By now, perhaps you have noticed that Deb McDuffee and I both write the most about House here at the Clique. However, this week, I heard from both Deb and Keith independently: “We saw the show ahead of time with a screener. We don’t have anything in particular to say about it. You wanna take it?”
So, I said, “Sure.” I figured that I could probably pull something out of my hat because my love for this show is incurable. But I think I was wrong. Deb and Keith had valid complaints. This episode in particular didn’t really add anything interesting or notable to the House portfolio. Isn’t that sad? Shouldn’t every episode try to be the best it can be?
I have been re-watching the first season of House with friends who have never seen the show. We have four Pez dispensers set up (the batman set), and when House takes a Vicodin, we eat a pez. If he takes two Vicodin, we take two. If he calls attention to it or tosses it into the air first, we have to combine chocolate Pez with strawberry. It’s geeky, but we enjoy it. And what I have been particularly grooving on is how GOOD the show was back in the first season. Of course, we had several characters to mine and layer after layer of House to figure out too. But has anybody else noticed that once upon a time the show revolved around each case, whereas now the case just seems to be the excuse we all have for being in the same place at the same time?
I haven’t watched Grey’s Anatomy since the first season because it sucks. It doesn’t even pretend to be a medical drama, in spite of the presence of patients. House has not had very many interesting cases or diagnoses in a long, long time. Is House moving in that direction? Is rotating bed syndrome starting to overtake the rest of the show? There used to be a sense of tension and drama when a patient almost died — or at least when one of the team members got sick! But this time I just felt and sensed this grand ennui. Who cares? It’s more important for Wilson to wash the lipstick off Amber’s cup so he can move on!
Surely, we can do better.
I’m just not sure, without the puzzles and interesting medical cases, that the show has many more places to go. We have tapped almost everybody’s life, in spades. Kutner is the only mystery left, and I am not sure he has secrets.
I love House. It’s my favorite show. But I don’t want it to start sucking. This is a quality of life issue. Is it time to pull the plug?
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Feb 03, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I said what you wrote here back when black doctor kissed numbered doctor for the first time :-)
Thief ;-)
You know, I remember that! I didn’t consciously steal, but obviously I have been thinking about it since you said it!
I think the show is just different now – it’s evolved. If they had continued to do the medical mystery of the week focus every single week, five years in, we would ALL be sick of it, and it would be stagnant and probably cancelled.
Now it’s more about character development, and while I, too, am annoyed that we shifted from the original cast to a bunch of new people (still don’t understand exactly why that happened), I can appreciate the new and different direction.
I think this episode gave us a lot – it showed House as more human.
He’s gonna sleep with Cuddy.
I’m done.
I think the scratching to your brain was when the show got really dumb, how stupid do they think we are?
Foreman and 13 relationship was never believable and he would wreck his life after two weeks of dating? That must be some great sex!
13 needs to die and that would fix a lot of the show.
When I can barely pay attention, and don’t mind if I miss it, then something is wrong. Its no longer must see TV for me. Its – Oh! I can flip through magazines while I watch House – television, instead.
I think it would help at least a little if we could pare down the assistants to a manageable number. I say get rid of 13 and Chase for sure, then bring Cameron back into the fold. That way we’d have 4 assistants and House for the differentials instead of 4 in the room and 2 barely-there-and-useless ones floating about.
I think that you are all being way too hard on the show. I have loved it since season one, and if they hadnt introduced some new cast members then it would have gotten boring. I think it was a good idea, and keeping the old team in the hospital was also a good idea. It adds to the show.