House routinely calls patients morons and liars and does not argue when one of his students speculates she got hired for her good looks and another thinks it was because his wealthy daddy made a call. He even flirts with a nun.
Some real-world docs grouse that "House" is giving healers a bad name.

Philip Brachman, who ran the epidemiology program office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and investigated the first anthrax epidemic in the United States, in the 1950s, is disturbed by the portrayal. "It plays down the seriousness of what physicians do," he says after watching the show and reading several scripts. "I don't think this is typical."

Even more unusual -- some would say unbelievable -- are the cases House and his team of doctors-in-training tackle each week. Brachman says the episode in which a woman develops a tapeworm in her brain from eating ham was just one of the wacky cases he had trouble swallowing.

And then there was Sister Augustine, the demure nun who developed a near-fatal reaction from an copper IUD accidentally left inside her for 30 years. Turns out that before she took her vows, she had lived on the streets, got into drugs and attempted to self-abort a pregnancy.

As head of the allergy division at George Washington Hospital and former president of the Medical Society of D.C., Daniel Ein is pretty familiar with allergic reactions. In all his years practicing, he's never seen or heard of that one. "From a medical point of view, it's terribly farfetched," Ein says. But that's the whole point.

"Making a fetish of realism is a mistake," says Laurie.

One week it's African sleeping sickness, the next it's pesticide poisoning from unwashed jeans. Bats infect a homeless woman with rabies and termites cause a teenager to develop acute naphthalene toxicity. (Although most episodes end with a miraculous eleventh-hour save, Liker "insisted" the rabies victim die for the sake of accuracy.) The real fun comes as House eventually deciphers the medical clues, à la Dr. Joseph Bell, the man who was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.

"If there's certainty in the diagnosis and certainty about how to treat, then where's the drama?" says Liker. His job is often to find the "decoys" or false diagnoses that send the "House" cast down the wrong medical path.
What looks to be anthrax turns out to be leprosy. What started out as a case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a birth defect of the circulatory system called arteriovenous malformation.

When the doctors discover three infants with high fevers and low blood pressure, it looks like a bacterial infection. But the treatment causes fatal kidney failure in one baby and the autopsy reveals a virus. The remaining babies test positive for three different viruses, and they don't have enough blood for the doctors to keep testing. House rolls the dice with an experimental drug and -- presto! -- the mystery is solved. Roll credits.

"It turns out we get it wrong three times and right on the fourth. It has something to do with commercial breaks," says Laurie, candid about the constraints of a 43-minute weekly format.

The son of a British physician, Laurie brings to the program an appreciation for the world of medicine, quirky patients and all. As a teen, he answered his father's phone and often found himself uh-huhing through the caller's litany of aches and pains. Laurie says he considered studying medicine. "I was too lazy so I ended up faking it," he says. "It is a matter of some discomfort that I make so much more money imitating what my father did in real life."

"House" manages to make medical investigating funny. Take the story of Willie. He's looking to score some Viagra because "the little man doesn't have the same bounce in his step."

House offers him insulin for the diabetes Willie didn't mention to the admitting nurse.

Huh? How'd he know that?

First there were the hairless hands, a sign of nerve damage, House says. Second, tight shoes, which often mean a loss of sensation in the feet.

"And then there's your pants," House says.

"My pants tell you I have diabetes?" poor Willie asks.

"No, they tell me you're an idiot," House replies. "Powdered sugar on the right pant-leg."

Hey, this is television, not your family doctor.

(Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report.)

"House" is a "must watch" show each week in this house-hold (groan). Regardless of the shaky science and real-world professionalism, Hugh Laurie's performance is mesmerizing.

Can't wait for the next episode.

Paul

This household agrees entirely, Paul.

Me three, Hugh Laurie is great in this show..

Vogler's "out of there". Whoo Hoo!

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Vogler's "out of there". Whoo Hoo!

Paul

I don't know if we should be celebrating...I think the best episodes are the ones with Vogler. Cuddy doesn't seem to be much of a foil to House.

Originally posted by dtle
I don't know if we should be celebrating...I think the best episodes are the ones with Vogler. Cuddy doesn't seem to be much of a foil to House.

Nah ... if you're going to set up a "him or me" showdown, you'd better resolve it or the audience is going to revolt. Vogler served his purpose.

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
Nah ... if you're going to set up a "him or me" showdown, you'd better resolve it or the audience is going to revolt. Vogler served his purpose.

IMHO, Vogler had out lived his welcome about 3 episodes ago. It was interesting the first couple of weeks, but then got old with the "spending too much money" plot. Everyone knows that hospitals think they have a license to print money. Nothing in that to move the plot line along. Glad he is gone. Now Cameron can come back (Whoo HOO!)

For those who didn't start watching until AI started, next weeks episode is pretty good. It is a repeat, but was on when no one had heard of House (been watching it since the start). The end is a real head turner.

Vogler had to to go. It was too confrontational as HDTV stated. Vogler wasn't merely a thorn he was going for House's throat.

Been there from the start as well.

Paul

And what made that whole storyline unbelievable was the fact that if Vogler won the show would end. Not gonna happen.

I agree Volger had been played out. They need to bring back Cameron though, she makes House feel very uncomfortable.

>What was with that sudden ending, where Vogler was going so strong week after week and during the majority of this episode, then all of a sudden in the last 5 mintes, it all fell apart and he left with his money? Seemed sudden to me. Since Cameron left only because of this, I guess first order of business is to call her up and ask her to come back??

>House is my favorite network show of the week. Following some distance behind is Despirate Housewives.. then American Idol. Those are my only 3, must sees.

Whatever.
Next week is a repeat, so we'll have to wait a bit to find out how Cameron is written back in.

Will House have to *ask* Cameron to come back? If so, that would be interesting.

