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Gregory House, M.D.
House character
Hugh Laurie portraying House
First appearance"Pilot" (1.01)
Last appearance"Everybody Dies" (8.22)
Created byDavid Shore
Portrayed byHugh Laurie
In-universe information
NicknameHouse
GenderMale
Occupation
Family
  • Col. John House (father)
  • Blythe House (mother)
Significant other

Gregory House is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the American medical drama series House. Created by David Shore and portrayed by English actor Hugh Laurie, he leads a team of diagnosticians and is the Head of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in Princeton, New Jersey.[1] House's character has been described as a misanthrope, cynic, narcissist, and curmudgeon.

In the series, the character's unorthodox diagnostic approaches, radical therapeutic motives, and stalwart rationality have resulted in much conflict between him and his colleagues.[2] House is also often portrayed as lacking sympathy for his patients, a practice that allows him time to solve ethical enigmas. The character is partly based on Sherlock Holmes.[3][4] A portion of the show's plot centers on House's habitual use of Vicodin to manage pain stemming from leg infarction involving his quadriceps muscle some years earlier, an injury that forces him to walk with a cane. This dependency is also one of the many parallels to Holmes, who is portrayed as being a habitual user of cocaine and other drugs.[5]

The character received generally positive reviews and was included in several "best of" lists.[6][7] Tom Shales of The Washington Post called House "the most electrifying character to hit television in years".[8] For his portrayal, Laurie won various awards, including two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama, two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor from Drama Series, two Satellite Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama, two TCA Awards for Individual Achievement in Drama, and has received a total of six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which ties him for the most nominations in the category without a win.

Character history

[edit]

Gregory House was born to John and Blythe House on June 11, 1959,[9] or May 15, 1959.[10] House is a military brat; his father served as a Marine Corps aviator and transferred often to other bases during House's childhood.[11] House presumably picked up his affinity with languages during this period and shows a level of understanding of Chinese, Greek,[12] Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, and Yiddish.[13] One place in which his father was stationed was Egypt, where House developed a fascination with archaeology and treasure-hunting, which led him to keep his treasure-hunting tools well into adulthood.[14] Another station was Japan, where a 14-year-old House discovered his vocation after a rock-climbing incident with his friend. He witnessed the respect given to a buraku doctor who solved the case no other doctor could.[15] He also spent some time in the Philippines, where he had dental surgery.

House loves his mother but hates his father, who he claims has an "insane moral compass", and deliberately attempts to avoid both parents.[11] At one point (episode "One Day, One Room"), House tells a story of his parents leaving him with his grandmother, whose punishments constituted abuse.[16] However, he later confesses it was his father who abused him.[16] Due to this abuse, House never believed John was his biological father; at the age of 12, he inferred that a friend of the family with the same birthmark as himself was his real father.[17] In the episode "Birthmarks", House discovers that John is not his biological father after ordering a DNA test.[17] After a second DNA test was performed in the episode "Love is Blind", House discovers that the man he assumed to be his biological father, Thomas Bell, was not either.[18] The identity of his real father remains unknown.

House first attended Johns Hopkins University for his undergraduate years as a physics major. Before fully committing to medicine as his discipline, he considered getting a Ph.D. in physics, researching dark matter.[19] He was accepted to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and excelled during his time there. He was a frontrunner for a prestigious and competitive internship at the Mayo Clinic,[20] but another student, Philip Weber, reported House for plagiarizing him, resulting in House's expulsion from Johns Hopkins and rejection from the internship.[20] While appealing his expulsion, he studied at the University of Michigan Medical School and worked at a bookstore, where he met his future employer and love interest Lisa Cuddy,[21] with whom he shared a night where "he gave her everything she asked for."[22] Years later, Cuddy noted that House, although still a student, had already become "a legend" due to his diagnostic brilliance. After the appeal process, he was denied re-entry into Johns Hopkins. During a medical convention in New Orleans, House first saw his eventual best friend Dr. James Wilson. Wilson, who was going through his first divorce at the time,[17] broke a mirror in frustration, and started a bar fight after a man repeatedly played "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" on a jukebox.[17] Out of sheer boredom with the convention and to "have somebody to drink with", House paid for the damage, bailed him out, and hired an attorney to clear Wilson's name (which he failed to do), starting their professional and personal relationship.[17] House identifies himself multiple times during the series as a "board-certified diagnostician with a double specialty in infectious disease and nephrology."[23]

Approximately ten years before the beginning of the series, House entered into a relationship with Stacy Warner, a constitutional lawyer, after she shot him during a "Lawyers vs. Doctors" paintball match.[15] Five years later, during a game of golf, he suffered an infarction in his right leg which went misdiagnosed for three days. House eventually diagnosed the infarction himself.[24] An aneurysm in his thigh had clotted, leading to an infarction and causing his quadriceps muscle to become necrotic.[24] House had the dead muscle bypassed to restore circulation to the remainder of his leg, risking organ failure and cardiac arrest.[24] He was unwilling to allow an amputation, opting instead to endure excruciating post-operative pain to retain the use of his leg.[24] However, after he was put into a chemically induced coma to sleep through the worst of the pain, Stacy, House's medical proxy, and Cuddy, who was House's doctor at the time, acted against his wishes and authorized a safer surgical middle-ground procedure between amputation and a bypass by removing just the dead muscle.[24] This resulted in the partial loss of use in his leg and left House with a lesser, but still serious, level of pain for the rest of his life.[24]

House could not forgive Stacy for making the decision after he obviously did not want the “safer” procedure; this was the reason Stacy eventually left him.[24] House now suffers chronic pain in his thigh and uses a cane to aid his walking, though he often wields the cane for protection, pushing aside privacy curtains, stopping elevator doors, or knocking on doors. He also frequently takes Vicodin, a moderate to severe painkiller, to relieve his pain.[25] House briefly breaks his dependency with psychiatric help, after he suffers a psychotic break. When Stacy makes her first appearance in season 1, she is married to a high school guidance counselor named Mark Warner.[26] Although she and House have a brief intimate encounter during the second season, House eventually tells Stacy to go back to her husband, devastating her. In the season two finale "No Reason", the husband of one of House's former patients shoots him after his wife had committed suicide. At the beginning of season three, House temporarily regains his ability to walk and run after receiving ketamine treatment for his gunshot injuries;[27] however, the chronic pain in his leg comes back and House, who seems depressed because of the returning pain, once again takes painkillers and uses his cane.[28] The other doctors speculate his cane and opiate re-usage are due to his psychological tendencies.[28] House eventually finds the one thing that seems to help the pain go away: practicing medicine. After he diagnoses a patient online for his team (without their knowledge), and shows his psychiatrist Dr. Nolan how this reduces his pain, Nolan suggests House resume his practice.[29]

