Customer Reviews
Give the patient season 1 of House - Stat - By: NK, 15 Oct 2008 
I was a latecomer to 'House' but better late than never.
Hugh Laurie plays the miserable yet brilliant Dr. House with some style. You almost forget he is a Brit.
I have watched many hospital dramas - ER, St Elsewhere, Casualty, etc, as there is something uniquely engaging about the medical environment. Those series have been mainly dramas while House is something else. It's a part drama, part sit-com & part geeky medical show.
The basic premise involves patients being admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital with very mixed symptoms that complicate the medical diagnoses. House uses his talented young medical team to treat the symptoms but the patients usually take a turn for the worse upon treatment - suggesting the case is even more complex. Just when you think there is nothing more to go on, House picks up on an apparently less relevant detail of the patient & bingo - he finds the answer. It's a bit like 'Columbo'.
Virtually every episode is top drawer from the one with the maternity ward epidemic (Maternity), the nun with the allergy (Damned If You Do), the Jazz musician that doesn't want to be resuscitated ('DNR') & the politician who rejects being diagnosed with AIDS ('Role Model').
Alongside the patient puzzle, there are sub-plots involving hospital politics & personality issues. House hates meeting his patients & his scenesin clinic are often hilarious.
I am a big Frasier fan and, despite its' sitcom status, I didn't think anything else could come close to itin terms of the storylines, witty dialogue & comedy; but House does on all counts.
Truly Brilliant - By: Steven Stewart, 08 Aug 2008 House, can only be described as brilliant. Notin the way as a teenager would describe itin the way of being cool or just generally entertaining, but brilliant asin genius. I could talk about season one for hours as it's truly the season that defines the character & setsin stone Hugh Laurie's cracking of America. Hugh Laurie, for those who don't know is a famous British comic actor best known for his work with Stephen Fry. Such shows as Jeeves & Wooster, A Bit of Fry & Laurie & Blackadder made this man a true comic god. Upon hearing that Hugh had taken up the role as the American Dr. Gregory House, I'm sure a lot of people took a big sigh & said to themselves "Oh, please god no." How wrong those people were when Laurie stepped onto the screenin the pilot episode, with that incredible accent & the inclusion of his comic wit.
The Story? Well the show is based around Dr. Gregory House, a medical genius is the head of a team of diagnosticians who specialisein solving those medical cases other doctors just can't figure out. House isn't the conventional Dr, however, because he's rude, selfish & doesn't like to follow the rules. He sets himself the task of curing his patient & makes sure he does just that. Whether that means sending his team to break into the patients home to see if the condition was takenin by the environment or not. Also House doesn't see the harmin interrupting a surgery to save his patient by spitting on the surgeon himself. If I were to have some criticism about the first season of the show it would be the character Vogler. Vogler becomes the hospitals chairman of the board after donating $100 million to the hospital. Vogler begins to throw his weight around as he wants to run it like a busines with clinical trials, rather than a hospital. This becomes a problem for House as his department eats a lot of the hospitals funds & saves only one person per week. The two characters immediately clash & Vogler sets on his own mission to get rid of House. The criticism I have is that from the very start of Season one every character has a certain chemistry with each other which helps the show blend together much better. I didn't see that chemistry with the Vogler character & for the episodes he was a part of it, it really dragged the show down. Don't let this put you off though as he's onlyin the show for a few episodes.
This is just the first season but the drama & the characters aren't the only things that make this show unique. The dialogue is spectacular & I have no doubtin my mind that Laurie has some input about some of the classic one liners. Below are a few of my favourites.
From Episode 3: Occam's Razor:
House: "Hello, sick people & their loved ones! In the interest of saving time & avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I'm Doctor Gregory House; you can call me "Greg". I'm one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning."
Cuddy: "Short, sweet, grab a file."
House: "This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Doctor Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she's much too busy to deal with you. I am a board ... certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease & nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will.
That is true, isn't it? (to Cuddy)
But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you're particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It's mine! You can't have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem ... but who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm too stoned to tell. So, who wants me? "
From Episode 5 Damned If You Do:
Nun: "Sister Augustine believesin things that aren't real."
House: "I thought that was a job requirement for you people."
From Episode 9 DNR:
Wilson: "So your philosophy is, 'If they don't want treatment, they get it shoved down their throat, but if it might cure their paralysis, whoa, better slow down'."
House: "Yeah. My old philosophy used to be 'Live & let live', but I'm taking this needlepoint class & they gave us these really big pillows."
This is an amazing show & you're seriously missing out if you're not watching it.
Best Hospital Show I have ever seen - By: Nicole Stodian, 15 May 2008 It took me a while to get into that 'House'-mood.
Many friends had already recommended the show but I stayed awayin fear of seeing just 'another' hospital show.
After 4 years, I have finally decided to sit down & watch it. And thank god I did. This is by far the best hospital 'drama' that I have ever seen.
I was always a fan of ER & was very sad when I saw it jump the shark & I am so happy to have found a new addiction.
I don't believe that there is a need to explain the general content of the show...because whats the need to 'spoil' new viewers when it so much more fun to explore this show on your own.
All I can say is to watch out for that chemistry between the actors. It feels like they were made to act togetherin a show like this. And a show like this was just made for them.
A real treat & a good way to spend free eveningsin front of the TV. But careful, You might get addicted.
this is a rubbish release - By: Johannes Klein, 14 Apr 2008 
I will boycott any DVD UNIVERSAL releases from now on!!! Just a poor box without any extras or even subtitles - so what?
Crap! This is the best argument for downloaders - don't support this company!
Where's the words? - By: Graham H, 03 Apr 2008 The pan & scan was bad enough, but no subtitles? I bought this for my hard-of-hearing mum but had to return it & go for the region 1 version.
