As Season 8 concludes, House, M.D. Executive Producer Katie Jacobs chatted with Blogcritics in an exclusive interview.
With the ink barely dry on an agreement between Universal Media Studios and FOX to renew House, M.D. for an eighth season, I had the opportunity earlier this week to catch up with series executive producer Katie Jacobs. Jacobs acknowledged by phone that agreement was “quite a hurdle, and it’s not over yet.”…
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— go to most recent comments26 - barbara barnett
Dear Namesake Barnett :)
I think the difference is largely semantic. What KJ said makes sense to me. House is House. Maybe House is ACTUALLY at his heart a noble, idealistic guy and life has shattered that basic personality. It's changed how he reacts to everything, but his essential humanity is there. We see it. That shattered life has made him make the choices he has. But that elemental person is still there.
When people call him (deservedly) a jerk, they are reacting to who he appears to be--the persona he's adapted and adopted to make his life more bearable (I guess). Maybe that's not "who" House is.
Weird, huh?
27 - Sara
Note: English is not my native language, I'm sorry about errors.
“Lisa is such a valuable member [of the cast]. I challenge any other actress on TV to do what she is so?"does so, you know, seemingly effortlessly. She goes between drama, comedy, intelligence, sex appeal… It’s certainly not my plan or David’s plan or the creative team’s plan to not have Lisa in the show, and I can just say that I will not rest until I figure it out.”
Ah! And Jennifer Morrison is awful actress so she don't count anything, right Kate? :(
Translate:
''Jennifer is NOT such a valuable member [of the cast]''.
''It’s certainly my plan or David’s plan or the creative team’s plan to NOT have Jennifer in the show, and I can just say that I will not rest until I figure it out.”
That prove TPTB don't appreciate her at all. *Applause*.
And thank you Barbara Barnett for just ignore Cameron's fan like usual and forget Jennifer unfair dismissal like usual (again). No matter TPTB treat her poorly, no one (journalists) spend one word about her.
Where is the justice?
Thank you but I'm sure you don't answer me :(
28 - DebbieJ
"We may have less dollars to work with, but maybe there’s a silver lining in that,” she said. Maybe there’s an opportunity to refocus, she noted, “to tell better stories.”
This quote bothers me. TPTB had to wait to receive a budget cut to refocus to tell better stories? Really? I don't understand what one has to do with the other. They should have told a much better story in Season 7 no matter the budget. Although I think I understand the story they were trying to tell this season, I feel they did a poor job at executing it. Very fractured and uneven. The three main characters, (HW&C) being bent out of shape to fit the narrative instead of the other way around. But I still do love the show and won't give up on it.
I've just come to compare this season with a child. You love your child unconditionally. But when that child disappoints you, angers you, lets you down, you need to walk a way from your child. Not permanently, but you need to step away, take a breath. You'd never abandon your child, no matter how much they disappoint you. You can never give up on that child. And that's how I feel in a nut shell. The past few episodes, I actually said, "oh, it's Monday? I guess it's time to watch House." Not, "OMG only 3 more days before House, only 2 more days before House..... only 1 more hour before House" etc. And I hate feeling that way.
What I'm really hoping is that my child sees the errors of his ways and decides to go back to school and get a degree! LOL I am hoping that the end of this season will redeem itself, as well as next season. I don't know how they'll do it, but I won't abandon my child!
29 - Sneaky Microbe
I'll just add that, as a fan of the House and Cuddy relationship, I have feared all season that many fans of the show would HATE how it was handled. Because many of us Huddy fans didn't like it either! I never wanted that relationship explored in a sappy romantic kind of way, which is, for the most part, what they did.
30 - Madfashionista
Thank you so much for this excellent, straight-to-the-point interview! There is so much kerfuffle out there, and you got an interview with actual substance.
I refuse to read anything, positive or negative, in her comments. I shall take them at face value and see what happens. Here's hoping the budget cuts cause less elaborate teasers and tighter plots.
My only regret is RSL and OE having fewer episodes. What about Jesse Spencer??
31 - Cardiac Monitor
I agree with Reality Check: The Cuddy character is completely "burned out." They took a smart, strong woman and turned her into a controlling, whiny shrew. How can TPTB possibly fix that? Let her "move on" to something or somewhere else. "Huddy" was a disaster and I'm in the "I told you so" group; the show lost nearly half of its audience this past season, and the numbers are dwindling weekly. (And I'm sorry, Ms. Barnett, but no amount of cheerleading, "Huddy" or otherwise, is going to change that.)
