April 20, 2006
House, M.D.
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We’re watching House tonight. It’s a show where a really sarcastic, obnoxiously arrogant doctor fixes weird problems. I guess I originally liked it because of the sarcasm and arrogance. The writing is emotional, with twists and turns throughout the episode. Something has happened lately, though. I’ve realized that every episode is the same. Sure, minor issues change from one episode to the next, but the show basically follows this format:
- First, you see people living their lives and doing something normal. Then one of the people collapses.
- The person has some weird problem that makes them go get Dr. House. House makes a sarcastic comment and then realizes the seriousness of the situation.
- House makes a couple of wrong guesses about what’s wrong with the patient. The doctors that work for him argue about what they should or shouldn’t do to keep the patient from dying.
- At some point in the show, the patient will vomit unexpectedly (usually as soon as the doctors leave the room) or experience massive bleeding from below the waist. Sometimes it’s both.
- House figures out what it is, but he has to break some rule (usually ethical) to get the problem solved. He does it anyway.
- House’s boss tries to stop him from breaking the rule, but House refuses to listen to her.
- At the very last minute, they fix the problem and the person lives.
If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Literally.
1 Comment on House, M.D. »
April 21, 2006
Wulfgar42 @ 9:56 am:
You obviously have missed the subtle character development and continued storylines from episode to episode. That’s one of the interesting things about this show. It’s only as deep as you make it. If all you’re looking for is a quick fix, that’s there, but if you want to get into it, it has a depth to it (mostly wrapped up in Dr. House’s myriad of social ineptitudes).
Also, the fun is in the solution, not the fact that someone always gets sick often with similar symptoms (keep in mind if the symptoms were all radically different, it would be easy to pick out what’s wrong with them). There is plenty of variety in the medical mystery from show to show.
There’s more to this show than the format (which is admittedly predictable). One of their high points has been the show with the little girl–I’ve actually watched that one twice which is unusual for me when it comes to episodic TV.