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Review: House - Teamwork



(S06E07) "I'm living my life. For the first time, I'm not going to change that because of how it might affect him -- or you." -- Cuddy to Wilson, who asked her what she sees in Lucas

I just want to shove House and Cuddy into a room together and let them figure out their relationship. It's clear that even though she's trying to be happy in her current relationship, she just can't get House out of her head, no matter how much she declares that she has or is going to.

I feel for her, because once they end up getting together -- if they don't by the time the series ends, I'll be ticked -- she'll have a long road ahead of her. Or not. People change. There's a good heart beating inside House's damaged psyche. It could work.

Continue reading Review: House - Teamwork

Review: House - Known Unknowns

Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard, R) and House (Hugh Laurie, L) have a heated exchange at a medical convention in the 'House' episode 'Known Unknowns.'
(S06E07) "Well, I feel bad. I haven't named your testicles." - Cuddy

We're all thinking it, and unlike euthanasia, I see no reason to keep mum -- House is firing on all cylinders right now. Actually, let me clarify that -- House the character, not House the show, is firing on all cylinders right now. Anything going on in Greg's periphery at the moment is sensational, absolutely electrifying drama.

Everything else? Not so much. If anything, "Known Unknowns" did nothing more than highlight something we've seen countless times already. Namely, the paralyzing effect House's absence has on his team. They're inept without him. What did I glean from the case du jour? Some annoying teenager got sick from eating oysters. However, I gleaned plenty from the rest of the hour.

Continue reading Review: House - Known Unknowns

TV Squad Ten: TV's biggest rule breakers

patrick_jane_cbs
Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.

10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist

You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.

Continue reading TV Squad Ten: TV's biggest rule breakers

House as a young boy in deleted scene from "Brave Heart"

This past Monday's episode of House, "Brave Heart," showed us a side of House that we've seen bits of this season, but finally got proof of - he is getting better. Granted, a healthy House means a return to many of his old shenanigans but apparently it also means trying to forgive the past.

House's military brat upbringing was brought to light in season five's "Birthmarks" where we saw House say good-bye to his father - a man he didn't seem to have too much love for. In this past Monday's episode, House took a cue from Wilson (who'd been conversing with Amber) and before dozing off to sleep, he spoke to his late father admitting that maybe he'd been focusing on the wrong things because there had been some good times.

Well... what good times? There was no context to back up House's claim. Now we have it. House producer Greg Yaintanes has posted a deleted scene, a flashback, where young Greg recalls some of those good times. I never pegged House as an ice-cream cone fan. Take a look.



[Watch full episodes and clips of House, as well as other shows, over at SlashControl.]

Review: House - Brave Heart

(L-R) Foreman (Omar Epps), Chase (Jesse Spencer) and Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) run tests on the skeletal remains of the father and grandfather of a patient who believes he's inherited an illness that kills the men in his family at age 40 in the HOUSE episode 'Brave Heart.'
(S06E06) "I've crossed some line and I'm having trouble getting back to the other side." - Chase

Another week, another case that no one cares about... well, almost. Ever since House's visit to the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, it's been tough to get invested in anything other than what he's going through. Each week, the case du jour has been largely disposable (save for Dibala) as nothing really relates to anything else. However, it seems like David Shore and Co. must've realized that too because "Brave Heart" made a good attempt at bringing what's become a very segmented story back together.

Continue reading Review: House - Brave Heart

House: Instant Karma

House (Hugh Laurie, L) works with his original team (L-R: Jesse Spencer, Omar Epps and Jennifer Morrison) in the HOUSE episode 'Instant Karma.'
(S06E05) "I understand you're a fan. I'll have my guys send over a signed glossy." - House

We're getting deeper into the fall TV season, so it was only a matter of time before even the good shows started to falter a little. Not every episode is going to be an instant classic, and House is no exception. You know it's not a good sign when the only thing you find enjoyable is House comparing himself to Kobe Bryant, which, by the way, is dead on -- especially since he's no longer in charge. Foreman is the Phil Jackson to House's does whatever he wants and still wins #24.

Continue reading House: Instant Karma

Concerns about last week's House

Foreman and Chase from HouseI always look forward to watching House on Mondays. Since about season two, when I think the show really started to develop its secondary characters, I have been hooked on the writing and amazed at the kind of outlandish plots I would tolerate that I would never be able to pass by on, say, other medical dramas. But I'm looking forward to tonight's episode with a bit of trepidation. And that's because they may have finally found an outlandish plot I can't quite get past.

For those who still have last week's episode on DVR and are likely to write us letters because we spoiled it for you - SPOILER ALERT. Then again, why are you reading something about tonight's episode if you haven't watched last week's episode yet?

There. Consider that fair space between the alert and the actual spoiler info. From here on out, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Continue reading Concerns about last week's House

Did James Earl Jones seem like an evil dictator in House?

James Earl Jones on HouseIn this week's episode of House, James Earl Jones played an African dictator. Much of the plot centered on whether he should live or die, and whether the doctors should make that decision in order to save innocent Africans that he would kill if he survived.