In season seven, when Cuddy, who is House's girlfriend at this point, has a brush with death, House goes back on Vicodin in order to cope with the fear of losing her. Near the end of season seven, House finds out the experimental drug he had been using caused fatal cancerous tumors in all of the lab rats in the experiment. He gets a CT scan of his leg and finds three tumors close to the surface of the skin in his leg. He goes home, cleans his bathroom, and attempts to perform surgery on his own leg to extract the tumors in his bathtub.[30] In season eight, House finds himself in prison after running his car into Cuddy's house, as shown in the ending of the season finale of season seven. There he learns his need for Vicodin is a weakness when an inmate makes House steal twenty Vicodin pills or be killed. Throughout season eight, House's therapeutic use of Vicodin becomes more habitual, similar to his use before season five. The final season's opening episode partly explores what path an imprisoned House would take aside from practicing medicine, revealing physics as his other forte.[19] The episode "Body & Soul" makes a nod to this with a reference to a particle physics text amongst his books, as mentioned by his then-wife Dominika Petrova.[31] House fakes his own death in the series finale, thus giving up his ability to practice medicine, in order to spend time with Wilson, who has five months to live. He does this in order to avoid being sent back to prison for destroying an MRI machine when an insult to Eric Foreman destroys the hospital sewage system. The series ends with House and Wilson riding off into the countryside on motorcycles, as Dr. Chase takes over House's department.[32]

Personality

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"Dr. House is a fascinating and daringly cantankerous enigma, the proverbial bitter pill who also happens to be a highly intuitive medical genius. He despises interacting with patients and prefers dealing with diseases – with medical mysteries that leave other doctors scratching their heads in befuddlement."
— Tom Shales describing the character.[8]

House frequently shows off his cunning and biting wit, and enjoys picking people apart and mocking their weaknesses.[33] House accurately deduces people's motives and histories from aspects of their personality, appearance, and behavior.[34] His friend and colleague, Wilson, says that while some doctors have the "messiah complex" (they need to "save the world"), House has the "Rubik's complex" (he needs to "solve the puzzle").[35] House typically waits as long as possible before meeting his patients.[33] When he does, he shows an unorthodox bedside manner and uses unconventional treatments.[36] However, he impresses them with rapid and accurate diagnoses after seemingly not paying attention.[28] This skill is demonstrated in a scene where House diagnoses an entire waiting room full of patients in little over one minute on his way out of the hospital clinic.[37] House, although rarely visiting his patients, demonstrates that he is more than capable of using practical medical skills: for example, occasionally taking part in operations and reacting quickly when a patient has a cardiac arrest in front of him. Critics have described the character as "moody", "bitter", "antagonistic",[38] "misanthropic",[35] "cynical",[39] "grumpy", "maverick",[40] "anarchist", "sociopath", and a "curmudgeon".[41]

Laurie describes House as a character who refuses to "obey the usual pieties of modern life" and expects to find a rare diagnosis when he is treating his patient.[42][43] Many aspects of his personality are the antithesis of what might be expected from a doctor.[33] Executive producer Katie Jacobs views House as a static character who is accustomed to living in misery.[44] Jacobs has said that Dr. Wilson, his only friend in the show, and House both avoid mature relationships, which brings the two closer together.[45] Leonard has said that Dr. Wilson is one of the few who voluntarily maintains a relationship with House, because he is free to criticize him.[45]

Although House's crankiness is commonly misattributed to the chronic pain in his leg, both Stacy and Cuddy have said that he was the same before the infarction.[26][46] To manage the pain, House takes Vicodin every day, and as a result has developed an addiction to the drug.[47] He refuses to admit that he has an addiction ("I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem").[23] However, after winning a bet from Cuddy by not taking the drug for a week, he concedes that he has an addiction, but says that it is not a problem because it does not interfere with his work or life.[48] In the 2009 season House goes through detox and his addiction goes into remission, so to speak.[49] However, it does seem that House may have gotten over his addiction in the season 6 premiere.[50] House creator David Shore told the Seattle Times in 2006 that Vicodin is "becoming less and less useful a tool for dealing with his pain, and it's something [the writers] are going to continue to deal with, continue to explore".[51]

House openly talks about, and makes references to, pornography.[52] In "Lines in the Sand", he returns the flirtations of an underage female who is a daughter of a clinic patient.[53] He regularly engages the services of prostitutes,[20][54] of which his former female diagnostic team member Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who once had a crush on him, is aware.[55] He also likes to gamble, frequently making wagers.

House speaks multiple languages, demonstrating fluency in English, Spanish,[21] Russian,[56] Portuguese,[57] Hindi,[20] and Mandarin.[58] He listens to jazz, plays the piano (as does Hugh Laurie) and has an interest in vintage electric guitars. House has often credited guitarist/songwriter Eric Clapton and composer Giacomo Puccini as his biggest musical influences, drawing parallels to those of Hugh Laurie's. He is an avid gamer with a preference for handhelds (owning two Sony PSPs and three Nintendo handhelds, two Game Boys and a DS), is known to attend monster truck pulls with Wilson, and watches the soap operas General Hospital and the fictional Prescription Passion, as well as Judge Judy. House is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Flyers. He is also (as is Laurie) a motorcyclist, riding a Honda CBR1000RR Repsol Edition, license plate Y91, as seen in "Swan Song", "Help Me", "Deception" and "Post Mortem"; otherwise, he drives a Dodge Dynasty sedan.

House is an atheist. He openly and relentlessly mocks colleagues and patients who express any belief in religion, deeming such beliefs illogical. He does not believe in an afterlife because he finds it is better to believe life "isn't just a test".[24] However, in the season four episode "97 Seconds", he expresses sufficient interest in the possibility of an afterlife to electrocute himself in an effort to find out; he is dissatisfied with the results and denounces the possibility of an afterlife.[59] This is also an example of House's tendency to self-experiment and submit to risky medical procedures in the name of truth. Over the course of the series, he disproves the effectiveness of a migraine cure by self-inducing a migraine and controlling the effects through drugs,[20] undergoes a blood transfusion to assist with a diagnosis, and overdoses on physostigmine to improve his memory after sustaining head injuries, subsequently causing his heart to stop beating, then undergoes deep brain stimulation soon after.[60][61][62] In "The Fix", he steals experimental medicine only tested in rats to try and regrow his thigh muscle, eliminating his pain. In the following episode, "After Hours", he finds out that the medicine causes tumors, and operates on himself in his bathtub based on a CT scan. Ultimately he is unable to continue and eventually brings in Cuddy, who sends him to the hospital.

