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Does "House" with Hugh Laurie ever alter the formula? (Spoilers)
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:24 pm
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:24 pm
Missed House on the initial run and have gone back and started watching it. I'm midway through season 2, but I'm a little frustrated with the show. Laurie is great in it, and I've been a fan of his from years back when he played the Prince of Wales in Black Adder.
But the show is REALLY formulaic. It reminds me of one of the Law & Order shows where you can basically write an episode yourself.
- Cold open of someone living their life and they sudden fall ill.
- Scene at hospital where House is asked to take the case but initially doesn't want to because it's not interesting...and then something changes and it becomes interesting.
- Differential diagnosis where the three docs toss out ideas and House insults them, eventually becoming fairly confident in whatever plan they land on.
- Initial diagnosis is wrong and nearly kills the patient and Cuddy steps in to fuss about it. They argue about alternative plans and are SURE whatever House thinks it is is wrong.
-House ends up being right, again, and they act surprised, again.
Like I said, I enjoy Laurie so much I'm probably going to finish it out regardless, but is there EVER a reprieve from the formula?
But the show is REALLY formulaic. It reminds me of one of the Law & Order shows where you can basically write an episode yourself.
- Cold open of someone living their life and they sudden fall ill.
- Scene at hospital where House is asked to take the case but initially doesn't want to because it's not interesting...and then something changes and it becomes interesting.
- Differential diagnosis where the three docs toss out ideas and House insults them, eventually becoming fairly confident in whatever plan they land on.
- Initial diagnosis is wrong and nearly kills the patient and Cuddy steps in to fuss about it. They argue about alternative plans and are SURE whatever House thinks it is is wrong.
-House ends up being right, again, and they act surprised, again.
Like I said, I enjoy Laurie so much I'm probably going to finish it out regardless, but is there EVER a reprieve from the formula?
16
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:26 pm to GeauxTigerTM
I think that there was an episode where it WAS lupus.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:32 pm to GeauxTigerTM
I don't know if it does very late in the series, I stopped watching after a while. But it was very much a procedural the whole time I watched. Case of the week with just a little overall arc sprinkled in.
Still a good watch for a while, but I think I got tired of the character changes.
Still a good watch for a while, but I think I got tired of the character changes.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:37 pm to GeauxTigerTM
They do shake things up a few times, particularly cast and story arc wise, but it pretty much follows the formula for most of it.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:40 pm to GeauxTigerTM
I missed the last season or 2 due to losing interest at the end, but overall it's a solid procedural and the regular supporting cast changes help keep it fresh considering it is pretty much the same formula every week.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:46 pm to GeauxTigerTM
Most good shows are formulaic, that's why people watch them.
They know what they're getting.
House AlWAYS starts off with some random person falling ill and then the House credits start and then it turns out to be something mysterious that takes a team of doctors to solve.
Just like Monk always starts out with some murder of someone and then the credits roll and the police are baffled so they have to bring in Monk to do his thing and along the way he has to fight off phobias that are related to the case.
It's comfort food.
But yeah a lot of great shows are just the same every episode.
They know what they're getting.
House AlWAYS starts off with some random person falling ill and then the House credits start and then it turns out to be something mysterious that takes a team of doctors to solve.
Just like Monk always starts out with some murder of someone and then the credits roll and the police are baffled so they have to bring in Monk to do his thing and along the way he has to fight off phobias that are related to the case.
It's comfort food.
But yeah a lot of great shows are just the same every episode.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:51 pm to GeauxTigerTM
Thirteen spiced things up a bit.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:56 pm to GeauxTigerTM
OP has sarcoidosis
Posted on 10/12/20 at 3:05 pm to GeauxTigerTM
quote:
Does "House" with Hugh Laurie ever alter the formula?
Yes, from time to time.
Really though, it's more about the characters than the medical mystery du jour.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 3:45 pm to GeauxTigerTM
quote:arent they all?
But the show is REALLY formulaic.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 3:57 pm to GeauxTigerTM
It’s a lot more obvious when you binge it vs watching a week at a time a season per year 
that show wasn’t formatted to be watched all at once.
that show wasn’t formatted to be watched all at once. Posted on 10/12/20 at 4:07 pm to GeauxTigerTM
The character arcs definitely spice it up a little bit. There’s an arc with a cop that tries to bring house down that’s pretty interesting. There’s an arc where he goes to rehab for like two or three episodes with a not yet known Lin-Manuel Miranda. There’s an arc where he tries to pick a new team that spans half a season or so. So there’s some good stuff to break up the monotony
Posted on 10/12/20 at 4:08 pm to GeauxTigerTM
Every episode House thinks it’s Lupus and it only ever is like once.
Regardless, it’s one of my favorite shows ever. A great one to turn on and fall asleep to as well.
Regardless, it’s one of my favorite shows ever. A great one to turn on and fall asleep to as well.
This post was edited on 10/12/20 at 4:09 pm
Posted on 10/12/20 at 7:18 pm to GeauxTigerTM
How do you feel about the special effects watching now?
I remember watching it when it first came out and people were always amazed at the effects/cgi level for a TV show at the time. I wonder how that holds up
I remember watching it when it first came out and people were always amazed at the effects/cgi level for a TV show at the time. I wonder how that holds up
Posted on 10/12/20 at 7:24 pm to GeauxTigerTM
It's funny, but watching A Bit of Fry and Laurie on Netflix has resulted in me starting House from the beginning. Fry and Laurie both would have fit well into a Python type show.
And Laurie is fantastic in House. I'm up to late Season 5. You are right about the formulaic aspect of it, it's become almost comical by now. They are not going to get the correct diagnosis until at least 45 minutes have passed. The patient will likely be defibrillated, intubated, have a CAT scan, liver failure, kidney failure, the same weird diseases get thrown around all the time (Wilson's Disease, Sarcoidosis,...). I hardly pay attention to the medical stuff for most of the show because it's pointless. It's the story lines outside of the medicine that are interesting.
I do think that the first two seasons were the best. House starts to just be an arse after that, and some of the changes in his support staff just seem silly. It was pretty impressive that they cranked out around 25 episodes per season.
I did like the 2 part finale, so before giving up it's worth watching that.
And Laurie is fantastic in House. I'm up to late Season 5. You are right about the formulaic aspect of it, it's become almost comical by now. They are not going to get the correct diagnosis until at least 45 minutes have passed. The patient will likely be defibrillated, intubated, have a CAT scan, liver failure, kidney failure, the same weird diseases get thrown around all the time (Wilson's Disease, Sarcoidosis,...). I hardly pay attention to the medical stuff for most of the show because it's pointless. It's the story lines outside of the medicine that are interesting.
I do think that the first two seasons were the best. House starts to just be an arse after that, and some of the changes in his support staff just seem silly. It was pretty impressive that they cranked out around 25 episodes per season.
I did like the 2 part finale, so before giving up it's worth watching that.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 9:42 pm to GeauxTigerTM
They had some episodes that were classics (Ugly) that bucked the trend a bit, but yeah it was very formulaic. Huge House fan.
Posted on 10/13/20 at 7:49 am to GeauxTigerTM
I love that show.
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