User reviews

I never paid much attention to "House MD" when it first premiered. I heard from a couple of people that it was basically the same thing every episode: Impossible disease to diagnose, House messes with his team, House suddenly solves the case.

But one day when I was bored, I switched the TV to House. And it happened to be the Season 6 finale (titled "Help Me"). Going to be honest, it blew me away. I did not know what was happening to the characters at the point in the story, but the acting was fantastic. The atmosphere was superb. The complexity of Dr. Gregory House intrigued me. I saw him as a tragic hero (something you find in works of literature) and his tragic flaw was his leg. Not only the physical limitations brought on by his leg, but the mental ones as well. The pain he suffers day by day that lead him to be the man he is. You see House as an ass...but you feel for him, because you know why he's an ass. Also, Hugh Laurie does such a good job with his accent, if I had not watched "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", I probably never would have guessed Hugh was British.

"House" is like a beautiful novel. It has its themes from episode to episode, and it has its overall themes as a television show. It is a work of art, and I hate that so many dismiss it because of its premise in a hospital. I have watched every episode of "House" since I first saw it and those were many hours well spent. If you've never seen it...the Complete Series is on DVD now!

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) revels in solving the hardest of medical riddles. He chooses his team which changes over the years. Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), and Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) are the three original underlings. Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) is his only true friend. Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) starts as his boss.

Hugh is a British actor playing an American doctor who has a badly damaged leg. He's a grumpy caustic know-it-all. Too bad for everybody else, he is almost always right. He is inevitably the smartest man in the room. Oh did I mention that he's a drug addict. It's master acting class from Hugh. It's physical. It's accent work. It's character work. It's a great character.

Normally when I watch a series, I mildly enjoy it and wander through the series mindlessly, particularly with sitcoms. On very rare occasions, a show will pop up that I enjoy the main actor so much I follow him around for a couple years. This happened with House.

Hugh Laurie plays the part so perfectly and does this incredible thing where you absolutely hate him and love him at the same time. You want him to be happy, but you also can't help but feel like he deserves some of the things he goes through.

The thing that impressed me the most about House is the fact that House stays House from the first episode of season one to the last one of season eight. His personality doesn't waiver for one second, and that's a feat in and of itself.

While all of the medical jargon wasn't necessarily accurate and they had a habit of people coughing up blood in almost every episode, I did find it far more fascinating than any of the crime dramas that pop up. That might just be my personal opinion. It did get old the last couple of seasons though. "It's lupus!"

Probably the best part of the whole show was House and Wilson's relationship. All of my favorite moments surround their crazy shenanigans. Like the chickens. Ah, the chickens...

The worst part is when it's over. You are depressed for a few days. You know a show is good when it does that to you. I wholeheartedly recommend you go watch House.

Let me put it simply. I am a physician, and as an inviolable rule, I HATE medical shows. Granted, TV series tend to be one dimensional, due to inherent difficulties in the genre, but "doctor shows" are something I avoid like the proverbial plague.

And then one evening I caught "House, MD" and was completely drawn into the show. In House I find the anti-hero that I've been waiting for in a medical show. The guy who knows everything, but is wrong often enough to keep us all guessing. I enjoy the contrast of House and his cadre of young fresh faced colleagues, complete with starched white lab coats, who struggle as much with their professionally imposed constraints, and sense of decorum, as they do with his personality. And, wonder of wonders, the use of ironic and tragic comedy is without peer in what I've seen in the TV world in recent memory. In a nutshell, I really never know what any given character will say or do and it's that freshness that will keep me coming back for more. Somewhere there is a team of writers who actually know their craft, and an acting ensemble that knows how to pull it off. Now I can watch my TV one hour a week........

Simply House is the best medical series made or will be! If you happen to read my previous reviews, you will know that I do not like long interviews, in short, House is the best medical series that is integrated in all of its 176 episodes . My rate : 9.7

This is my all time favorite television show. This is based on anything that falls within this category, from Game of Thrones on HBO to Stranger Things on Netflix, this is the best of the best. I remember, quite vividly, sitting down to watch the pilot, and I was almost instantly hooked. Here we were presented a medical show with a doctor that did not hide behind social norms, was not kind, but damn it, he would find out what was killing you. He always did, consequences be damned. I have long been a fan of Holmes, the books not the Downy JR. movies, and this show is the next best thing to the great detective. I was deeply sad when this went off the air, but he will live on in perpetuity in my movie collection. House, was Mr. Laurie's crowning achievement in acting and the best show to ever grace my TV screen.

