House
A house is a place of residence. It may be a single-family dwelling or shared with other families; it may be a condominium, apartment or a room in an old hotel, converted to a private home. In some cases, the word can also be used to refer to a building that houses a group of people, such as a school or an office building. Governmental bodies can also be called a House, such as the House of Tudor or the House of Representatives. It can also be used to refer to a group of people with a common interest, such as the members of a club or an association.
House is an American medical drama television series that airs on Fox. The show centers on Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a maverick diagnostician who uses his unconventional methods to solve complicated medical cases and often clashes with hospital administration and his own doctors, particularly the Dean of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein).
The first season of the series aired from January 21, 2005 to March 18, 2006. It was well received by critics and viewers, and was seen as a bright spot among Fox’s lineup at the time, which consisted mostly of reality shows. The first episode of the series received a Metacritic score of 75 out of 100, indicating “generally favorable reviews.” The New York Times described it as a show that “challenges conventional wisdom about how to portray a doctor”.
During the second and third seasons, the program remained popular. In the third season, it ranked twenty-fourth in the United States among all programs and was Fox’s most popular show other than American Idol. It won a Peabody Award and was included on the AFI’s list of 10 best television shows of 2005. The show also earned several nominations from the People’s Choice Awards, including favorite TV drama and actor for Laurie and favorite dramatic actress and actor for Edelstein.
A number of references are made to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose character is similar to House in many ways. For example, both use deductive reasoning and psychology, even where the case at hand doesn’t seem to warrant it, and both are prone to take drugs.
Several of the episodes of the series revolve around relationships between the members of House’s team. In the season four episode Occam’s Razor, for instance, Thirteen leaves the team after a falling-out with Foreman; this is the beginning of the end of their partnership. In the same episode, Thirteen receives a second-edition copy of Doyle’s The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes from her former mentor, an act that Foreman describes as “unexpected”.
House’s relationship with Thirteen is central to his character, and this theme is often explored. In the seventh season of the program, for instance, she returns to work at the hospital after a leave of absence in which she had helped euthanize her brother. During this period, she and House begin dating.