Blogcritics Comments on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Comment by Laila on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 02:26:59 EDT

This is to comment number 32...Lisa E aint 50 something...she's just into her 40's...and ANYONE would kill to be able to pull of something like that at her age...she did it so well...not everyone can do that... And Cuddy is very confident with her appearance, and is comfortable wearing nice clothing (even if they are revealing). I have no problem with her wardrobe at all...If she looked like some Business woman, there would be NO appeal at all. Especially since House's comments are mostly about what Cuddy wears or how she looks. She's a beautiful smart person. And i dont think Lisa E would manipulate or be manipulated to do something. She's a good person. And cuddy is a fun, confident, sexy character who is interesting to watch. Another thing. House/cameron fans, LOL its over between them, nothing will happen. House so is not going to get with someone half his age...Even though Cuddy is smaller than him...atleast they arent more than 10 years apart. They have a chance of getting back together. But even that might be a stretch because they have history and it might create a conflict of interest if they got together. She's his boss, and that employer employee relationship wont work if they were in a relationship. Personally they would make a good couple.

Comment by Pat on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:17:32 EDT

Sue said: "I see the House/Cuddy relationship as first one of mutual respect-her for his talent, and him for her authority. I don't see it as abusive. If Cuddy thought it was, she could put a stop to it." That's what I find disturbing about their relationship, that it is borderline abusive in terms of what he does to her at work and yet she not only accepts it, she seems to welcome it because she thinks he's such a wonderful doctor and sexy person. I don't think he shows any respect to her at work except the occasional lip service when she's saved him again. He fired two candidates because they saw her authority as greater than his and he was willing to risk her getting fired not to save a patient but so that he could get a larger TV. If they want to write a relationship between House and Cuddy, they need to give her back her backbone and self-respect first. She may start out going toe-to-toe with House but she folds every time. Since Cameron has been standing up to him lately, maybe they are going to make Cuddy the sexual attraction fling and keep Cameron in reserve for a more equal relationship.

Comment by Pat on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:13:13 EDT

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:59:14 EDT

Sandra--that's what is so good about House. Lots of differing possibilities. I've never really liked the idea of House and Cameron. I do think there's always been an affection between them, but I also think that House (and this has been consistent)won't become involved with someone as young as Cameron. House likes tough, assertive women, who can go toe-to-toe with him. Cameron's not quite there. House isn't a "fling" sort of person, so that's not possible either. Of course YMMV (Your mileage may vary!)

Comment by Sandra on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:52:16 EDT

"The all thing between him and Cameron is deeper and there's so much more to explore. I suggest the writers to wake up, give us back Cuddy from the first season ("this" Cuddy is really embarrassing), and come back to HAMERON!" Thanks, Sara, you took the words right out of my mouth!

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:42:50 EDT

Veresna. Thanks for asking. Got delayed by my interview with Friend and Lerner. So I'm just working on it now. I hope to have it up later today. And on Monday morning my interview with Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend!

Comment by Veresna Ussep on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:38:10 EDT

Barbara, feel free to delete this post if needed, since it isn't directly to do with this article, but I am just dying to know when you will post a review of "House's Head"? Or will you wait for both halves of the finale?

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:25:27 EDT

Cuddy's striptease was a conflation in House's confused mind between having found himself in that strip club dazed and traumatized after the crash. His vision of cuddy is informed by the trauma and the strip club. The seductress/dark haired woman is probably another aspect of the whole.

Comment by michelle on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:56:37 EDT

I may not be a fan of Huddy (or any ship for that matter), and I would agree the strip tease did seem rather gratuitous and unecessary. However, LE seems a beautiful person person both inside and out. I have no problem with her wardrobe. Women half her age would kill to have her bod, and I say if you got it flaunt it.