"[House] enjoys pursuing the truth, and he knows we all see the world through our own lenses. He's constantly trying to strip himself of those biases, to get a clean, objective view of things."
— Shore to Variety.[63]

House frequently says, "Everybody lies", but jokingly remarked he was lying when he said it.[42] House criticizes social etiquette for lack of rational purpose and usefulness.[53] Dr. Cameron states in the first episode of the first season "House doesn't believe in pretense... so he just says what he thinks".[64] In the season three episode "Lines in the Sand", he explains how he envies an autistic patient because society allows the patient to forgo the niceties that he must suffer through.[53] In the same episode, Dr. Wilson suggests House might have Asperger syndrome, which is characterized by a number of traits found in House, such as difficulty accepting the purpose of social rules, lack of concern for his physical appearance, and resistance to change; though he later reveals to House that he does not truly believe this, and that claiming this was a part of a ploy to soften Cuddy's opinion of House.[53] House is a strong nonconformist and has little regard for how others perceive him.[43] Throughout the series, he displays sardonic contempt for authority figures.[65] House shows an almost constant disregard for his own appearance, possessing a permanent stubble and dressing informally in worn jeans, wrinkled shirts over rumpled T-shirts, and sneakers.[66] He avoids wearing the standard white lab coat to avoid patients recognizing him as a doctor, preferring a shabby blazer or, less frequently, a motorcycle jacket.[25][65]

Social behavior

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House does not have much of a social life, and his only real friend is Dr. James Wilson.[35][43] Wilson knew House before the infarction and looked after him when House's relationship with Stacy ended.[46] Dr. Wilson's moving into House's apartment after his failed marriage in "Sex Kills" symbolizes Wilson’s taking emotional refuge in his friend.[67] Although they frequently analyze and criticize each other's motives, Wilson has risked his career to protect House, including having his job terminated in the first season as an effort of Edward Vogler to dismiss House, and having his practice damaged by Detective Michael Tritter in an investigation of House's narcotics consumption.[52][68] House has quietly admitted, at several instances, that he is grateful for Wilson's presence, including referring to Wilson as his best friend. When Wilson resigns and moves away from both New Jersey and House's friendship in the season 5 premiere, House is desperate to have his friend back, and hires a private investigator (Michael Weston) to spy on him.[69] The two ultimately reconcile at House's father's funeral in a scene similar to their first meeting, only this time Wilson breaks a stained glass window with what appears to be a bottle of wine or alcohol in a moment of anger directed at House.[17] In the series finale, House fakes his death both to get out of going to prison and to spend five remaining months with Wilson before he dies of cancer, after having spent the past third of the season helping him through difficult, risky and ultimately unsuccessful treatments and reckless "bucket list" wishes.

Lisa Edelstein has said that despite his sardonic personality, House is a character who is reliant on people surrounding him.[42] Edelstein says this characteristic is portrayed on several occasions in the third season, during which House's medical career is in jeopardy due to investigations by Det. Michael Tritter (David Morse), who arrests him for possessing narcotics.[70] House's legal trouble ends when Edelstein's character, Lisa Cuddy, commits perjury during his hearing.[49] In Season 5, a relationship with Cuddy begins to blossom, as they are unable to deny feelings between each other.[71] They share a kiss in episode six "Joy", sparking ongoing romantic tension.[71] When Cuddy's office is destroyed by a gunman and is being renovated, she moves into House's office in what Wilson believes to be an attempt to get closer to House. House and Cuddy try to drive each other away, doing things to each other's offices to make them worse, but in an uncharacteristically kind move, House has Cuddy's mother send her medical school desk for her new office as a surprise. Cuddy is touched by what he did, but is devastated when she spots him with a prostitute he hired, not knowing he had done so only as a prank on Kutner and Taub. In the season finale "Both Sides Now" it is confirmed that House wishes to pursue a romantic relationship with Cuddy. In this episode, House believes he has slept with Cuddy and informs Wilson the following morning. This is revealed, however, to be a hallucination, a side effect of his Vicodin abuse. The House-Cuddy story culminates in the season 6 finale, "Help Me", when Cuddy cancels her engagement to Lucas to face the realization that she has loved House all along;[72] they share a passionate kiss, hinting at a mutual willingness to try to develop a real relationship.[73] However, in season 7, their relationship ends when House starts taking Vicodin again when he is faced with Cuddy possibly having a terminal illness. The season 6 finale "Help Me" shows that despite his personality, he cares deeply about his patients, especially those with whom he has formed an emotional bond. He almost relapses into his Vicodin addiction, but this is prevented by Cuddy confessing her love for House.

House has also been known to act as a mooch at times, frequently stealing food from Wilson. In "You Don't Want to Know", while House is searching for the cause of Thirteen's twitching, he claims to have stolen money from her wallet.[60] In the same episode, Wilson observes that House's blood type is AB, the universal recipient, reflecting his desire to take whatever he can. In another episode, House reveals to Wilson that House has been borrowing larger and larger sums of money from Wilson without paying him back, just to see when Wilson would turn him down. In "Wilson's Heart", it was revealed that one of the reasons for Amber being on the bus with House during the fatal crash was that House fled Shari's Bar to stick Amber with his bar tab, but left his cane behind, causing Amber to follow House onto the bus to return the cane.

