A Fond Farewell to Dr. House

By Andrew Dominick, HamletHub Norwalk editor

Three weeks ago, television said farewell to a great character in the history of its long line of dramas, Dr. Gregory House. TV Overmind even named Dr. House as the best TV character of the last decade. I’m a fan and watched the show from its pilot episode in 2004 to its demise on May 21, 2012, and while I would not go as far to name him the best, he’s definitely in the conversation.

The cranky, witty, highly intelligent, crippled and in-pain, pill-popping doctor, played brilliantly by English actor Hugh Laurie, was something TV had never seen before. Some of House’s pleasures were far from the typical characters you see on basic cable. He enjoyed the company of prostitutes, was open about abusing Vicodin and an array of illegal drugs, and had disdain for religion of any kind.

 What separated House from every by-the-book doctor on every other medical show was he cared about the puzzle and challenge of diagnosing patients and not about the actual patients or their feelings. His philosophy of sorts was, “Everybody lies,” especially when speaking about patients. Hey, this guy even sent his team out to search their homes for those lies; lies that sometimes led to a clue which led to a cure. And let’s not even bring up his most hated hospital chore, clinic duty.

House’s mystery solving ways were not just for the sick but applied to his own team too. There was always this game of who’s telling half-truths, lies, or just flat-out hiding something, but that was part of the show and the character’s fun. House constantly played clever practical jokes on his employees and obviously he hired them for their ability to think outside the box but he knew they’d be game for his hijinks in which they gave as good as they got. Only, his team members were not his friends, sometimes it looked like he gave a damn but he never got too close. House had one real friend in Dr. James Wilson who creator David Shore, a big Sherlock Holmes fan, described as Watson to House’s Holmes. Put the practical jokes, detective stuff, and wit of the show together with their bromance and it makes perfect sense. This was the modern day Sherlock Holmes in a medical setting.

If you’ve never seen House, rent it.  Some viewers may argue that the show “jumped the shark” around season six or slightly earlier, and while the show may have taken some odd routes, Dr. Gregory House always stayed true to being the perfect imperfect character.