House

Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), the infectious disease specialist at the center of the eponymously titled House, is a television physician like no other. He’s tactless and unsociable—some would even say misanthropic. His rude bedside manner and boorish demeanor are a frequent source of subplot conflicts. He copes with a painful, chronic leg injury by self-medicating to excess with strong drugs. His saving grace is his diagnostic brilliance—he saves patients who would be lost without his expertise. With him is a team of often frustrated, but always ultimately impressed, younger docs: neurologist Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), intensevist Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), and his only friend, oncologist Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). In spite of Dr. House’s bizarre and often condescending behaviors toward them, they continue to face and help solve rare medical mysteries in each episode. House’s radical conduct is intensified by his confrontations with the stringent ethics of the hospital’s administrator, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), and his personal life is tangled in an ongoing relationship with his ex-wife, Stacy (Sela Ward). Executive producers Katie Jacobs, Paul Attanasio, David Shore, and Bryan Singer work with producer Gerrit van der Meer, directors such as Dera Sarafian, and writers including Lawrence Kaplow to create a medical mystery-comedy-drama that appeals to viewers with many interests, of many ages and experiences. Together, creators and viewers have made House one of the most enthusiastically received new series in recent years. For decoding medical riddles in an unpredictable manner and, in the process, resuscitating the medical-television genre, House receives a Peabody Award.