It's New to Me: House

For most of this year, the wife and I were bombarded with House promos during American Idol. We never bothered to tune in; for my part, the repetitive nature of the promos didn't inspire much confidence. Every week it was:

1. Person has unusual medical condition that defies diagnosis.
2. Dr. House, either on his own or with the help of his assistants comes up with some cure, potentially fatal.
3. The hospital administration hems and haws, fearing a lawsuit.
4. Dr. House winds up treating the patient anyways, or at least gives that impression.

Now that the summer doldrums are upon us, and there's bugger all on TV most nights (especially given the way the Red Sox are playing), I thought I'd give House a viewing. Between press on the show and word of mouth, it sounded like I was missing something.

Turns out I was.

House manages to combine elements of ER, The West Wing and CSI in what is a very positive and entertaining fashion. Some of the medical stuff is a little graphic, but otherwise I found myself really enjoying the episode.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. House is an engaging, enigmatic lead, whose compassion is well-hidden behind his intellect, sarcasm, and mouth. In a way this would be a perfect compliment for Hell's Kitchen, as House could be the medical equivalent of Gordon Ramsay (though House is much less likely to curse, though even if network standards allowed it he seems like a guy who prefers more artfully constructed rejoinders than the average four letter word). Hugh Laurie is dead-letter perfect in this role.

The supporting cast is solid, and includes the likes of Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, and Lisa Edelstein. They're a perfect compliment to House, both when on screen with him and when they get to interact without him.

I also liked the way that the supporting stories aren't so obviously supporting. In lat night's episode, a subplot regarding a litigation-happy STD carrier provided just enough of a relief from the main story. It was funny without necessarily being treated as such (as compared to the STD subplot on Grey's Anatomy that was mostly comic relief).

House goes into the regular rotation. It should go in yours, too.