One of the most successful medical drama TV shows in history, House, understood its purpose and audience better than many other additions to the genre. It stars Hugh Laurie in arguably his best role: Dr. Gregory House. He's a curmudgeonly diagnostician with a terrible bedside manner and an undeniably brilliant mind that kept him on staff. With a revolving team of doctors under his leadership and unorthodox methods, it was always thrilling to see House somehow figure out what was wrong with these undiagnosable patients week after week as he butt heads with istration.
There are many recent medical dramas like House that have tried to capitalize on the formula of the series. However, there's little question that House perfected the structure of treating a medical emergency as a mystery-of-the-week for the characters to solve. This combined many of the most effective aspects of the procedural genre, crafting a new way for medical dramas to make a name for themselves on television. However, watching House today, there are a few episodes that stand out, and not because they stuck to what the show was known for.
House's Strongest Episodes Ignored The Medical Show's Formula & Were Better For It
House Was Great At Being A Procedural, But Shined When It Broke Tradition
Among the episodes that are considered the best that House has to offer, installments like "Three Stories," "The Mistake," and "After Hours" are obvious choices. What all these have in common is the fact that they don't adhere to the structure of a typical episode of House. They shake up audience expectations and put aside the expected drama and tension of having to save the life of a patient. While there's a medical element and some sort of mystery to solve, House puts its characters and their personal stories at the forefront of its most successful installments.
season 4 is the show's best season. Many standout episodes came from this installment. While it's easy to highlight season premieres and finales as examples of breaking the formula, House did so in extremely significant ways. The two-part season 4 finale, "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart," told a game-changing story that altered the dynamic between House and Wilson for the rest of the series. This demonstrates how well episodes like this were able to further the character development and relationships. In a typical case-of-the-week installment, there wasn't as much time for nuanced character work.
Why Ditching The Regular Formula Benefited The Best Episodes Of House
Though Switching Things Up Can Be A Risk, This Paid Off For House
If House had taken any regular episode of the series and suddenly infused it with the drama and upheaval that define its best episodes, it would've been out of place and confusing. Switching up the formula instantly lets the viewer know that this storyline is going to be different, and encourages them to prepare for emotional plots. Even something as simple as setting the episode outside the hospital, as in "After Hours," is a signal that things are going to unfold as we expect, and that it's time to buckle in for an unforgettable hour.
House's Best Episode Was So Good, The Show Kept Trying To Do It Again
House had plenty of compelling episodes throughout its 8-season run, but the best one was so good that the show kept trying to replicate it.
There are still plenty of significant episodes that use the case-of-the-week structure and capture our attention. House became popular because the premise was strong to begin with, and it's well-known that viewers respond well to medical mysteries. However, if House had stayed complacent and never challenged or tested itself, it would've been boring to tune in week after week. Knowing that special episodes are coming gives the audience something to look forward to. Getting to learn more about the beloved characters was always a treat that viewers couldn't get enough of.
Despite Its Best Episodes, The Medical Drama Still Needed Its Formulaic Approach
House's Longevity & Success Is Thanks To Its Formula
While it can be difficult to wait for these very special episodes, the reason that House's most exciting installments hit so hard is that they're few and far between. Additionally, House needed to establish trust and authority with its audience, demonstrating that House could solve any case that was thrown at him. This could only have been achieved through repetition, hence the use of the formulaic case-of-the-week structure that defined House's seasons until the very end. House changed a lot over its eight seasons, but it was comforting to know that House would pretty much always save the day.
House needed to be similar enough to other medical dramas airing at the time.
Additionally, there's a reason why the procedural is so successful and is one of the most popular TV structures to this day. This allowed audiences to jump into House at any point in the story and easily glean the necessary information to enjoy the series. House needed to be similar enough to other medical dramas airing at the time so that it could adhere to viewer expectations and then surprise them with the unique, character-driven installments. In this way, series like House helped pave the way for more experimental medical shows that have been popping up today.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
House (2004–2012) |
89% |
96% |
- Directors
- Deran Sarafian
- Writers
- David Shore
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