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House (TV series)

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House, M.D. (Commonly known and promoted by Fox as just 'House') is an American television series produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. The hour-long medical drama debuted in the Fall of 2004 and stars British actor Hugh Laurie.

Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, a curmudgeonly medical genius who heads up a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Despite his abrasive personality, the members of his team remain steadfast in their loyalty, going to extraordinary lengths to accomplish their common task: diagnosing and treating unusual ailments.

A recurring subplot is Dr. House's begrudging fulfillment of his mandatory clinic duty, confounding patients with an eccentric bedside manner and often unorthodox treatments.

Dr. House is arguably misanthropic and never misses an opportunity to exercise his cutting wit, often in phrases which have come to be referred to in the series' fandom as "House-isms". It's possible some of his crankiness can be attributed to the chronic pain in his leg (the result of an infarction in his right thigh muscle) for which he takes Vicodin regularly -- whether he takes it too regularly was the subject of an entire episode in the first season. He does not suffer fools gladly; as a corollary, he seems to regard most people as fools, and is on record that, in his opinion, "everybody lies."

The hospital chairman is billionaire Edward Vogler (Chi McBride), businessman who donated 100 million dollars in hopes of advancing research into life-threatening diseases. Vogler, acting in his new position as chairman of the board, declares that he is going to run Princeton-Plainsboro as a business. High on his list of expense cuts is Dr. House and the Department of Diagnostic Medicine. Vogler offers House a Hobson's choice: fire one of his team members and take on more clinic hours or risk losing the entire department. How this choice plays out is the focus of several episodes.

House, M.D. is a Heal & Toe Production in association with Bad Hat Harry Productions and the NBC Universal Television Studio for the Fox Broadcasting Company.

As of March, 2005, Fox has commissioned a second season.

Comparison to Sherlock Holmes

The series is an analogue for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series. Dr. House is the Holmes figure, and an infectious disease specialist. Dr. James Wilson (an oncologist) is his Watson. Where Holmes solved crimes, House solves medical mysteries. Holmes was famous for solving cases no one else could unravel; just so House. Where Holmes used cocaine, House uses Vicodin. One difference between the Conan Doyle books and the Fox television series is that Holmes worked primarily with Watson; House, in contrast, has a team of three young doctors who work with him, and Wilson is not officially part of that team. That said, the House/Wilson connection seems as strong, and as relevant to the characters, as the Holmes/Watson one was.

Trivia

The opening theme is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack.

The building used for external shots of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital is actually Princeton University's Frist Campus Center. It is named after the family of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).

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