This show has the potential to be wonderful. Hugh Laurie does an excellent job (and American accent I might add - he's British) as a sarcastic, yet super intelligent doctor. The show has a wonderful cast and the illnesses these patients come in with are very interesting. The acting is brilliant. It hasn't really been about the doctors yet, but it's starting to get a bit more personal. Up until now (the 3rd episode), it's been mostly about the patients, which is what you want in the beginning of a show. The comic relief is that Dr. House has to do work in the walk-in clinic where every hypochondriac in New Jersey comes walking in... his dealing with them is hilarious. And just as additional enjoyment, Jesse Spencer is very pleasing to the eyes. :)

It is the best medical show I've ever watched. All details in the show took into consideration. And also the cast were very good and done what they suppose to perform. The final episode showed us how hard the show's team had done to make this masterpiece.

It has everything: drama, great dialogue and great acting and lots of sarcasm from Dr. House. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll recommend you do it. I found it again in the free subscription of peacock tv.

I've watched House from the first episode and really like the show, but one thing it is NOT is a MEDICAL drama, as so many previous posters have said. What it is is a very well-written program that delves into people's personalities and motivations set in a hospital backdrop with the diagnostic dilemma of the week to add interest.

As a practicing surgeon for almost 30 years, I know for a fact that the "medicine" seen on House each week bears only the remotest resemblance to what really goes on in a teaching hospital, or even a private hospital for that matter. The writers can't even get the specialties correct-- Epps' character is a neurologist, NOT a neurosurgeon, and would not be performing any type of operation.

I have,however, chosen to suspend reality when I watch the show because the characters are so good (especially Laurie). I do find the Cameron character annoying, but to tell the truth I encounter all these types of personalities daily.

The House character is really not far off the mark of many physicians who have been in practice for years. You really do develop the ability to determine quite quickly when patients are less than truthful, and also what they are NOT telling you. The only difference in real life is that we can't be as tactless as House. The show is actually at its most medically accurate when House is in the clinic.

To sum up, just enjoy the show for the entertainment value, because if you are expecting medical accuracy on the E.R. level, it ain't there.

Hugh Laurie master of being head doctor, jerk, sophisticated, and quirky! This show is so enjoyable it gives me goosebumps often. House M.D. is so well done very much deserves the 2 Emmys earned. Filled with complex circumstances that are bumpy with many accurate or mishaps but more wins than not throughout. The characters go through a lot which is intriguing and always entertaining! Even the simple patients are always worth seeing. I love the show and all interesting facts around it!

Watched the first two or three episodes by accident, then lost track of when it aired and missed a couple. Found that I missed that cranky genius doctor detective and his relentless -- even brutal -- honesty. Came back in time to learn why he limps and sucks down painkillers like candy (but I'm not telling you); now he's my new favorite dangerous man, edging out James Spader's self-destructive lawyer on Boston Legal.

I hope this show lasts. Whether or not it does, I know that House will eventually wind up in my DVD collection beside Hugh Laurie's fabulous comedic work in Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster. This guy really has range!

In case it doesn't last, check it out quick. There's very little else like it on TV today.

As a "medical" show you have here a totally fantastic crew and set: the doctors are all good looking (chesty women and young men with good hair (and a nicely maintained Aussie accent)), relatively young people with all their hair on, and a hospital that seems like it was just recently visited by an interior decorator (lots of orange walls, glass, high ceilings), and is located somewhere that's always sunny (enormous amounts of natural light). There are no nurses, etc--instead our good doctors do everything themselves, including spending valuable time trying to take blood or finding a lost patient. Right. As others have pointed out the episodes are severely formulaic. There are two facets to each story: 1. Fixing mystery illness 2. Bickering with each other/ sexual tension/ House's addiction, lack of sentimentality, or the ironic contrast between his skill as a doctor and his lack of empathy. The plots all go this way: 1. Scene with patient becoming ill. 2. Opening theme 3. House and etc arguing rapidly about patient's conditions; House snaps witty remarks but they settle somewhat on a hypothesis. 4. Hypothetical diagnosis wrong, patient is worsening. 5. Another diagnosis with some more doctor/doctor bickering, and some revelation on part of House's character (he still has a heart, he has lots of pain, etc). 6. Diagnosis brings patient near to death, something must be done, but what?! 7. House gets some clue, and sends junior doctor to patient's home or interrogates family member. Family member cries and/or gets angry /something radical found at home. Risky diagnosis discovered by confident House, but could be win all/lose all 8. Patient is cured. End with showing some part of House's personality (addiction, lack of sentiment, inner anguish, etc).

The initial exposure to Dr. House's personality as a Sherlock Holmsey type of vicodin-addicted character is amusing. While Holmes was usually cold, House is sardonic, unsocial and bitter, and uses sarcastic humour. He also uses dark humour to deflect his interior character, which is supposed have some pain and some loneliness to give his character interest. However, after the umpteenth acrimonious but witty reply, and the umpteenth little scene showing that he isn't completely unpleasant just gets eyerollingly boring.

