House (a.k.a. House MD) is a medical drama. It runs on the Fox network; its first episode was aired on November 16, 2004. The show focuses on its primary character, Dr. Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie), an eccentric and misanthropic physician with an uncanny ability to solve difficult medical cases. In the show, Dr. House leads a team of other diagnosticians. The show is based in the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, which is located in New Jersey. The series has been widely critically acclaimed and remains one of the most popular shows on television, with excellent viewer ratings. In 2008, it was the most-watched television program in the world. It has received a range of awards, including 9 People’s Choice Awards, a Peabody Award, four Primetime Emmys and two Golden Globes.
Dr. House is often in a conflicted relationship with his colleagues, including his own team. Many times, this is due to his medical hypotheses being based on subtle or controversial ideas. He also regularly breaks hospital rules and has little respect for established procedures, which makes up another aspect of the show’s plot. This often brings him into conflict of his boss, hospital administrator and Dean of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (played by Lisa Edelstein). Among the medical staff depicted on the show, Dr. House’s only close friend is Dr. James Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who is the head of the hospital’s Oncology department.
The diagnostic team changes throughout the series; in the first three seasons, it consisted of Dr. Robert Chase (played by Jesse Spencer), Dr. Allison Cameron (played by Jennifer Morrison), and Dr. Eric Foreman (played by Omar Epps). The team changes up again in Season Four, with Dr. Foreman rejoining the diagnostic team, but with other members being replaced by Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley (played by Olivia Wilde), Dr. Chris Taub (played by Peter Jacobson), and Dr. Lawrence Kutner (played by Kal Penn). Due to Penn’s political commitments in the Obama government, he was written out of the series. Drs. Chase and Cameron appear in various other roles in the hospital, however their characters leave the series in Season six. Dr. “Thirteen” takes a leave of absence in Season Seven, with her role being replaced by that of a graduate student, Martha M. Masters (played by Amber Tamblyn).