Paul

(From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
“…Fox, as usual, owned Tuesday and will continue to do so until the season finale of American Idol at the end of May. Lead-out House, a bona fide hit, followed with an also dominant 12.4/18 in the overnights, 17.42 million viewers and a 6.6/17 among adults 18-49….”

Originally posted by foxeng
IMHO, Vogler had out lived his welcome about 3 episodes ago. It was interesting the first couple of weeks, but then got old with the "spending too much money" plot. Everyone knows that hospitals think they have a license to print money. Nothing in that to move the plot line along. Glad he is gone. Now Cameron can come back (Whoo HOO!) I totally agree. Vogler's attitude was really getting on my nerves. I wanted to get up and kick his a$$. And Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) is a hottie, she's gotta hurry back. :D

Is it just me, or did the color pallatte (sp?) of this show change? It used to be darker, and have a brownish hue. Now it seems to be brighter and not brown anymore. Anyone else seeing this change?

Originally posted by MnGuy
Is it just me, or did the color pallatte (sp?) of this show change? It used to be darker, and have a brownish hue. Now it seems to be brighter and not brown anymore. Anyone else seeing this change?

I agree, since House became more likable and soft, so have the colors.

Hugh Laurie surprised me in doing this show - I always thought of him as an excellent comic in Fry & Laurie and in Jeeves as Berti Wooster but this is a whole new side of him.

For 'House,' 'Idol's quite the remedy
Cranky doctor mystery up 30 percent since March
By Diego Vasquez medialifemagazine.com

When Fox’s “House” launched earlier this year, it had the unenviable task of leading out of the bomb “The Rebel Billionaire.” Accordingly, the show averaged just a 1.7 rating among viewers 18-49 over its first seven episodes.

Then “House” acquired “American Idol” as its lead-in and started to climb. Tuesday night it maintained its peak, averaging a 6.5 overnight 18-49 rating. That’s a full 30 percent higher than the 5.0 the show averaged the first time it followed “Idol,” back on March 15.

Tuesday night’s average is also 38.3 percent higher than its previous season-to-date average, a 4.7, which includes a few low-rated reruns.

The show’s average last night was slightly lower than the 6.6 rating it averaged last week, but not significantly. “Idol” has done a good job of helping “House” find and build an audience, and it appears the show will settle in that mid-6.0 range.

Last week the show was No. 8 among viewers 18-49.

Originally posted by Andrew_J_M
I agree, since House became more likable and soft, so have the colors.

Hugh Laurie surprised me in doing this show - I always thought of him as an excellent comic in Fry & Laurie and in Jeeves as Berti Wooster but this is a whole new side of him.

and who could forget him as Frederick Little, Stuart's lovable father.

Originally posted by fredfa
[COLOR=red][SIZE=4] For 'House,' 'Idol's quite the remedy “House” acquired “American Idol” as its lead-in and started to climb. Tuesday night it maintained its peak, averaging a 6.5 overnight 18-49 rating. That’s a full 30 percent higher than the 5.0 the show averaged the first time it followed “Idol,” back on March 15.

Tuesday night’s average is also 38.3 percent higher than its previous season-to-date average, a 4.7, which includes a few low-rated reruns.

The show’s average last night was slightly lower than the 6.6 rating it averaged last week, but not significantly. “Idol” has done a good job of helping “House” find and build an audience, and it appears the show will settle in that mid-6.0 range.

Last week the show was No. 8 among viewers 18-49. House... I like it. What happened to the Dr. Chick Babe who quit? Is she off the show for good? That's too bad if she is because I thought she was "hot!"

Originally posted by optivity
House... I like it. What happened to the Dr. Chick Babe who quit? Is she off the show for good? That's too bad if she is because I thought she was "hot!" I doubt she's gone. Her name was still in yje opening credits lastnight.

Originally posted by dmbatch
and who could forget him as Frederick Little, Stuart's lovable father. I coulda forgot, and I did, LOL. I was so into him having an attitude problem I didn't recall him in anything else. I knew he was famiar though. :)

Originally posted by Azanon
[BSince Cameron left only because of this, I guess first order of business is to call her up and ask her to come back?? [/B]

Do you watch the show? Cameron didn't leave because of Vogler, she quit because she's in love with House. I doubt she'll be back on staff (but she may yet be around).

Originally posted by Andrew_J_M
I agree, since House became more likable and soft, so have the colors.

Hugh Laurie surprised me in doing this show - I always thought of him as an excellent comic in Fry & Laurie and in Jeeves as Berti Wooster but this is a whole new side of him.

He still is, some of his one liners in this show are downright hilarious. At the Fox/House website they have a lot of choice ones listed.

Wilson: "She was uncomfortable doing anymore tests. I had to convince her to do just that one."

House: "You get that often? Women who'd rather die than get naked with you?"

:D

I've never seen Hugh Laurie in any role before. If he's a Limey, how has he mastered speaking without any trace of an accent? How did he sound when he was playing an Englishman? Everyone knows that true, unaccented English, i.e. American, is very hard to deliver, for a non-native.
Laurence Harvey was the only true Englishman I've heard who could do it, even putting on an hilarious persona as an illiterate hillbilly, when needed. Bob Hope lost all his accent, but he'd had most of his life as a resident here to change. Gregory Peck never lost all his, despite decades living here.

Originally posted by Steve McD
I've never seen Hugh Laurie in any role before. If he's a Limey, how has he mastered speaking without any trace of an accent? How did he sound when he was playing an Englishman? Everyone knows that true, unaccented English, i.e. American, is very hard to deliver, for a non-native.
Laurence Harvey was the only true Englishman I've heard who could do it, even putting on an hilarious persona as an illiterate hillbilly, when needed. Bob Hope lost all his accent, but he'd had most of his life as a resident here to change. Gregory Peck never lost all his, despite decades living here.

