The Loss of a “House”-hold Member

I waited to type this until after I had seen “House: Swan Song”. I am glad I did. I am not going to talk a lot about the show itself but I will try to explain why the show no longer being produced is tough for me to bear.

I watched this show from day one. I think it was the previews that did it for me. Something intrigued me about this cranky doctor who seemed to be awfully good at his job. My guess is that I hold firm to the idea that if I were to be a doctor, I would be similar to Gregory House. You would not like my beside manner at all; in fact, you’d probably want anyone else to talk to you about whatever ails you. However, if you wanted to get better…and quick…there’d be no one better than me. I would be so involved in the puzzle, running tests, checking off symptoms that I would forget I was working on another human being. Plus, to be honest, the character had a wicked sense of humor, one I find satisfyingly on par with mine.

The first episode was titled “Everybody Lies”; the last episode “Everybody Dies”. The character held a firm belief that everyone lied to some degree. This maxim helped House, more often than was countable, to solve cases. He knew patients would lie because they were embarrassed or were afraid of consequences if they admitted to some odd behavior which may have caused their illness. Yet it wasn’t only the patients who lied. House found it very difficult to trust anyone, even a Russian mail-order bride he married in order to allow her to become a U.S. citizen. This was a poignant spot in the series because she actually had come to love House, one of only 3 characters (as far as I can recall) who did so all series long. Not all was lost, however, as House found, in the end, he would not continue in life alone…at least not for the near future.

In my 48 years of life, this has been the best television I have seen. I enjoyed other series such as ‘Heroes’, ‘Firefly’, ‘Alias’ and I was even a pretty big Trekker for a while in my younger days. However, no other show, in my opinion, has included a cast that worked together as flawlessly to form an entity which became a pseudo family member. I looked forward to the next episode, was cranky when I didn’t get to see the new show for the week (it’s true — ask my wife and kids) and now that 5th family member is gone….well, I am sure I will find something else to watch on TV but nothing that will challenge me, make me think as much as “House”. There’s always college football (Hook ‘Em Horns!)…the NFL (Go Dolphins!)…

And then there’s “House” in syndication on the CLOO channel….and seasons 1-7 which I own on DVD (I expect the 8th and final season for my birthday or Christmas). So maybe that family member never really left but instead will just grow old getting better with age.

Adios, Dr. House. You will be missed.

And oh yeah…..”House” gets 11 out of 10 Pibbs. Yep…it is that good.