Development

[edit]

Conception

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"The title diagnostician of the show would be as smart a physician as Dr. Kildare and as sharp a sleuth as Gil Grissom of CSI, it was important to us that he be damaged, both emotionally and physically."
— Shore on House's creation.[74]

While the show was originally set to be a medical procedural, the idea changed when the writers started to explore the possibilities of a curmudgeonly title character.[63] Shore traced the concept for the title character to his background as a patient at a teaching hospital.[75] Shore recalled that "I knew, as soon as I left the room, they would be mocking me relentlessly [for my cluelessness...] and I thought that it would be interesting to see a character who actually did that before they left the room".[76] Shore also based the character partly on himself: in a 2006 interview with Maclean's he explained that he has a "cynical and cold attitude lurking within" him, and almost always agrees with House's point of view.[74] A central part of the show's premise was that the main character would be disabled in some way.[77] The initial idea was for House to use a wheelchair, inspired by the 1960s police drama Ironside, but Fox turned down this interpretation (for which the crew was later grateful).[63][77] The wheelchair became a scar on House's face, which later turned into a bad leg necessitating the use of a cane.[77] House usually holds his cane on the same side as his injured leg; Shore explained: "Some people feel more comfortable with the cane in the dominant arm, and that is acceptable".[78] The cane tricks that are seen throughout the series are created by Laurie himself.[45]

Cathy Crandall, costume designer for the show, created a look for the character that made it seem like he did not care about his clothing.[79] She designed House with a wrinkled T-shirt, a blazer that is one size too short, faded and worn-in jeans and heather-gray rag socks.[79] It was Laurie's idea to have the character wear sneakers, because he thought "a man with a cane needs functional shoes"; the Fox studios' wardrobe department kept thirty-seven pairs of Nike Shox on hand.[79] House has worn T-shirts designed by famous designers such as Barking Irons and Lincoln Mayne,[79] but also by less known designers such as Andrew Buckler[80] and Taavo.[81] The shirts are usually kept tied in a ball overnight to get them to wrinkle.[79]

Casting

[edit]
Hugh Laurie (pictured), who portrays House.

When casting for the part started, Shore was afraid that in "the wrong hands", House would "just be hateful".[74] The casting directors were looking for someone who could, as Shore described, "do these horrible things and be somehow likable without just, you know, petting a kitten".[82] When Laurie was asked to audition for the role of House, he was filming Flight of the Phoenix in Namibia.[83] Laurie had no big expectations for the show, thinking that it would only "run for a few weeks".[66][84] He planned to audition for the roles of both James Wilson and Gregory House.[82] However, when he read that Wilson was a character with a "handsome open face", he decided to audition solely for the role of House.[82] Laurie chose not to change his clothing, but to remain in the costume he wore for the film; he also decided not to shave his beard.[66] He put together an audition tape of his own in a Namibian hotel bathroom, the only place with enough light,[85] while his Flight of the Phoenix co-stars Jacob Vargas and Scott Michael Campbell held the camera.[66] He improvised by using an umbrella for a cane.[86] Laurie initially believed that James Wilson would be the protagonist of the show after reading the brief description of the character and did not find out that House was the main character until he read the full script of the pilot episode.[87][88]

After he had watched casting tapes for the pilot episode, Bryan Singer grew frustrated and refused to consider any more British actors because of their flawed American accents.[43] Although Singer compared Laurie's audition tape to an "Osama bin Laden video",[89] he was impressed with Laurie's acting and, not knowing who he was, Singer was fooled by his American accent.[85] He commented on how well the "American actor" was able to grasp the character, not knowing about Laurie's British nationality.[76] Although Laurie's appearance was very different from the way Shore pictured House, when he watched the audition tape, he was equally as impressed as Singer.[74] More famous (in the American market) actors such as Denis Leary, Rob Morrow and Patrick Dempsey were also considered, but Singer, Shore, and executive producers Paul Attanasio and Katie Jacobs all thought Laurie was the best option and decided to cast him for the part.[90] Laurie was the final actor to join the cast of House.[91] After he was chosen for the part, Laurie, whose father Ran Laurie was a doctor himself, said he felt guilty for "being paid more to become a fake version of my own father".[85] While Laurie has used an American accent before in the Stuart Little films, he found it difficult to adopt it for his role, saying that words such as "coronary artery" are particularly tricky to pronounce.[54]

Parallels to Sherlock Holmes

[edit]
House and Wilson's relationship mirrors Holmes and Watson's (pictured) relationship.

Similarities between House and the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes appear throughout the series;[92] Shore explained that he was always a Sherlock Holmes fan, and found the character's indifference to his clients unique.[76] The resemblance is evident in various elements of the series' plot, such as House's reliance on psychology to solve a case, his reluctance to accept cases he does not find interesting and House's home address, 221B Baker Street, which is the same as Holmes'.[42][93] Other similarities between the two characters are drug use (House battled a Vicodin addiction for years and Holmes was a recreational user of cocaine), successful detoxification (which proves to be only temporary in House's case), playing an instrument (Holmes plays the violin and House plays the guitar, piano, organ and harmonica) and a talent for accurately deducing people's motives and histories from aspects of their personality and appearance.[94]

Shore has also explained that the name "House" is a play on the name "Holmes" via its phonetic similarity to the word "homes". The pun does not extend to the meaning of the names, as the surname "Holmes" actually denotes that its initial bearers lived near or worked with holly or holm-oak trees, such that "Holl[e]y" or "Oak[e]s" would be a more literal equivalent.[95] Both Holmes and House each have one true friend, Dr. John Watson and Dr. James Wilson, respectively.[4] Leonard has said that House and his character were originally intended to play the roles of Holmes and Watson in the series although he believes that House's team has assumed the Watson role.[96] Shore has also said that Dr. House draws inspiration from Dr. Marc Chamberlain, a professor of neurology at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Dr. Joseph Bell (who was a teacher of Arthur Conan Doyle's and thus a chief source of inspiration for the creation of Holmes), who could "walk into a waiting room and diagnose people without speaking to them".[4] In the season two finale "No Reason", House is shot by a man named Jack Moriarty, a name that coincides with Sherlock Holmes' adversary, Professor James Moriarty;[94][97] likewise, in the fifth season, Wilson uses Irene Adler as the name for an imaginary love interest of House (a teacher by the name of Rebecca Adler was also the first patient Dr. House encounters in the first episode of the series),[98] the same name as a notable female adversary of Holmes.[94]

Reception

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Throughout the series' run, the character received positive reviews.[6][7] Tom Shales of The Washington Post called House "the most electrifying character to hit television in years".[8]

House was featured on several best lists. In 2008, House was voted by BuddyTV second sexiest TV doctor ever, behind Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney) from ER.[99] TV Overmind named House the best TV character of the last decade.[100] In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly also named him one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.[101] He also appeared in Entertainment Weekly's "30 Great TV Doctors and Nurses".[102] He was elected TV's Most Crushworthy Male Doctor over Doug Ross of ER in a poll held by Zap2it.[103] Fox News placed the character among the Best TV Doctors For Surgeon General.[104]

For his portrayal, Hugh Laurie has won various awards, including two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama, two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor from Drama Series, two Satellite Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama, and two TCA Awards for Individual Achievement in Drama.[105] Laurie has also earned a total of six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.[106][107][108]