I also agree that GY behaved very badly in his tweets about up-coming episodes; however, his job was to get viewers to tune in. Nonetheless, the episodes rarely, if ever, lived up to his hype. And his response to tweeters who complained lacked dignity and were often downright rude. Shades of David Shore.
As for the blogger who thinks Hugh Laurie is "phoning it in," on some level I agree with you, too. Clearly the man is getting tired of this role after so many years, especially with the loss of viewers and quite probably due to bad story lines. I've seen a couple of videos of his European music tour; he's much happier doing that than anything else right now. And he's getting mostly good reviews for an upper-class, white, Englishman with absolutely no roots in the genre. Its something of which he can be very proud.
I say: cut next season down to a dozen episodes or so, tie up loose ends and call it a day. "House" won't be going out on top, but at least it can try to go out with a little class.
32 - Sam
Lol at the huddy fangirls who think the show should be called huddy md. If you guys watch House because of Cuddy/huddy then you must find the first seasons of the show awful! Maybe you should try soap operas, they suit you huddys much better
33 - Celia
"And he's getting mostly good reviews for an upper-class, white, Englishman with absolutely no roots in the genre".
Wow. Pretty condescending. Didn't know 'the blues' were limited to only a section of humanity.
34 - Linda (HAPPY)
I loved the interview, you hit right on Katie, To me House is Gutsy with himself. determine to go thru what he wants, and he gets it. I'd Love to play an extra on the show just to work beside Hugh. It would be an honor of my life to give something back I want to give in life and for others. I have an episode in my mind that would be good for Season 8, but don't know to whom I need to get in touch with to talk too on this idea. Hugh is a great actor, Love him for who he is and what he does.
35 - DebbieJ
@33 - Celia: In defense of Cardiac Monitor (#31), Hugh himself has described his dabbling in the blues this way. In the Notes accompanying the CD, I quote:
"I was not born in Alabama in the 1890's, You may as well know this now. I've never eaten grits, cropped a share, or ridden a boxcar. No gypsy woman attended my birth and there's no hellhound on my trail, as far as I'm aware. Let the record show that I am a white, middle-class Englishman, openly trespassing on the music and myth of the American south."
And @31 - Cardiac Monitor: In Hugh's defense, it is natural to be excited in a new venture and I couldn't be more happier for him that the CD is getting positive reviews from critics and fans alike. (BTW, the CD is awesome! Just received it today and have listened to it twice so far.)
I don't get the feeling that he is phoning it in, although it must be challenging for him to work with such weak scripts. I had read that he said, "that's all they have me for", referring to there being an 8th season and that he has one more season left on his contract. I have also read that he still loves the character and still is interested in knowing what will happen to him, but I find it completely natural that his head and his heart is in his music right now.
36 - Betty
#10 Joan Agree!!
#33 Celia agree w/ your comment!
#34 Linda I believe you need an agent to represent you for your story idea to be pitched to tptb. Otherwise your idea will not be heard.
#35 DebbieJ Agree with your comments regarding HL. But I think HL wrote that in the CD's notes in anticipation of critics who think that blues music should be played only by a certain segment of humanity.
For the negative comments directed toward Huddies, Cuddy's played an important part in House's life, even saving his life on one occasion, among other things. So to denigrate their relationship is being anti House M.D. the show. No one is advocating anything but House M.D. but to assume that everyone who supports the House/Cuddy relationship as fangirls is rather presumptuous and condescending, and making such sweeping generalizations regarding part of a viewership is not helpful to this discussion.
As for those who don't want House happy, I don't think we can realistically fix House completely or see him completely happy. But who among us is truly and completely happy or personally knows someone who is? Not too many I would guess. But to want to see House stay miserable and lonely, that's just being sadistic even for a fictional character, and one has to wonder what's going on with people like that.
37 - 2 lightworker
Thank you, Barbara, for providing us with your summary of your conversation with Katie Jacobs.
