House (TV Series)
House is an American television drama series about a doctor named Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie). He is a cranky and cynical man who specializes in difficult cases. Each episode, House and his team of fresh faced young doctors work on a new medical mystery. The show has received mostly positive reviews, and Hugh Laurie has been nominated six times for a Golden Globe Award.
House premiered in September 2004 on Fox and was a ratings success. Its first season held a Metacritic score of 75 out of 100, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. The show has been critically acclaimed, and was described as a refreshing alternative to Fox’s primarily reality-based schedule. It has also been lauded for its innovative storytelling methods, such as flashbacks and split-screen sequences.
In addition to its narrative devices, House is known for its use of special effects and a unique camera style. The show is shot on a digital Canon 5D DSLR, which was the first time such a system had been used in a major network television series. Cinematographer Gale Tattersall has been praised for her work on the show.
The show is heavily influenced by the works of Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with numerous references to the character and his arch-nemesis, Moriarty. For example, the name of the series itself is a reference to the title of Doyle’s short story The Sign of Four. Aside from these direct references, the show has been characterized as an intelligent and sophisticated drama with a wry sense of humor.
When casting for the role of House, producers were looking for a “quintessentially American person”. They wanted someone who would be able to convey both intellect and cynicism; someone who could read the room and pick out the right words at the right time. Bryan Singer was initially impressed by Hugh Laurie’s audition tape, which he described as “like a Bin Laden video”. Despite having a British accent, Laurie was able to convince him that his pronunciation was authentic. Eventually, he was cast as the lead in the series.
Aside from its cases, House has become known for its strong and complex character relationships. The show’s chemistry with its young leads is particularly strong, and the characters frequently interact off-screen as well. The relationship between House and Thirteen is especially complex, owing to their difficult childhood.
Unlike most case-driven medical shows, House is not obsessed with the specifics of each individual case. Instead, each episode presents a general theme or question that is then explored through the individual episodes. This allows the audience to become familiar with the characters and their dynamics over time, as opposed to simply seeing a bunch of different people yell at each other.
The first season of the show received numerous awards, including a Peabody and a Golden Globe for Hugh Laurie’s performance as House. In 2006, it was voted one of the best TV shows by the viewers of Entertainment Weekly. It has been nominated for several other awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.