So I've been watching House, the first season, on dvd. I'm up to episode 16. And it is very entertaining and fun to watch, but I'm getting tired of the sameness of every episode. Does it ever deviate from the formula?
- Someone gets sick - Someone convinces House to take the case - House and his team misdiagnose the sickness three or four times, leading to ever-increasing-jeapordy - House finally realizes what is causing the problem - Patient gets better - During all of this: House is mean to everyone - During all of this: House secretly has a heart of gold
Is that it? Cause I don't know if I'm up for multiple seasons of this kind of repitition. I guess when I ask "Does it get better" what I mean is "Does anything ever change?" "Does anything else matter to these doctors?" "Does any drama develop outside of this formula?"
Because I really like these characters.... But the show doesn't seem to want to give me much to hold onto. The entertainment value of the ever-increasing-jeopardy for House's parade of patients wears thin.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
When does House secretly have a heart of gold?
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Its debatable, I know House is encredibly formulaic but 4th season has a nice reality tv elimination of fellows side plot, its the side plots that are fun to watch as well as House and Co. mumble on about medical terminalolgy which I find pleasantly fun to listen through.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Answer: Nope. House pretty much finds its formula in its first season and the rest of the stories are really just variants on a theme. Granted, they're really good at finding variants but in the end it is still a formula like the original Law & Order.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I compare it to Columbo. Same thing, every time, and you know Columbo will win. The fun part is how will he win, and how much will he aggravate somebody doing it.
They do, occasionally, break the pattern, but only often enough to remind you there's a pattern.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
I still like it... it's witty.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
They introduce a number of subplots as the series goes on. Episode 16, if memory serves, includes at least some episodes involving Vogler, if not all of them. So, some of the subplots are along those lines... House pisses off someone who has the power to mess with him or the people he's close to.
Also some romantic subplots, especially in season 2.
But the show never focuses on these issues to the same degree that many dramas would. There's always a mystery to solve.
I don't think that's a bad thing, but there you are.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: Answer: Nope. House pretty much finds its formula in its first season and the rest of the stories are really just variants on a theme. Granted, they're really good at finding variants but in the end it is still a formula like the original Law & Order.
Yup.
Posted by The Flying Dracula Hair (Member # 10155) on :
quote:Originally posted by TL:
- Someone gets sick - Someone convinces House to take the case - House and his team misdiagnose the sickness three or four times, leading to ever-increasing-jeapordy - House finally realizes what is causing the problem - It's never Lupus - Patient gets better - During all of this: House is mean to everyone - During all of this: House secretly has a heart of gold
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I think it was Lupus once.
And I don't know about the heart of gold.
Posted by Starsnuffer (Member # 8116) on :
Yeah it is rather formulaic... but it's entertaining generally? I think House is portrayed as having a "heart of gold." I think he sort of exemplifies living an ideal: he tries to help people, and how that can affect his own life and such. I also like his sick/offbeat sense of humor in poking fun at "inappropriate" subjects, stuff like that. (I thought the episode(s?) where he is battling with a doctor in a wheelchair for a parking spot closer to the door was really amusing, and sort of sums up what I like about his character)
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
I don't think he usually cares about the patients. He wants to solve the mystery, and he wants to be right, to win. Heck, in Frozen, when he did care about the patient, it made it harder to do his job.
Posted by sylvrdragon (Member # 3332) on :
I always kinda found it annoying that I could tell if House and Co. have the right diagnosis by noting the time remaining in the episode. That doesn't stop me from watching it though. It's so incredibly witty. No episode has failed to make me laugh long and hard at LEAST once throughout the duration.
I'm awaiting the episode where he either solves the case right off the bat, or doesn't have a case and the show focuses on something else for a majority of the show. Of course, I expect that episode will happen in the final hours of the show as Fox tries to squeeze every last drop that they can from it.
Before Dexter, this was my favorite TV show of all time. Now it a very close 2nd (This is assuming that Dexter gets a 3rd season eventually).