Comment by Laurel on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 07:21:21 EDT

Oh my gosh how old is Cuddy, doing a striptease, my gosh can they make her out to be more of a whore than she is? I have never seen a hospital admin with the clothes she wears. That's because most professional business women (unless your talking about those that use the bed as their business) don't wear the clothes that she does, they have more self respect. Katie and Lisa are good friends and it just shows, how a show can be manipulated , the last couple of seasons have been pure crap, and have turned so many off watching. Now we have to put up with seeing a 50 something ewwww strip ewww, sorry but I'm turning off and so are my friends, we all had a laugh, have you ever heard of the saying 'mutton dressed as lamb'. Thanks for turning a great show into crap 'Katie'. One last ewww before I turn off.

Comment by Sara on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Wed, 14 May 2008 05:23:04 EDT

Lisa Edelstein probably was drunk during this interview. Come on, we all know that House is just physically attracted to Cuddy. The Epidose "House's Head" is very clear for everyone. The all thing between him and Cameron is deeper and there's so much more to explore. I suggest the writers to wake up, give us back Cuddy from the first season ("this" Cuddy is really embarrassing), and come back to HAMERON!

Comment by ann uk on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:00:11 EDT

I very much agree with Blacktop that House and Cuddy's " dance " of attraction and repulsion is a fascinating element of the drama and handled so subtly by Shore and co. I suppose the fundamental question we are all asking is : do we think House CAN be happy- do we even WANT him to be happy ?I suspect House would regard the pursuit of happiness as an unworthy aim for a human life.... Can't go any further with this at the moment as I am not sure what I think !

Comment by sue on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Tue, 13 May 2008 05:16:29 EDT

The build-up to a relationship between characters and the let down after they get together is the classic "jump the shark" situation a lot of shows fall into. Maybe that reflects what happens in real life, and why the divorce rate is so high. Before House, I had not seen Lisa E in this kind of dramatic role. In the beginning, I had a hard time not seeing her as the comedic actress with the big laugh and exaggerated reactions. I think she is much better as a dramatic actress. She and Hugh work brilliantly off each other, and that chemistry contributes greatly to the success of the show. She has the challenge of responding to an incredible actor who can be vanilla one second and chocolate the next, and she nails it every time. It takes an actress who can finesse her performance to make it real and natural and convincing every time. In some sense, she has a harder job than Hugh has. He can be as outrageous as he wants to be, and it is always believable. The other actors have to react to many levels of outrageous, and make it believable. This season, the inability of the new team to react has been blatant. It makes me appreciate the great actors on the show much more. I see the House/Cuddy relationship as first one of mutual respect-her for his talent, and him for her authority. I don't see it as abusive. If Cuddy thought it was, she could put a stop to it. In House's review, she mentioned the sexual comments, but she never told him to stop them. Two people can show affection for each other in many different ways. There can be love and understanding, along with the knowledge that there is no place for a relationship between them. If either was involved with someone else, the banter and innuendo would have stricter limits. But, like a romantic sexual relationship, their romantic banter could come to an end some day. If there was no banter and sexual tension, their dialogue would be flat and boring. Often, the banter explains why they do what they do regarding each other. One thing I don't like about the writing is that they build up something, and then it falls flat. Last season, House was pursuing Cuddy in several episodes, and then we didn't hear anything about it again. It is not good to leave the audience hanging.

Comment by Clarice on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Tue, 13 May 2008 02:04:57 EDT

Your last response is such a perfect synthesis of the House/Cuddy discussion I almost hate to add something below it! Absolutely! In response to the other comments about House's behavior degrading women -- well, yes, precisely! He's House. He is outrageous and a nine year old boy emotionally. I think one reason that some of us don't quite like Foreman is that he can never quite get it that House pushes the hardest against people he respects the most. With women, the insults are defense mechanisms, too. Barbara, as you have pointed out several times, Wilson had NOT always acted in House's best interest. That friendship has given and take on both sides.

