If you think the show has anything to do with the different diseases and whatnot, you’re missing the point.
Not totally sure. I think he’s a bit like Zaphod. Sometimes he doesn’t get it and acts like he really doesn’t get it to cover up for that.
The tension between his usefulness as a doctor and his destructiveness as a friend is part of the point. The show is exploring the questions that creates. It’s not just blindly presenting us an asshole without also tracing the consequences of his assholery.
No, I can’t agree with that. Some episodes, you are correct. Some episodes, he’s just being a monster and should be shot and killed.
Ah yes, but is the narrative condoning his monstrosity, or displaying it with moralistic commentary? I tend to find the latter is the case.
I’ll be fair. His personality is clearly romanticized at the same time, when the truth is that if he weren’t sexy Hugh Laurie most people would find him toxic beyond redemption.
I think the show has some brilliant writing and acting, but in the end House was too much of a jerk for me to want to continue to watch (that and the fact that all storylines follow the same basic formula, as mentioned upthread)
My wife, on the other hand, still likes the show and watches it.
Which brings us to an interesting point. Look at the responses from the females in this thread (sorry if some quoted below are not female) :
These posts essentially hit every major stereotype of women who love “difficult” guys, who have “humanity in [them], it’s just buried fairly deep.”. They are jerks, but they really “get you”, they “understand you”. You want to have their baby, or at least fuck like rabbits.
I especially like winterhawk11’s post, where she says that Hugh Laurie doesn’t do it for her if he isn’t acting like House.
I think that is one of the reasons that House is so popular. He must have a huge female fan base. Of course men like this show too, but most of the adoration for House I’ve heard from friends and coworkers IRL has come from women.
House and Simon from American Idol prove that women are indeed attracted to arrogant jackasses, especially ones who are rich/powerful/successful. But of course, whenever a thread starts here on the SDMB about this, women fall over themselves denying such a thing. BTW, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to rich/powerful/successful arrogant jackasses, if that’s how nature wired you, but the level of denial is amazing.
But that’s just my point - it’s only the diseases and details that change, everything else (the important stuff) is hugely formulaic.
Well, that’s kind of interesting in my case. Yes, I do think House is hot, but not in an “I want to be with him, or I want to be the one to change him” sort of way. I’m kind of an odd duck in that my attraction to such characters isn’t a romantic one. I find myself drawn to a particular type of character–an attractive man who does things his own way and is arrogant in an intelligent way…but only if he can back it up by being the best. It’s funny, but I actually tend to identify more with characters like that (not that I’m male, attractive, brilliant, or jerkish–I told you I was an odd duck!) rather than want to be *with *them. Some of my favorite literary and cinema characters (Sherlock Holmes, Ian Malcolm from “Jurassic Park,” and Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka, for example) have similar traits.
ETA: BTW, my choice of romantic partner in real life is nothing like this–being a jerk (brilliant or otherwise) is one of the fastest ways to turn me off. Being a male chauvinist is another. I don’t think House would rate very high as a partner for me, gorgeousness notwithstanding. 
There are two things that are unrealistic about “House”. One is that there is someone as brilliant as House. Two is that there is an administrator as tolerant as Cuddy.
Most bosses don’t tolerate open insubordination for the good of their company. They prefer to have things run their way. It’s rare that you’ll have a boss that is so willing to accept and even admit that a subordinate knows a lot more than she does. IRL there would be the fear that people would start listening to House over Cuddy.
If you can get past the above two details, then the show becomes a lot more enjoyable. House is an incredible actor. I’ve never seen any actor bring such realism to a network TV character.
There is a look that House gives people when he offends them. He doesn’t show one ounce of sympathy. It’s more like “get over it, and move on.” Remember when he punched Chase? The only time he looked like he regretted what he did was when Cuddy lost her kid, right before they made out. He lost control for a moment and Cuddy saw he was genuinely sorry for telling her she would be a bad mom.
He also doesn’t care if people get angry at him. If someone knocks him out he doesn’t hold a grudge. He understands people. He knows why they lash out at him but doesn’t care to get even. He just wants to solve the mystery. He could not care less if people don’t like him.
Huge Laurie and the writers do not tone down House’s obsession. A telling moment is when he screams with relief after solving a 7 year old mystery. That’s Laurie not skipping a beat when it comes to playing his character. He demonstrates just how obsessed a guy like House really is.
The pain House has to deal with is real. The only thing worst than being in pain is to have to pretend that you’re not. I think House understands this and doesn’t want to pretend that his pain doesn’t make him hate everything around him. It would be too difficult for him. The way they deal with House’s pain is the main reason I like the show.
