House

...class characters, Hugh Laurie plays House as a New Jersey American, and although I'd seen him give an entirely credible performance as George's father in the Stuart Little films, I was interested to see how the accent would hold up in a serious adult drama. To my relatively untrained ear, he does indeed sound highly plausible, to the extent even, of pronouncing Chrysler with the double 's' sound, rather than the 'z' which many of us Brits would fall ...
...treatment, being referred to Dr House and his team. The usual format is that they discuss the symptoms, each coming up with a plausible diagnosis, they argue amongst themselves, and then House will have the casting vote on which treatment to administer. It's here, in my opinion, that the programme loses credibility, in that the initial diagnosis invariably turns out to be incorrect, with the medication doing more harm than good, and the patient has ... more

I tend to watch a fair number of American drama series, and in many cases, I find them far superior to some of our home-grown offerings, so I was intrigued when I saw the opening publicity for a new hospital-based series, with our own Hugh Laurie in the eponymous leading role. Screened by Channel 5 on Thursdays at 10pm, this is another of those programmes where the main character is referred to by his surname only, but for those interested, his full name is Dr Gregory House, and he's an expert in infectious diseases, highly respected by both colleagues and superiors for his diagnostic talents, if not for his interpersonal skills. He hates seeing patients, finding every possible excuse to send one of his minions to attend to them instead, and when he does condescend to put in an appearance, he's invariably blunt, sarcastic and even downright rude. Burdened with a limp, resulting from a muscle infarction in his right leg, he's addicted to painkillers, and with a permanent five o'clock shadow and a sartorially challenged dress sense, he's badly in need of a good woman to look after him. Well worn clichés such as 'maverick' and 'irascible' come to mind, but in this case, these descriptions happen to fit perfectly.

Despite probably being best known for portraying quintessentially English upper and middle class characters, Hugh Laurie plays House as a New Jersey American, and although I'd seen him give an entirely credible performance as George's father in the Stuart Little films, I was interested to see how the accent would hold up in a serious adult drama. To my relatively untrained ear, he does indeed sound highly plausible, to the extent even, of pronouncing Chrysler with the double 's' sound, rather than the 'z' which many of us Brits would fall into the trap of doing - however, I wanted to know how Americans themselves perceived his performance, so I did some research, and found that while there's been a small amount of criticism from certain quarters, generally speaking, his accent has passed muster. In fact, rumour has it that one of the producers thought he was actually an American, and who knows whether that's fact or fiction - nevertheless, he's impressed enough people to have been nominated for a Emmy best actor award, so the proof is very evidently in the pudding.

As regards Laurie's overall performance, I thought initially that he was, perhaps, concentrating a little too hard on the accent, with the result that he seemed almost to be mumbling his lines at times, but as the series has progressed, I've come to realise that in fact, he's gradually and very skilfully been developing House's personality, injecting a dry, subtle and very often, sardonic wit into his dialogue. His ability to convey more meaning with the movement of an eye, or the turning up of his nose than any number of words could do, is a joy to watch, and I'm ashamed to say that until now, I'd rather underestimated his acting skills. His voice seems to have dropped an octave or so too, becoming huskier and dare I say it, sexier in the process, and let's just say that I've seen him in a completely different light since starting to watch House, and indeed, when his mouth creases up into the merest hint of a boyish grin, I can quite see why he's become a sex symbol among a large section of the American female population.

While the programme revolves largely around Laurie's character, and rightly so, given the title of the show, the roles of the supporting cast are being gradually extended, and each week we're slowly being given a little more insight into their various personalities. Their characters are starting to become more believable and less one-dimensional, and I think the scriptwriters are to be congratulated for the way in which they've done this, by focussing on the main character initially, and not bombarding us with a mountain of information about the others all at once.

To their credit, the programme makers haven't attempted to recreate another ER, and plot-wise, this one is at least a little different from the norm. Each episode is self-contained, and consists of a patient, whose symptoms haven't responded to conventional treatment, being referred to Dr House and his team. The usual format is that they discuss the symptoms, each coming up with a plausible diagnosis, they argue amongst themselves, and then House will have the casting vote on which treatment to administer. It's here, in my opinion, that the programme loses credibility, in that the initial diagnosis invariably turns out to be incorrect, with the medication doing more harm than good, and the patient has to be dramatically resuscitated, whereupon the whole process begins again. Considering that House is supposed to be a brilliant diagnostician, I sometimes wonder how he's managed to reach the level that he has, without being sued left, right and centre, and indeed, I think I've heard the word 'lawsuit' mentioned only once or twice, which, in a land where litigation is commonplace, does seem a touch incredible.

This too, is another of those series, much like our own Casualty, where the doctors (except for House) possess both a conscience and a sense of decency, to the extent that they'll go out and search for a dying person's long lost son, for example, so that they can say their last farewells before passing on, or visit a patient's home to find clues to what their illness might be. I don't know about you, but I've never come across doctors who go to such lengths - however, you have to remember that it's a fictional series when all's said and done.

The plots, while being acceptable for perhaps half a dozen or so episodes, are becoming a little repetitive, and it'll be interesting to see whether the format changes during the second season, which is just about to begin in the USA, and which we'll probably get to see sometime in the New Year. Sadly though, if the storylines continue in such a predictable manner, I can see the show struggling to maintain its appeal, which will be a great pity, because the dialogue element of the scriptwriting is excellent - it's sharp, acerbic and witty, and Laurie's sardonic delivery is nothing short of brilliant, undoubtedly doing justice to some superb one-liners - the kind you wish you had the nerve to use yourself when confronted with pomposity and stupidity. I feel, too, that Laurie is only just beginning to develop his character to the full, and that there is so much more to come, not least in his love life, of which we know very little at present. It would be nice if the scriptwriters were to give him a little more fun in his life, if only to take his mind off the pain caused by his game leg.

I'd urge you to catch this while you can, if only to appreciate Hugh Laurie's tremendous acting prowess - I have the feeling that this won't turn into a long running series along the lines of ER, owing to his understandable reluctance to be separated from his family - although I hope I'm wrong, because it's nice to see an actor of his calibre receiving the critical acclaim he deserves both here and on the other side of the Atlantic. The only drawback is that while the programme continues to be such a success, the punishing schedules involved in the making of a drama series such as this means that we'll doubtless be deprived of seeing Hugh in anything else of note for the foreseeable future. So, ladies of America - make the most of it, because you've only got him on loan - after that, House is coming home!

.

 

...less