House MD should end

[Jaime_Wolf]

I realise this is a website about gaming but what the hell...

Does anyone else agree that House MD should end?

Its one of my most hated things about American television that there is no arc or defined progress to a series. it gives a shows a meandering quality which makes character development in certain episodes pointless because they just go back to square one.

It feels to me like they should end House and stop milking the teats of the cow before they become black stalactites.....

what do you guys think? is there mileage left in the show?

Except that House does do arcs and the characters do grow as the series progresses, sometimes radically.

I would be very surprised if they don't have an ending in mind that they're building toward. House has really tended not to ever just sweep character changes under the rug and pretend like they never happened. The characters themselves tend to fall back into old habits, but that's part of the story's progression, not some cheap way of avoiding the consequences of earlier events in the series.

Yes, House always ends up back on drugs and alone, but that's not due to cheap writing where they just act as though nothing ever happened - it's because he's a lonely man addicted to narcotics with the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old. But every time, despite ending up back in what appears to be the same situation, I feel like they do a very good job showing that things aren't quite the same - that there is a definite progression for these characters.

I think the overwhelming majority of the complaining about how the show isn't going anywhere is really just people frustrated with the fact that the last few seasons have been somewhat disappointing compared to earlier seasons (though I think the very last season redeemed things somewhat, excluding the incredibly anticlimactic finale).

(I do sympathise more with the complaints about how peripheral the medicine has become over the seasons though. I still like the show, but I definitely feel like I would like it more if they made the cases a bit more central again. Before the last season, I would have agreed about the lack of humour, but they seem to be doing a much better job with that, especially with House and Wilson.)

 

[teebeeohh]

then again, which show in it's 7th or 8th season is actually good? (not counting stuff that does not have a real continuity.)

Doctor Who comes to mind. Technically speaking, that's on it's 32nd season now.

doesn't count.
since you can just replace every character and the only constant is the TARDIS doctor who works on its own scale. besides it's been that good recently.

 

[Arkenangel]

I stopped watching House halfway through season 4 and really just wanted it to end there, the fact that the writers completely wussed out of the BIG decision made at the end of season 3 (won't say for spoilers) said more than enough to me.

In retrospect, I'm glad I copped out before the show took a REAL turn for the worse...

 

[Xanadu84]

I don't think it should end. They switch up the secondary cast regularly. House himself is obstinate as all hell, so it makes sense that his character progression would be slow. And House has actually changed slowly but steadily, and those changes have stuck, especially over the past several seasons. He got help for his issues, he quit drugs, he got into a relationship, fell out of a relationship and subsequently exploded...he has changed a lot. And all the time, he has managed to remain a hilarious asshole through it all. I think House could continue indefinitely, but at the very least, its not stale yet.

 

[moose49408]

It should have ended shortly after house turned his hiring process into a reality TV show...what was that, like three years ago now? My roommate and I used to love this show, but we just gradually lost interest as it slowly became a soap opera.

 

[Neko Pounce]

No, it can't be cancelled for the simple reason is that then I'll only have Futurama to watch now that they cancelled Lie To Me.

Although I do agree that the past seasons were better than these newer ones, but they are by no means terrible, especially when you compare it to the rest of the stuff that's on TV nowadays.

Ohh, Lie to me is one thing that didn't need to be cancelled. Still had a lot of life in it.

OT: Yeah, it should have ended a while ago, but what you gonna do?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Now that Lisa Cuddy is off the show, I can't really see them doing another season after this one. She was House's foil, and without her House is simply going to be a jerk. I think there has been character development, but you're right. Whenever a character on that show starts to change--usually for the better--something comes along and shoots that change in the head. Chase was settling down once he got married. Then, he gets divorced and now he's back to being a slut. In a recent episode we saw that he doesn't enjoy being a slut, but he's not about to change because no one's making him. Wilson was starting to get his life back together with his ex (and that other girl) and starting to grow a backbone with House because of it--"My life doesn't revolve around you"--but then his ex throws a fit and leaves, and that other girl dies. So, Wilson looses all his backbone and goes back to being a punching bag. Cutler starts to get his life and relationship straightened out, then gets a divorce, then starts having an affair with both his ex wife and a new girlfriend. He finally realizes what he's doing is wrong, and then both his girlfriend and wife are pregnant. Oops. At least he's still trying to shape up, but things keep going against him. Foreman always seems to make a little progress controlling his temper and branching out on his own, but something always comes along that cuts that right out of him. House was finally starting to mature when he was dating Cuddy, then she broke up with him for the exact reasons that he warned her about and she had said, "I don't care about that stuff." *****. And now, all of House's character development has gone out the window, as shown in the season finale.
The only person that seems to have changed is 13, and I think that's because no one can magically make what's causing her to change--her death sentence--go away. If I've learned one thing from this show, it's that relationships are healthy, but not meant to last. It's rather depressing actually.

It can't end now though because that was a major season finale cliff hanger. I want to see how the writers get themselves out of the corner they've painted themselves into with this one.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

I stopped watching House halfway through season 4 and really just wanted it to end there, the fact that the writers completely wussed out of the BIG decision made at the end of season 3 (won't say for spoilers) said more than enough to me.

In retrospect, I'm glad I copped out before the show took a REAL turn for the worse...

It honestly has gotten significantly better again. It can never really be as good as when you were first getting a feel for the characters and such, but I think the writers have largely figured out that what they were doing was ill-suited to the show. I'm holding out hope that the next season continues the trend.

