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(S05E08) What is Foreman's role in House's little kingdom? From the deep recesses of my dusty brain I recall a conversation he had with Cuddy that his job was to be some sort of monitor to make sure House didn't, you know, rip the lungs out of a live patient just to make sure they were really and truly pink and healthy. But, to be honest, I haven't seen much monitoring going on over the last few episodes.

I have seen lots of sitting and moping and an all-around indecisiveness in Eric since he returned to Princeton-Plainsboro. Maybe he was regretting the decision he made, maybe he was still trying to learn from the feet of his mentor, or maybe he was reliving his past life as suicidal County General doc Dennis Gant from ER. That may have changed this week as, finally, he decided to branch out on his own.

Here we are, two seasons removed since House disbanded his trio of cronies to find a new batch of talented doctors to humiliate, and some things haven't changed. Things like House's acerbic nature, his addiction to pain pills, the hospital he works at, Cuddy's very long legs (men, I'll give you a moment...okay) and the weekly patient who has a medical condition that can't be solved until the very last moment. Oh, there is one more thing that hasn't changed...the opening credits.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Jennifer Morrison, Omar Epps and Jesse Spencer (Cameron, Foreman and Chase on the show) don't really have star status like they used to. Heck, sometimes they aren't even on the program. They have been replaced by Kal Penn, Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson, who now do the diagnosing. Yet, these three can't get a break. They just get an 'Also Starring' credit after the opening credits roll. Gosh, the original three members of House's team are still shown walking behind him as the credits end.

(S05E01) "This is Dr. House. He's too brilliant for introductions." -- Thirteen to House's patient of the week

Another season of House, another patient with a mysterious ailment. If there is one thing that has not changed in the five seasons that this medical procedural has aired it is the fact that someone is going to enter Princeton-Plainsboro with an illness that can't be determined until the very last minute. It's why House is still on the air. Well, there's that, and then there's the fact that Hugh Laurie is a damn fine actor. Oh, and the others on the show don't do so badly themselves.

So, what can one viewer look forward to for this new season? If you think same-old, same-old then you would be absolutely, totally....incorrect. Because things are a-changing in Greg House's universe -- actually have been changing since the death of Amber in last season's finale -- that he can't, or won't, stop. The result? Well, I would be writing my own death sentence if I revealed it to you here. So, come and join me for a recap of this week's episode.

(S01E22) I've been wondering all week how Aaron Sorkin would send his final F-U to the NBC brass. I mean when this episode was made, the writing was very clearly on the wall: Studio 60 was dead in the water. So, the question is, if you're a writer/producer with nearly unlimited power regarding the production of a newly canceled show, what do you do in the last episode to turn a big fat middle finger up at the network who canceled you? Do you end on an unresolvable cliff-hanger? Do you turn in a sub-par episode? Do you break down all pretense of the fourth-wall and cancel the show within the show?

What do you do? How do you really stick it to NBC?

(S03E19) "Work smarter, not harder." If those weren't the words that summed up Dr. Gregory House's way of doing things, then I'm not sure what would be. That said, when he uses them on Dr. Chase - the least likely candidate of his team to get a compliment like that - it's even more proof that his way of doing things, from the straight diagnosis down to his habits, rubbing off on the team. Strangely, I think that's a good thing.

This week, we had a fantastic combination of a very cool medical case, drama between Cameron and Chase, and some interesting developments with Cuddy and Wilson, even if some of it is being driven by House. And remember what we'd been talking about a few weeks ago regarding how this show was (hopefully) not going down the too-much-sex route as far as plot goes? Well, this week sex was behind the medical issue going on, but not in the way you might have thought.

(S03E04) Quick question: a) is House getting a little bit unrealistic this season or b) am I just off my gourd? I'm not usually one to nitpick at television shows, because c'mon, they're television shows, and only partially reality in the case of a show like House. I've got to say that there were a couple things last night that bugged me, most prominently Foreman's quick-to-grab attitude when he wanted to bring Adam, the autistic child, into a scanner, and he was complaining about only having half an hour to do so, and grabbing at the kid's PSP unit to try and take it away and move him along. If there's anything on this show that is just not going to happen, especially in the case of an autistic child, it's that. Just seemed a little out of place, though not necessarily out of character for Foreman. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't to say that I'm in any way frustrated to not be watching this show, it just seems to be a bit "different" to me.

What I *loved* about this week's episode was how Cameron kept trying to diagnose what House was doing by having his meetings with his team in various rooms in the hospital, since he said he would not work in his office until the old carpeting was back, with his bloodstain from last season's finale. Additionally, it was fascinating to see Cuddy and Wilson discussing the possibility that House could have Asperger's Syndrome, which is a "mild and rare" type of Autism, so perhaps that was why he took the case in the first place. Wilson's primary belief for this was how his pal reacted to not being able to have the carpet in his office, and how he was compensating and "fighting back" elsewhere, such as taking the conference room at the same time Cuddy was set to have a meeting. Best of all, this week, we have the return of House's teenage stalker.