There is much feeling and good insight in many comments here, and that is a sign that this show has touched us where we are in our spirits, personalities, histories. I allowed myself to "go with" the unfolding of the story, and have sometimes felt sad, often laughed, and more often than not, reflected on how the characters' choices and responses connected to my own life history. That kind of response may account for passionate attachments to actors and characters, and enthusiasm or disdain for some story arcs. I let myself be led into the House and Cuddy relationship and found touching moments through "Unwritten." (I also was moved by House and Stacy's connection in Season 1.)
But then I could not understand the change in the characters as Season 7 continued past Episode 3, and still wonder why that happened and why no one seems to take that observation seriously, even though it has been made by many viewers. Comments about a change in the dynamic relationship of Hugh and Lisa, or that he is "phoning in" his work, seem to result from a change in the nuanced complexity of the characters, as well as the introduction of special effects that I found distracting from the story line.
As to House changing, I think our essence remains the same, but we can jettison behaviors that do not serve our deeper sense of self and purpose, and there can be more integration of all the parts of ourselves. I find the constant refrain that "people don't change" does not do justice to the depth of interpretation of the characters by the actors.
I wonder if there would have been the many seasons of House without Hugh Laurie's charismatic interpretation of the character, and he has risen to every challenge, even when the material has not always been engaging. I found the character of House to be stimulating in his iconoclastic response,as well as touching in his private moments, which have now become very depressing. The writers' portrayal of women, either as devouring and controlling, as hookers, or as manipulative green card seekers, left me with a distaste that lingers. I am committed to follow this Hero's Journey, but am wary now in a way that I was not before, even with the searing finales of past seasons.
As to Hugh Laurie's other ventures, I applaud his doing what he loves, and the sheer joy he has shown in the European tour videos and interviews is infectious and encourages me to carry on with my own creative endeavors. I hope he will continue both with music and with films after "Mr. Pip," and hopefully, more British television that is not so demanding as the grueling schedule he has kept for seven years.
He is an inspiration to all of us when he describes his process in being offered the record deal, that in twenty years he would say "I could have done that" if he hadn't accepted, and that we regret what we don't do. I will miss him weekly once "House" ends, whenever that may be, but will be a fan of his extraordinary talent as long as he chooses to share that with us.
38 - Leiney
#30 Madfashionista...I too wonder about Jesse Spencer. It seems to me that if he had a deal, or one was pending, it would be an easy reveal. They've addressed everyone else's status, by name. Thus, I'm not feeling very optimistic about more Chase in season 8, but would love to be proved wrong!
Barbara, again, thank you for all you do for the fandom. I greatly appreciate your graciousness, evenhandedness and positive outlook.
39 - Sara
# ''For the negative comments directed toward Huddies''
?
Don't worry, on the contrary there isn't many negative comments directed towards Hudies (here) because B.B.'s blog have the reputation of being the reign of huddies so other fans simply don't read and don't comments here (except few people like me) because this place is in favor of Huddy relationship at all.
So all comments (99,9%) are created by Huddy fans in favor of their couple (here).
Other place are more super-partes (impartial) so have a better balance.
40 - Harley
36 - Betty
I totally understand Cuddy is an important person to House and i like her character but bringing them into a relationship was just stupid on TPTB's part IMHO and could never have lasted anyway. The proof that it was the wrong thing to do is now evidenced in the Huddies complaining that they never explored it properly yada yada and they could have had a complicated relationship and carried on that way....the show is called HOUSE MD and is about a complex genius who is drudging through a life of objectivity and meaning, he's tried love to make his life better and it didn't work, get over it.
41 - Sneaky Microbe
I liked these reviews because the following discussions were usually intelligent and civil. We can like different characters and stories and all still be devoted [H]ouse fans. Please take the animosity elsewhere.
42 - barbara barnett
Sneaky--thank you. People have their likes and dislikes, there are fans of all stripes; people who like one or another relationship and those who prefer House alone.
I hate when this comment space become a place for differing parts of the fandom to flame either each other or me. Some of the comments suggest that the commenter hasn't actually read the entire article, or was only looking for something in the interview to flame about.
43 - Betty
#39 Sara Thanks for your comment.
