This Ain't No Little House On The Praire

Background:
I started watching American Idol this past year and House aired immediately following it. I had long assumed this show had something to do with a mysterious home. When I saw a preview in which Dave Matthews was a patient of DOCTOR House, I realized what the show was really about and decided to watch. From this episode on, I was hooked. My brother, who was already a die-hard-fan, lent me Season 1 so I could play catch up.

Who’s Who:
The main characters include Dr. House played by Hugh Laurie. Dr. Cuddy (House’s boss) played by Lisa Edelstein. Dr. Wilson (House’s good friend) played by Robert Sean Leonard. And Dr. House’s team of doctors, which include: Dr. Foreman played by Omar Epps, Dr. Cameron played by Jennifer Morrison, and Dr. Chase played by Jesse Spencer.

House M.D.:
House M.D. just aired the finale of Season 3, but it all began when Season 1, under the direction of creator David Shore, began in 2004.

House is not a show you have to watch in chronological order. Yes, there is interaction between characters, but no real development of characters from one episode to the next. In other words, they rarely grow or change in their roles.

Dr. House is the head of a team that deals with mystery illnesses. He is a diagnostician, whose career may be influenced by his own medical problems. House suffered from a medical condition that was not diagnosed in time, leading to a muscle dying in his leg. He now walks with a cane and a limp; popping Vicodin whenever the mood arises, even when infront of patients.

He is presented as a unkempt, very sarcastic and uncaring man, who tries to avoid meeting his patients at all costs. Instead he uses his team to interact with and take tests and symptoms from the patient, in a way to diagnose the patient’s condition from a far.

As you may have guessed by now, House is a medical mystery drama. The show begins each episode with a guest star moving through everyday life, who suddenly becomes overcome with an unknown medical condition and collapses. Often times the writers try to toy with the audience, making it look like one person will become the patient when really the patient is someone else.

After the patient passes out, the House theme plays and credits roll. In the next scene, Cuddy or another hospital employee tries to get House to take the patient’s case.

By the third scene House had agreed to the case and is seen writing the patient’s symptoms on a white board while his team tries to come up with diagnoses for said conditions.

Dr. Cameron is a female allergist who brings up images of rainbows and puppy dogs. She is a young, energetic doctor that sees the good in all people and believes all people are good. She has a crush on her mentor House, which is evident in the first season. Despite admiring this man who is twice her age, she often disagrees with his tactics in solving cases.

Dr. Foreman is a male neurologist who is Dr. Cameron’s polar opposite. He is not sarcastic like House, but he tends to see the bad in people. Foreman has a minor criminal record and was chosen for House’s team due to his “street sense.” He is not afraid to break into patients’ homes if it means finding something that may cure them. Foreman often disagrees with House on diagnoses and procedures.

Dr. Chase is the final member of the team and plays a less memorable part. He is a clean-cut, young, Australian man who seems to worship House as a leader. Despite having seen almost every episode of the show, I cannot remember what his specialty is though. In other words, his role is rather forgettable.

House and his team are usually stumped for the first forty minutes of the episode (episodes usually run 42-45 minutes). He has his team run unnecessary tests, confuse symptoms, come up with wrongful diagnoses, and bring the patient close to death.

House will stop at nothing to find the right diagnosis. His motto is, “Everybody lies.” Usually it is a lie that hides information that is pertinent to making the diagnosis and curing the patient. In order to prove this theory Dr. House has accused patients’ family and friends of abusing, or trying to kill their loved one. He has taken patients out of induced comas to ask them questions. He stopped an elevator with a patient inside until he could cure her. And he has done many other outrageous things.

Dr. Cuddy is the hospital administrator and often tries to stop House through different measures. I understand that the show has to have a hospital administrator, but her role is pretty worthless. She is a whole lot of talk and not much of anything else. House always gets his way, and in doing so saves a patient, which gets Cuddy to shut-up about his actions.

In the end of each episode, House had an epiphany, usually after talking with his friend Dr. Wilson. Wilson plays an oncologist who is not associated with the team. He is a good guy and always tries to get House to show feeling and do what is right. After his epiphany, House always has and explains the diagnosis and is usually able to still save the patient.

I usually try to solve the case along with House, but knowing little about medical stuff, I come up short-handed. I am usually able to at least pinpoint it to “it has something to do with the person’s hands” and later find out that the person has nicotine stains on their hands representing an attempt to quit smoking cold turkey, which cause the symptoms.

One thing I really love about this show is the lead character is a guest start a.k.a. the patient, and this person changes from week to week. In season 1 guest stars included Robin Tunney, Kevin Zegers, and Ever Corradine. The list goes on, but unfortunately in the first season there were not many well known stars.

Season 1 DVD:
The set includes only 3 discs, but they contain 21 episodes. The most important thing you can learn from this review is that each disc has a side B (although there are no markings on the disc that suggests this). Each side B contains 4 additional episodes. I recently realized this when looking a the episode index in the leaflet of the set.

Episode list from Season 1 includes: Pilot, Paternity, Occam’s Razor, Maternity, Damned If You Do, The Socratic Method, Fidelity, Poison, DNR, Histories, Detox, Sports Medicine, Cursed, Control, Mob Rules, Heavy, Role Model, Babies and Bathwater, Kids, Love Hurts, Three Stories, and Honeymoon.

Special Features:
Casting Session – Hugh Laurie running lines with others. He looks just like he does in the show; like he just rolled out of bed. This feature did not hold my attention.
Medical Cases - A very interesting look into where the idea for cases comes from. Medical consultants write for the show and find cases from news, books, and many different sources.
Set Tour - A tour of the set with Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Cameron). Shows the ins and outs of House and how procedures are made to look real.
House-isms - House-isms can be found on the Fox website for House, but there you can only read the funny things House says. In this feature, short clips are shown with all the funny things house says with his sarcasm.
Dr. House - Different characters and producers critique the role of House. If you only watch the first minute, it is worth it to see how Hugh Laurie changed his voice for the show.

Age Appropriateness:
Viewer’s Discretion is Advised before each episode of House when watching it on television. The advisory is not shown in the DVD and Season 1 is unrated. However, precautions should be taken in determining who can watch this show. House is for mature audiences. It may also not be the best show for those with a weak heart. Blood and gruesome medical phenomenons are shown. Abuse, sex, drugs, and other hard issues are often discussed.

Personally, I would allow a mature 13 year old to watch this show, but under no circumstance would allow anyone younger to watch it. Also, it is important for parents to watch this show with children and to be tuned into how the show is affecting the child. Use your own judgment.

Recommendation:
I highly recommend this show for anyone looking for a little mystery, some drama, some laughs, and just to have a good time for an hour. The entire Season 1 set runs for 16 hours 12 minutes. It is packed with sarcasm and wit, so if it sounds like your cup of tea, don’t hesitate in buying this show. It is filled with episodes that will entertain again and again.