He's made brief appearances in MI-5 and is in the "new" Filght Of The Phoenix".

He was on Letterman awhile back and remarked that the language/accent thing was something that he had to be constantly on top of, otherwise he would slip back into his native accent. Laurie also remarked on how grueling the pace is for working in American TV, something like 5AM to past 7PM and that in England it was waaaaaay more laid back.

I loved him in Blackadder (I think he was in III and IV) almost 15 years ago. I don't know if BBC America has ever played it. He was very funny in it.

Originally posted by Steve McD
I've never seen Hugh Laurie in any role before. If he's a Limey, how has he mastered speaking without any trace of an accent? How did he sound when he was playing an Englishman? Everyone knows that true, unaccented English, i.e. American, is very hard to deliver, for a non-native.
Laurence Harvey was the only true Englishman I've heard who could do it, even putting on an hilarious persona as an illiterate hillbilly, when needed. Bob Hope lost all his accent, but he'd had most of his life as a resident here to change. Gregory Peck never lost all his, despite decades living here.

Gregory Peck was born in California.I doubt all these web sites are incorrect: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Gregory+Peck+birthplace&spell=1

Originally posted by Steve McD
I've never seen Hugh Laurie in any role before. If he's a Limey, how has he mastered speaking without any trace of an accent? How did he sound when he was playing an Englishman? Everyone knows that true, unaccented English, i.e. American, is very hard to deliver, for a non-native.
Laurence Harvey was the only true Englishman I've heard who could do it, even putting on an hilarious persona as an illiterate hillbilly, when needed. Bob Hope lost all his accent, but he'd had most of his life as a resident here to change. Gregory Peck never lost all his, despite decades living here. Bob Hope moved here with his parents at age 5, so he hardly counts. At that age, he'd have to drop the accent or get beat up daily after school--kids would just find it strange, not charming :). Peck was born and raised here in San Diego, educated at UC Berkeley

It's pretty freaky listening to Laurie speak in his native accent after watching him as House. Here (http://www.geocities.com/talk2deadman4/makingof1.rm)'s the only clip I could find online of him speaking. It's a RealMedia video clip from some BBC "making of" of some comedy thing, taking about a comic farting scene, so be forewarned. Laurie speaks for a few seconds at the end of it, starting about 20 seconds in.

I don't know that I think it's true that British actors have that hard of a time with American accents. Cary Elwes and Gary Oldham have done perfectly fine work in American accents; in the new Battlestar Galactica, Jamie Bamber does a great job in the role of Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama (of course, his accent is "Caprican", but close enough :)).

if it were easy to take off your accent, Uhnuld the governator wouldn't sound the way he does :)

Hugh Jackman does a convincing American accent. I believe he's Austrailian.

Originally posted by michaeltscott


I don't know that I think it's true that British actors have that hard of a time with American accents. Cary Elwes and Gary Oldham have done perfectly fine work in American accents; in the new Battlestar Galactica, Jamie Bamber does a great job in the role of Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama (of course, his accent is "Caprican", but close enough :)).

No doubt that these actors have done a fine job with portraying "American" accents, but that doesn't mean they don't have to make a conscious effort not to slip into their native accent. That would be one sign of a good actor.

As I stated earlier, Laurie himself said he is constantly on guard that he does not slip into an English accent. He also indicated that when he reads a script he has to work on making sure the cadence and inflection of a piece of dialogue has an American sounding delivery as the same words can be said with a different cadence/inflection in his native tongue.

barth2k...Personally, I don't think Uhnuld has the brain power to "Americanize" his accent...:p

Originally posted by fredfa
Whatever.
Next week is a repeat, so we'll have to wait a bit to fiond out how Cameron is written back in.

Here's some eye candy for you Cameron (J. Morrison) fans. Don't get too excited, the pics are clean....

From Playboy.com (http://www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment/wov/morrison/index.html)

By about the fourth time he appeared on screen, I'm shouting, "Give him his money back and get his fat ass out of there." It's not like the hospital was bankupt without the money.

And as for Laurie, again, it's a crime if they don't give him an Emmy.

Do you watch the show? Cameron didn't leave because of Vogler, she quit because she's in love with House.

She wouldn't have left had Vogler not put him in a bind to fire one of them. She came to him the night after that speech, chief, which virtually insured he had to get rid of one of them. Perhaps Cameron loved him enough to make that easy for him.

I suspect you watch it, but just miss some details.

Originally posted by Azanon
She wouldn't have left had Vogler not put him in a bind to fire one of them. She came to him the night after that speech, chief, which virtually insured he had to get rid of one of them. Perhaps Cameron loved him enough to make that easy for him.

That's the way I saw it.

Saw "Flight of the Phoenix" last night (the new version). Hugh Laurie plays the "company guy" for the big oil-drilling corporation. He was good there, too, but not as good as in House.

Laurie Happy Playing 'House'
By John Crook
(zap2it.com)--Hugh Laurie is a huge TV star in his native England, thanks to the runaway success of such comedy hits as "Black Adder" and "Jeeves & Wooster," among many others. As the star of "House," the medical drama that has turned into a late-blooming Tuesday hit for FOX, the 45-year-old actor has learned a belated showbiz lesson: Always read the fine print.

"I've never done that before in my life, but this is small print I would have been well-advised to read," Laurie says, alluding to the crushing work hours he is putting in as the star of a U.S. drama series. "It has come as a shock. My wife and I have been talking about where we're going to live, and we quickly came to the realization that even if everybody came to live here, it doesn't solve the problem because they still wouldn't see me for more than an hour or so a week. It's a tough business, and I'm filled with admiration for those who stick with it for a long time. I'm ready to drop, just bone-weary, although it's a great bunch of people and terrific fun to do."

