When I heard that House would be showing on Five, it seemed like another reason to ignore it. Yes, the medical drama had been a huge hit in the States (on the Fox channel, home to the Simpsons and Family Guy), drawing comparisons with ER and Six Feet Under, but come on! Five? The channel which brought us The Human Chimp and Real Sex? No, their House would surely turn out to be a documentary about the world's wildest domestic bikini accidents, or something similarly low-rent.
Well, it turned out this was just another example of my witless yuppie prejudice, because House is very good indeed - tightly plotted, beautifully scripted, and with mesmerising performances from all of the leads.
First up, there's House himself - Gregory House MD, in fact, head of diagnostic medicine at a teaching hospital. The character is based on Sherlock Holmes and possesses the same brilliant deductive abilities and the same vices (drug addiction, in House's case to the painkiller Vicodin). Hugh Laurie has succeeded in the miraculous achievement of making this cynical, misanthropic, selfish, limping genius into a deeply attractive character. Whenever he's on screen, even if in the background, you can't take your eyes off him.
But one of the joys of the programme is that all the characters are fleshed out - House's three
Well, it turned out this was just another example of my witless yuppie prejudice, because House is very good indeed - tightly plotted, beautifully scripted, and with mesmerising performances from all of the leads.
First up, there's House himself - Gregory House MD, in fact, head of diagnostic medicine at a teaching hospital. The character is based on Sherlock Holmes and possesses the same brilliant deductive abilities and the same vices (drug addiction, in House's case to the painkiller Vicodin). Hugh Laurie has succeeded in the miraculous achievement of making this cynical, misanthropic, selfish, limping genius into a deeply attractive character. Whenever he's on screen, even if in the background, you can't take your eyes off him.
But one of the joys of the programme is that all the characters are fleshed out - House's three
assistants are Omar Epps as the ambitious Foreman, the former car thief chosen for his 'street smarts', Jennifer Morrison as too-nice-for-her-own-good Cameron, who was picked for working hard at med school despite her attractiveness, and - my personal favourite - Billy from Neighbours as Chase, the poor little rich boy who is gradually revealed to be a bit of a conniving little shit. The core cast is completed by Robert Sean Leonard as Wilson (House's only friend, his Dr Watson) and Lisa Edelstein as Cuddy , the luckless Dean of Medicine charged with keeping her maverick employee in check.
The basic format for every episode is the same: something horrible happens to somebody, the credits roll, then House and the team spend the rest of the 40 minutes trying to cure them, often nearly killing them in the process. But the series-long story arcs, recurring themes - and above all the mesmerising performance by Laurie - stop the formula becoming formulaic.
The show is now in its third season in the US and it's noticeable that, although the series very rarely offered an uncomplicated 'happy ending', this run is noticeably darker. Box sets of series one and two are available in the UK and I urge you in the strongest possible terms to get hold of one. cs
Click here to return to the reviews archive.
The basic format for every episode is the same: something horrible happens to somebody, the credits roll, then House and the team spend the rest of the 40 minutes trying to cure them, often nearly killing them in the process. But the series-long story arcs, recurring themes - and above all the mesmerising performance by Laurie - stop the formula becoming formulaic.
The show is now in its third season in the US and it's noticeable that, although the series very rarely offered an uncomplicated 'happy ending', this run is noticeably darker. Box sets of series one and two are available in the UK and I urge you in the strongest possible terms to get hold of one. cs
Click here to return to the reviews archive.