 

[Strain42]

The character of House crossed the line from "quaint asshole" to "sociopath" a LONG time ago.

Seeing as how the character is based on Sherlock Holmes, that's a GOOD thing. He isn't supposed to just be a quaint asshole.

 

[purehatred89]

House needs to end, but they need to do it right, maybe it should end on a case that actually is Lupus.

Clearly you don't watch enough House, or you'd know they did a Lupus episode back Season 4.

I felt like the show was "jumping the shark" a little in the latest season, with House performing surgery on himself in the bath-tub to avoid his stupidity being discovered, however I still love him as a character and will tolerate the silliness for a while longer.

 

[saruman31]

The want for profit kills artistry.

That desire also creates it.

I do think that the next season will be the last.

 

[varulfic]

I stopped watching a few seasons back when I realized the show was just going in circles. Lack of progress just kills any enthusiasm I have for a show.

 

[Dawn Patrol]

I don't understand complaining about a show you don't like. Why not complain that Family Guy should end since it hasn't been great in over 3 years? That would make more sense to me.

What?

"Don't complain about a show you don't like, complain about a show I don't like."

 

[Kair]

The want for profit kills artistry.

That desire also creates it.

I do think that the next season will be the last.

You are completely wrong that desire for profit creates artistry. You must not confuse artists with those who distribute their products.

Greed actually makes you worse at creative tasks. Look at this study by RSA.

 

[saruman31]

The want for profit kills artistry.

That desire also creates it.

I do think that the next season will be the last.

You are completely wrong that desire for profit creates artistry. You must not confuse artists with those who distribute their products.

Greed actually makes you worse at creative tasks. Look at this study by RSA.

Nice video. The thing is that in this case it doesen`t apply as without a desire to make a long running show that will produce profit, House MD would have never have been created. The structure of the show is not all that artsy; there are many other shows with medicine as their main theme and they know it sells.

 

[thedoclc]

...what I'm hearing from a lot of people - including the OP - amounts to, "Who cares if it has tons of fans who enjoy it! I don't like it; here's my tiny, unartful critique of it, my opinion should win out over the enjoyment and preferences of others."

...which is pure pompousness. Should my disdain for cookie-cutter Hollywood films trump the desire of many to see summer action blockbusters? Should my preference for Bergman mean that the public is forced to watch The Seventh Seal instead of whatever they might collectively choose?

Whatever, man. Go watch something else instead of House. Better yet, turn off the tube and...I dunno. Play video games. Take a friend out to eat. Read a book. Study. Learn to paint. Heck, go to film school and make a better show yourself.

 

[Thedayrecker]

I haven't watched it in years, and totally forgot about it.

Shit I thought it ended a while ago...

 

[Kair]

The want for profit kills artistry.

That desire also creates it.

I do think that the next season will be the last.

You are completely wrong that desire for profit creates artistry. You must not confuse artists with those who distribute their products.

Greed actually makes you worse at creative tasks. Look at this study by RSA.

Nice video. The thing is that in this case it doesen`t apply as without a desire to make a long running show that will produce profit, House MD would have never have been created. The structure of the show is not all that artsy; there are many other shows with medicine as their main theme and they know it sells.

Artistry does not implicate 'artsy'.

I clearly stated the difference between the distribution of artistry (not art, because the word art has connotations that are inappropriate here) and the artistry itself. The artistry begins unconnected to greed (greed is handled by the distributors), but is involved in it as time passes.

An artisan can make something good and not profit from it, but if a swine gives the artisan money for it and then tells the artisan to make more so the artisan and the swine can make more money, a careless artisan will eventually milk the cow dry. This is how you kill artistry.

The artisans who make House would not continue a show that would sour if it was not for the desire of the money provided by the distributors. This souring of artistry has been demonstrated so many times through modern history, you would be a fool to object to it.

This is entirely disconnected from the discussion of whether House MD has soured or not.

 

[saruman31]

The want for profit kills artistry.

That desire also creates it.

I do think that the next season will be the last.

You are completely wrong that desire for profit creates artistry. You must not confuse artists with those who distribute their products.

Greed actually makes you worse at creative tasks. Look at this study by RSA.

Nice video. The thing is that in this case it doesen`t apply as without a desire to make a long running show that will produce profit, House MD would have never have been created. The structure of the show is not all that artsy; there are many other shows with medicine as their main theme and they know it sells.

Artistry does not implicate 'artsy'.

I clearly stated the difference between the distribution of artistry (not art, because the word art has connotations that are inappropriate here) and the artistry itself. The artistry begins unconnected to greed (greed is handled by the distributors), but is involved in it as time passes.

An artisan can make something good and not profit from it, but if a swine gives the artisan money for it and then tells the artisan to make more so the artisan and the swine can make more money, a careless artisan will eventually milk the cow dry. This is how you kill artistry.

The artisans who make House would not continue a show that would sour if it was not for the desire of the money provided by the distributors. This souring of artistry has been demonstrated so many times through modern history, you would be a fool to object to it.

This is entirely disconnected from the discussion of whether House MD has soured or not.

In this case art was used with the intent of making money. They hired writers to produce a long running tv show and gave them money and possibly motivated them with the promise of a big reward if the pilot episode is received well. It was always planned for the show to be long and to later not necessarily be good since they knew that by that time they would have already created a big fan base that will still continue to buy it. The original concept of House MD was greedy.