Ok, here's the thing about this. Jones is undoubtedly a great actor, but he didn't seem like an evil dictator ready to wipe out half the population of his country. He seemed more like his character Terence Mann in Field of Dreams, a kindly old guy who needed to be shown the way.

Continue reading Did James Earl Jones seem like an evil dictator in House?

House: The Tyrant

House (Hugh Laurie, L) presents Cameron (Jennifer Morrison, R) and the team the case of President Dibala (James Earl Jones), the leader of an African nation who is admitted to Princeton Plainsboro, in the HOUSE episode 'The Tyrant.'|
(S06E04) "I thought I had detected the sickly sweet smell of maple syrup and socialized medicine." - House

Early on in this episode, House exclaimed "It's three years ago!" when he realized that he was working with the old team - Foreman, Chase, and Cameron. It became apparent rather quickly, though, that things at Princeton-Plainsboro are still very far from normal. He may be back, but House isn't back. Right now, he's more like the little kid that your co-worker brought to the office and he just won't leave your cube. That and the little kid is way smarter than you are.

Continue reading House: The Tyrant

House: Epic Fail

House (Hugh Laurie, L) convinces Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard, R) to take a cooking class with him.
(S06E03) "House was an egotistical, pill popping, lawsuit magnet... and a genius." - Foreman

Change doesn't come easily for House. Fresh out of his stint at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital and you'd think he'd be craving his old routine. Instead he quits his job. As we learned, though, it was more about coping and less about change. Ironically though, House, the one character who had the biggest change and now has the most to cope with, seems to be doing the best out of them all.

Continue reading House: Epic Fail

House bombshell: Jennifer Morrison is out

Jennifer Morrison in a scene from the fifth season finale of House.
Just when we started to think that things might be getting back to normal on House...

EW's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jennifer Morrison is being written out of House and that her last episode will air in November. I don't want to say much more than that - details after the jump.

Continue reading House bombshell: Jennifer Morrison is out

The greatest picture from House that you'll ever see

House
Are you kidding me?!? This is quite possibly the greatest promotional picture for any series ever. I mean, just what the hell is going on? Wilson is golfing, Chase is grilling, Thirteen has a crossbow, Taub is shaving, Foreman is pumping some iron, and Cameron is working on the RV's engine?!? Assuming this whole delusion is in House's head (his trucker hat does say "I'm in charge"), it makes perfect sense then that Cuddy would be sunbathing on the roof in a red bikini.

More than anything though, it does get me excited about seeing the whole gang again on Monday night. As amazing as the House two hour premiere was, I do miss the rest of the Princeton-Plainsboro staffers. Lots of questions still up in the air - Thirteen's health, Chase and Cameron's relationship, and Cuddy's reaction to House's return are all at the top of my list. Oh and if you're looking for a better look, check out a hi-res version of the picture here.

Did you want House to stay in the asylum a little longer?

House: BrokenWe used to be big House watchers in this house a few years ago. We loved seeing Dr. House be snarky and cynical, and while an addiction to Vicodin is tragic, it was part of who he was. Really, maybe that's part of what addiction is -- it becomes familiar and part of your psyche, and you don't want to give it up. I'm no therapist, though (clearly).

We lapsed with the show as it became more and more predictable, and even the addition of the new team and the Survivor-like way House picked them wasn't enough to make it must-see TV. We watched only an episode or two last season. House's spiral was sad, and we didn't want to watch it anymore. I know long-running shows have to evolve, but we had lost the old House.

Continue reading Did you want House to stay in the asylum a little longer?

J.J. Abrams producing comedy for Fox

J.J. AbramsI guess even J.J. Abrams needs to lighten things up now and then. With shows like Fringe, Lost and Alias, and movies like Star Trek, Cloverfield and Mission Impossible III on his impressive resume, maybe he needs a break from the sci-fi / action / drama genres.

Now he's exec producing an untitled, half-hour comedy for Fox. It's written by Mike Markowitz (who's worked on Becker and It's All Relative), but other than that, details are few and far between. The tagline is that it'll be "a comedic medical show." Hmmm, so maybe like Scrubs?

Continue reading J.J. Abrams producing comedy for Fox

What if House stopped being a procedural?

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory HouesI have a problem with procedurals. I tend to get bored with the same formula week in and week out. And yet, I've been enjoying House for years, despite the incredibly repetitive sequence of events we get every week. The reason for that is because of the brilliance of the character Gregory House, and Hugh Laurie's portrayal of him.

As Jonathan mentioned in his review of House's season premiere, this two-hour trip into the insane asylum broke the procedural formula completely. Not only did we not see House cure any medical ailments, we didn't see the rest of the cast at all, save a quick cameo by Wilson. Instead, we got a character study and a major breakthrough for House.

But a breakthrough is a beginning. What if the show, like the character, had a transformation of its own? How about a medical-based drama instead of a medical procedural? We can still have cases and House diagnosing them, but dump the weekly formula and instead make it about the characters and their lives.

Continue reading What if House stopped being a procedural?

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