Growing Annoyed With "House, M.D."

[sonak]

As someone who's watched "House from the beginning, there are aspects of it, that while there from the beginning, increasingly irritate me and make me wonder why I continue watching. Wait, that's not exactly true. I watch it because it's funny, the dialogue is snappy, and House himself is entertaining.


But it gets kind of depressing watching a show where the protagonist is just such a colossal jerk. And it seems like it keeps getting worse. In early seasons, he was more the snarky, rule-breaker who still had a heart of gold and usually did the right thing. Now, he's just a selfish, obnoxious borderline-sociopathic hypocrite.


And the second issue is that no one who works with him stands up to him. I mean really, why is he so intimidating? He's a middle-aged guy who has to walk with a cane. And yet he does outrageous things, insults his employees, and yet these are adult doctors, and all they can usually manage to do is look shocked or hurt. In earlier seasons, there were recurring characters like Vogler in season 1 or Tritter in season 3 who were antagonists for him. Now, it seems like the show could be called "Dr. House and his doormats."


It's never been a show that prides itself on realism, but even so. He's surrounded by other doctors, and yet nobody seems to know how to deal with this guy.

 

[Deckerd]

It should have stopped at the end of season 4. From 5 onwards they ran out of fresh ideas and just kept recycling old stories.

It's the same with Bones. You can only keep the autistic savant (or misanthropic genius in the case of House) thing going for so long and then the character has to develop. But since that was the one-trick pony you now have a once great character behaving like a two-dimensional cartoon character to fit the hook.

 

[Top41]

I think what bugs me the most is that even his boss won't stand up to him! I think it's realistic to some degree that his employees won't, but Cuddy constantly lets him get away with things that just don't seem believable. I wasn't a fan of the prospect of them getting together, and though I thought it actually was executed fine--and brought out a softer side of House--I'm not really surprised it didn't last.

I still enjoy the show a lot, but I can see after seven years how people are tired of it. House doesn't really change, but then, I think if he did, it wouldn't be realistic, and also, there would be tons of people complaining the character had been softened/changed too much. At least now, you know what you're getting when you turn on the show.

 

[Tulin]

Never watched an ep.

LOATHE these kinds of shows.

Procedurals are the reason traditional tv networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. Why should they bother trying when the mundanes mindlessly watch "Dr. LawyerCop" every night"?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Procedurals are the reason traditional tv networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. Why should they bother trying when the mundanes mindlessly watch "Dr. LawyerCop" every night"?

Which means that procedurals are not the reason traditional TV networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. The fact that most people would rather watch "Dr. LawyerCop" is.

 

[Deckerd]

Anyway they know HBO will do the edgier stuff.

 

[Jax]

House may have some issues but its been of the best shows on TV for the past 7 years with some real out of the ball park acting by Hugh Laurie over that course. House's biggest strength is that when the show does the real powerful drama episodes, no other show can really touch it and theres a big list to choose from.

 

[sonak]

I think what bugs me the most is that even his boss won't stand up to him! I think it's realistic to some degree that his employees won't, but Cuddy constantly lets him get away with things that just don't seem believable. I wasn't a fan of the prospect of them getting together, and though I thought it actually was executed fine--and brought out a softer side of House--I'm not really surprised it didn't last.

I still enjoy the show a lot, but I can see after seven years how people are tired of it. House doesn't really change, but then, I think if he did, it wouldn't be realistic, and also, there would be tons of people complaining the character had been softened/changed too much. At least now, you know what you're getting when you turn on the show.

I don't understand the way they handled "House-Cuddy." One of the producers once mentioned that at the end of the series' run, there was an equal chance of House ending up with either Cuddy or Wilson.(I think the Wilson part was a joke)


So the reason I thought they were waiting so long for them to get together was because they wanted the series to end with them like that. Then it turns out they break them up after only half a season. And for a stupid reason to boot.


The reason Cuddy used to give as to why she lets House act the way he does is because from a pragmatic standpoint, he does a lot of good and saves lives. Are we really supposed to buy that he's just so darned amazing that no other, more conventional and ethical doctor could approach what he does? Other places have fired him, I just took it as maybe Cuddy feels sorry for him or something.

He really needs to play off of an antagonist or someone who pushes back. Otherwise it's just "House does outrageous things while bystanders cower helplessly."


I don't get why he can't just be the funny, cranky, and eccentric genius he was in early seasons instead of the over the top ass-clown he's become.

 

[sojourner]

Who's waiting for the inevitable "House gets fired" storyline? You know it's coming.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Procedurals are the reason traditional tv networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. Why should they bother trying when the mundanes mindlessly watch "Dr. LawyerCop" every night"?

Which means that procedurals are not the reason traditional TV networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. The fact that most people would rather watch "Dr. LawyerCop" is.

Absolutely Right(TM).

 

[Starbreaker]

Opinions on Things I've Never Seen: A TrekBBS Staple

 

[bigdaddy]

Never watched an ep.

LOATHE these kinds of shows.

Procedurals are the reason traditional tv networks are hesitant to try edgier fare and SF. Why should they bother trying when the mundanes mindlessly watch "Dr. LawyerCop" every night"?

Riiiight.......

Keep living in dreamland.

Why sci-fi fails on network TV...

1. Cost
2. They suck... V, The Event...
3. Network fucks with the show... Invasion, Jericho.

There is plent of room for everyone.

House the first three seasons was great, but they are too wimpy to take chances. He should have stayed locked up more, and have the therapy more. Instead they made him an asshole like you said when he used to be a flirt, get on your nerves, push your buttons type of person.

 

[Starbreaker]

Yay for being mundane!

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, I've tried watching House, but I can't get past the brazen attitude while everyone else I know tells me it's so good.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I agree it's definitely past it's prime at this point but I'm still watching.

I'm not really sure what else they could do- they've done just about every storyline I could think of.

To say it's formulaic at this point is an understatement but Hugh Laurie is just funny enough that I keep tuning in.

 

[RodrigoBrowncoat]

I love Hugh Laurie but it is time to end the series...

 

[Kirby]

Most procedurals for me are boring because the characters aren't all that interesting. I don't watch House, Monk, or Castle beacuse of the stories, but to see the characters interact with each other. Hell, you sometimes knew who the killer was in Monk before the opening credits, the fun was watching him go through the motions.

I haven't watched House for a few months now, just because I'm kind of tired of watching him be an asshole for an hour.

 

[ebusinesstutor]

"Dr. LawyerCop"

I love that phrase! Very descriptive of what seems to be happening on television. Why do we need new medical, legal and copy show each year?

How about more science fiction instead?

 

[Starbreaker]

Doctor, Lawyer, and Cop show fans - 90% of television watchers
Science fiction fans - 10% of television watchers, and very picky

 

[sonak]

Most procedurals for me are boring because the characters aren't all that interesting. I don't watch House, Monk, or Castle beacuse of the stories, but to see the characters interact with each other. Hell, you sometimes knew who the killer was in Monk before the opening credits, the fun was watching him go through the motions.

I haven't watched House for a few months now, just because I'm kind of tired of watching him be an asshole for an hour.

Yes, this was the point I was trying to make. There's a line between making your protagonist a cranky, eccentric character with some serious rough edges, and having the protagonist just acting like a huge jerk. They've kind of crossed that line.


Watching a clever, sarcastic guy be funny for an hour is enjoyable. Watching an asshole behave like an asshole is not.