high on House

I am a fan of both Grey's Anatomy and House - two TV shows that seem to be the topic of everyone's conversations these days. But while most people favor Grey's Anatomy, I like House more *covering my ears to block out incensed cries from Grey's fans*.

You probably know that both shows focus on hospital cases/stories, but there's a significant difference in each show's approach. One is loaded with drama, sex, and controversial love triangles, while the other concentrates on real mind-boggling cases while subtly touching on the doctors' personal lives. The former can actually be likened to Scrubs (so maybe this whole faux review thing is way off), while the latter, hmm, a bit more like CSI in the hospital.

I love drama, don't get me wrong, but a tad too much every show gets quite tiring to watch after a while. Not to mention that the whole series tends to revolve around Meredith and her "Oh-I'm-so-confused-I'm-such-a-babe-who-am-I-gonna-choose" dilemmas. Fine, fine, she is the show's namesake and I can also drown in her beautiful gray eyes, but it feels like the same old dilemma every time. Maybe I'm attacking this a bit too harshly because it might be a conscious effort on the part of the producers to get too tied up with the personal lives of the characters, but this is just me.

On the other hand, House has personal character tones too but is never over the top, makes me think with the philosophies and ideas it presents, sometimes makes me cry, and always makes me empathize with the characters. And IMO, the script is more intelligently and tastefully done, because you know how they always say that it's more difficult to make an audience laugh than make them cry? I believe that. So if you have what it takes to make me laugh (not toilet-humor-laugh but gawd-why-can't-I-think-of-a-retort-just-like-that-laugh) every single episode, you've hit the jackpot. And House does exactly that.

It also helps that Hugh Laurie is a genius. Aaahh! He's perfectly-casted as the brilliant but sarcastic Dr. Gregory House - the doctor who's completely devoid of manners (i.e. prescribing cigarettes to a patient who has bowel problems, publicly ogling at a patient's chest because she just had breast implants, etc), who ironically can't stand patients, has a stubborn God complex (he actually thinks he's better than God, hence the erstwhile appearance of his scoreboard that read "God - 1, House - 2") but he's still the doctor you want to have by your side. He's a refreshing contrast to patronizing and polite doctors in other doctor-themed shows. And it's so endearing to see an actor really getting into his character by trying his damn best to get rid of whatever accent he may have.

The other characters are amazing to watch too. Contrary to most TV shows, their characters drive the story, not the other way around. They have their own set of personal flaws, and it's a delight to see how they manage their issues and how they grow up through the whole series.

And am I the only one who thinks Hugh Laurie is hot? Okaaayy, he has the Vic Sotto vibe, but man, his wit gets me every time. Even with his limp and his cane, he's still strangely sexy, I have no idea why.

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Some of my favorite lines from House:
1) "You can't hate God and not believe in Him at the same time" - Sister Augustine
2) "You're brilliant. But your hesitation to stand by your diagnosis could have killed this patient. Take a cue from Foreman and stand up for what you believe in." - House (Foreman ratted on House to the Hospital Dean, Dr. Cuddy, because he didn't believe that what Dr. House was doing to a patient was correct. Curiously, House still applauded him even if his actions led to House being reprimanded by Cuddy)
3) "Should I go and tell him it's gonna be okay? Or should I go in to say goodbye?" - Foreman's dad
4) House: "Make a note, I should never doubt myself." Wilson: "Somehow, I don’t think it’s likely you’ll forget." (when House turned out to be right again on a particular diagnosis)
5) "Would you rather have a nice doctor or die?" - House (which just about sums up the whole character that House is)
6) "Pain makes us make bad decisions. Fear of pain is almost as big a motivator." - House
7) "No, we're not okay. You're just apologizing because you're dying." - Cameron

But really, so many great stories, difficult to keep track of everything. Just go watch it.