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I love the House-Wilson interplay. Especially when Wilson gets the occasional really good shot in.
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
What cracks me up is each season there seems to be a favorite diagnosis that is never right. The two that come to mind are lupus as vasculitis (sp).
Sergeant
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
quote:Originally posted by sylvrdragon: I always kinda found it annoying that I could tell if House and Co. have the right diagnosis by noting the time remaining in the episode.
Again, just like Law & Order: I'm always telling the cops, "Nope, wrong suspect, it's only ten after!"
I think they are both great shows but I've gone from rabid enthusiasm & subsequent ODing to eventual boredom w/ the formula on both of them. I think it's happening faster for me with House, though, and that's probably because I can understand a criminal investigation better than a medical one; I certainly don't have any working theories about the diagnosis. I figure the writers had to get rid of his team at the end of last season because they couldn't really come up with anything new to do with those characters and needed new people for House to torture. Then again, it is a realistic story arc in the sense that I'm sure that any superior like House would have a high turnover in staff.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Despite the formula, the fact is that House doesn't always win.
He wins most of the time certainly, but he fails just enough to make the occasional case a bit suspenseful.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Off the cuff I'd say he only fails about...5% of the time. Fails in the sense that neither he nor his team succeeds at the end of the episode. In fact, L&O has much the same success rate as House does I think, talking about its own conflicts that is.
I think the most that can be said about House is that he's not quite as awful a human being as he acts like and says he is, but he certainly doesn't have a 'heart of gold'! He might comfort someone in major distress if he's had the misfortune (by his standards) of being exposed to the distress repeatedly (in service to his other addiction, solving problems), but he's not about to cross the street or even the hallway to help someone out.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rakeesh: I think the most that can be said about House is that he's not quite as awful a human being as he acts like and says he is, but he certainly doesn't have a 'heart of gold'! He might comfort someone in major distress if he's had the misfortune (by his standards) of being exposed to the distress repeatedly (in service to his other addiction, solving problems), but he's not about to cross the street or even the hallway to help someone out.
I had a drama history professor who went on for a long time about House as the Cyrano archetype. (If Cyrano could be called an archetype.)
A strong character who is incredibly good at what he does (Cyrano: Fighting and talking, House: Diagnostics and talking) and yet is alienated both physically (Cyrano: Nose, House: Cane and drug addiction) and by his own will (Both: They're jerks.), while at the same time adhering to a very strict moral code, even when breaking other morals to do so.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Again, just like Law & Order: I'm always telling the cops, "Nope, wrong suspect, it's only ten after!"
Also, "Nope, wrong suspect, there's a more famous guest star."
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
From the definition that I understand for "heart of gold" (that is someone that at their base wants to help and care for other people, even if they do not express that) House is definitely not that.
There is a bit of over-generalisation, but in most cases, his interest really is academic in the sense that he views people as problems, cases to be solved, and in that POV, patients present medical problems while his subordinates and coworkers present social problems.
Now does that make him an "awful" person? Well, that somewhat depends on your definition. He's probably not a nice person to be around or interact with, but the world is definitely a better place with him rather than without him. Also, in a way, if you manage to cut behind the fun (for him) manipulation and games he really is being much more brutally honest and insightful than most which is somewhat appealing.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
I'm currently Netflixing season 1 of House while Tivoing whatever's on TV, and I have to point out that there were some real hints in season 1 that he did have a heart of gold. That may have changed over the course of the series...I see it less in later episodes. (one in season 1 that was OBVIOUS was how wonderful he was to the 15 year old kid whose mother seemed to be schizophrenic.)
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
As others have said, it's a pretty formulaic show. And in my opinion, when they started deviating too much from the formula (introducing romantic storylines, introducing the detective who's trying to bust House), it started to suck. Of course, when they stuck to the formula, it got old. *shrug*
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I agree, JonBoy. I both like the pattern and am bored by it. If they are basing this series on Sherlock Holmes, it makes sense to follow a Holmes-ish sort of formula. I still like it, but I never care if I miss it.
Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
I know how the story is going to turn out, but I tune in to see what smart ass comment House is going to make. He is always good for at least two good laughs a show.
Of course in reality there wouldn't be any Wilson's who would put up with him for that long. Not every patient can be brought back from the edge of death with the right drug at the last minute, and a doctor doesn’t work on only 1 person for a week at a time, much less a team of doctors. But it's entertaining TV.
At least it hasn't turned into a soap opera like most hospital shows where every doctor is sleeping with every other doctor.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Well, I've only seen the first season but it seems like he has a heart of gold to me because he's always breaking character and caring. Like the episode where he heals the LaCrosse player and then at the end of the episode he goes to the kid's game. Or the episode where he fights exra hard to find another cause than malnutrition to explain why the vegan parents' baby is sick. I mean... Hey, I could list 22 examples from 22 episodes. Maybe it changes later on, but in Season 1 it seems like a big point is made in every episode that he only pretends not to care.
I've decided to stick with the show a bit longer....
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy: As others have said, it's a pretty formulaic show. And in my opinion, when they started deviating too much from the formula (introducing romantic storylines, introducing the detective who's trying to bust House), it started to suck. Of course, when they stuck to the formula, it got old. *shrug*
Yup. It's a great show, but it's gone on too long. It should be put down.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I love House. I think he hides behind being a jerk to hide his soft squoshy heart. But mostly I get annoyed at how his co-workers talk about him. House is one smart dood, but his social skills leave something to be desired.
I miss that show.
I also hate it when they lose a patient.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
I love House. I'm in the 2nd season right now. I don't mind the formula.
I've never watched any Law and Order except this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgZg38x5ruA but I understand they're all pretty much the same.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
It is not that his social skills leave something to be desired. He has outright decided that he does not want to *use* what we traditionally view as social skills. There is a difference.
We do not actually know whether or not he is capable of acting like a normal hypocritical and pretentious human being, although I suspect that in a pinch it would easy for him to simulate that. In the mean time, he has made a conscious decision not to act that way.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: It is not that his social skills leave something to be desired. He has outright decided that he does not want to *use* what we traditionally view as social skills. There is a difference.
We do not actually know whether or not he is capable of acting like a normal hypocritical and pretentious human being, although I suspect that in a pinch it would easy for him to simulate that. In the mean time, he has made a conscious decision not to act that way.
Sounds good to me. I hate faking. One has to respect House's... Houseness. At least he doesn't BS.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
No I don't. He's a miserable man who enjoys making other people miserable.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
From my POV, not really.
He toys with his co-workers, not because he wants to make them miserable, but because he wants to dissect them, to know how to manipulate them. With his subordinates, its the same except that he also wants them to become more effective, and more malleable to his will, even at the cost of being miserable. Foreman is the big example.
The goal is not the misery, it is simply a by-product.
As for himself, he's not necessarily miserable. He is actually happy in his own way and changing in the ways that his co-workers want him to probably *would* make him miserable.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
And why do you think that he torments Wilson so?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
The guy's in pain. He can't help being miserable if he's in constant never ending pain.
Probably because Wilson is so tormentable. It's part of their weird friendship dynamic.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
It's not just Wilson. He treats everybody like crap.
You can come up with an excuse for why he does it with coworkers, another for why he does it with underlings, another for Wilson, another for Cuddy, another for his patients, another for his patient's families, and another for strangers in the hall, but the common denominator is that he chooses to treat everybody like crap.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
If House is ever revealed to have a heart of gold, then the show will completely collapse. It only works because his stubbornness and calculative cruelty is so pure.
Likewise, if House only treats people like crap because he himself is in pain, then the show also becomes stupid.
House is just about the purest character on TV. Even The Shield's Vic Mackey and The Wire's McNulty have "hearts of gold." Even Hannibal Lector is given a few human moments. Only House's character is purely amoral. And yay for that! It's an amazing trick for the writers to pull off.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
mph: I already covered Wilson. He wants to dissect Wilson, to figure out how he works and how to manipulate him. House isn't in the "normal" social world, so it is of particular fun for him to manipulate people that are.