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:52:22 EDT

I just don't see him in a stable relationship with anyone. I would agree with this Susanne. House is so badly damaged, emotionally, that any relationship would be fraught with difficulty. But some of the most interesting relationships in literature are about very emotionally tormented men and the women who ultimately redeem them. They are a lot of work, but in the end they do help to soothe their hurt. It is the essence of romantic literature (and should never be in House until the very, very, very last episode--if even then!)

Comment by Susanne on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:39:33 EDT

This is an excellent discussion and review. I am indifferent to House/cuddy but I am waiting to see the execution of the whole arc. To be really honest I do not see House being in a relationship with cuddy or any other woman at all. I always felt that that one night was a mistake and has drawn an invisable line that they don't want to cross and are just very good friends who have sincere affection for one another who shows admiration and respect to one another even though the way it is shown by House is a little twisted. I feel that House will end up alone. I just don't see him in a stable relationship with anyone. However I will be keen to see Cuddy as an individual. It would be good to know that she has a life away from House the same as Wilson. To be honest I have been getting tired of the same repetitive thing over and over between the two different relationships and I am keen to see something a little different and more in-depth like in the last episode. House/cuddy are just one of the many Tv and movie couples that show love and affection through sparring and arguments. Which to be quite honest is a little cliche the same with the other relationships. I have seen this type of stuff go on since the late 60s on tv and movies. I would also like to move away from the romance aspect and just focus on the medicine and character/society study. This season in particular I have felt that the relationship has become a little juvinile well until the recent eps. Like the panties and the swaping of House's pills. It seems to be that the more people talk up the romantic possablities between House and potential women it just seems to get degraded a bit. Maybe it was just due to the execution and the strike. I am a lit uneasy about the House/cuddy relationship exploration but I am more than willing to see how it will be played out.

Comment by blacktop on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:02:13 EDT

Great discussion here, thanks to you Barbara! I think that some of the strongest film pairings in Hollywood history have featured a plotline that involves the RE-engagement of the central couple. What I mean is that when the story opens, the destined pair have already been together, but are now split up for whatever reason and the twists of the film's plot involve how they will eventually return to each other, wiser and in love once again. Think of almost any film with Cary Grant, but especially "The Front Page" or "A Philadelphia Story." Or how about any of the Tracy - Hepburn movies? I believe that the House/Cuddy relationship follows this pattern. They were once together before the show opens, but have distanced themselves for reasons that are slowly revealed to us over the course of the seasons. The dance of attraction and repulsion between them that we witness is delicious, sexy, frustrating, provocative and mysterious. As viewers, we sense the rightness of the pairing, even if the two are temporarily blinded to its necessity. Of course, since "House" is not essentially a romantic comedy, I think there is no guarantee that the House and Cuddy will end up in each others arms at the end of the run. In fact, if I were betting, based on the quirky contrariness of David Shore and the fundamentally tragic nature of the central hero, I would have to guess that they end up apart. I applaud the brilliant Shore for recognizing the innate chemistry between Laurie and Edelstein and capitalizing on it to deepen his story line and keep us on our toes as they dance on our screen.

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:49:17 EDT

Thank you all for making this a terrific discussion. There are so many ways to see the characters and their relationships. This is what makes House so much more than simply a "procedural" show, and why we care so much. I've always loved the sparring and the "UST"--unresolved sexual tension--except when it hits you over the head. It's always especially fine when you're not sure that it's coming. And when it develops quite apart from what the producers originally thought. My favorite example is X-Files, Chris Carter, over and over said that his intention was not to make the couple romantically interested in each other. But the chemistry between the actors became so undenaiable Carter and company had no choice but to give it a chance...ah but even then. I really thought they handled it poorly at the end, and I stopped watching (true confession time). I do not see House and Cuddy thinking that their getting together will be a good idea, and if they do, I think each will shrink back from it--and then deal with the consequences of having rekindled something better left alone. But who knows.