It is too formulaic, but that is only now starting to bug me. I think that is because everyone besides House, Cuddy, and Wilson are starting to bore me. The show should just focus on the main three and forget everyone else.
This issue was addressed in the show. Cameron was shown to be attracted to House. House finally agreed to go on a date with her. He was making small talk and Cameron finally insisted he tell her what he was really thinking. And House did. He said that he was an unpleasant person with no redeeming characteristics and only reason Cameron was attracted to him was that she thought she could “fix” him.
I work in law, and from what I’ve seen medicine is the same. There are a lot of extremely difficult but brilliant people working in the field. As long as they keep doing their core work brilliantly they will be widely admired, and it is amazing how pathological they can be in other ways and get away with it.
Allow me to play amateur psychologist…
Many society’s tend to have Fathers who are cold and remote, or do not give approval or love easily. Children of these Fathers spend their lives seeking approval directly from that parent, or transferring towards other approval-miserly father substitutes, like a hard-ass Teacher, Drill Sergeant, or our Mr. House. I think this basic theme is everywhere in our literature, movies and TV.
Sounds like a good IMHO thread “Is arrogance OK if you have the goods to back it up?”
House makes me laugh more than most comedies. It has some of the best lines on TV. End of story.
The dialogue is funny, and the mystery of what’s causing the patient’s illness is entertaining. Of course, most of the actual diagnoses are pretty meaningless to me, but I can still guess at what little details are going to turn out to be important. The show makes a big point of emphasizing that the patients are usually lying about (or at least omitting) something, so you can play the game of guessing what it is they don’t want to tell their doctors.
Also, most episodes have a happy ending, which is a refreshing change from, say, Grey’s Anatomy (where it seems about 50% of the patients die, and only after they’ve done their best to make you care about them). Realism be damned, it’s more fun watching the good guys win most of the time.
As for House the man, of course he’s an ass. Part of the fun is seeing just how much of an ass he can be. And it’s not hard to root for him while thinking he’s an ass, since ass or not he is trying to save the patients’ lives.
This is precisely why I’m addicted to the show. And I don’t even care whether he can act.
I think this one tops that:
Kutner: You slept with Foreman?
Thirteen: Sorry, you were busy
Polerius, don’t worry. Not all female viewers like the show because House is a difficult male. Besides the witty dialogue, I like the show because House is kind of like me - if I were male, far more sucessful, and allowed pain and a drug addiction to be the excuse for saying everything to cross my mind, that is. I get in enough trouble with the stuff I do say as it is. I imagine I’d be more like him if little girls aren’t generally conditioned to be more mindful of hurting other people’s feelings than young boys.
Man, talk about timing. I sat down to watch another episode last night, and it was the one where he tells a class about what happened to his leg. I liked it. It was different from the normal episodes. You got a glimpse inside. I think I can see the appeal.
See, that’s one of the things that bugs me about the show. A few years ago I had surgery to fix some problems with my right ankle, and the surgery left my right ankle immobilized (as it was supposed to) and my right foot with severe nerve damage (not the plan). Anything that puts pressure on my foot hurts. Putting on socks hurts. It’s gotten a little better, but I’m pretty much in pain all the time. So I’ve got reduced function in my right leg, and I’m in constant pain. Only I don’t get to prescribe myself painkillers, I just have to suck it up. I can see things from House’s point of view (except the whole wife did this to me behind my back thing), and I don’t agree with him. He’s just lashing out. Fucking wah, he’s in pain. Lots of people are. It doesn’t mean you have to turn into an insufferable ass who makes everyone around you miserable because of it. That whole thing kind of pushes the wrong buttons with me.
But that’s just it, it does. He gets away with unbridled assholery on an epic level, with almost no consequences most of the time. He has to be bullied or threatened to do things normal humans do as part of the normal course of being human. He’s be in prison for centuries if he was ever made to face trial for the countless times he’s broken the law.
Plus, the fuckability factor is through the roof, on account of he’s so motherin’ hot!
I started watching season 1 because I saw an ad for it and went “OMG! It’s the Prince Regent! On an American TV show!!!one!1eleven” and started watching. I love the show but admit that the writers sometimes take the asshat factor too far. The medicine is over the top on purpose, so you have to suspend disbelief there. The show is about the interrelation of absurd characters in absurd situations. And it’s HUGH FUCKING LAURIE!!
I really think you need to go back to season 1 to start this show, though. You understand more of his personality if you’ve seen from the beginning. I think it’s a lot to ask somebody to jump in NOW and really understand and like the show.
The appeal?
he thinks like I do. That’s pretty much it.
He’s smarter than I am, but I find myself using the same kind of tortured logic he does all the time.