Summary
- House was a groundbreaking fusion of hospital procedural and murder mystery genres, but its legacy has evolved over the decades.
- Greg House is a reflection of a trend towards unpleasant TV antiheroes, rather than the trailblazer he initially appeared to be.
- The show's portrayal of drug addiction and its impact on the characters has become even more relevant in the context of the opioid crisis.
Like many people who grew up during the Golden Age of noughties network television, I loved House. Being British, I only knew star Hugh Laurie as the foppish Prince Regent from Blackadder and from old clips of his gleefully silly sketch show with Stephen Fry. Seeing him transformed into an irascible, foul-mouthed, cantankerous, and surprisingly authentic American doctor was as alarming as it was entertaining. It was largely thanks to Laurie's magnetic performance that House won critical acclaim and legions of fans, cementing its status as a TV classic. However, as with any 20-year-old series, some aspects have aged better than others.
Part of what made House feel so compelling and ingenious was its fusion of multiple popular genres. On the one hand, it was a hospital-based procedural, owing a debt to forerunners like ER. On the other, it was a gripping murder mystery, with the twist being that the murderer hadn't actually managed to claim its victim yet. However, while this winning formula was a revelation in 2004, the following decades have had a profound effect on the show's legacy. Having finished rewatching the series, 20 years on, I've come to some conclusions about House that are both uncomfortable and validating for long-time fans.
20 Best House Episodes, Ranked
The House M.D. series wrapped over a decade ago, but the show is still one of the best medical dramas around, these are the best episodes.
8 House Is Just Part Of A Modern TV Trend
He's Not As Innovative Of A Main Character As He Seems
There's no denying that, when House burst onto the scene, its titular protagonist felt fresh and original. Even as a 12-year-old watching season 1 with my TV-addict grandma, it seemed like there had never been a small screen hero quite like the cynical genius Gregory House, MD. It made House feel like essential viewing compared to other, more traditional TV dramas. However, with the benefit of hindsight, it's clear that House isn't the unprecedented trailblazer it initially appeared.
House is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Peacock.
Looking at the context of the wider historical TV landscape (of which I was understandably unaware as a preteen), it's obvious that Greg House is part of a pattern of unpleasant TV antiheroes that cultivated huge popular appeal – despite their personalities. Before House, Tony Soprano arguably instigated this trend. After the show began, figures like Walter White in Breaking Bad picked up the baton. While House seemed like a new invention at the time, it's now apparent that the show was just a reflection of the trend toward more misanthropic stories.
7 House's Villains Are Almost Always Right
House Was Bad For His Colleagues, Hospital, And Patients
While House broadly follows the tried-and-tested villain of the week format, the show's early seasons also include a broader conflict that runs throughout the narrative. Frequently, this pits House against an external adversary, who usually takes issue with his unconventional methods and tries to have him fired. The first time I watched the show, it was impossible to feel anything but contempt for these foolish antagonists who clearly couldn't understand House's genius. Upon a rewatch, however, things become altogether murkier.
As unlikeable as figures like Edward Vogler and Detective Michael Tritter undoubtedly are, the harsh truth is that their persecution of House was almost always justified. House's enemies almost always point to his reckless decision-making, drug addiction, and unsympathetic personality – all of which are undeniably true. The fact that House is only saved from professional oblivion thanks to the intervention of figures like Cuddy does not change the fact that when his enemies wanted to end his career, they had the facts on their side.
Why House Ended After Season 8 (Was It Canceled?)
Following House coming to a close after eight seasons, questions were raised about whether the Hugh Laurie-led medical drama was canceled.
6 House's Story Was An Insult To Cuddy
She Deserved Better Throughout The Series
Lisa Edelstein's performance as Dr. Lisa Cuddy was, in many ways, the beating heart of House. Where he was contemptuous of authority and flamboyant in his eccentricity, Cuddy knuckled down to the actual work of running a hospital – often being pilloried for it from all quarters. As a younger viewer, I always thought there was something nobly heroic about House's refusal to submit to authority, with Cuddy coming across like an exasperated teacher. It's only after the fact that I've realized how problematic this dynamic is.
Not only is Cuddy's impressive professionalism continuously undermined by House's antics, but his behavior frequently goes beyond the pale, exploiting her natural empathy. Although their flirtatious chemistry forms a big part of why he gets away with so much, he often comes across as overtly sexist and often cruel towards her. Cuddy's parenthood storyline, in particular, is a low moment for House, and the show never really manages to give her the respect she deserves.
5 House's Personal Problems Have Become Even More Relevant
His Struggles With Addiction Have Proved Incredibly Prescient
Although House's antisocial genius was the most ostentatious aspect of his personality, the show still stands out for its complex portrayal of drug addiction. Unlike many contemporary series where drug addiction and drug addicts were demonized, House challenged the notion that substance abuse is a personal failing that demands punishment. House's depiction as a functioning addict was somewhat revolutionary, as were his ongoing struggles with Vicodin dependency.