From all indications, Laurie can look forward to a lot more "terrific fun" in the months to come. After a shaky start in November, when generally glowing reviews failed to draw an audience, this quirky series about a brilliant yet cranky and misanthropic physician caught fire, thanks to a powerhouse lead-in from "American Idol." Since then, the show has risen as high as No. 4 in the Nielsen Top 10.

"People don't feel we've been crammed down their throats, so to speak, thrust into their faces," Laurie says of the rapidly growing fan base. "We haven't been marketed to death, so the people who have found the show feel that they have discovered it themselves, so they own it to some degree. That's good for both of us."

Laurie modestly deflects credit for the show's success to series creator-executive producer David Shore, his team of writers, and the first-rate ensemble that includes Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps and Lisa Edelstein. However, it's Laurie's electrifying performance as Dr. Gregory House that drives this unpredictable series.

"Hugh simply came in and read the part far and away better than anyone else did," Shore says. "It's a really tricky, difficult role, and he could come off on-screen as just a hateful jerk. Hugh got all the nastiness -- it was all there -- yet at the same time, you came away liking him. You sympathized with him and wanted to watch him. There was a reality to it, not cartoonish."

Shore firmly felt that changing the character to reflect Laurie's British heritage would prove distracting for viewers, so the actor has had to cope with sustaining a credible American accent on top of the role's other demands.

"I feel like there is a small elf just throwing pebbles at my face, one at a time, every time I come across a word with the letter 'R' in it," Laurie says, sighing. "It's distracting and painful, and now and then, one gets me in the eye."

Still, he knows that's a small price to pay for being in a breakout hit. And in this case, success breeds more success: Multiple Emmy winner Sela Ward will appear in this season's last two episodes as a lost love from House's past and is in talks to make recurring appearances in the role next season.

I like house and I;m drunk

Originally posted by nakedeye
I like house and I;m drunk

I like House and I'm sober. :rolleyes:

I don't know if this has been reported here yet, but the Los Angeles Times is reporting the new season of "House will begin very early -- in August.
More details at latimes.com or here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5528300#post5528300

Another fine episode last night. I laughed out loud when Dr. House lapsed into an intentional British accent, great writing and delivery.

it was the 3rd episode of the season. Repeat. But yes it was a good show nonetheless

I missed the first 30 minutes of it the first time this episode aired. I’m glad Fox aired it again; it made much more sense this time!

variety.com—Fox easily came away with its 15th consecutive Tuesday ratings victory last night behind steamroller reality show "American Idol" and a strong performance by a repeat of drama "House," according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.

In the opening hour, "American Idol" (10.4 rating/29 share in adults 18-49, 24.6 million viewers overall) was up week-to-week and topped the other five broadcast nets combined by 2 shares in adults 18-49. "House" followed with great numbers for a repeat episode (6.3/15 in 18-49, 17.0 million viewers overall), winning its hour across the board.

Originally posted by bgall
it was the 3rd episode of the season. Repeat. But yes it was a good show nonetheless

Not that it matters much but I believe it was the sixth episode, The Socratic Method.

Originally posted by Eson
Not that it matters much but I believe it was the sixth episode, The Socratic Method.

It doesn't matter to me at all. Heck I didn't even know it was a repeat so for me it was an original airing. :)

Originally posted by fredfa
I don't know if this has been reported here yet, but the Los Angeles Times is reporting the new season of "House will begin very early -- in August.Wonder if they'll have the closed captions in sync by then. They're pretty useless at present, trailing the video by 5-6 seconds. I notice the same problem on "24".

It was a repeat? Phew...I was starting to think they were all high for not having said anything as to how Cameron was back.

Originally posted by Azanon
She wouldn't have left had Vogler not put him in a bind to fire one of them. She came to him the night after that speech, chief, which virtually insured he had to get rid of one of them. Perhaps Cameron loved him enough to make that easy for him.

I suspect you watch it, but just miss some details.

So this week, chief, when House tells her Vogler is gone and she refuses to come back unless he goes on a date with her, she was just trying to make it easy for him?

IMO, if you think her leaving had anything to do with Vogler you have missed the subtleties of their relationship. I mean, she went to a monster truck show with him. Most females wouldn't do that unless they reeeaaalllllly liked the guy. :)

I don't think it's any secret that Cameron loves House.

Paul

I just got around to watching this week's episode of House last night. Outstanding PQ and truly beautiful sound. And yet, the entire hour took up only 4 GB on my DVR, for an estimated average bitrate of 9.5 Mbps. I don't know how they do it.

Good episode, as well. Cuddy should be ashamed to throw "losing one-hundred-million dollars" in House's face. Given the strings attached to the money, they'd have ended up letting go of it eventually in any case.

I don't see how House can conduct a romance with a medical fellow under his supervision. If they were going to involve him with Cameron, they might as well have let her take the other job and have him hire someone else (I thought that the girl wearing the "uncomfortable shoes" would have made a good addition to his group).

If the writers are smart, it won't develop into a full blown romance -- just some occasional "situations" just to keep it interesting. We haven't seen the "date" either. Knowing House it might be anything but a "date".

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
If the writers are smart, it won't develop into a full blown romance -- just some occasional "situations" just to keep it interesting. We haven't seen the "date" either. Knowing House it might be anything but a "date".

Paul

In the previews for next week, they were at a restaurant eating dinner. I think House was wearing a tie.

Don't forget House's ex is about to come into the story. That should make for some interesting situations between the ex, House, Cameron, and the boss lady (who I believe had a thing with House before).

My God, now that I think about it, that's a man's worse nightmare.

That other leg is going to start hurting when the others start kicking it!

