I "get" House, and not just because I too am a misanthrope of sorts with a chronic condition that cannot be cured. This show was sold to Fox as a "Medical Law and Order" with the network being told that the cases not the cast would be the focus, and I think it would have been a failure had there been truth in advertising. The interesting thing about this show are the relationships and in particular, Hugh Laurie as Greg House M.D., a genius at diagnostic medicine that saves lives but does not like people.
And why should he? He develops an infarction in his leg, is misdiagnosed until it becomes so serious his leg may have to be amputated, clearly expresses his wishes to take a medical path that will mean either his death or complete recovery THEN has the hospital administrator conspire with his girlfriend at the time, who has his medical directive powers, to come up with an intermediate solution while House is unconscious. House keeps his leg, but will have deep chronic pain in that leg for the rest of his life plus the leg is now virtually useless. This is all told in flashback in the first season.
So for eight seasons House's friends and colleagues chastise him for not embracing his friends. Why should he? If he had been friendless at the time of his infarction, nobody would have meddled in his medical decision about his own body. His friends betrayed his wishes and left him in this state, pushing him away when he doesn't meet their high standards of behavior - standards of behavior that are fine for someone who isn't constantly in pain with a deep justified sense of betrayal.
Hypochondriacs - you have nothing to fear here. The medical cases are so bizarre and such one-in-a-million kinds of things that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting the diseases that House's patients get. Nobody House treats has breast cancer or Lyme disease or Parkinson's or any other highly probable illness.
Let me finally say just one thing about season seven, where most people think House jumped the shark in the action he took in the last episode of season seven. You don't start a love affair with someone who has grown comfortable in their isolation, tell him that you don't want him to change and tell him you think he is "an amazing man" just as he is, give him a big taste of of happiness and belonging and even family for perhaps the first time in his life, only to rip it away because of one isolated case of failure that should have been predictable. In other words you break your word and change the rules - you really did want change - and if you do these things, to quote House, "you really are an idiot" if you expect anything but an eventual emotional explosion.
House is the best thing on TV today, I highly recommend it for the social and unsocial viewer alike - it has something for everyone.
And why should he? He develops an infarction in his leg, is misdiagnosed until it becomes so serious his leg may have to be amputated, clearly expresses his wishes to take a medical path that will mean either his death or complete recovery THEN has the hospital administrator conspire with his girlfriend at the time, who has his medical directive powers, to come up with an intermediate solution while House is unconscious. House keeps his leg, but will have deep chronic pain in that leg for the rest of his life plus the leg is now virtually useless. This is all told in flashback in the first season.
So for eight seasons House's friends and colleagues chastise him for not embracing his friends. Why should he? If he had been friendless at the time of his infarction, nobody would have meddled in his medical decision about his own body. His friends betrayed his wishes and left him in this state, pushing him away when he doesn't meet their high standards of behavior - standards of behavior that are fine for someone who isn't constantly in pain with a deep justified sense of betrayal.
Hypochondriacs - you have nothing to fear here. The medical cases are so bizarre and such one-in-a-million kinds of things that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting the diseases that House's patients get. Nobody House treats has breast cancer or Lyme disease or Parkinson's or any other highly probable illness.
Let me finally say just one thing about season seven, where most people think House jumped the shark in the action he took in the last episode of season seven. You don't start a love affair with someone who has grown comfortable in their isolation, tell him that you don't want him to change and tell him you think he is "an amazing man" just as he is, give him a big taste of of happiness and belonging and even family for perhaps the first time in his life, only to rip it away because of one isolated case of failure that should have been predictable. In other words you break your word and change the rules - you really did want change - and if you do these things, to quote House, "you really are an idiot" if you expect anything but an eventual emotional explosion.
House is the best thing on TV today, I highly recommend it for the social and unsocial viewer alike - it has something for everyone.