As the opioid crisis has deepened across America, the sight of a hero struggling with his own dependence on pain medication feels increasingly ground-breaking...
Without a broader understanding of the complexities of addiction, House's drug habit initially seemed to me like a "cool" quirk that made him slightly dangerous. Not only was this interpretation incredibly superficial, but it also failed to recognize how prescient House's problems really were. As the opioid crisis has deepened across America, the sight of a hero struggling with his own dependence on pain medication feels increasingly ground-breaking – an early example of the deeper truth that drug addiction is a fact of everyday life.
4 House Never Properly Replaced His Original Team
The Original Trio Stand Out As House's Best Team
As House's approach to drugs proves, many of the show's thematic elements have only become more resonant over time. However, narratively, the show has its share of retrospective problems. One of the biggest issues is that, for all Hugh Laurie's compelling central presence, the show never found a way to adequately replace the straightforward dynamic between House and his three original team , despite a multitude of combinations.
In Chase, Cameron, and Foreman, House had three characters who perfectly matched different aspects of the protagonist's personality. Chase was a mirror to House's arrogance and contempt, Foreman for his ruthlessness and occasional cruelty, and Cameron as a reminder that he was not completely devoid of emotion. As the lineup shifted over the show's run, it's clear that the show never settled on the best way to recapture this combination. This explains why, despite the arrival of key players like Thirteen and Taub, the original trio were always in the background.
8 House M.D. Characters Who Could Have Carried Their Own Spinoffs
House, M.D. ended in 2012 after eight successful seasons on Fox, and the cast bid farewell to their characters (but a handful shouldn’t have).
3 House Completely Changed Hugh Laurie As An Actor
His Career Has Never Been The Same
For anyone who didn't grow up with Blackadder reruns on BBC2, it's difficult to explain how stark the contrast is between Hugh Laurie's early career and his post-House rebirth. I, and many millions of others, grew to love Laurie for his comedic timing in series such as Jeeves and Wooster – a trait that was still evident in House. However, while Laurie's House could be bleakly funny, it also paved the way for a much darker chapter in Laurie's acting journey.
Even in comedies, such as Armando Ianucci's Veep, Laurie has tended towards characters with genuine edge – a far cry from the innocent, jovial figures that defined his early career.
Since taking on the role of House, Laurie has been much more willing to play either antiheroes or outright villains. In The Night Manager, for example, released two years after House's conclusion, he plays the terrifying arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper – imbuing him with genuine malevolence. Even in comedies, such as Armando Ianucci's Veep, Laurie has tended towards characters with genuine edge – a far cry from the innocent, jovial figures that defined his early career. While it's a dramatic development for long-term fans, it's clear that House opened up many interesting possibilities for Laurie personally.
2 House Created The Modern Detective Show
His Personality Defined The Genre
The 20 years since House's first episode have seen a dramatic change in the televisual landscape. The advent of streaming and the appetite for more hard-hitting drama from popular shows has seen TV continue to evolve, with every genre feeling the effects. One thing that's increasingly clear, however, is that House remains a watershed moment for modern detective shows – both in its approach to story and character.
While almost all fictional detectives have been defined by a quirk of personality, House gave writers permission to make their investigators actively unpleasant. Shows like True Detective, Slow Horses, and Luther revel in their protagonist's hostility – a trend embodied by House. Nowhere is this influence felt more profoundly than in Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat's Sherlock, which brings the cycle of House's inspiration full circle – owing as much of a creative debt to the Hugh Laurie series as House did to Conan-Doyle's original stories. To this end, House provided the blueprint for many of the following decades' biggest hits.
8 Biggest Sherlock Holmes References In House
House M.D. has been noted as one of many adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, however, some references to the great detective are more obvious than others.
1 House Was Never Going To Have A Satisfying Ending
The Show Was Too Sympathetic To Its Main Character
's controversial ending, which sees him fake his own death and ride off into the sunset with Wilson, continues to divide fans. While the character's legal troubles meant that something drastic was necessary, it always felt (to me at least) that the story stretched credulity to its limit, undermining much of what had come before. However, when viewing the show in its entirety, it's increasingly clear that a satisfying ending that made sense for the character was always impossible. The fact is that House, for all its innovation and clever storytelling, could never bring itself to punish its main character in the way he deserved.
Ultimately, like Cuddy, the series was far too indulgent of his worst tendencies, dismissing them with a joke or a dramatic change in fortune. By rights, House should have been in prison on multiple occasions and been forced to reckon with his own actions. The fact that he's allowed to walk away on his own , with no ability, was actually predicted from the outset – from the way his adversaries continued to fail, to the way that Cuddy looked past his dangerous flaws. Maybe it was because I knew what was coming, but House's ending now seems an unavoidable consequence of the series' leniency.
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