# House: Thirteens whereabouts revealed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361 "2011-04-06T04:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/21 "2011-04-07T20:45:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t find Tamblyn hot at all. She’s just this side of average, though I like her as an actress. My husband and I discuss this pretty much every episode. I think the show’s stylists purposely make her as frumpy and unattractive as possible, because she was WAAAY cuter on Joan of Arcadia. Seriously - look at this: [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/10/house-sneak-peek-amber-tamblyns-first-three-episodes-pictures.html](http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/10/house-sneak-peek-amber-tamblyns-first-three-episodes-pictures.html) versus this: [http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW1IZXIGDGFTYMX5BG==T3ROZXJZLU90AGVYCW==/imgamber%20tamblyn2.jpg](http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW1IZXIGDGFTYMX5BG==T3ROZXJZLU90AGVYCW==/imgamber%20tamblyn2.jpg) I mean come on - they put her in neckties, argyle sweaters and skirts that don’t fit and give her the worst hairstyle I’ve ever seen on anyone on that show. ‘Hot’ cannot be what they’re aiming for when they pick her outfits. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/22 "2011-04-07T23:56:45Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I despise Thirteen and her head is so enormous it frightens me. She looks like Helena Bonham Carter in _Alice in Wonderland_. Word. But leaving aside the physicality of it, I didn’t find the character to be that interesting. I guess I prefer strong women; I like Cuddy and I think Amber Tamblyn’s character has brought so much. She’s pretty much the only one you can rely on to stand up for what she thinks is right, damn the consequences. So trading her for the pablum that is 13’s character means I’m out. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I’m more pissed about the other two spoilers: there’s a show called House and a character named 13! Thanks a lot, jerk. Yeah, I don’t really get it either. I guess there’s some kind of spoiler line we crossed here? But I have no idea what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/23 "2011-04-08T00:03:02Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > Word. But leaving aside the physicality of it, I didn’t find the character to be that interesting. I guess I prefer strong women; I like Cuddy and I think Amber Tamblyn’s character has brought so much. She’s pretty much the only one you can rely on to stand up for what she thinks is right, damn the consequences. So trading her for the pablum that is 13’s character means I’m out. I like strong women, but must all _characters_ be strong? It’s possible to tell stories about profoundly screwed up people, which I’d say includes Remy Hadley. I understand why she is skittish and defensive and closed off and frequently self-destructive. I doubt I’d want to watch a show in which all the characters were “strong” as you appear to be using the term. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/24 "2011-04-08T00:04:26Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > My husband and I discuss this pretty much every episode. > > I think the show’s stylists purposely make her as frumpy and unattractive as possible, because she was WAAAY cuter on Joan of Arcadia. > > Seriously - look at this: > > [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/10/house-sneak-peek-amber-tamblyns-first-three-episodes-pictures.html](http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/10/house-sneak-peek-amber-tamblyns-first-three-episodes-pictures.html) > > versus this: > > [http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW1IZXIGDGFTYMX5BG==T3ROZXJZLU90AGVYCW==/imgamber%20tamblyn2.jpg](http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW1IZXIGDGFTYMX5BG==T3ROZXJZLU90AGVYCW==/imgamber%20tamblyn2.jpg) > > I mean come on - they put her in neckties, argyle sweaters and skirts that don’t fit and give her the worst hairstyle I’ve ever seen on anyone on that show. > > ‘Hot’ cannot be what they’re aiming for when they pick her outfits. She doesn’t seem hot to me in either picture. Somewhat pretty, perhaps. But then, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear or read or name is Joan of Arcadia, and when I think her character, I think _kid_, not _hot chick_. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/25 "2011-04-08T01:54:13Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > She doesn’t seem hot to me in either picture. Somewhat pretty, perhaps. But then, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear or read or name is Joan of Arcadia, and when I think her character, I think _kid_, not _hot chick_. Amber Tamblyn is 27 years old. She hasn’t been a kid for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/26 "2011-04-08T03:24:58Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Olivia Wilde is too skinny and has too much of a plasticky-Hollywood kind of look, and her mouth is too wide. Amber Tamblyn is at least 300% hotter than her. I’m not going to argue with this, taste and all, but I don’t think Wilde is any more Hollywood than Tamblyn. She’s definitely freakier looking, in a striking way. > [@Neidhart](#): > > (Do any real-life MDs wear ultra-short skirts as Tamblyn does? 