Paul

interesting show, the creator was on npr this morning talking about the show. it was interesting

Tonight's episode was the best yet. I didn't know how they could top the previous episodes, but they did. It's scary to think that this show may have been canceled if it had not been put in the time slot after American Idol.

I agree, tonight's was very creative. Completely different than any episode yet; and, IMO, also the best. I don't usually care for medical shows (my Wife loves them, though, so I watch more than I'd care too), but I think that the personality of "Dr House" is what has made the show all along; and tonight gave a lot of insight into his story.

Creative and original writing is so rare on TV today.

This is the only show I loath to miss each week (OK, maybe West Wing too)...the scripts and dialog for the show are emmy material. Heck - Hugh Laurie losing his Brit accent alone is brilliant!

And now Sela Ward...hubba hubba...

Two words:

SELA WARD

Hugh Laurie gets the Emmy.

Great episode.

Paul

This was a very good episode, it shows at least some writers are thinking out of the box. The play on the three students as proxies for his actual staff was interesting. Last week's Without A Trace was also a different and refreshing change from the usual "find the missing person" script.

This was an exceptional episode of network television: not at all pretentious, yet thought-provoking and wonderfully entertaining.
Well done!

This episode reminded me of some of the really creative shows during the heyday of The X-Files. I really enjoyed it!

Can someone tell me how last night's episode ended? I got up to the part when we realize the patient is actually House after telling the three stories (about 45 minutes in). Thanks for your help. I hope this episode is repeated soon.

I agree, last night's episode was top-notch. I really should have seen it coming that he was one of the patients, but I didn't. Shame on me.

Anyone else think the PQ was better last night also? It seemed to have more detail.

So you guys DO agree with me. ;)

Wolfie

Can someone tell me how last night's episode ended? I got up to the part when we realize the patient is actually House after telling the three stories (about 45 minutes in). Thanks for your help. I hope this episode is repeated soon.

House wanted to be put in a temporary coma to avoid the pain. When this happened, Sela Ward told Cuddy to remove the dead muscle tissue, which severely compromised the use of his leg. Also, at the end of the lecture House told Cuddy that the sick doctor he was subbing for was suffering from lead poisoning caused by drinking from his coffee mug.

House wanted to be put in a temporary coma to avoid the pain. When this happened, Sela Ward told Cuddy to remove the dead muscle tissue, which severely compromised the use of his leg. Also, at the end of the lecture House told Cuddy that the sick doctor he was subbing for was suffering from lead poisoning caused by drinking from his coffee mug.

Thanks for the update. I believe House also drank from that mug during his lecture?!

He drank from it briefly, I think, and then gave it a dirty look.

Paul

He took a drink from the cup and then spit the water back into the cup.

Originally posted by keenan
This was a very good episode, it shows at least some writers are thinking out of the box. The play on the three students as proxies for his actual staff was interesting. Last week's Without A Trace was also a different and refreshing change from the usual "find the missing person" script.

Yea, it was quite an interesting episode. I was left wondering if maybe in a future episode they would come up with the evidence to nail the record keeper guy, but probably not. Kind of unusual for the bad guy to get away with it in these shows.

I absolutely loved House last night. When the students asked about who would catch the snake and House said you have people for that, and then it cut to those two... freaking classic. I started wondering if one of the people was him, but I was wrong about who it was. Really explains why Cuddy cuts him the slack she does though.

Only thing that bothered me is the medical proxy use. His doctor KNEW what he wanted. No ifs, ands, or buts. She should not, legally, have operated. Minor annoyance, and one that I'm sure I will forget about.

-MP

Originally posted by madpoet
Only thing that bothered me is the medical proxy use. His doctor KNEW what he wanted. No ifs, ands, or buts. She should not, legally, have operated. Minor annoyance, and one that I'm sure I will forget about.

-MP

You're right, but Cuddy did exactly what House would have done (as a doctor). She broke the rules. I liked the irony.

Was House an employee of the hospital at the time of his illness or did he join the staff later?

Despite the outcome, apparently House did not pursue major legal action.

The question that will always be asked is whether or not House's gamble or Cuddy's breaking the rules was the right choice.

Notice how House's audience in the lecture room was growing? House left little doubt that he was the right person to keep after Vogler's power play.

Paul

Only thing that bothered me is the medical proxy use. His doctor KNEW what he wanted. No ifs, ands, or buts. She should not, legally, have operated. Minor annoyance, and one that I'm sure I will forget about.

I was bothered a lot more by the episode a couple of weeks ago with the pregnant 12 year old. House said that according to New Jersey law that it had to be aborted and he could not inform the parents without her permission. I thought you couldn't give a minor aspirin without the parents consent?

That had to be the most creative presentation of a backstory I have ever seen on TV. Also, the Carmen Electra stuff was priceless.

Uh oh, two threads on the same show. Maybe a mod can merge them.

heh, I couldn't even find the original, but I knew it existed.

Originally posted by sfb
Was House an employee of the hospital at the time of his illness or did he join the staff later?

They didn't say.


I was bothered a lot more by the episode a couple of weeks ago with the pregnant 12 year old. House said that according to New Jersey law that it had to be aborted and he could not inform the parents without her permission. I thought you couldn't give a minor aspirin without the parents consent?

Actually I believe House didn't say it had to be aborted, that was up to her. He said it was New Jersey law that he couldn't inform her parents that she was pregnant.

I'm still talking to co-workers about last night's episode. Kudos to the writers!

Originally posted by Paul Bigelow
Notice how House's audience in the lecture room was growing? House left little doubt that he was the right person to keep after Vogler's power play.

Paul

Yep, I noticed that also. It looked like more and more doctors from the hospital were sitting in on the lecture.

Originally posted by sfb
Was House an employee of the hospital at the time of his illness or did he join the staff later?