This is how the majority of episodes play out. Once in a while it's good if you've forgotten how the last episode played out, but I found that watching this show on a regular basis just feels like a huge waste of time.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. House is my new hero. This is a terrific show with some absolutely great writing. A little over the layman's head as far as medical jargon, but the characters, plot and script more than make up for any questions about a diagnosis. The show is really carried by House, but the team of doctors who work with him add dimension and depth to his character.

Any negative comments I've read about the show dealt with complaints about how the television doctors don't diagnose the way the viewing medical professionals do. May I point out to these people, this is a television show. Please get a grip on reality and watch it for it's pure entertainment value.

I hope this show has a good following and I'm already hoping for, and looking forward to, more seasons.

This series literally inspired me to study hard and crack the Medical entrance exam, 5 years later here I am with a degree and unexplainable amounts of exhaustion, but it's all thanks to House. After having completed the degree I can safely say that there is a lot of hyperbole and rule breaking as far as the medical aspect is concerned but I don't care, because the story and the acting is just beyond this world. I don't rewatch serieses ever, but this is the only exception to that rule; mainly because once finished I don't bother going back, even breaking bad I didn't rewatch, but this, this is just special.

It is NOT a mystery show. This show tells you about friendship, love, hypocrisy, being alone, enjoying life on your own, harsh truths of life and MISERABLE-NESS. Altough House saves lives by solving medical puzzles yet this show is about the character evolution. It shows how and why he likes being alone, why he can't love and show likeness to anyone, why he is ALWAYS in pain physically and emotionally and about the most selfless deed anyone has ever done for anybody. This show portrays almost every aspect of life in the perfect manner, not by making superficial hero who is best at everything but by portraying a most screwed person in the world who is far from being perfect. If I can summarize the best character ever in one line I would like to share this dialogue of 13(Hadley).

Dr. Remy Hadley: "You have spent your whole life looking for answers because you think that the next answer will change something, maybe will make you a little less miserable but you know that when you run out of questions you don't only run out of answers. YOU RUN OUT OF HOPE.

This is one of the best, most lifelike medical dramas I have ever seen.

House himself is abrasive and rude and it all adds up so you just like him more. At the start you really don't like House - he seems rude and infantile, but as the show progresses you develop a love for his style.

He definitely saves more people than those doctors who practice medicine by following the rules.

Although he has his problems (addiction/crippled leg) you don't tend to see them - so intriguing is this character. He will stop at nothing to discover what is wrong with his patient - even if he has to break into their home.

The closest medical drama to this that I have seen is ER - if you are into ER, House is a must.

They say that if you combine a great character with a great actor, you're halfway to a great show. "House M.D." seems to do that with most of its cast, but especially Gregory House and Hugh Laurie. House is a snarky, sarcastic, occasionally callous but adorable jerk. He is also the most brilliant yet least well-adjusted doctor at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Around him are three junior doctors, all three of whom have varied but interesting personalities. There is also his only friend, James Wilson, an oncologist and his superior with whom he has a rather antagonistic relationship. House involves strange, rare and complicated cases with no easy diagnosis, resulting in the spouting of some mind-numbing medical terminology(which I thought was a brave and successful attempt at retaining some reality)and often character-driven story lines. "House" has the best writing for any show in America, if you don't believe me just check the "quotes" section for samples of dialogue. House had an infarction in his leg, resulting in it becoming painful and near-impossible to move, which made him addicted to a painkilling drug known as Vicodin., which proves to be the source of many problems. House is, for all his imperfectness, a genius, a master of observation which is depicted in his clinic cases as he can instantly detect either and environmental cause for the disease/problem or find some the patient themselves do not know about. He is a deep character, though, and flawed, but likable, making him a cornerstone for this shows incredible success with the critics, though mainstream audiences prove less receptive and prefer to tune into pseudo-romantic, unintelligent trash like "Grey's Anatomy", a classic example of catering to the mainstream resulting in distaste from most critics. Why have not even FIVE ratings come for this show? Please rate it, even if your opinion differs to mine, rate it!!!!

"House M.D." hit our screens two years ago and could have be lost in the myriad of other medico shows on TV currently. However, the ingenuity of wit seen in the script and the complexity of Laurie's performance has caused this show to rise above the pack! The range of talent demonstrated by the actors makes the show both compelling and simultaneously medically credible. Highly recommended to all who are fascinated by the quirky!

Hugh Laurie deserves a special mention: the flawed Greg House could have become a stereotyped charatcer, but Laurie's background in comedy provides him with the perfect delivery of his cynical lines. When he is teamed with his underlings, Chase, Foreman and Cameron and charaacters such as Cuddy and the ever-important Stacy, "House M.D." proves that it is worth the hype in the media currently.

