House: loveable bastard.
Apr. 12th, 2006 12:31 pmThere's an upcoming feature in TV Guide Magazine in which exec. producer David Shore says:
"People think they want House to change, but they don't. They watch him because he's a bastard."
I for one couldn't agree more. When explaining to people the awesomeness that is House, I usually bring up the fact that not only is the main character impossibly brilliant, morally ambiguous and incorrigible, the writers have resisted the temptation to soften him up for a season and a half now. They have given us a complex character and managed to make him stay interesting for 30-something episodes without altering him, staying true to their characters' insistence that no-one really changes. (
copperbadge brought this up once in his journal and addressed it better than I'm doing now.) It's really excellent thinking on the creators' part because they make us perpetually want to ease House's pain and they know better than to do it because then he wouldn't be so interesting. Regardless of what Wilson may tell him about how being miserable doesn't make him special, we "love to hate" House because he is arrogant and unafraid to tell people off and takes unethical risks and doesn't give a sh*t beyond figuring out the medical mystery, and it's okay because he's always right in the end (which *will* change at some point). As Shore goes on to say, "We always say House will never get a puppy. You won't find him sweetening up or becoming more compassionate. That would be the end of our show." Take for example House/Stacy:
( spoiler for earlier this season. ) Thank goodness executive producer Katie Jacobs is quoted as saying,
( spoilers for later this season. )
House has been cranky and stubborn for at least 10 years; it would be stupid for him to change within a few months just because he hired a doctor who has a crush on him or because it's sweeps week. The staff, thankfully, know this. House should not get a puppy. The little bits of genuine laughter with Wilson are all we need.
"People think they want House to change, but they don't. They watch him because he's a bastard."
I for one couldn't agree more. When explaining to people the awesomeness that is House, I usually bring up the fact that not only is the main character impossibly brilliant, morally ambiguous and incorrigible, the writers have resisted the temptation to soften him up for a season and a half now. They have given us a complex character and managed to make him stay interesting for 30-something episodes without altering him, staying true to their characters' insistence that no-one really changes. (
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House has been cranky and stubborn for at least 10 years; it would be stupid for him to change within a few months just because he hired a doctor who has a crush on him or because it's sweeps week. The staff, thankfully, know this. House should not get a puppy. The little bits of genuine laughter with Wilson are all we need.