Changes to House MD?
For a long time now I’ve been thinking about House MD and how I feel the writing really shifted in the show from being about the cases and mysteries to nonsense and ridiculously unbelievable storylines. Now I know many of you are going to disagree with me, and that’s totally fine, but these are the changes I would make to the show to keep it up to par with seasons 1, 2, & 3:
First, I wasn’t crazy for the new team. I totally understand that it was a fellowship position and our three favorite physicians would probably want to expand their horizons and make an actual doctor’s salary, but in a lot of ways it felt like they got written off. I’ve done a lot of reading on this topic and some of that has to do with it being a network show (they do some lousy things some times) and the other part was what they thought would be the natural progression of the characters. That part I can accept, but the team members they select for the new staff weren’t great. Kutner was okay. He was clearly an attempt at being like Chase with a dramatic family back story and a silly, spunky personality. Then there was Taub who was the only one I can say I really liked for the team. He was sarcastic and grouchy (also the only character I can believe is from the NY NJ area since I’m actually from here). I like that he’s older, worked in plastic surgery, and is a sweet guy. Clearly a throwback to Foreman. Then there’s Thirteen. I find nothing redeeming about her. The back story was too much, the slutty party girl thing was annoying, and it just felt like they were trying to make a cheap copy of Cameron. Part of it I’m sure was that they wanted to give Foreman a love interest, but it just didn’t work. The chemistry just wasn’t there.
I would have given him a new team, it was probably necessary and made sense but I also would have had the old team around more. We get five minutes of Chase and five minutes of Cameron per episode and most of the time they’re just arguing. I also did a little research into it and neither actor was trying to get out of the show. They both were surprised that they’d been made into smaller characters which I think is pretty lousy.
Next, I love that Cuddy adopted a child, but I hate that they made a lot of it look pretty easy. She struggled to get pregnant, like many women do, and so she turned to adoption which failed the first time and succeeded the second time. That’s awesome and I loved the realism (some of it was clearly exaggerated but it’s tv). They had ONE episode that showed her struggling as a single mom with a chaotic job and a baby. How bananas is that? It reminds me of how on Law and Order SVU Olivia Benson is a captain and adopts a child and everything is perfect. In addition, the idea that then House and Cuddy get together is a little crazy. I’m sure many people were waiting for this, and they were hysterical together, but part of what made their relationship fun for viewers was the whole “will they won’t they” thing. They had sexual tension, comedy, and once they got together it was all over. Then House drives a car through Cuddy’s home and that was just weird. I read that Lisa Edelstein was leaving the show over a contract dispute but the writers didn’t know and they were upset because they would have written her character out better. I wish they had, because not only was it totally ridiculous but it did no justice for either character.
Many of you will probably fight me on this, but I have and will always be rooting for Chase and Cameron. The actors had great chemistry (they were a real life couple that split) and had the potential to be a really great couple. To me, their relationship was a little bit of lazy writing. I never liked the storyline of Cameron being in love with House and I thought her back story was way too much from the beginning. Not every character needs some tragic thing in their past, there can be characters that come into a situation that are just normal people. Cameron in season 2 was smart, wity, funny, and had the best hair (that dark doo with the bangs in season 3 was dreadful). I love that they wrote in that she did drugs and slept with Chase cause it broke down that goody-goody-two-shoes persona. In season 3, I think they really didn’t know how she would naturally progress that would make her interesting so they turned her into a slut. She was like this weird, over sexual character trying to prove she could use Chase for sex and nothing else, but they did it for like three episodes and then when he told her he liked her she backed off. It wasn’t the worst, and I liked (of course) that it did lead to them getting together but I think they did her a disservice as many shows do with their female characters.
When season 4 hits, Cameron is weirdly soft spoken and they still sprinkle in parts about her maybe having the hots for House which is still weirdly uncomfortable. Finally, in season 5, she and Chase get engaged and married. This is where I think the writers just gave up. I read that that’s when Jennifer Morrison started working more on that other show, but she never intended to leave House. The writers wrote her out and apparently she was very disappointed because they’d never even told her. For us Cameron and Chase fans it felt like we waited an eternity for them to get married, and they got divorced for the dumbest reason possible. Cameron leaves Chase because he purposely killed an evil man, but did the writers forget that Cameron killed a cancer researcher in season 3???
This is what I would have like to see happen: the writers should have allowed the couple to function like actual people instead of a crazy fake story. I think they should have allowed to two to stay married, have Cameron be happy in the ER and Chase be looking to go back into diagnostics. Chase and Cameron could have gotten pregnant which would have lead to two very interesting issues: Cameron who worked hard for her career would be in the position that millions of women are in which is choosing to be a stay at home mom and be involved in your kids lives, or go back to work and have your career. If the actress had a schedule that allowed her to appear in episodes frequently, she could go back to work, but if not she could chose to stay home with their baby and make appearances on the show every once in a while. For Chase, this storyline could have been soooo interesting! He had a very chaotic family growing up and has no family to help him raise a child. It would have been interesting to see himself questioning the kind of father he could be and struggling and having doubts. Also, as a doctor his schedule would be super busy and if Cameron stayed home with the baby it would have been really cool to highlight how challenging it is for fathers who feel like they’re missing out on so much by having to go in to work. The writers missed a really good opportunity to make these characters strong together, give them interesting storylines, and allow them to be realistic rather than ridiculously fake.
Foreman was great. To be honest, there isn’t much else I would do with his character. I love that he became the dean of medicine, I think he always had potential and he has the intelligence. I also think the writers did a great job allowing Foreman to be House’s number 2 when he had the new team, I loved his struggle for power, and most of all I love that he and Chase became friends!
So, to wrap up this crazy long rant, the writers of House MD did some great work and some questionable stuff along the way. House is a great character and so is Cuddy, but there coming together and ultimatle breakup left this viewer confused and disappointed. His new teams were nothing compared to his original three and their embellished backstories and forced storylines were just a no. Chase and Cameron coming together was a huge victory, but their split was so cringy that I can’t even watch.
What do you think? Do you agree with my assessments?