They didn't actually say, but it was somewhat implied when he told the nurse he was going to have a cardiac arrest and she did what he asked her to do. She probably wouldn't have done that without knowing him.

If Fox shows us more episodes like last night's, I'll keep watching...

Originally posted by DrCrawn
If Fox shows us more episodes like last night's, I'll keep watching... I've seen about 10 of these now, and they were all top notch.

I watched House early and enjoyed it. Then I found Veronica Mars and since Kristen Bell >> Hugh Laurie, I stopped watching House. Fortunately summer reruns will let me catch up, but I really need Fox to bump House up an hour or for WB to move Veronica to another night. Why can't these network execs get their programming schedules to fit my TV watching schedule?

Last night's was quite good, especially you never had House's backstory.

that's where a HD TiVo with dual tuners comes in very handy.

Originally posted by O2C
I watched House early and enjoyed it. Then I found Veronica Mars and since Kristen Bell >> Hugh Laurie, I stopped watching House. Fortunately summer reruns will let me catch up, but I really need Fox to bump House up an hour or for WB to move Veronica to another night. Why can't these network execs get their programming schedules to fit my TV watching schedule?

Last night's was quite good, especially you never had House's backstory.

Veronica is on UPN, but regardless, I agree with you. I record VM and House, but watch House live. UPN should move VM to Wednesdays after Top Model, it's a better fit for it.

Originally posted by taz291819
Actually I believe House didn't say it had to be aborted, that was up to her. He said it was New Jersey law that he couldn't inform her parents that she was pregnant.

... without her (the 12yr old's) permission.

Originally posted by mdonnelly
I've seen about 10 of these now, and they were all top notch.

agreed, the 4-5 other episodes I have seen were all very good...this is a good show.

Yesterday (5/17/05), there was an interview with the producer and the medical advisor of "House", on NPR's "Fresh Air" program. They also contribute to the writing of this show. I wish I could have called in and asked them who wrote the line that attributed the cause of toxoplasmosis to a "fungus". You can read an article about "House" and this interview on NPR's website and listen to the archived interview, under "Fresh Air", on the programming section. http://www.npr.org

Originally posted by Mac The Knife
They didn't actually say, but it was somewhat implied when he told the nurse he was going to have a cardiac arrest and she did what he asked her to do. She probably wouldn't have done that without knowing him.

any hosp. staff will find out very quickly when they have a doctor on their hand. doctors make the worst patients. house must be a nightmare.

Histoplasmosis (not Toxoplasmosis) *is* caused by a fungus endemic to the midwestern and southeastern U.S. It commonly grows in bird droppings. Blastomycosis is caused by a fungus found in the southwestern U.S. which can cause similar symptoms. It's possible this was the mistake that was made, although I didn't see the episode you are referring to.

Mods can we merge this with the other house thread?

Topics merged.

I have watched this show from the beginning and must admit that I didn't like Dr. House much at first. He was just too over the top. Once they developed the character a little I started to appreciate his sense of humor and now think he's really funny.

This last show was very good and shows that there are still some creative people in the TV business. I hope it sticks around for a few seasons.

I missed the first half of the season,and was reluctant to watch.
I'm happy I gave this program a shot, it's become my second favorite after Lost.
This was a great episode.

Originally posted by taz291819
Yep, I noticed that also. It looked like more and more doctors from the hospital were sitting in on the lecture.

Look up the Feynman Lectures. Feynman was an amazing Physicist who gave a series of lectures at Cal Tech., that had the weird effect of fewer and fewer students showing up (didn't help them solve the homework problems, and more and more professors showing up (the lectures were great at giving the whole picture of physics).

Then again maybe everybody knows, House is where the action is.

Last episode of the season tonight. Looks like this episode is going to be a good as the others!

Paul

Fortunately, the first episode of next season will be in August!

“House” Season Finale
Fox to Start New Season in August

By David Hiltbrand Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

It's hard to imagine a more disagreeable TV doctor than the title character of Fox's quirky medical drama, House. Gregory House is brusque, cynical and misanthropic. And that's when he's in a generous mood.
Hugh Laurie, who plays this toxic New Jersey infectious-diseases specialist, describes House's bedside manner as "nonexistent."

"A large part of his day is spent avoiding being bedside at all. There have been a couple of shows where he hasn't even spoken to his patient."

Certainly, no one would accuse House of being a workhorse. "He's just plain lazy," Laurie says. "There is a streak in him, a rather adolescent avoidance of responsibility."

The show wasn't much of a self-starter, either, languishing after its November debut. But since acquiring American Idol as a lead-in in January, House's average viewership has vaulted from 6.5 million to 16.2 million per week, an increase of 149 percent. That audience will probably increase for tonight's 9 p.m. season finale, preceded by the performance half of Idol's two-part season-ender.

With the series now a consistent Top 10 Nielsen performer, Greg House has become one of prime time's favorite antiheroes. In each episode, he and his team try to cheat death by curing fast-developing illnesses that defy diagnosis.

What makes the brilliant but brackish House so compelling, despite his many flaws?

"I think the audience senses his unhappiness and can tell he is tormented by various demons," Laurie says. "That mitigates his cruelty. He dislikes himself as much as he dislikes his fellow man."

Laurie, 45, spoke last week from a hotel suite in Manhattan where he is about to take part in the network's unveiling of its fall schedule. "I do the beauty parade this afternoon. I see there's a half-hour allotted to grooming. That's intriguing."

With his mellifluous Oxbridge accent, the urbane Englishman is an unlikely choice to play an abrasive American, especially since his forte has always been light comedy, such as Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder.

He was in Africa making the film Flight of the Phoenix when he got the audition pages for House. "When pilot season comes around, all the actors on the set are getting scripts sent to them," says Laurie, who enlisted a castmate to help him tape his House scene.

