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THERE IS MOST CERTAINLY
A DOCTOR IN THE "HOUSE"
April 1, 2005
Forget "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." You want to know what the true come-from-nowhere breakout TV smash of the year is? Answer: "House," Fox's Tuesday-night medical drama that debuted in December, after most new series were off and running, and is now drawing an amazing 17 million viewers per week.
And that's not even the most incredible part. What makes the story of "House" truly noteworthy is that each and every one of those 17 million people is tuning in to watch the show for one reason only--Brit thespian Hugh Laurie's career-orbiting performance as Dr. Gregory House.
Laurie as House is one of the best actor-character matchups in recent memory, and the result is a weekly tour de force that has fans forgetting what the episode was about by Wednesday morning and instead excitedly asking their friends, "Did you see House explode on Dr. Cuddy last night?" (And with the show's female fans, of which there are many, there's quite a bit of swooning over the grizzled Dr. House as well.)
Yes, Dr. House is a magnificent creation. He's cantankerous, egomaniacal, and brilliant. He flagrantly breaks hospital rules and promptly ignores his colleagues to better serve himself and his patients, those whose medical conditions are so mysterious and rare that no other doctor can offer a diagnosis.
Except House that is.
For Dr. House, no medical condition is too puzzling to go unsolved by the end of the show. Not that "House" fans care about plot. And considering how ridiculous said plots are, that's a good thing. Essentially, the writers trot out a patient with some bizarre malady, then throw red herrings at the screen for 50 minutes, before having the show's titular doctor pull the cure out of his hat (or, in this case, his stethoscope) in that episode's waning moments.
Luckily, with "House"--or "House, M.D." if you prefer (Fox's promo people can't seem to make up their minds)--it's not the plot the matters. Nor is it the bland supporting cast, featuring actors with a bit of face recognition but not much screen presence (including Omar Epps, who also did time in scrubs on "ER," and Lisa Edelstein, who recurred a bit on "Felicity" and "Ally McBeal").
No, you tune into house to see House snidely remark about a patient: "No placebos for him-only the real medicine." Laurie sells a line like that as good as anyone. And he hasn't won over the masses with wit alone. His whole body becomes part of the performance, from the gimp leg he drags underneath to those twitchy, marvelous eyebrows that dart up, down, and around with each smarmy proclamation.
A recent episode-capping scene that had him rocking out at his desk to The Who's rock anthem "Baba O'Riley" was nothing short of pure joy, transmitted straight from Laurie's body through the TV set and into your head and heart.
"He doesn't like anybody and nobody likes him," recently remarked a colleague about the good doctor. That may be true within the context of the show. But in the real world, people don't just like Dr. House. They love him. And they love him enough to religiously watch a paper-thin hospital drama that wouldn't have lasted a month without Laurie's ridiculously magnetic screen presence.
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