"House MD" is a series produced in the USA. In the center of the plot is a gifted but problematic doctor-diagnostician Gregory House, and a team of doctors working for him. At the center of each series is one patient with symptoms that are difficult to recognize and make the correct diagnosis. The series also concentrates on House's relationship with subordinates, superiors, and best friend. The show was incredibly successful and made the leading actor Hugh Laurie a world star.
Concept
Initially, the idea of ​​creating a series about a team of doctors who are engaged in the diagnosis of diseases with unusual symptoms came up with the scriptwriter Paul Attanasio. His partner, David Shore, helped Paul refine the concept of the project and, together with producer Katie Jacobs, in 2004 they performed the first pitching for the FOX channel.
After the channel gave the green light to the production of the pilot series, Shor decided that the series should not be focused on a team of characters, but on one main character. He began developing the central character of the show. It was important for the screenwriter that the hero was suffering from some kind of trauma, and initially David planned to “rive” House into a wheelchair, but the channel did not approve of this idea.
By the name of the main character, it was decided to name the series "House Doctor". Fans found many references to the works of Sherlock Holmes in the series and the personality of the central character. Shor himself admitted that he drew inspiration from the work of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Creature
Director Brian Singer, known for the X-Men series, was called on to direct the pilot episode. He also took an active part in the selection of actors. David Shore acted as a show runner for the project. In addition to him, over two dozen screenwriters have worked on the show for all seasons of the Doctor House series.
The series takes place in New Jersey, but most of the filming was conducted in one of the districts of Los Angeles. Singer, who actively participated in the casting, insisted that Gregory House should play an American actor.
Casting
The creators planned to invite the popular television actors Dennis Leary, David Cross, Patrick Dempsey and Rob Morrow to star in the House House series . However, when the audition was held by British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie, Singer and Shore immediately decided on their choice. The director, not being familiar with the past work of the British, was sure that he was a Native American because of the impeccable accent of the actor. Interesting fact: Lori recorded the video for listening in the bathroom of a hotel in Namibia, the only place where he could find normal lighting during filming in Africa.
Hugh, in his own words, was sure that the main character of the series would be Dr. Wilson, because he did not believe that someone would launch a project with such a repulsive character as Dr. House in the center of the plot. The actor himself is the son of a doctor and took inspiration for a role from his biography. Excellent reviews about the series “House MD” are connected precisely with the acting game Laurie, who thanks to the project received many prestigious awards and became known in the USA and around the world. Hugh's rapid career development is illustrated by his salary. For the 1st season of the series "House," he received a fee of 50 thousand dollars per episode. By the sixth season, the British salary has grown eight times, which made him one of the highest paid television actors in the world.
For the role of Dr. Wilson, the best friend of the protagonist, Robert Sean Leonard was chosen. In his own words, he did not conduct a very good audition, but his friendship with Singer helped him still get the role. The main doctor Lisa Cuddy was played by Lisa Edelstein, who, a few years before, had attracted Shore's attention due to her small role in the series "The West Wing".
Patrick Dempsey auditioned for the role of Dr. Chase, who did not get a job and soon became famous thanks to his participation in another medical series - Anatomy of Passion. Chase was played by Australian actor Jesse Spencer, for whom the scriptwriters changed the nationality of the character. Omar Epps and Jennifer Morrison got the roles of two other doctors in the House team.
Plot and seasons
The first season introduces the viewer to the main characters and follows the standard structure of the procedures, concentrating on individual patients and not introducing too many side lines. In the second half of the season, a cross-cutting story appears with millionaire Edward Vogler, who makes a huge donation to the hospital and gains power over House, trying to break it. The character was added due to the requirements of the channel’s leaders and was soon withdrawn from the plot, largely due to negative reviews from the audience.
In the 2nd season of Doctor House, the main end-to-end line is the protagonist’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Stacy, whose husband is his patient. Later, she parted with her husband, got a job at the hospital and renewed relations with Gregory, but this time they parted. In the season finale, House begins to use "Vicodin" and gets rid of limp.
In the 3rd season of the Doctor House series, the scriptwriters continue the line with the ketamine addiction of the protagonist, and also introduce a new antagonist, a police officer, whom House is rude at the reception. As a result of this, a disgruntled patient begins to investigate Gregory’s dependence on painkillers, in particular, on Vicodin.
The creators decided on major changes in the 4th season of the series "House MD". The protagonist dismisses his old team and begins the thorough process of selecting three doctors for vacant positions. As a result, after several episodes, Taub, Kutner, and Hadley become the new subordinates of House, whom Gregory calls simply the Thirteenth. Foreman later returns to House's team, the other two doctors continue to appear on the series.
After the death of the Wilson girl in the final of last season, the fifth season in the first half concentrates on House's relationship with his best friend. At the end of the season, House realizes that he is suffering from severe hallucinations and voluntarily goes to a psychiatric clinic, leaving Foreman as the leader of the team of doctors.
The sixth season talks about House’s fight against drug addiction and increasing tension in relations with Cuddy. As a result, in the final, the characters finally begin a romantic relationship, on which the entire seventh season concentrates. As a result of the break in the last episode, Gregory experiences a nervous breakdown and drives a car into Cuddy's house.