(the pain is not relevant, he was perceived as being miserable and causing people to be miserable even before the leg)
If Wilson is miserable because he doesn't like being manipulated or dissected then than is entirely separate from whether House enjoys it or not. That is why House is especially amused when he's foiled, when his underlings or Wilson do something unexpected (but not idiotic) he says "interesting" because he's learning more about them, new ways to get at them.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I started watching the show somewhere at the end of Season 2, I think. Not too long ago I rented the first Season 1 DVD and I definitely agree that there were more "heart of gold" hints in those early episodes.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Synesthesia: The guy's in pain. He can't help being miserable if he's in constant never ending pain.
First of all, I disagree. Regardless, he certainly CAN help whether to take his misery out on everyone around him.
I'm with Porter.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
House is the kind of show you watch once a week, not back to back on DVD. Like any formulaic show, it's a lighter load to carry as a watcher, more entertainment than drama. It doesn't matter if you miss a show because you're busy or you watch them out of order. If it instructs or surprises you, that's a bonus.
Despite its formulaic nature, House is well-written, contains likeable, interesting characters, and each individual episode is engaging. In addition, it does surprise you occasionally. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
My aunt is in chronic, constant pain, often excruciating. She is the sweetest, most service-oriented, loving, caring person I know.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Folks handle stuff differently. I think one of the best House moments was when that baby in the womb touched his hand and he just stared at it amazed. That was cool. Some folks are depressingly jerklike due to trying to keep people from getting too close. Which is a bit sad. Neon Genesis Evangelion comes to mind.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I would have liked to watch House, but there was just enough off from what I know of day-to-day medical practice to tip it over into "more irritating than entertaining" for me. However, I keep almost getting sucked in by the character descriptions.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Well, I guess House is lying when he makes it deliberately and repeatedly clear that he's not really a chewy center of fluffy goodness surrounded by ground salted glass.
For whatever reason, he made a careful, deliberate decision when he was younger to devote all his attention to being right, and care nothing for just about everything else-and 'being nice to people' was definitely on that list. Probably near the top.
No one (I think) is saying he is pure dagnasty evil, because clearly he is not. There are people he loves, in his own way, and saving people does seem important to him (though whether that's due entirely to wanting to be Right, and nothing else, is up for debate). But there is some gray area between 'deep down a nice guy' and 'pure, unadulterated sumb@#%$'. House falls squarely-by his own admission-well south of the side towards the latter, and not the former.
Remember, by all accounts he was a schmuck well before his leg injury.
----------
CT, it's interesting you would say that. Whenever you got the time (and I imagine you must be Hatracked out after all that collating!), I'd be interested to hear what's different, since I was imagining in my head that the show was dodging those concerns by having the cases all be weird.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rakeesh: CT, it's interesting you would say that. Whenever you got the time (and I imagine you must be Hatracked out after all that collating!), I'd be interested to hear what's different, since I was imagining in my head that the show was dodging those concerns by having the cases all be weird.
Oh, someday. *smile
It has been awhile, and I only watched two or three episodes. What was off to me was not in broad strokes, but in smaller things -- the order of tests, for example, when a more limited but specific one would have been done first. And the interactions amongst the staff -- what could be gotten away with, what would backfire, how the hospital lawyers behaved, etc. Just ... off.
Not so much things about specific disorders, although I fuzzily remember one thing being off. It was along the lines of "of course it isn't vasculitis or lupus, because the inflammatory markers would have to be up," or something like that. Naturally you'd order Test X (this one nonspecific but confirmatory) instead of sticking someone in a machine for examining who knows what, who knows where. That's probably not exactly it, but that's the flavor of it.
However, I can see where careful, methodical progress through a diagnostic dilemma wouldn't be nearly as dramatic.
Edited to add:
quote:Originally posted by SC Carver: ... and a doctor doesn’t work on only 1 person for a week at a time, much less a team of doctors.