"I held the camera for him while he did his audition for something else, then he held the camera for me."

He wouldn't have gotten the part if his American accent weren't so convincing. The show's executive producers, creator David Shore and director Bryan Singer, had already seen an army of actors.

"It attracted a lot of people, and, oddly, we saw a lot of English actors," Shore recalls. "Bryan got tired of it, because they couldn't sustain the accent. 'I can't see any more foreign actors,' he finally said. The next day we got Laurie's tape in the mail and Singer said, 'Why can't we see more actors like this?'

"I waited a few days before pointing out that Hugh is English."

Laurie picked up his Yankee diction from the telly.

"In England we get a huge amount of American TV shows," he says. "It's pretty grim but that was my schooling. I still have good days and bad days. On the bad days, I'm really struggling with the accent. Anything with an R is a big problem. Federal court order is very difficult. Coronary artery is almost impossible."

American TV is far more demanding because the season is three times as long.

"It's a similar work schedule on British TV, but we only make six shows," he notes. "Being on a show that goes on for nine months - that is a strange concept for an English actor. I've never worked this hard, but the fact is I love it. Of course, there have been some days where the thought of taking off for Rio has become very appealing."

In fact, Laurie is about to head home to visit his wife, Jo, and children, Charlie, 16; Bill, 14; and Rebecca, 11. He has had little time off because he recently finished tonight's finale. And Fox wants an early August start for the series' second season.

"This doesn't qualify as the term hiatus itself," Laurie says of his break. "It's more of a hi."

Mr. Laurie (and others) isn't getting much of a break, that's for certain. Hopefully, the creative momentum will continue without inducing burnout.

Paul

wow got pretty intense there tonight...

I didn't think they could top last week's episode, but they did. House is now my official favorite show and has toppled Lost. I'm not sure where they can go next season, but having Sela Ward as a regular is a great start. I really feel sorry for Cameron.

Another great episode. I don't think the story with Cameron is over yet. If anything I think its given her a glimmer of hope.

Paul

I thought it was a great episode as well; one of the few medical shows I like (mostly based on Dr House's sarcastic personality).

I have to say that FOX, or at least FOX OTA in Tampa, is nowhere close to the pq of either CBS or ABC (NBC is between). Been very few FOX shows that blow me away pq-wise.

anyone know when this is going to b replayed? my local fox is goofing up the siganal stengths, and its unwatchabel on my tivo.

I liked last week's episode far more than this week. Last week was truly a cut above the norm, whereas, this week while good, was pretty much formulaic.

I really hope the addition of Sela Ward next season doesn't ruin the style and direction of the show. IMO, unless someone else drops off the show, she may be one character too many.

I really hope the addition of Sela Ward next season doesn't ruin the style and direction of the show. IMO, unless someone else drops off the show, she may be one character too many.

Who cares!! Some of us just like looking at Sela Ward! (are there other people on this show now?)

I don't think there are too many people in the show. They will have to bring new people once in a while just to keep the show interesting. Plus I really like the fact that Sela knows House so well and can predict what he is going to do (like the snack in the fridge). She also has the same save-the-patient-despite-himself attitude as House.

The Sela Ward character helps to bring down the House character in my eyes. He's the "devil may care" guy we all want to be which is a big part of the style of the show. She is the woman who will make him more normal. Not a good decision. Darn, there is always a woman making us behave and House has found his. I don't see how it will be the same.

Now to the real issue, there was a scene toward the end of the show, in Houses office with Sela that was awful from a technical standpoint. No detail for what was supposed to be HD. It looked like it was shot with an SD camera. Either D* downgraded the signal or Fox shot it crappy. Anyone else notice that?

I'd have to agree, I think adding Sela Ward permenantly is a bad idea. I also thought last week's episode was far superior to this week. I just didn't like the pacing, and I didn't like the idea that House would do to the husband what he so strongly fought against for himself. It was very out of character. I also thought Cameron's declaration was a bit abrupt.

My local Fox signal was crappy as hell also.

drgolf, I did notice the degraded segment. At first, I thought they were trying to soften the focus so the actors would look better, but then it just started looking like SD.

I don't like the idea of the Sela Ward character becoming a regular.
Her husband has the whole summer to recuperate, she doesn't need to be there in the fall.

Her husband has the whole summer to recuperate, she doesn't need to be there in the fall.

She is taking a job with the hospital. Cuddy asked House at the end of the show if this was OK and he said yes. I like her addition as long as she is not in every episode. I suspect she will only hang around for part of the year like the billionaire this past season.

If they're tossing her in to be a temp like Vogler, that might be OK. Could be a few interesting stories there -- just don't want it be a focus that drags down the show.

Paul

If they're tossing her in to be a temp like Vogler, that might be OK. Could be a few interesting stories there -- just don't want it be a focus that drags down the show.

Paul
I concur!

did anyone think there was something odd with sela ward's nose. sister pointed this out to me, and once she did, i kept noticing it too.

she's still hot, though.

Now to the real issue, there was a scene toward the end of the show, in Houses office with Sela that was awful from a technical standpoint. No detail for what was supposed to be HD. It looked like it was shot with an SD camera. Either D* downgraded the signal or Fox shot it crappy. Anyone else notice that?

I think they were tryin to go with the wrinkle removing guaze filter with all the close ups. Unfortunatly I don't think they've quite figured out filtering with HiDef quite yet. Didn't work at all. The scenes on the rooftop were nothing short of spectacular tho.

I'd have to agree, I think adding Sela Ward permenantly is a bad idea. I also thought last week's episode was far superior to this week. I just didn't like the pacing, and I didn't like the idea that House would do to the husband what he so strongly fought against for himself. It was very out of character. I also thought Cameron's declaration was a bit abrupt.

