Californication Vs. House MD: Conspiracy or Coincidence?

Hank Moody and Dr. House: two of the main reasons I haven't lost my faith in the future of television. Yet. They're the unmistakable proof that there are still writers out there caring enough to create great characters and with the ability to provide them with great dialogs and even better one-liners. Just in case those names don't ring any bells: they're the main characters of Californication and House MD, two highly praised sitcoms that tend to do well whenever Emmy Awards are handed out. To the untrained eye, both programs don't seem to have a lot in common, but dig deeper and you might be surprised.

There's been a lot of commotion about Californication already. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose most successful album bears the same name, sued the writers for using the title. This is not the time nor the place to look into that (all the attention definitely didn't do the series any harm, by the way), but it seems the writers copied a few other things as well.

Let's start with a look at Moody and House. A writer and a doctor. Nothing wrong there. Both of them are cynical and sarcastic. So am I. So are many other people. Both of them have an addiction: Moody likes his early morning shot of whiskey, House needs to pop a few pills every 15 minutes or so. Both of them have a healthy interest in women. So does 90% of the male population of almost any given country. However, both of them show a rather unhealthy interest in young girls (House gets a little bit excited by a 17 year-old daughter of a patient in season 1, Moody sleeps with the 16-year old daughter of his wife's new lover). This is where it starts to smell a little fishy. Next there's the love-hate relationship with their superior, respectively Moody's manager and the head of the hospital. Superiors who in return keep supporting them when nobody else believes in them anymore. Moody has his Porsche, House his midlife crisis motorbike. They'd probably get along rather well.

Another really important aspect in both series is music. Moody is rather keen on his old record collection and guitar, House needs to listen to Nessun Dorma. But the key element that lead to this comparison is so blatantly obvious that it almost rules out any chance of coincidence: 'You can't always get what you want' by the Rolling Stones. Now this is a pretty famous song, but what are the chances that two series quote lyrics from that song on several occasions and also use it in various key-moments throughout the series? Californication even uses it to end their first series with. It shows good taste to use the Stones rather than Celine Dion, but still...

Californication wants to prove it's on top of all the latest trends (references to music, the Suicide Girls, iMac) which leaves open the possibility that it uses the same elements as an homage to one of the best series of present day television. Then again, they might not. To quote a famous line from another great series: The truth is out there. If only I could remember who said it...