The Late Great Dr. Gregory House
A gift to the world
My friend Michelle and I started rewatching House the other night. It’s her second time and my third.
I thought I would have to wait another few years before I could enjoy seeing it again, but an interview with Hugh Laurie on YouTube filled me with longing for the House experience, and I could not resist. Michelle and I fell in love with House all over again within minutes of renewing our acquaintance with him.
I believe Dr. Gregory House is the greatest character in the history of fiction, be it prose, stage, TV, or film.
To assert that he is simply Sherlock Holmes in the role of a doctor is to grossly underestimate the power of this character. Holmes was a stiff. House is funny. I laugh constantly through every episode. Indeed, I think House is the greatest comedy ever seen on television, or anywhere else. The drama aspect is secondary. The comedy is primary. But both aspects are exemplary.
There has simply never been anything like it, and there probably never will be again, given the woke hysteria that now controls us. It would be impossible to air House today. For instance, no current character could be allowed to call another character Napolean Blackapart, and live to see an additional season. But that kind of humor happened in nearly every episode of House.
Equally amazing are the number of episodes they did, the number of seasons the show lasted, and the consistent brilliance that prevailed over that time. We are becoming used to shows doing about a dozen installments and then taking a long hiatus before returning. But the House team did more than twenty episodes per season for 8 years, and they always delivered the goods!
Thank you David Shore, Hugh Laurie, and every other person who made House possible. It is a gift to the world.
