Old Shows I Still Love: House (Monday 8/7c Fox)

When I Started Watching: During the Summer re-runs of season 1 in 2005.

Why I Started Watching: A friend of mine who was about to start her pre-med curriculum in the fall was obsessed with the show and all but forced the whole group of us to watch the show with her every week.

What Worried Me When I First Started Following the Show: I was worried that the concept would get old. DDX, 50 wrong diagnoses, and finally—every time, just in the brink of time—the right diagnosis. I was partially right. There is always this underlying assumption that House and the Team will get the offending virus, bacteria, prion, or general body malfunction under control.

Why I Kept Watching: Hugh Laurie—enough said. Well also the gripping plots and the novel idea of a cranky genius doctor. The comfortable assumption that House will be victorious has allowed for some big shocks when House does not save the patient. The producers of House have shown that they’re not afraid to kill a patient and more importantly—and more interestingly—they’re not afraid to let that death have serious repercussions. All of that makes for a good show, but Hugh Laurie is the cherry on top.

What Worries Me about the Show Now: The show, through three strong seasons, had a formula that worked well. The dynamic between Foreman, Chase, and Cameron was comfortable and entertaining. However, the producers were not content they shook the show up in the beginning of Season 4, which was both entertaining and refreshing. This willingness to “shake things up” is important when shows reach into 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th seasons. Season 5 also ended with a bang, House checking into a mental hospital. I enjoyed the hallucinations suffered by House and the fact that House will finally be forced to deal with his viccodin habit in a real way. What worries me is that the beautiful 2-hour season opener felt more like a series finally rather than a season première. In the wake of this movie-like season opener, the show seems to be struggling to find its footing after altering the central character so much. The future of the show is a bit worrisome at the moment. Will House relapse back to the drugs? This would be one of the more frustrating avenues the show could take. How many times are the producers going to pull viewers through that story arc. Will House stay clean? If he does will he be crankier? That would certainly be entertaining but it isn’t really new territory. The viewers have seen time and again how the pain winds House up, how would another journey down this story arc lane be different and refreshing? Furthermore, in the season première, House developed a new outlook on life. Will this outlook make him less cranky? If he does become less cranky, the procurers are messing with their central hook, which is dangerous. In the episodes that followed the season premiere, the show has struggled to find its equilibrium in the wake of all these character changes. There has been less medicine and more inter-personal drama. I for one like the medicine aspect of the show. If I wanted interpersonal drama with a gossamer thin veil of medicine, I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy or ER re-runs. As season 6 matures, I’m worried that House will deviate too much from the show that it was and the show that it could be again.

Why I’ll Keep Watching: Does it need to be said again? Hugh Laurie—how does he still not have an Emmy?!? Additionally, over the past 5 seasons I’ve become attached to the characters, their backgrounds, and their interpersonal ties. I don’t think that the shaky legs the show is standing on at the moment will be inevitably fatal. I think that with the proper defribulation the show can revive into greatness and the journey should be entertaining.

Favorite Episodes: "Three Stories", "Hunting", "Failure to Communicate", "No Reason", "Needle in a Haystack", "Mirror, Mirror", "House's Head", "Wilson's Heart", "House Divided", "Under My Skin", "Both Sides Now", and "Broken"

New Shows to Me: Glee (Wednesday 9/8c Fox)

I began watching Glee for the music and kept watching for the plot. I, like the rest of the world, watch the pilot episode of Glee in May. However, unlike the rest of the world, I was largely unimpressed. I found the music catchy but the plot unbelievable—a woman fakes a pregnancy to keep her husband at home? However, one day messing around Hulu I rediscovered the show a few episodes into the season. I decided to go back and give the show that world seemed to love another shot. Given the chance to watch the first few episodes in quick succession the plot, that at first I didn’t buy in to, quickly pulled me in. It was clear that I did not give the multi-layered dramedy enough chance. . The writers and creators of Glee seem determined to win a slew of awards for diversity. The show is about outcasts and the ensemble of characters certain encompasses outcasts—a heavy black girl, a newly out of the closet gay man, a stuttering Asian, a kid in a wheel chair, and a former cheerleading captain/president of the celibacy society pregnant teenager. This gang of outcasts attempting to navigate the tumultuous waters of high school is worth watching. However, what makes the show so watchable is the dynamic if the unattainable love between Emma and Will was adorable and—for once—delightfully innocent. I found myself quickly longing for the day that Will finds that his wife’s pregnancy is a lie. However, the producers seemed to have accounted for this day by putting another obstacle in the way—Emma’s pending marriage. As entertaining as the Emma-Will-Terri triangle is, one love triangle was clearly not enough for the writers. The quadrangle between Rachel, Finn, Quinn and Puck is less unique but somehow just as enjoyable. What is unique is the foil between Quinn’s pregnancy and Terri’s lack of pregnancy. This provides for not only an interesting dynamic but a unique plot that pushes the shows hook—music—effectively and enjoyably into the background.

Another Interesting Show from Fox

I don't watch a lot of TV--I prefer movies and books--so for a show to break its way into my weekly line-up requires something different. Fox has been the center of the TV I do watch for several years now, though I do branch of to NBC to watch the hilarity that is Steve Carrell et al in The Office. I have been a fan of Fox's House, M.D. for years now thanks to the acting strength of the still Emmy-deprived Hugh Laurie. More recently I have fallen in love with Fox's Bones due to the interesting presentation of forensic science and the will-they-ever romance between Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz). These shows have interesting concepts at the center, good (even great) acting from central and peripheral characters, and (in most cases) superb writing.

For the second half of the past season, I have seen Lie to Me promos and thought 'hmm...interesting' but I wasn't impressed enough to actually go so far as to watch the show. However, as it's mid-summer, I'm quickly running out of things to watch. Tied of dull summer shows, I remembered the mildly interesting promos for that Fox show. A month later I have finally gotten around to checking the show out. To my surprise, far from just passing the time, I have taken a liking to the show. Though I am skeptical of the science that is at the center of the show (lie detection through universal body language expressions), I found--minutes into the first episode--that it doesn't matter. The acting of Tim Roth and Kelli Williams pulled me in and had me buying the pseudosciencey concept. The series is not without flaws, the writing and, in some cases, direction (especially in earlier episodes) tend to tip the hand, showing the lies before the lies are meant to be shown. However, the acting and score so draws the viewer in that I found myself buying into the overt efforts at deception. Furthermore, since the Law and Order and CSI franchises have beat the crime-detection and whodunit genres to death, Lie to Me, like Bones, is a refreshing break from the normal means rousting the bad guy.

The show is not up to the level of Bones or House, but the point is that it could be. While I can certainly see how many would not be able to get past the shaky science at the center, in my opinion, Lie to Me is certainly worth checking out. I certainly found myself wishing the first season had comprised of more than 13 episodes and fully planning to catch every episode when the show returns in the Fall.