At the beginning of the eighth and final season of the series, Dr. House is in prison after his breakdown and will soon be released on parole. Gregory’s team has new changes, and in the season finale, he learns that his best friend has cancer. He decides to stage his death and spend the last months of Wilson with him, thus losing the opportunity to be a doctor again.
Characters
Gregory House is the protagonist of the series, the head of the diagnostics department. A brilliant doctor, who at the same time has difficulties in communicating with patients and colleagues, largely because of his complex nature, constant pain in the leg and drug addiction. Due to an old injury, House walks with a cane and regularly takes the Vicodin pain medication. Moreover, he is able to make even the most unobvious diagnosis and has incredible intelligence. The only character to appear in all episodes of all seasons of the series "House MD".
James Wilson is the head of the Department of Oncology and the only true friend of Gregory House. Wilson’s personality is almost the exact opposite of the main character, often he acts as a moral compass for the character. He is the second most frequent hero of the series.
Lisa Cuddy is the head physician of the hospital and House's romantic interest. During the first seasons, they bring sexual tension between them as a joke, but soon Gregory begins to more persistently seek its location. It was she who decided to hire House as the head of the diagnostic department and often defends him, despite the strange methods of work and the disgusting nature. In the fifth season, she decides to adopt the girl, in the sixth begins a romantic relationship with House, which ends after the resumption of drug addiction to Gregory. When the main character enters Cuddy’s house by car, she leaves the post of the main doctor and does not appear in the eighth season.
Eric Foreman, one of House's team doctors, specializes in neurology. Hired by Gregory a few days before the events of the first series. For several seasons, has been in a romantic relationship with the Thirteenth, but subsequently broke up with her because of professional differences. In the eighth season, he becomes the chief physician after the departure of Cuddy.
Robert Chase is a member of House's team surgeon. After dismissal from the diagnosis, he continues to work as a surgeon in the same hospital. Begins a romantic relationship with Allison Cameron, after marrying her and getting divorced in the sixth season. After the alleged death of House, he takes his position in the hospital.
Allison Cameron - one of the House team doctors, an immunologist. During the first seasons, he has a romantic interest in House, after which he begins a relationship with Chase.
Chris Taub is the new doctor on House's team, a former plastic surgeon. A distinctive feature of the character is his complex personal life and constant betrayal, on which the series often concentrates.
Lawrence Kutner is the new doctor on House's team. Quit the show quite quickly after the actor playing the role took over the administration of President Barack Obama. He commits suicide and appears in several episodes as a hallucination of House.
Remy (Thirteenth) Headley is the new doctor on House's team. It is distinguished by special secrecy and mystery. For several seasons she was in a relationship with Foreman, also experiencing a romantic interest in women. Left the hospital after a diagnosed incurable disease. After several times she returned and helped House with a diagnosis.
Awards and nominations
The project was nominated for many awards in eight years, but relatively rarely won, despite the fact that at that time it was considered one of the best series. “House” four times claimed the Emmy Award as the best drama series of the year, and Hugh Laurie six times could get a figurine for best male role, but the show’s award did not get. David Shore received an award for the script of one of the episodes, and House received the award for directing in 2008.
On the account of Lori, however, two Golden Globe awards, two statuettes from the US Screen Actors Guild. In just eight years of existence, the series was nominated for almost forty awards, winning only in a third of cases.
Critic reviews
Reviews for the series "House MD" were almost completely positive from the very beginning of the show. Critics noted a high level of scripting and a well-written protagonist. In recent seasons, critics' ratings have declined slightly. In reviews of the series “House,” one often found complaints about the excessive sentimentality of the scriptwriters. Nevertheless, during the first five seasons, the series constantly fell into the lists of the best shows of the year, sometimes even taking first place.
Ratings and ratings of viewers
During the first season, the series was ranked twenty-fourth among all American series on ratings. In subsequent years, more and more people began to watch the series "House MD". Of all the seasons of the project, the third became the most popular. After that, the numbers began to fall, and during the show of the final series, the series occupied nineteenth place in the United States.
Nevertheless, due to the sale of rights to display in other countries in 2006, "House" became the most popular series on the planet. Despite the increasing level of television shows annually, the project still holds extremely high marks on the IMDB and Kinopoisk websites. Reviews about the series "House" from ordinary viewers are almost entirely positive.
Influence and Legacy
Many of the phrases from the series, including “everyone lies” from Dr. House, have become an important element of popular culture. Gregory himself was recognized as the second sexiest doctor in television history, second only to the character George Clooney from the series "Ambulance". The creators of the show earned not only by selling the rights to display “House Doctor” in other countries, they also sold CDs with the official soundtrack of the series and various merchandising shows with great success.
Real doctors about the series
On the Web, doctors’s reviews of the Doctor House series and videos where they analyzed entire series of shows, looking for inaccuracies and artistic exaggerations, were very popular. Almost all of them came to the conclusion that the series suffers from a lack of realism, but many of them admit that this was done solely to increase spectator interest and a more exciting script.