My local Fox signal was crappy as hell also.

But that was kind of the point. House didn't want it done to himself, but it's something he would do in a heartbeat to another patient, that's the hypocrisy. It would have been out of character if he didn't do it.

And I agree, Sela's character shouldn't be permanent, maybe just enough to make Cameron jealous.

I loved the scene where Cameron was imitating House. Her trying to be funny, unsuccessfully, was funny.

I also thought Cameron's declaration was a bit abrupt.

My local Fox signal was crappy as hell also.

I also didn't like her asking Sela and her husband how it must feel having House work on him, how freakin' unbelievable was that? This episode had some terrible writing in it and didn't hold a candle to last week. Last week's episode is Emmy material.

I also noticed the very bad PQ when the two of them got close in his office, looked like crap.

And I'll repeat, Sela being added to the cast better not ruin this show, FOX can ill afford to lose any hit show that they have. With her in the cast I can see this show ending up like the crap you see with The OC, just another soap opera.

Who cares!! Some of us just like looking at Sela Ward! (are there other people on this show now?)

Sheesh, go get one of those magazines, you know, the ones in that special section at the newstand.... :p :D

anyone know when this is going to b replayed? my local fox is goofing up the siganal stengths, and its unwatchabel on my tivo.
I'm already putting pennies in a jar so that I'll be prepared when the HOUSE on - First Season DVD comes out!

Who cares!! Some of us just like looking at Sela Ward! (are there other people on this show now?)
She's going to take screen time away from Jennifer Morrison, 'nuff said.

I liked last week's episode far more than this week. Last week was truly a cut above the norm, whereas, this week while good, was pretty much formulaic.

Last week's episode was truly one of the best written hours of television I've ever seen.

I agree. Last week's (5/17/05) show was the best I've seen on TV. If it doesn't win an Emmy something is wrong. Did anyone notice that Quentin Tarantino directed that episode?

I agree. Last week's (5/17/05) show was the best I've seen on TV. If it doesn't win an Emmy something is wrong. Did anyone notice that Quentin Tarantino directed that episode?

Are you sure you are not thinking of CSI?

She's going to take screen time away from Jennifer Morrison, 'nuff said.

jennifer is a cutie. sela is a hottie. plenty of -tie to go around

Last night's episode was the best I've seen yet. Not sure if it was rerun though. Anyway, it was new to me :). This was the one where Dr. Chase's dad visits him and a boy who is "cursed" become very sick. Slick dialogue, great acting, nice visuals, this has fast become one of my favorite shows. Hopefully Fox will keep the train rolling with this one. I do wish they would stray a little more from the one patient per show formula they seem to do a lot.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7914/image0274xf.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image0274xf.jpg)

Its the summer, so yeah it was a rerun - but yeah that was a good one.

Last night's episode was the best I've seen yet. Not sure if it was rerun though. Anyway, it was new to me :). This was the one where Dr. Chase's dad visits him and a boy who is "cursed" become very sick. Slick dialogue, great acting, nice visuals, this has fast become one of my favorite shows. Hopefully Fox will keep the train rolling with this one. I do wish they would stray a little more from the one patient per show formula they seem to do a lot.

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It was a repeat. No new House episodes 'till Fall.

Its the summer, so yeah it was a rerun - but yeah that was a good one.

thx man, i was reading a few pages ago and figured out the season finale already happened, lol.

Should be back in August though right? Can't wait. Defintely need to make some space on my hard drive for these recordings.

Should be back in August though right? Can't wait.

House is by far my favorite show. The show's just brillant to me, and of course the HD is nice too.

Of course I like Dr. House's character the most. I find his personality and underlying motives to be a very complex, and unique mix of things. It took me a few shows before I came to see that he really just wants to see the ultimate "right and just" thing happen; and it doesnt matter who gets steamrolled in the process. I never muched cared for pleasentries myself either, and sometime i hate that i have to use them so frequently just to not offend anyone. If only I could be as brutally honest as he is, without ending up with no friends, lol.

Of course I like Dr. House's character the most. I find his personality and underlying motives to be a very complex, and unique mix of things. It took me a few shows before I came to see that he really just wants to see the ultimate "right and just" thing happen; and it doesnt matter who gets steamrolled in the process.

I think he's a pretty archetypical character - the gruff, mean-sounding leader with a secret heart of gold.

I like the show but it is utterly predictable. The basic rundown of every episode is this:

Someone gets sick with a mysterious illness...

House at first refuses to intervene, until some little detail catches his eye...

Consult with his underlings, one of whom invariably suggests some form of encephalitis (this has become a running joke between me and my wife, who is a nurse)...

The first, second and third diagnoses are always wrong; the family gets mad, the hospital head chick gets mad, the patient almost dies...

House stumbles completely by accident on some minor detail that everybody else has overlooked, but by this point nobody believes his diagnoses anymore...

In the end, House is right and the patient lives; bonus that House reveals his soft side at some point late in the process.

Same template for every episode. Throw in a little subplot about familial relationships or drug addiction or child abandonment or something so House can show what a great guy he really is and you've got yourself a show.

I still like it and I still watch it. But I wonder how long this formula can last. I can't see more than two seasons unless the show really starts branching out.

Are the House repeats in some kind upscaling? It definitely looks upscaled to me, very blurry. Among other things, you can tell in the credits because the text is very blurred and it should be sharp.

Are the originally aired episodes in HD?

I just logged on to see if anyone was talking about this. I agree 100% -- this isn't HD -- it's nowhere near as sharp as the original broadcast. The episode they aired on Monday night was blurry as well. Something funny is going on ...

seemed like it was HD here, very crisp, although I had frequent drop-outs in my signal. I dont know if its a local issue or not.