References

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Bibliography

[edit]
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Gregory House

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from Grokipedia
Dr. Gregory House is the central character and protagonist of the American medical drama television series House (2004–2012), portrayed by British actor Hugh Laurie. As the head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, House leads a team of young doctors in solving complex and often life-threatening medical puzzles using his exceptional intellect and unconventional approaches. His character is defined by a prickly, anti-hero persona marked by brutal honesty, sarcasm, and a profound cynicism toward human nature, encapsulated in his mantra "Everybody lies." House's backstory includes a severe leg injury from a quadriceps muscle infarction several years before the series begins, which causes chronic pain managed through addiction to the painkiller Vicodin and requires him to use a cane for mobility. This physical limitation, combined with his emotional detachment, stems from a misdiagnosis during the infarction that led to muscle death and the rejection of amputation in favor of a risky procedure performed by his then-wife, Stacy Warner. Created by David Shore, the series draws inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, positioning House as a medical detective who prioritizes results over empathy, often clashing with hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy and relying on his best friend, oncologist Dr. James Wilson. Shore emphasized that House "didn’t care about caring" but focused relentlessly on curing patients, reflecting a core theme of the show: the trade-off between compassion and competence. Over eight seasons on Fox, House aired 177 episodes, blending intricate diagnostic cases with explorations of House's personal struggles, including his atheism, rule-breaking tendencies, and rare moments of vulnerability. The character's pill-popping, motorcycle-riding, and rule-skirting lifestyle made him a medical savant whose misanthropy masked a deeper commitment to truth and healing. House's influence extends to popular culture as an archetype of the flawed genius, with the series earning critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe for Laurie in 2006, and highlighting ethical dilemmas in medicine through its narrative structure.

Creation and development

Conception and writing

David Shore created the character of Gregory House as the protagonist for the pilot episode of the medical drama series House M.D., which premiered on Fox in November 2004. Shore envisioned House as a brilliant but abrasive diagnostician, drawing directly from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories to reimagine the detective archetype in a medical context, where House would solve complex diagnostic puzzles through cold, objective analysis rather than empathy. This Holmesian influence extended to the character's name—a phonetic homage to "Holmes"—and his methodical, rule-breaking approach to uncovering truths hidden in baffling symptoms. The character's conception was shaped by broader influences, including medical mystery literature such as Berton Roueché's case studies, which provided a foundation for the show's procedural format of unraveling enigmatic illnesses. Shore also incorporated anti-hero elements, portraying House as a misanthropic figure whose cynicism and intellectual superiority often alienated others, reflecting a philosophical tension between results and human connection. In the pilot script, Shore established these traits through House's central dilemma: prioritizing cures over bedside manner, as encapsulated in the episode's core question of whether patients prefer compassionate failure or rude success. This setup highlighted House's brilliance as a double-edged sword, allowing him to bend hospital rules and ethics in pursuit of diagnoses. During early script development, Shore and his writing team evolved House's character to emphasize moral ambiguity, moving beyond the pilot's stark anti-hero outline to explore the consequences of his flaws in subsequent episodes. Key plot drivers, such as House's chronic leg pain from a past infarction and his resulting Vicodin addiction, were introduced in the pilot and expanded in early seasons to humanize his cynicism while fueling interpersonal conflicts and diagnostic risks. These elements were not merely backstory but integral to the narrative, ensuring House's rule-breaking—such as unauthorized tests or manipulations—stemmed from personal vulnerabilities, adding layers of philosophical depth to the series' premise.

Casting and portrayal

The casting for Dr. Gregory House in the medical drama House, M.D. (2004–2012) involved an extensive search, with British actor Hugh Laurie ultimately selected after submitting a self-taped audition video from a hotel bathroom in Namibia, where he was filming Flight of the Phoenix. Unable to attend in-person auditions, Laurie's tape impressed creator David Shore and director Bryan Singer, who noted its immediate clarity and authenticity. Among the American actors considered for the role were Denis Leary, Rob Morrow, and Patrick Dempsey, but Laurie's unique interpretation of the character's misanthropic genius, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, secured him the part in 2004. To prepare, Laurie, a native Briton, adopted a subtle American accent that he maintained throughout the series, drawing from his prior exposure to U.S. media and dialects to avoid slipping into his natural voice. For the physical demands of portraying House's chronic leg pain from an infarction, Laurie consulted physicians to understand realistic movement patterns and sleep disruptions, while relying on his own recollections of acute injuries to evoke the character's discomfort, though he emphasized that chronic pain's persistence was challenging to sustain authentically. He developed the limp and cane use through trial and error, creating a Pavlovian response where he instinctively adopted the gait upon hearing "action" called, which sometimes persisted off-set and influenced his posture in later roles. Laurie's portrayal emphasized House's intellectual arrogance through sharp, sarcastic dialogue delivery, often infusing lines with dry wit and biting cynicism that became the character's hallmark. His physical embodiment of pain added layers of vulnerability beneath the sarcasm, evolving over the eight seasons as House grappled with deepening addictions and interpersonal conflicts, allowing Laurie to explore the role's emotional range from abrasive detachment to rare moments of empathy. This performance earned Laurie two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama in 2006 and 2007, as well as six Primetime Emmy Award nominations between 2005 and 2011.

Character background

Early life and education

Gregory House was born in 1959 to John House, a career U.S. Marine Corps aviator, and Blythe House, resulting in a nomadic childhood marked by frequent relocations across military bases worldwide. As a child, House exhibited prodigious intellectual abilities, often outpacing his peers academically and displaying a rebellious streak that foreshadowed his later contrarian nature. House pursued undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he majored in physics while preparing for medical school, reflecting his initial interest in scientific research over clinical practice. He later enrolled in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine but was expelled after being reported for cheating on an exam by fellow student Philip Weber, an incident that also cost him a competitive internship opportunity at the Mayo Clinic. House completed his medical degree at the University of Michigan. House suspected at age 12 that John was not his biological father because John was stationed overseas during the time of conception. This suspicion was confirmed years later via DNA testing, with Blythe revealing John's infertility and that House had been conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm from a family friend, as detailed in the 2008 episode "Birthmarks." This discovery deepened House's cynicism toward familial bonds and authority.