This, too, and most certainly. There isn't time to do it. There isn't time enough on a standard hospital ward to take care of every patient, much less shoot the breeze in an acerbic way about one of them.
We teach medical students to present a case in 2 minutes or less. It takes someone about 5 seconds to state ID and basic complaint, 10-30 seconds to detail overnight events, 10 seconds to get through the vitals and numbers, 10-20 seconds to get through drugs/doses/schedules, 10-20 to get through labwork, etc. The discussion afterward for the plan is often just as brief.
This is why medical students often don't get to present when the ward is busy (as it usually is). They will take 5-10 minutes, and that's an extra 3-8 minutes per patient we don't have. With 25 patients, that's an extra 1.5-3.5 hours every day. Sure, there are less busy hospitals, and some have full-time hospitalists on staff, such as where I did medical school (and where I was trained -- with a stopwatch! no kidding -- to present a patient in 2 minutes or less). The teaching is better there, but it still isn't like shown.
And notably, students and residents have avenues of recourse, too.
[ February 23, 2008, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
This site is an interesting one because the reviewer is either a doctor or someone very medically inclined http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Sometimes, people are just pains in the behind, and their hearts are not made of gold, but are little frozen chips.
I wonder if House might be a classic narcissist. Second time I have used that term today. (the other was in reference to Roger Clemens)
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: This site is an interesting one because the reviewer is either a doctor or someone very medically inclined http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html
That's lovely! He very neatly and briefly dissects the show out, episode by episode, and picks apart the medicine in technical as well as practical terms. Marvelous!
(Likely more fun for me than the show, even. )
From the bio, he's a Family Practice physician with some Air Force history.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
That post was why I think of you when I read Outlander, CT. You are so Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
CT: I can't believe that I missed the "Who is Scott" link on the side all this time (I've been watching House and reading the reviews for about a season and a half after catching up via DVD)
But yeah, I thought that you might appreciate that, even though the medicine is usually a bit opaque to me.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Adored the link, Mucus. I am in your debt. Fun read.
---
Elizabeth, that is one of the nicest things anyone has said to me. Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
My housemate - an RN - won't watch the show either, for that same reason.
Personally I've let it go, figuring this particular situation is special because House is a law unto himself. We've already seen how the administration is willing to back him to extraordinary degrees, so in my mind I just assumed that his role is the be the diagnostician who can save anybody. he doesn't get called in for the usual ward full of patients (unless it's dramatic or funny), he's the one you only bring out after everyone else has failed. So he gets a team assigned only to him in the hopes that they'll emerge a fraction as good, doctors run tests that techs would ordinarily do because they're looking for elusive clues and subtle indicators that might get missed otherwise, and House gets away with being a jackass because he performs miracles on a regular basis.
Still not realistic. But fun to watch. And fun to write about. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
It's not just that, though, Chris. It's that the medicine doesn't work quite right. They attribute a side effect to the wrong drug, or talk about a drug that isn't being used an more, and they spring to odd or second-line tests wihout doing the obvious appropriate next step. That isn't just explainable by "they guess really good," either, because they will do something that is more harmful to the patient than the appropriate thing.
Mucus' link details this well.
For example, House gave a woman with suspected alcohol withdrawal some alcohol by IV. You'd never do that. You'd use a benzodiazepine like Valium, which does come oral, rectal, and IV.
[IV alcohol in this case isn't brilliant, it's just bad medicine, and it doesn't do all the good that the more appropriate and typical choice would.]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:he doesn't get called in for the usual ward full of patients (unless it's dramatic or funny), he's the one you only bring out after everyone else has failed
Remind me some time to tell you about "Elvis," the fourth-year med student with the famously uncanny ability to locate a vein on the first try.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Yeah, that's why I can't watch it with a medical professional. Fortunately my ignorance in this, as with so much else, allows me to enjoy House in a warm glow...
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Ah, Chris, that column was pure freaking gold! Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I missed that one!
quote:The next step was to investigate my living area because obviously I had been lying at the clinic when they took my history.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)