#40 Harley Your comment started great but ended negatively which is precisely why I felt I had to write my original comment. The proof is not the relationship itself but as you pointed out the way it was handled. But the real proof is the ratings which has been in a steady decline since Bombshells. Coincidence? perhaps but there are viewers out there who felt the post breakup episodes weren't handled well either. Incidentally, not all Huddies believed it was going to last, another erroneous generalization made by non-supporters of the relationship.
44 - Harley
42 - barbara barnett
I have a great respect for what you do and have been a silent reader of your blog for a long time.
My mocking of the Huddies may be construed as a disrespect to you and your site and i am sorry for that and it is not intentional but it drives me mad that the majority of the comments these days are Huddy related. Where in this interview was Huddy even brought up? but yet again it has dominated the comments here.
I know you are a Huddy but are also along for whichever way House's journey takes him. I watch for House's journey, he tried love to fix himself and he failed, the failure's bothering him so he is self destructing?
Your blog used to have a majority of really intelligent comments after each episode and now they are hard to find because all i read is Huddy this and Huddy that and not only is this an embarrassment to your blog it is a disrespect and embarrassment to the intelligence of the show that fans think this way.
45 - Harley
43 - Betty
To blame the ratings on Huddy is ridiculous. The ratings decline has many factors which Huddy holds a percentage to but is most certainly not the overall cause.
The show is in it's seventh season and still maintains numbers that other shows could only dream of, it has a competing time slot with DWTS which draws massive audience numbers, what other show could compete there?
The show is in it's seventh season and still maintains
46 - Sara
I have a dream.
A (impartial) journalist that asks questions about Wilson, Taub, Chase Foreman, 13 and Cameron (Do you remember Jennifer Morrison? TPTB assicure her three episodes in the seven season but obviously cheated her like usual, why no one ask about it?).
Instead there are just thousands of interviews about the wonderful Lisa Edelstein, lovely Cuddy, great Huddy past, Huddy present and Huddy future!
If this place is just for Huddy questions, Huddy answers, Huddy comments or Huddy fans, please, specific it on the title.
And I'm not troll (I defend Barbara in some occasions in other forum because she is always discredited) but now I'm tired,
all fans deserve respect, on this show there are multiple ships, many fans and many actors but in the last years all interview is about Cuddy and her world (or she have always a special place on it). All supporting actors have the same importance.
And KJ lack respect with many fans (exalting always LE, only her).
''I challenge any other actress on TV to do what she is so?"
Dear Kate, there are many actress (even your JMO or OW! for example) with the same talent or capacity of LE so I don't think she is the best.
A real journalist or important blogger is not partisan all the time.
In all this years, I never read one interview with a good balanced so I'm disappointed (like usual).
I stil hope, but I doubt my dream will come true. :(
47 - Suzy
Thank you so much for the great article!
I too hope Lisa will be on bord for season 8. She is very important to House. But since I am not a Huddy fan I hope to see, if it's possible after the break up, for them to get back a little of their good natured banter. I hope they can come to terms with each other and eventually get some of their friendship back, that was what made the great chemestry between them. Though it would take some journey to get there I think.
Oh, yes. Please bring back the clinic!
I'm very anxious to see where they will take House next season. It doesn't look good for him and I'm worried. They need to adress his psychological problems. Go deeper. Way deeper if he's gonna have any chance of climbing out of the desperate dark hole he's in and stay out of it. And of course I'd hate to see the tumors end up leading to... death. Please no! I couldn't bear it.
Bring on season 8!
48 - Suzy
Gosh, just have to add to the comments about HL "phoning it" in.
Seriously? I cannot see that. He gives his character absoutley everything. That he wants to focus on music and other things after 7 long years playing the same character... how is that translated into thinking he doesn't care about House anymore? Has he said that? No. I've seen the interviews for his music tour and when asked about House he still maintains he loves it and his character. But maybe, just maybe after so many years he wants to explore other things he hasn't had time for before. And music has always been his passion, a dream. Why would any fan hold that against him? Sure, I understand that you'll miss the show, and so will I, but shows have to end sometime unfortunately and 8 years is a long run.
49 - Eli
Thank you, Barbara! Your interviews are always very interesting.
50 - Valentina
(For God's Sake, why Katie Jacobs still in this show?She should have been the first to be fired!)
In my country often say that to err is human but to persist in error is
stupidity.
Well...surely LE is essential to the show!
How TPTB could continue destroying this show without cuddy?