Medical career and injury

Following graduation, House was hired as head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in the 1990s by hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy, with whom he had a prior romantic relationship. Several years before the series' events, in what is depicted as approximately five years prior to the pilot episode, House suffered a severe infarction in the right thigh muscle while playing golf, initially presenting as leg pain that was misdiagnosed as a simple clot for several days. The condition led to extensive muscle death, prompting his medical team at Princeton-Plainsboro to recommend amputation to prevent further complications. House refused the procedure and instead underwent a high-risk bypass surgery, but while he was in a medically induced coma, his then-girlfriend Stacy Warner, acting as his legal proxy, authorized the removal of the dead quadriceps muscle to avert fatal infection and overwhelming pain. The surgery resulted in significant muscle atrophy, chronic severe pain, and permanent reliance on a cane for mobility, with House collecting various custom canes over time. To manage the pain, he was prescribed Vicodin, which initially provided relief but soon escalated into addiction, profoundly influencing his professional demeanor and personal life. Despite ongoing disciplinary issues stemming from his unorthodox and often unethical diagnostic approaches, House retained his position as head of diagnostics, leveraging his exceptional talent for solving complex cases.

Personality and behavior

Intellectual traits

Gregory House is renowned for his genius-level intellect, characterized by an encyclopedic knowledge of medical pathologies and a remarkable capacity for intuitive reasoning. As a diagnostician, he applies interdisciplinary insights, including a pre-medical background that led him to consider a Ph.D. in physics to study dark matter before pursuing medicine. This scientific foundation enables him to integrate concepts from physics into medical problem-solving, such as modeling disease progression through analogous physical principles. His multilingual abilities further enhance his diagnostic versatility; he demonstrates fluency in languages like Spanish and Mandarin, and familiarity with Latin for anatomical and pharmacological terminology, allowing him to communicate directly with diverse patients and reference historical medical texts. Central to House's diagnostic philosophy is the mantra "everybody lies," a principle he invokes to underscore the unreliability of patient histories and subjective reports. This skepticism drives his empirical approach: he begins with standard textbook diagnoses but quickly pivots to unconventional hypotheses when initial treatments fail, prioritizing observable evidence from tests and biopsies over verbal accounts. House employs visual thinking and pattern recognition, often drawing analogies from literature, history, or puzzles to illuminate complex cases, reflecting his view of medicine as an intellectual challenge rather than routine care. House's intellectual strengths lie in his rapid identification of subtle patterns and bold hypothesis testing, frequently experimenting directly on patients to validate theories when conventional methods stall. This willingness to challenge norms has established him as a leading figure in solving baffling diagnostics, earning respect despite his abrasive demeanor. However, his overreliance on intuition introduces vulnerabilities; subjective biases occasionally lead to misdiagnoses that require correction from his team's collaborative input, highlighting the limits of solitary in high-stakes .

Social interactions

Gregory House exhibits a profound misanthropy, characterized by a general disdain for humanity, often viewing most people as boring, dishonest, or unworthy of genuine engagement. This outlook manifests in habitual sarcasm and insults directed at colleagues and patients alike, such as referring to a dying patient as "Dead sophomore girl" to underscore his emotional detachment. House frequently employs pranks and manipulation as tools to test others' limits and expose perceived hypocrisies, such as breaking into patients' homes or staging deceptive scenarios to elicit truthful reactions. These behaviors reinforce his belief that "everybody lies," a mantra he uses to justify his cynical interactions. House consistently avoids emotional depth in his social engagements, deflecting personal inquiries or vulnerable moments with humor, quips, or outright dismissal to maintain a facade of indifference. This deflection serves as a defense mechanism, allowing him to prioritize intellectual pursuits over interpersonal connections, though rare instances of vulnerability emerge during high-stakes crises, such as when confronting life-threatening situations that force momentary authenticity. His approach to emotions as antithetical to rationality further isolates him, creating a barrier that prevents deeper bonds beyond surface-level antagonism. In the workplace, House's interactions are marked by bullying tactics toward subordinates, whom he demeans or fires arbitrarily to provoke sharper thinking and motivation, believing such pressure yields superior results. He routinely skirts authority, particularly with hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy, through defiance of rules and policies, yet ultimately earns reluctant respect from peers due to his unparalleled diagnostic successes. This dynamic highlights his preference for results over decorum, positioning him as a disruptive yet indispensable force in the hospital environment. Broader patterns in House's social behavior reveal a stark disdain for conventional norms, leading him to engage in theft, illegal entries, and other rule-breaking acts purely for amusement or expediency, such as faking medical conditions to access resources. These actions contrast sharply with his unwavering loyalty to a select few individuals, underscoring a selective misanthropy that spares those who prove their worth through unyielding honesty. This behavior may be rooted in early life instability, including reported childhood abuse that fostered his distrust of authority and social structures.

Addictions and flaws

House's addiction to Vicodin originates from the chronic pain caused by a muscle infarction in his right thigh, initially prescribed as a tool but quickly escalating into dependency. Creator explained that the character's use of the was intended to add depth, portraying it honestly as both a physical necessity and a psychological escape, rather than a comedic element. By the first season, House's daily consumption reaches 80 mg, which Cuddy notes is double his initial dosage upon joining the hospital, allowing him to maintain functionality while denying the severity of his reliance. The addiction intensifies over the series, leading to multiple rehab attempts and severe withdrawal episodes. In season 3 (2007), House undergoes an experimental ketamine-induced coma procedure to reset his pain receptors, temporarily eliminating his need for Vicodin and enabling him to walk without a cane for several weeks. However, the relief proves short-lived, with pain returning and prompting relapse, reinforcing the addiction as a persistent character flaw. A major storyline unfolds in season 6 (2009–2010), where House commits to Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital for detox following intense withdrawal symptoms, including hallucinations triggered by abstinence; this arc spans the premiere episodes "Broken," depicting his manipulative tactics to secure release before confronting his issues through therapy. Beyond substance dependency, House displays chronic dishonesty and self-destructive behavior, often lying to procure drugs or evade emotional accountability, as seen in his forged prescriptions and deceptive interactions during withdrawal crises. These traits stem from a fear of intimacy, where he prioritizes intellectual detachment over genuine connections, using sarcasm and isolation as defenses. His bravado conceals underlying depression, with physical pain serving as a pretext for emotional avoidance, evident in moments of vulnerability during sobriety trials where he grapples with unmasked despair. Despite occasional sobriety, such as post-ketamine, relapse remains integral to his portrayal, highlighting the cyclical nature of his flaws.

