Love/Hate House

In my last blog I wrote about my favorite show House. As I was researching on what some of the critics say, I ran in to some good things and bad things about House. Although, there were a lot more good than bad things said.

Len Sousa from Slant Magazine says, “It's a rare ability for an actor to be able to deliver a character performance with such snarky sarcasm and still come across as enjoyable." She argues that even though House is sarcastic he is still enjoyable, and I agree because House is very sarcastic but it makes the show interesting. House is always right about the diagnosis and his sarcasm is comical.

Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club, however, claims that a "big problem with the current season is that the big dramatic arcs we’re currently dealing with—Cuddy’s baby problems, Foreman and 13’s medical mystery tour—have nothing to do with our main character. Sure, there’s that unresolved Cuddy-romance, and House makes some snarky comments on the sidelines about the Oreo hook up, but that's all secondary. These are plotlines that could’ve stepped out of any medical drama without any real change; much as I like Omar Epps and Lisa Edelstein, I watch House for House, and without him tied directly into the action, I’m losing interest, fast."
So Handlen thinks that without House directly tied to what is going on in the show it’s not as interesting, and that some of the characters make the show less entertaining. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I agree that too much extra stuff not dealing with House and his patient situations will cause you to lose interest because it takes away from his character. On the other hand, I still insist that if there were not other character situations in the show it would be less interesting. For instance, the 13 and Foreman issue makes you laugh because House is constantly toying with them. House picks on their relationship and how they act toward each other while at work. Their stories, in this respect, play off of House's because he's playing with them.

Margie77099 from Viewpoints Blogger Reviews reveals “I have not really been interested in watching him much this season. House has become the filler until the show I really want to watch comes on. The continued drug use bothers me and the new characters are not believable. What a shame. House had such potential”. I disagree with this because the other characters help keep the drama going and it keeps it interesting. House's drug use symbolizes his emotional and physical pain and makes his character believable.

So these are some of the comments from critics, but they still don’t change my feelings for House. Even thought there were more positive reviews and there were some negative ones also. House is still my favorite tv show no matter what the critics think.


Works Cited


Sousa, Len. "House M.D." Slant Magazine 1 Nov. 2006. 18 Feb. 2009 (http://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/tv_review.asp?ID=40).

Handlen, Zack. “ Big Baby.“ Avclub 26 Jan. 2009. 18 Feb. 2009
(http://www.avclub.com/articles/big-baby%2C23084/).

margie77099 “ Not very good this season.” Viewpoints 08 April 2008. 18 Feb. 2009
(http://www.viewpoints.com/House-M-D-review-51f81).

""The man with the Cane""

Have you ever seen the television show House? House is a really cool show. Actually it is one of my favorite shows to watch. It's about a very smart and interesting doctor. He has a dry, sarcastic comical sense of humor. House is one of a kind. Some people may even think he is heartless, but he is always right when it comes to saving peoples lives.

The actor who actually plays House is Hugh Laurie. Hugh Laurie's House is honest and blunt about things and he doesn't care what people think, not even his boss. He plays as an older guy who walks with a limp and uses a cane and he always has a serious look on his face. House's attitude is one of my favorite parts of the show. I respect him because he tells people the truth and what he thinks. House does not try to sugar coat it for people. Although some things he says are down right mean. Unlike (Patrick Dempsey) McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy, House is cold and insensitive. McDreamy is a nice, friendly doctor who every one loves. Because House is so cold, everyone hates him—which makes watching the show tense and exiting. You can't help but wait to see what he does next or who he's going to piss off!

I think House acts like an ass so he won’t have feelings for people. It’s almost like House is scared to have feelings for people. I think he is the way he is because all of the heartache and problems in his life. House had an aneurism that clotted in his leg he had to make a decision to remove the leg or have chronic pain and it may not cure it. His ex Stacy made a decision to help House and after the decision was made it was too hard for them to stay together because of the choice she made to save him. House really loved Stacy but it could not work after what had happen. House will never forgive her.

House deals with his personal life and his co-workers' lives through what’s going on with his patients. House has interns who help him through the show. He has his interns lives all figured out and he lets them know what he thinks about what’s going on. They put up with him because he's their boss, but his plotting and scheming often irritates them.

His boss, Cuddy, on the other hand is different. In ways, Cuddy and House are the same. They are both bad with relationships, and they are lonely and broken. They have such a complicated relationship, but I think they truly love each other. They argue so much because they are so much alike. They have such a love/hate relationship.

On the surface, House is funny and crazy, but below the surface it deals with complicated emotions. Watch the show, and you can see for your self how cool it really is. Every episode is different, so you never know what kind of weird diagnoses House and his team of doctors will have and how House figures them out.