😃 ) I imagine so. I’ve seen Cuddyesque cleavage on the job, certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/27 "2011-04-08T03:35:40Z")
Oh my stars, 13 is going to help Martha tart herself up and then they’ll have some super hot sex scenes! Not a spoiler, just a little daydreaming. . . ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/28 "2011-04-08T10:20:55Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Amber Tamblyn is 27 years old. She hasn’t been a kid for a long time. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/29 "2011-04-08T11:56:02Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > What’s your point? Just pointing out that Skald has some kind of mental block when it comes to former child actresses. Basically, if he says an actress onscreen before her 18th birthday she can never be hot, no matter how far into her 20s or 30s she is now. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/30 "2011-04-08T17:41:50Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Amber Tamblyn is 27 years old. She hasn’t been a kid for a long time. I didn’t say she was a kid. I said I _think_ of her as a kid. Likewise Michelle Tractenberg (however you spell the last name) remains the litttle girl from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, worse, _Harriet the Spy_, to which I took my favorite niece and which image I much prefer to keep unsexualized. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Just pointing out that Skald has some kind of mental block when it comes to former child actresses. Basically, if he says an actress onscreen before her 18th birthday she can never be hot, no matter how far into her 20s or 30s she is now. Actually that’s not true. I have no such block about Natalie Portman. 😃 But then, I never saw her on film before _Garden State_, so my first impression of her isn’t her as a child. I think Kristen Bell was also a child actress (though I can’t prove it), but she doesn’t seem such to me. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/31 "2011-04-08T18:20:00Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I didn’t say she was a kid. I said I _think_ of her as a kid. Likewise Michelle Tractenberg (however you spell the last name) remains the litttle girl from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, worse, _Harriet the Spy_, to which I took my favorite niece and which image I much prefer to keep unsexualized. Six of you and half a dozen of the other. It’s just weird to me. > [@](#): > > I think Kristen Bell was also a child actress (though I can’t prove it), but she doesn’t seem such to me. Kristen Bell started acting when she was 23. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/32 "2011-04-08T18:25:05Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Amber Tamblyn is 27 years old. She hasn’t been a kid for a long time. [/QUOTE] Right, but Joan of Arcadia is a teenage character. [QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] I think Kristen Bell was also a child actress (though I can’t prove it), but she doesn’t seem such to me. [/QUOTE] IMDB says her first movie role was some uncredited role when she was 18. First credited role was in a nothing movie as a bit part, at 21. She had a couple of small parts/guest roles on TV shows, where she likely played teenagers, and her breakout hit was _Veronica Mars_, where she played a 16 year old, but was 24 when it started. [QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] I think the show’s stylists purposely make her as frumpy and unattractive as possible, because she was WAAAY cuter on Joan of Arcadia. [/QUOTE] Well, they certainly are intentionally making her look frumpy. The brown dress in her first episode is screaming ugly. It also made her thighs look huge. The character is supposed to be a genius and therefore social misfit, so they certainly are intentionally dressing her like someone without a clue. IMDB says she was 20 when filming _Joan of Arcadia_. I first noticed her in an episode of _The Twilight Zone_, where she played a rebellious goth teenager, and her parents moved to some community where they “dealt with” the troublemakers. > **["The Twilight Zone" Evergreen (TV Episode 2002) ⭐ 6.4 | Drama, Fantasy, Horror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734780/)** > > 21m | TV-14 When she was in _The Unusuals_ a couple years ago, she definitely looked more like an adult. She also wasn’t as frumpy. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/33 "2011-04-08T18:30:22Z")
Oh, interesting observation. From the plot summary for that episode, > [@](#): > > Apparently kids who cannot adapt to Evergreen’s strict code of conduct for youngsters are sent to a military school called Arcadia. Spoiler for the episode: The guards seize Jenna and throw the hysterical girl into the Arcadia truck, and her parents turn Julie away as the doors slam and we see that Arcadia is a fertilizer company specializing in waste recycling. Puts a new twist on “Joan of Arcadia”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/34 "2011-04-08T18:35:24Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Right, but Joan of Arcadia is a teenage character. But you yourself said she was 20 when the show debuted. I repeat, she’s not a kid now and apparently never was. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361/35 "2011-04-08T21:03:01Z")
I never watched the show, but my impression was she was supposed to be a teenager, so that is how the _character_ is portrayed. That the _actress_ was actually 20 is irrelevant to how the character came off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-thirteens-whereabouts-revealed/577361.md?page=1)