AFP via Yahoo! News:
US drama "House", starring Britain's Hugh Laurie as unconventional medical genius Doctor Gregory House, out-gunned rivals in 2008 to become the world's most watched show on television.
According to ratings agency Eurodata TV Worldwide, House and his team of canny diagnosticians last year gathered more than 81.8 million viewers in 66 countries, representing a potential 1.6 billion viewers.
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Much like 'Breaking Bad' with Bryan Cranston, House is the perfect combination of the right actor for the role and writing of the highest order.
Well acted and very well written for the entertainment of dumbed down couch potatoes, delusional believers in mainstream medicine, those obsessed with disease, secret gobblers of pain killers or benzodiazepines without the guts to get help, people so stupid they think CSI is classy or for those who simply hold on to a scintilla of hope that somewhere somehow toxic allopathy knows what it is doing.
Can't say I agree with you on that one.
Being a vegan who eschews Western medicine as much as possible, I am still very entertained by the show. I can take it for what it is. House's character is a cynical scientist. A lot of his limitations are rooted in his psychic pain. He rejects all spirituality and is constantly popping pills. But that is his pathos, IMO, and it gives him texture. I used to watch "All in the Family." That doesn't mean Archie Bunker was a role model. But, he was damned entertaining. BTW, I can think of many more "dumbed down" shows than House. In fact, I can't really think of a more intelligently written show on t.v.
Futurama makes House look like play house.
De gustibus non est disputandem
Bitter, table for one.
I just want Olivia Wilde and Lisa E. to have a heated argument followed by lots of kissy-face.
Is that you, Gregory?
Apparently, lesbian make-out scenes are the new black for dramatic series. Sort of like every comedy movie having a character who does the robot dance at some point in the movie.
House is, bar none, THE BEST show on t.v. I am constantly amazed at the intelligence and cleverness of the writing. Hugh Laurie rocks along with the rest of the staff. I must say that I preferred the old team to the new one, though.
One question to anyone out there who is a doctor or a House buff: Why wasn't Foreman given a lumbar puncture in the Negleria episode? I am not sure if I might have misunderstood or missed something in that episode.
An awful show. The writing is abysmal.
Really ?? I think the writing is extraordinary. Have you been watching a foreign language version that's been dubbed?
Agree!
Most popular? REALLY? That's sad. This is the most cynical show I've ever seen. people in hospitals relfect this crap and what a bunch of snotty people they've turned into because of programming like this. Sad.
you must be delusional to think that healthcare professionals purposely emulate fictional characters. besides, dr. house is the only "cynical" person on the show, but more importantly he's brilliant and solves medical cases that baffle lesser doctors.
Solves the case in the last 3 mins of the show, after nearly killing each patient
with a series of wrong diagnoses. But I like Hugh Laurie and watch the show.
Um no. Hospital workers, at least at my hospital, do relfect this arrogant, condescending, cynical, smart ass attitude. Really. It's quite a nightmare place to go.
"He's brilliant"....... errrr the script might be "brilliant" but he's a total ass.
I think the show's hilarious. In my experience, most "people who work in hospitals" are too busy to watch, or want to do something else with their downtime than anything related to what they do at work. People don't become "snotty" just because of a fictional TV show.
The Hyper-ego-inflated, Harvard-educated jerk who stitched up my hand did the most amazing job ever and I would highly recommend him to anyone.
I have a friend who is an RN and this is the only medical show he watches.
It's this decade's X-Files, and works with a broader demographic. House is a great show.
CorkiDeCat wrote: "I stopped watching when he started seeing ghosts... Went for very, very good, to very stupid :("
Ahhh, House wasn't seeing ghosts, but rather hallucinating because of his addiction to painkillers. You should have finished out the season.
Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard are the Odd Couple for the new century. And I like the writing because while we are often shown the sex lives of the very rich, young, beautiful and vapid, it's nice to have a tour of the minds of the very intelligent and complex who REALLY are different.
Loved Hugh Laurie as far back as Jeeves & Wooster and Black Adder.
Agreed, the characters and writing have been good. He and Robert Sean Leonard make the show.
Not pleased with the season where he had the 40 interns, that was lame, but otherwise great.
Agree. Jeeves and Wooster was fantastic.
I stopped watching when he started seeing ghosts... Went for very, very good, to very stupid :(
They were hallucinations, not ghosts. He had a nervous breakdown. Oh, never mind.
I just got tired of his constant meaness, Iv'e seen too many real doctors who are mean and they have been the ones who give bad medical advice.
I have been desperately sick on a couple of occasions and I will take a grumpy doctor with a realistic attitude any day over a cheerful doctor who is not straightforward with you.
Love Hugh Laurie. But I don't watch it so much any more. The show plots are so similar.. Maybe House should take a leave of absence from the hospital for about 6 months - maybe take a cross country trip?
That is the fatal flaw with this show, every show is the same basic plot with a couple of elements jumbled around. It's fun for the first couple of episodes and then it gets very tired.
It would have made a good movie or a mini series but there is just not enough story content to blow it out into a full blown tv series.
Is the rest of the world getting smarter while we elevate SARAH PALIN and RUSH LIMBAUGH to national prominence?
I remember when Baywatch was the most watched show. I'm impressed.
good point
Since "House" is even more silly, shallow, and inane than "CSI:Miami or "ER", it naturally appeals to the legions of brain-dead lurching from refrigerator to recliner, all day, everyday.
House is actually the most intelligent show on tv. I'm guessing you don't actually watch House. Is Grey's Anatomy more your speed?
I've worked in different places and it always cracks me up who likes House - sad pathetic people who think they are clever. Mainstream medicine is so ugly toxic and over-rated anyway, that alone makes the show hard to bear. House is dressed up to look smart but in fact it's dumbed down total baloney. Accordingly, it appeals to a wide demographic of people who think they are smart or clever.
It's really bad, but not worse than any of the CSIs.
That's because HL is awesome, the show is well written and let's face it....just plain cool.
That's because Hugh Laurie is amazing and it's well written and let's face it...just plain cool.
Its doubly-amazing watching the show when with his earlier career in mind (as seen in America). The last people had seen him, he was getting hit in the head with a paint can in Home Alone 2.
he wasn't in HA 2 ... but Daniel Stern was
lol
Say what you will, he'll always be George IV to me.
Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard and company are good, but House's success is due to :
Truly Great Writing
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First Posted: 06-12-09 07:51 AM | Updated: 06-12-09 08:54 AM