House, M.D.

General Information

The hour-long medical drama debuted in the fall of 2004 and stars British Emmy-nominated actor Hugh Laurie. Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, a maverick medical genius who heads 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 a common task: diagnosing and treating unusual ailments. As either a running joke or a coincidence, vasculitis is considered as a cause at least once in almost every episode. Most episodes start outside the hospital, showing the events that will imminently lead to the onset of the week's patient's illness.

Related Topics:
Medical - Fall - 2004 - British - Emmy - Hugh Laurie - Genius - Diagnostician - Hospital - Vasculitis

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A recurring subplot on the show is Dr. House's begrudging fulfillment of his mandatory clinic duty, confounding patients with an eccentric bedside manner and often unorthodox treatments, but impressing them with rapid and accurate diagnoses after seemingly not paying attention. Often some of the rather simple problems House faces in the clinic helps him solve the main case of the show. In one episode, House diagnosed an entire waiting room full of patients on his way out of the clinic.

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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." However, in the season one finale, he remarked that he was lying when he said that.

Related Topics:
Misanthropic - Wit - Infarction - Vicodin - He was lying when he said that

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For five episodes in season one, the writers introduced a nemesis for Dr. House in the form of a new hospital chairman — billionaire Edward Vogler (Chi McBride). Vogler is a businessman who donated 100 million dollars in hopes of advancing research into life-threatening diseases. However, as the episodes featuring Vogler advanced, it became clear that the businessman may have had several ulterior motives, including unethically profiting from the hospital's promotion of his drug company. Vogler, acting in his new position as chairman of the board, also declared that he was 'going to run Princeton-Plainsboro as a business'.

Related Topics:
Chi McBride - Dollars

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High on his list of expense cuts was Dr. House and his Department of Diagnostic Medicine. Vogler offered House 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 was the focus of several episodes. In the end, the hospital board of directors votes Vogler off the board after Vogler effectively forced them to vote to remove Dr. House and Dr. Wilson, and threatened to do the same to Dr. Cuddy.

Related Topics:
Department of Diagnostic Medicine - Hobson's choice - Episodes - Board of directors

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

Related Topics:
Heel and Toe Films - Bad Hat Harry Productions - NBC Universal Television Studio - Fox Broadcasting Company

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