'House' is like a breath of fresh air to television screens. It's an intelligent show complete with solid, interesting characters in a sea of bland, predictable and repetitive shows that bombard the airwaves. The show revolves around diagnostician Doctor Gregory House, a bitter and antisocial cynic whose heightened intelligence leaves him with little patience for most people around him. On the surface, he has little interest in patients and instead it is solving the puzzle of their ailment that draws him in but we see many subtle instances which prove he does have a heart for both his patients and his friends. Reeling him in are his best friend Doctor James Wilson, who sees House as fulfilling his need to be needed, and his boss Doctor Lisa Cuddy, one of the few who can give House as good as he dishes out in terms of insults. Training under House as his fellows are Robert Chase, Allison Cameron and Eric Foreman, who all realise what a trial their job (or rather, their boss) can be at times.

Hugh Laurie, in the title role of House, is absolutely perfect. He is able to depict House's startlingly genius IQ that is intertwined with his childishness and sullenness, which, in turn, hide the fact he does care for his patients and those close to him. As such, he turns what could have been an detestable character into one the audience can like. Robert Sean Leonard also delivers a strong performance as Wilson in a manner that shows the character's kindly yet, at times, manipulative nature. The chemistry between Laurie and Leonard is excellent, which is essential in portraying the complex friendship between House and Wilson. Lisa Edelstein, as Cuddy, excels in playing the school marm to the eight-year-old boy House can be without comprising the deeper attributes of the character. Jennifer Morrison, Jesse Spencer and Omar Epps, as House's three fellows, also shine through in displaying the individual traits of their characters and how each interact differently with House.

One of the first things that drew me into the show was the sarcastic humour. Almost everything that comes out of House is humorous, even if it does make the person he is speaking to cry! House is a true anti-hero, inherently a good guy but is willing to do whatever it takes to solve his puzzle regardless of patients' views and colleagues' opinions. The character probably has also done more for disability awareness (House walks with a limp and is in chronic pain after suffering an infarction to his right thigh) than any PC government campaign. Here we have a show that isn't afraid to depict a disabled person acting like an arrogant oaf at times instead of being as some sort of glowing hero and example to us all, as most shows enjoy doing when portraying a character with disabilities.

The show is more like a detective drama along the lines of 'Law and Order' with medicine as opposed to a purely medical show like 'ER'. As such, there is more time dedicated to development of the characters as they go about trying to cure their patient. Everything is portrayed in a darker adult manner and there isn't too much focus on romance (which can ruin a show). Story lines are meaningful and involving, with no softly option taken in showing the realities of life and death. That said, the medical aspects on the show are almost always realistic.

'House' is a highly recommended show for those looking for something put together with intelligence and adult characters who act like adults instead of over-grown adolescent children in high school. Long may it continue!

First of all, I think series creator David Shore has done something very cool here. He's taken Sherlock Holmes and plopped him right into a high-stress job in the 21st century. Shore has said House is modeled strongly after Holmes, and this is definitely clear in a lot of House's dialog and mannerisms (especially in his conversations with Dr. Wilson). He and Hugh Laurie have done a better job creating a modern, believable version of the character than most other attempts I've seen ("Law and Order: Criminal Intent" comes to mind).

Also, although I love Laurie's performance, it could get annoying if it was just a one-man show (again: "LAO: CI"), and Shore has wisely surrounded him with a large cast of characters to make things more interesting. Each character adds something to the show, and it's very entertaining to see all the different personalities bouncing off each other (and ultimately, bouncing off House). My one complaint is that character development has been a little slow (especially with Chase), and if they don't branch out in that area, things could get stale.

Finally, I've heard some people criticize this show for being too unrealistic, but all I can say to that is, it's not supposed to be (what mystery show is!?). Yeah, the diseases patients come in with are totally off-the-wall, and House diagnoses and cures them in unrealistic ways, but if they were coming in with commonplace diseases, they'd get cured in 5 minutes and there wouldn't be a show! If you can manage to suspend your disbelief and think of it as a character-based mystery show (and can handle some of the graphic surgery scenes), you're bound to enjoy it.

I still miss watching this show . It is a very good medical tv show with great drama and especially the miserable doctor with his puzzle patients and his friendship with James Wilson. I totally loved every episode

When this show was originally on, I could not stand it. House is such an obnoxious, rude, and nasty person that I could not imagine working with him for more than ten minutes.

Now years later, I am off cable TV and watching streaming IMDb and rediscovered House. Even though I still wish somebody would beat him up at least once every five episodes, it is an incredibly well-written show.

The only thing that I do not like is that it seems like the writers always want to push House into more trouble, like he is a negative-attention-magnet. I would have liked the show more if it was not all about what a major jerk House is. The stories and the supporting characters deserved more attention than House.