Relationships

Professional relationships

House's diagnostic team consists of a rotating group of fellows at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, including Dr. Eric Foreman, Dr. Robert Chase, Dr. Allison Cameron, Dr. Chris Taub, and Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, whom he selects and often mistreats to push their limits. House mentors these subordinates through a harsh style involving humiliation and intellectual challenges, such as pitting them against each other in differential diagnoses or exploiting personal vulnerabilities to provoke sharper thinking, which ultimately fosters their professional growth and independence. For instance, Cameron credits House's relentless pressure with building her confidence to advocate for herself and her patients, transforming her from an idealistic newcomer into a more assertive physician. This approach reflects House's belief that discomfort accelerates learning, though it frequently leads to team members quitting or being fired only to return under his influence. House's rapport with authority figures is marked by tension and underlying respect, particularly with Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine, who serves as both his supervisor and occasional enabler. Their dynamic involves constant power struggles, as Cuddy enforces hospital protocols and clinic duties on House while protecting him from dismissal despite his rule-breaking, such as unauthorized treatments or property damage. She balances ethical oversight with recognition of his diagnostic genius, often mediating between House and the hospital board, which views him as a liability due to his disregard for procedures and potential lawsuits. Conflicts with the board escalate over ethical violations, like House's experimental procedures without consent, leading to threats of funding cuts or his termination, though Cuddy's advocacy frequently preserves his position. House engages in rivalries with other hospital staff, using his intellect to undermine opponents in professional disputes, as seen in his antagonism toward figures like Edward Vogler, a major donor who briefly chaired the board and sought to control House's department. These clashes often stem from House's refusal to compromise on patient care, resulting in verbal sparring and strategic maneuvers to expose rivals' flaws, though he occasionally forms short-term alliances for particularly baffling cases. His leadership style emphasizes delegation of complex puzzles to the team while encouraging dissent to refine ideas, yet it is erratic, with frequent firings and re-hirings based on personal whims or performance tests. House hires dozens of candidates in bulk and dismisses most through grueling trials, valuing those who challenge him over blind obedience, which sustains a high-turnover environment but yields innovative diagnostics. This method, while effective for breakthroughs, underscores the difficulty of long-term collaboration under his abrasive oversight.

Personal friendships and romances

Gregory House's most enduring personal relationship is his deep friendship with Dr. James Wilson, the head of oncology at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Wilson serves as House's emotional anchor, providing unwavering support despite House's often toxic and manipulative behavior, which includes stealing his prescription pad for Vicodin in season 3 and indirectly contributing to the death of Wilson's girlfriend Amber in season 4. Their codependent bond is characterized by Wilson's tolerance of House's antics, such as repeated financial exploitation and emotional pranks, while House relies on Wilson for stability amid his personal crises; they appear together in 172 of the series' 177 episodes, highlighting their complementary dynamic as opposites—House's cynicism balanced by Wilson's empathy. House's romantic history is marked by intense but ultimately tumultuous partnerships. His ex-wife, Stacy Warner, a lawyer and former romantic partner, played a pivotal role in his life by making the decision to amputate muscle tissue from his infarcted leg during his initial injury, a choice House resents as it left him with chronic pain and dependency on his cane, though she maintains it saved his life. Their relationship, strained by this event, features prominently in seasons 1 and 2, where Stacy returns as the hospital's ethics committee chair, leading to flirtations and a brief affair before she ultimately chooses her husband over House. House's on-again, off-again romance with hospital dean Dr. Lisa Cuddy evolves from professional tension and flirtation in early seasons to a committed relationship starting in season 7, episode 1 ("Now What?"), where they consummate their long-simmering attraction. Spanning seasons 1 through 7, their partnership is fraught with House's addiction issues and manipulations, such as drugging Cuddy's mother, culminating in a fallout in season 7, episode 23 ("Moving On"), when Cuddy ends it due to House's refusal to seek sustainable recovery, prompting her departure from the show. A brief but notable fling occurs with Dominika Petrova in season 7, whom House marries in a green card arrangement to help her gain U.S. citizenship; what begins as a sham develops into genuine affection due to their compatible personalities, though House sabotages it by withholding news of her approved status, leading to their divorce. House's family ties are limited and strained, particularly with his father, John House, a retired Marine whose strict, abusive demeanor fostered resentment, exacerbated by a season 5 revelation via DNA test that John was not his biological father—House had long suspected family friend Thomas Bell, but a season 8 test disproves this, leaving his true parentage unknown. In contrast, House maintains a warmer, if complicated, bond with his mother, Blythe House, whom he genuinely loves and protects, viewing her as more approachable despite his military brat upbringing. The series finale underscores the primacy of House's loyalty to Wilson; after Wilson's terminal cancer diagnosis, House fakes his own death in season 8, episode 22 ("Everybody Dies") by switching dental records and escaping a fire, allowing him to spend Wilson's remaining five months together, riding off on motorcycles in a poignant affirmation of their bond.

Role in the series

Diagnostic methods

Gregory House's diagnostic approach centers on a rigorous, team-based differential diagnosis process, where he and his fellows gather in his office to brainstorm possible conditions using a whiteboard to list symptoms, test results, and hypotheses. This method emphasizes ruling out common explanations ("horses") in favor of rare ones ("zebras"), often drawing from medical literature and case reports to challenge initial assumptions. House tests these hypotheses aggressively through direct patient interactions, invasive procedures like biopsies, or high-risk interventions such as inducing comas or experimental treatments, prioritizing rapid resolution over exhaustive preliminary testing. A hallmark of House's unorthodox tactics is his deliberate deception of patients to provoke reactions that reveal hidden truths, encapsulated in his mantra "everybody lies," which assumes inconsistencies in patient histories often hold the key to diagnosis. He frequently manipulates situations by lying about test results or fabricating scenarios to elicit emotional or physiological responses, while using his team as a sounding board to debate and refine ideas through conflict and diverse perspectives. House also incorporates non-medical clues, such as a patient's hobbies, personal belongings, or even unauthorized searches of their home, to uncover environmental or behavioral factors influencing the illness. House relies heavily on intuition and logical deduction rather than strict adherence to protocols, often spotting overlooked patterns in history and physical exams that his team misses, enabling rapid insights into complex puzzles. He habitually avoids routine clinic duties, delegating them to his fellows to focus on diagnostics, and employs unlimited hospital resources without typical bureaucratic constraints. Notable examples include the pilot episode's case of a young teacher initially suspected of having an inoperable brain tumor and treated for cerebral vasculitis, where House's differential process ultimately revealed neurocysticercosis from undercooked pork, solved through persistent hypothesis testing and discovering ham in her home despite initial setbacks. In season 5, during the recruitment and team-building phase, House applied similar methods to cases like a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome presenting as unexplained paralysis, using whiteboard sessions and diagnostic tests to identify myasthenia gravis, demonstrating how his approach fosters innovative diagnostics even amid team transitions.

