A brief look at the previous three seasons of House, M.D. and what will compel people to watch season 4.
Season 4 of House, M.D. begins September 25th. Having ended on a compelling cliffhanger after a tepid third season, it will be interesting to see how House holds up against the competition. Hardest to compete with may be ABC's results show for Dancing With the Stars (hardly the same core audience, but after all, House, M.D. originally received a large spike in popularity from being slotted behind American Idol). Also being served up against the show is NBC's new show Chuck, The CW's Reaper, and a second season of CBS's The Unit.
House may have enough of a strong, unfaltering fan base; each season has seen its popularity grow. For a show that revolves around such a seemingly unpleasant man, many may ask, why should I watch? In truth, the show follows a fairly predictable formula, but it does make jumping in quite easy. Each week the show opens with an introduction to a medical mystery Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) and his team will soon have to solve, usually under dire circumstances. House himself is often called arrogant, cold, and blatantly honest (to a fault), but no one doubts his brilliance in solving what others cannot. The show is, in fact, a thinly veiled homage to Sherlock Holmes: everything from his residence at 221B, a Vicodin problem (in lieu of cocaine), and even his name lends itself to the nod ("Homes", House). Dr. House is in charge of a team of diagnosticians: Dr. Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Dr. Chase (Jesse Spencer) and Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps), each with their own specialties, and each week they hash over the impossible (and without the melodrama of so many other medical shows), trying to solve the mystery.
The First Three Seasons of House
The previous three seasons are currently all available in DVD box sets for owning and renting. Season 1 is very strong, with intriguing cases as the show slowly develops its characters. Towards the end of the season, it becomes very tense when administrators gain control over how House runs his team. His ex-wife (Sela Ward) also joins the cast, which plays a large, somewhat tedious subplot in Season 2. The show still manages to further flesh out the characters, particularly Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard, Watson to House's Holmes). The end of season 2 is even more riveting than the first, as tensions between Dr. Cameron and Dr. Foreman surge when Dr. Foreman contracts a deadly disease.
This past year, season 3 heavily explored House's painkiller addiction, a drama brought on by a policeman determined to put him away. The medical stories of each episode had great writing, but as a continuing subplot, it lacked intensity or depth. The series did, however, leave on a cliffhanger: due entirely to pride, Dr. House let Dr. Foreman quit (Dr. Foreman was afraid of turning into his curmudgeonly boss), then fired Dr. Chase, which in turn caused Dr. Cameron to quit. Season 4 is set to start and it would seem Dr. House is without a team. Interviews and rumors confirm the whole cast is set to star in this upcoming season; they may not be a part of House's team as events unfold but it will be worth watching to see how things resolve themselves.
Watch Season 4
House, M.D. has seen two Golden Globe awards for Hugh Laurie, a celebrated comedic British actor only recently known to most Americans. The supporting cast, Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein (playing the hospital administrator Dr. Cuddy) not least of all, bring a very strong foundation to the show. These two characters, as equals or superiors to House, create a tense dynamic when it comes to pushing boundaries and testing limits, something House does with each episode. As Hugh Laurie himself notes of the character, Dr. House does indeed crave human contact (perhaps intellectual contact rather than emotional). He is vulnerable in this need, and that will be center stage with the premiere of season 4.
Asked at a recent press conference in July, as to why Dr. Wilson tolerates Dr. House, Robert Sean Leonard replied, "I don't see what's so unattractive about House. (House) is extremely self-effacing, he's extremely funny, he's brilliant, he's scathingly honest, he's incredibly candid. What don't you like about him? ... I'm not sure what people mean. He's shocking and he's bold and he can be unnerving. But as a friend, I would seek out someone like that, I think." And in characters this well developed, a viewer finds a show worth watching each week. It may seem formulaic in its approach, but somewhere in the medical mysteries are six dynamic characters; no melodrama, no soap opera...but a nearly perfect balance of drama and mystery worthy of its prime time slot.