Comment by Mary on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:36:45 EDT

Thank you, Barbara, for this interesting interview with Lisa Edelstein, and to Ann-UK for pointing out that House and Cuddy are not the first fictional pair to show their affection through verbal sparring. (And, like House and Cuddy, Beatrice and Benedick had had a previous relationship as well.) Another example from U.S. TV was the verbally combative relationship between Maddy and David on "Moonlighting." Unfortunately, the writers of that program threw away the viewers' interest in the unfolding of that relationship by having the characters get sexual too early; the program went straight downhill from there, because their relationship wasn't interesting anymore. But I'm pretty sure that David Shore and company have more sense than to rush things, particularly since they now have all these new characters whose relationships they can play with without altering the emotionally complex (and not always healthy) relationships of their central character.

Comment by blacktop on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:38:33 EDT

Thank you, Barbara, for this sterling interview! Lisa Edelstein truly sparkles in this exchange as she does on the show. I think that her observations about House and his relationship to her character Cuddy are particularly apt and insightful. I am deeply encouraged that we will see further exploration of this rich relationship next season: it is so complex, unusual and fun that it merits much more attention. While the sexual attraction between House and Cuddy has certainly been apparent from the first season, the show has been admirably restrained in pushing forward with this aspect. Instead we have gotten carefully alloted doses of Cuddy's roles as House's boss, doctor, protector, enabler, substitute parent, friend, possible baby mama, and once-and-future lover. I hope we learn more about their past and their possibilities in the coming season.

Comment by ann uk on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:46:06 EDT

Interesting how differently people see the characters.I have always thought of House and Cuddy as a Beatrice and Benedict act- in which case they must declare their love in the end. We aren't told much about Cuddy's past but getting to be " one of three women Deans of Medecine " can't have been easy. House accuses her of not seeing the abyss between the ideal and the reality of life but I think she is realist enough to see that life with an agonised soul like House would be ultra demanding.On the other hand I don't think any other man could measure up to House in her estimation.

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:03:54 EDT

Of course that's true, that she would talk about her character. Many of the questions asked were about the House/Cuddy relationship. I will post the full transcript sometime on Tuesday on my personal blog.

Comment by michelle on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Sun, 11 May 2008 20:59:41 EDT

"I do plan on asking them about the larger cast and the future." I look forward to that interview. My fingers are crossed for some indication that there are plans that don't involve Wilson/House friendship on the line or Huddy-sex for a change. I like both Wilson and Cuddy, but it would be nice if we got some indication that the other characters exist. (LE, of course, would be expected to talk about her character, so I fully expected lots of Huddy mentions here.)

Comment by Mary Dagmar Davies on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Sun, 11 May 2008 19:42:48 EDT

Thank you Barbara. This excellent article reveals the intelligence that supports Lisa Edelstein's performance as Cuddy. It is a rare incite into Cuddy's character and that of Gregory House. It is also rare to learn about the thinking behind the performance. There is nothing shallow about Lisa Edelstein. She is an exceptional actor.

Comment by Barbara Barnett on House's Lisa Edelstein Chats About House, Cuddy, and the Season Finale

Sun, 11 May 2008 19:06:10 EDT

House's fantasy of Cuddy is that she's a stripper; Cuddy's fantasy is she's House's sex toy while he makes the brilliant diagnsoses. The last thing this relationship is is adult, except in the sense of X-rated. Edelstein saying that Cuddy, an intelligent mature woman, lives through House makes Cuddy sound pitiful rather than strong. What a descent for a formerly impressive character. Her comment was in no way meant as a definition of her character. It was in response to what would her fantasy be like if the situations were reversed. House fantasizes about Cuddy. That's all he can do, as socially inept as he is. People do fantasize about each other in a romantic/sexual way, and it in no way defines them. In a reverse situation, Lisa said that Cuddy's image would be different than House's because women and men view sexual fantasy differently. She also didn't say that she lives through House. She (becuase she is not longer a practicioner, but an administrator, she is excited by the sort of medicine House practices and she appreciates for the sort of medicine that she might do if unfettered, as fearless as it is. Again, what's wrong by saying that. She's got her role; he his.