Major story arcs

In the early seasons of House M.D. (seasons 1–3, 2004–2007), Gregory House establishes himself as the brilliant yet head of Princeton-Plainsboro's diagnostics department, grappling with from a that fuels his Vicodin . His in solving complex cases are overshadowed by personal turmoil, particularly when his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner returns as the hospital's legal , rekindling their relationship and forcing House to confront the decision that led to his permanent : a risky surgery on his that she advocated for, resulting in muscle death. This arc culminates in season 3 with House's spiraling, leading to a near-fatal overdose and the dissolution of his original team—Chase is fired, Foreman quits, and Cameron departs—highlighting his self-destructive tendencies amid diagnostic successes. The mid-series arcs (seasons 4–6, 2007–2010) deepen House's isolation through team upheaval and escalating substance abuse. Following the death of Wilson's girlfriend Amber in a bus crash that House indirectly causes, his friendship with Wilson fractures temporarily, prompting House to recruit a new team including Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, Dr. Chris Taub, and Dr. Lawrence Kutner, with Foreman rejoining reluctantly. In season 5, Vicodin withdrawal triggers vivid hallucinations of Amber and Kutner (the latter after his suicide), forcing House into rehab and exposing the psychological toll of his pain management. Season 6 sees House committed to Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital for further detox and therapy under Dr. Darryl Nolan, temporarily ceding control to Foreman while rebuilding his team and beginning a tentative romance with hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy. In the later seasons (7–8, 2010–2012), House's relationships drive his most profound self-sabotage and partial redemption. His romantic involvement with Cuddy in 7 strains under his inability to change, ending disastrously when House drives his into her after their , leading to her and the hospital's diagnostics department facing shutdown threats. 8 opens with House serving an eight-month prison sentence for the vandalism, from which he is released early via Foreman's intervention, only to enter a green-card marriage with Dominika Petrovič. The series concludes with Wilson's terminal cancer diagnosis, prompting House to fake his own death in a warehouse fire—switching dental records to evade further legal consequences—and ride off with Wilson for his final months, symbolizing a redemptive prioritization of friendship over self-interest. Throughout these arcs, House's narrative balances intellectual prowess with chronic self-sabotage via addiction and relational damage, evolving toward a nuanced redemption rooted in loyalty to Wilson, as evidenced by his ultimate sacrifice.

Reception and legacy

Critical reception

Critics have widely praised Gregory House as a compelling anti-hero, highlighting his intellectual brilliance juxtaposed with personal flaws that make him a standout figure in television drama. In a 2004 review, The New York Times described House as a "brilliant diagnostician who is lame, addicted to Vicodin and as blunt and sarcastic as the blunt end of a baseball bat," noting the show's irresistible blend of medical mystery and character depth. The character's misanthropic wit and unorthodox approach to medicine were lauded for subverting traditional doctor archetypes, with outlets emphasizing how his complexity drove the series' appeal as a procedural with emotional resonance. Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House received significant acclaim for its nuanced of , , and beneath the cynicism. Laurie won for in a Series – in and , recognizing his transformative that elevated the from British to American anti-hero. He earned six Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead in a Series between 2005 and 2011, though he did not win, and contributed to the series' Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Series in 2007 and 2010. Critics often highlighted Laurie's ability to balance House's abrasiveness with subtle pathos, making the character both infuriating and empathetic. Despite the , some critics pointed to repetitive plot structures and House's misogynistic traits as drawbacks, particularly in later seasons. noted in reviews from onward that the series increasingly relied on formulaic cases and pranks, diminishing the early edginess and turning House into a more caricatured figure. Commentary on the character's casual , including objectifying comments toward colleagues and patients, drew for perpetuating outdated dynamics, as analyzed in outlets reflecting on the show's dated elements. House's character significantly boosted the series' viewership, contributing to its status as a ratings powerhouse. The show reached its peak Nielsen ratings in its third season, averaging 19.4 million viewers per episode and ranking among the top 10 U.S. series during its second through fourth seasons. This popularity underscored House's role in attracting a broad audience to Fox's lineup, with individual episodes occasionally surpassing 20 million viewers.

Cultural impact and parallels

Gregory House, the protagonist of the medical drama House M.D., draws extensive parallels to Sherlock Holmes, serving as a modern reinterpretation of the iconic detective archetype. Creator David Shore explicitly modeled House after Holmes, emphasizing deductive reasoning in diagnosing complex medical cases akin to Holmes's crime-solving methods. Similarities include House's reliance on logical deduction over conventional procedures, his Vicodin addiction mirroring Holmes's cocaine use, and the dynamic between House and his oncologist friend James Wilson, which echoes the Holmes-Watson partnership. While Holmes plays the violin, House strums a guitar, both using music as a contemplative outlet. These intertextual elements have been analyzed in scholarly works, such as a 2019 study highlighting how House M.D. adapts Holmes's character traits to a medical context, including misanthropy and intellectual isolation. House's portrayal has influenced the archetype of the flawed genius in procedural dramas, establishing a template for brilliant but abrasive protagonists in medical and detective series. This is evident in shows like The Good Doctor, created by the same team, which features a diagnostic prodigy with autism navigating ethical dilemmas, though with a more optimistic tone compared to House's cynicism. The BBC's Sherlock (2010–2017) amplifies Holmesian elements in a contemporary setting, with its lead's eccentric genius and social detachment reflecting House's impact on updating classic tropes for modern audiences. Iconic lines like "Everybody lies" have permeated pop culture, symbolizing skepticism toward human honesty and inspiring memes, discussions on deception in media, and even academic discourse analyses of lying as a narrative device in House M.D.. The character's sarcasm and rule-breaking have become shorthand for anti-heroic wit in online communities and fan content. Post-2012, following the series finale, House's legacy endures without official spin-offs, though fan theories speculate on potential continuations exploring his post-prison life. Hugh Laurie, who portrayed House, has reflected fondly on the role in interviews, calling it his favorite in 2020 and crediting it with career-defining opportunities, while expressing disinterest in revisiting it due to the emotional toll. By the 2020s, Laurie noted in 2025 that he "frankly doesn't care" about fan demands for reboots, prioritizing new projects. Academically, House's chronic leg pain and cane use have been critiqued for disability representation, with studies arguing the show reinforces the medical model by framing his limp as a personal flaw to overcome rather than a societal issue. A 2013 analysis in the Breaking the Silence conference proceedings examined how House's disability humanizes him but perpetuates stereotypes of the "super-crip" who excels despite impairment.

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