(S03E01) [Some spoilers ahead! If you don't want to hear more about the premiere, then stop here!] As one of the early-on season premieres of the fall 2006 crop of shows, House will probably get a decent amount of "drop in" viewership for tonight's episode. Those who are just dropping in for the first time will see a very different Gregory House than the show originally presented, and those who have been along for the whole ride - even if you just caught up this summer on DVD or rerun - might just have a lot of wide-open mouths, even as the show opens up. The good doctor, who we left in a hallucination at the end of last season after he was shot, has apparently seen some big changes since having surgery, combined with Cuddy's ketamine treatment.

The show opens, as always, in dramatic fashion. A man, seemingly bound to a wheelchair with some unknown ailment, is seeing flashes of light combined with his particular reality. This reality includes his son, wife, and other family members participating in a barbecue, around a swimming pool. In some deliberate fashion, in what seems to be an attempt on his own life, the man moves his automatic wheelchair towards the pool, surveys the scene, and moves it forward, leaving us to see him sinking in the deep end just before the opening credits. And so it goes.

Some would say it's Jeremy Piven's portrayal as slick agent Ari. Others would choose Adrian Grenier's lead performance as Vince. Still others would choose the goofy charm of Jerry Ferrara's Turtle. But Ron Rosenbaum over at The New York Observer thinks the best thing about the show is Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon).

I never really thought about it before, but he makes a good case. While I see Entourage as more of an ensemble show (with Piven's character coming in often to bust up the four friends), Dillon does give a great performance, and the character is written just right, a little annoying but not so annoying that you don't care about him. And I think we've all met guys like Johnny.

What do you think is the best thing about Entourage?

It has become clear from the last couple episodes of Wonder Showzen that the creators like to mess with people, whether it be people on the street or the people at home. Last week's episode, which was devoted entirely to a show-within-a-show called "Horse Apples," coupled with this episode which consisted of nothing but Clarence telling people on the street they could make better TV and then leaving the camera on them while they either stare blankly, pontificate, or get angry, both seem to stem from the same dadaistic mindset that made Andy Kaufman both hysterical and frustrating. This, I guess, is both a praise and critique of the show. On one hand, it's embracing the kind of "anti-everything" attitude a show like Wonder Showzen should have, but the gag doesn't feel especially new.

Stepping back and looking at this season as a whole, and disregarding the last two episodes, I think it was pretty solid, and if the show gets renewed for a third season, I would expect to see more great episodes with gags packed in so tight you have no choice but to watch episodes more than once to catch everything. I also expect more episodes like this last one, where they take a few risks and try something different so some guy can write some boring blog post about the philosophy behind it all. And honestly, I think that's great. Exceeding expectations is always cool, but when you flat out refuse to even try to meet expectations ... well, it doesn't make for great television, but I admire that kind of moxie.

Love Interest. That's what Stacy has been for House throughout her presence on the series so far. Well, maybe it's former love interest. Or maybe I'm just lost and these two don't know what they want to be doing. During this week's episode, "Failure to Communicate," the pair are in Baltimore to "defend" House's billings to the government - and since Foreman has been so diligent in getting the paperwork done since he took over as "boss" of the group, I'm sure there are plenty of things to look over. At the same time, the rest of the team are back at the hospital when Cuddy comes in asking Foreman for recommendations of other diagnosticians who can do as good a job as house can, because a well-known journalist has come down with a particularly odd affliction - and she doesn't seem to think Foreman, Chase and Cameron can handle it without House in the building. After convincing her otherwise, they get the case, and Fletcher Stone is admitted. Turns out that he knocked his head on a desk during his editor's last hurrah at the office, and when he got back up he was speaking, but random words were coming out. He thought he was talking normal, but the people near him were just hearing what amounts to pointing at a word on the first five pages of the dictionary, and then constructing them into a sentence.

Stacy manages to pull a fast one on the man reviewing House's records, effectively "bribing" him out of bringing down the house on her client, so to speak. The good doctor is amused by this, and the fact that Stacy managed to get on a different flight than him, so they wouldn't have to ride home together. Unfortunately for her, flights are delayed due to weather, and he's still sitting in the airport when she arrives to do the same. All the while, he's been back and forth on the phone with Foreman & Co., giving them some ideas on what has been happening - because Cuddy called him. So as much as she likes Foreman being in charge, she still doesn't think the other docs can do their jobs as well without the fearless leader.

On Friday, January 27 at 9 p.m., Cartoon Network will debut a brand new Tom and Jerry short, titled "The Karateguard." The short, directed by Joseph "I Thought He Was Dead" Barbera, will pit Jerry the Mouse against the tenacious Tom... well, it's a Tom and Jerry cartoon for crying out loud, they pretty much all follow the same basic plot. Tom and Jerry, like most cartoons from that era, were created as theatrical shorts to be shown before MGM films (much like Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies were shown before Warner Brothers films). Barbera created the cat and mouse duo sixty-five years ago with the late William Hanna.

[via Cartoon Brew]