House Review

Fox's hit drama House is a totally different take on the medical profession than what we have seen before. Here there is not a team of caring doctors who only want to do good and spend their days comforting patients and holding their hands. There is in fact a team of doctors. Four of them to be exact. Three of the four truly do only want to do good and they do their fair share of comforting and hand-holding. Then there is the head of the team: Dr. Gregory House.

House, played by Hugh Laurie is a completely different kind of doctor. He is an infectious disease specialist who has a deficiency in anything resembling the "human touch" side of medicine. He is very blunt with his patients, telling them if they're going to die and not mincing words about it. His treatments are often seen as absurd and he will shut down anyone who tries to say so. That is for one very good reason - more times than not, they work. His quick one liners in the show is one of it's highest points of brilliance and either make you laugh or, show you why he's right. His miserable attitude is emphasized by the cane he carries. That and his limp are reminders to the audience of the constant pain he is in. If those weren't reminders enough, there is also the fact that House is addicted to pain killers. This not only adds to his overall demeanor, it also adds to the story line, sometimes getting him in very big trouble.

The show also portrays the personal lives of doctors on House's team as well as Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the hospital administrator and Dr. James Wilson, an oncologist who works at the hospital and also, House's best friend. So, if the intense medical drama and House's quips on human nature aren't enough to keep you interested, these will certainly do the trick. Hugh Laurie does an amazing job of portraying this doctor who's brilliance allows him to have the attitude that he does. I can't think of another actor that would be fit enough to play this part.

House has won a number of well-deserved awards including: an Emmy award for creator and executive producer David Shore, a Golden Globe for actor Hugh Laurie, and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Unlike some television dramas that do all they can do within a few seasons and then eventually die due to lack of storylines, House has so much depth and seemingly endless ground to cover that this series will be a part of our "must see TV" for a very long time.