The other broadcast should be so happy with these developments on the cast ...
(such a predilection for certain cast member, gets to be shameful.
The only essential part of the show is Hugh, after RSL...the rest is just the rest).
51 - Sally
Sorry to say, but LE is NOT essential to the show. Hugh is essential. RSL is essential (less than Hugh but still essential, because House needs Wilson like Holmes needs Watson.
52 - Barbara barnett
Sara, Lisa's name came up only because she has not yet signed. Period. I had a very limited amount of time to talk with her.
53 - Barbara barnett
Harley, believe me, it distresses me that too many comments are shipper war flames.
I suppose when I was toting for house and Stacy back in season 2 I would have been ripped for enjoying what the PTB, were doing then. I watch for house. Really. The show is called House. He could be a monk, or simply decide he wants nothing to do with anyone. And as long as I was still with the character, I would be fine with that. If he loses me, I'd be gone.
54 - KPP
Refuse to watch if LE is not on the show. Plus what is with the minimisation of her makeup this season? Its time to reginite Cuddy......instead of making her permanently tired and sad.
55 - Betty
#45 Harley This is why I said the ratings decline "perhaps" is a coincidence. Nowhere did I flatout say or imply that the decline was all due to the breakup. I think the ratings are still good but I was pointing out the decline is noticeable.
As for my take on not wanting to see House alone, I only got that from the character and the scripts not from shipping! I was never a Hameron as I've indicated in past posts and only saw a possible relationship w/ Cuddy at the end of season 4. It has been made clear from the scripts that House does not want to be alone, or else he wouldn't have bothered at least having a try at a relationship w/ Cuddy, and he certainly wouldn't have been in a 5-year relationship w/ Stacy. And he wasn't the one who broke it up w/ Cuddy. He said, no, no, no to Cuddy. The self destruction that happened in OOC and FFG further shows how much this relationship meant to House. So...all of this indicates to me, unless I really misunderstood, that House does not want to be alone at this time. That's all. As for the dominance of Huddy comments, I see the validity of this point, but that can be interpreted as a lot of posters putting a lot of faith in the writers in exploring this relationship. Perhaps it was our mistake to do so. The other point I'd like to make is DS, KJ, and the writers keep going back to their mantra of people don't change and we don't do happiness. So then what's the point? Other posters have said this. To want to keep someone miserable is really off, less miserable is all I'm looking for and is not an unreasonable goal to reach at series' end. If he wants to be alone and be less miserable, that works for me, but properly show us this change in mindset because so far in the scripts House has wanted to be with someone! Being successful at it is a different matter and not my original point.
56 - KPP
Ps. I would chose to keep Houses team over Wilson. I have found him lacklusture this season and disapointing. No 'spark'. Same with Cuddy. Liked the notion of the Cuddy/House relationship but was disapointed about how it was explored.
I would like House to find some happiness.......AND the other characters. Their constant state of misery is starting to grate and irritate me.
57 - Betty
Barbara, I'm sorry if you feel that I have contributed to the shipper flame wars, but Harley and a couple of other posters started making negative comments about Huddy which I felt needed to be addressed. And I've never started such a thing here. So it is curious that you would side w/ them.
58 - Lu
David shore :
YOU CAN'T STOP THEIR LOVE
Huddy episodes were the best, they were inspiring, worth-watching reminders of love, showing that even worst person can change for the loved one Get Huddy back!
59 - Committed
Betty - I agree with you on the misery front. I just don't see the point of it.
As far as House/Cuddy - I still think the jury is still out on this relationship. If he really does come to understand himself better and he makes his choice based on that understanding, will he choose to try it again? That is a huge question that I would like left on the table for the final season. The path to that decision will be interesting enough to watch. I don't think he wants to be alone, I just don't know if he really knows how to avoid it.
60 - Lina
"Dear Kate, there are many actress (even your JMO or OW! for example) with the same talent or capacity of LE so I don't think she is the best".
Are you joking? JMo and OW are subpar actresses. You can dislike Huddy as much as you want but Lisa is a far superior actress than those two.
She is essential for the show and this is why TPTB is fighting to have her back. If they didn´t fight for JMo maybe it´s because they didn´t find her character so important anymore.
61 - Andrea
I stopped watching when they deep-sixed House's relationship with Cuddy and declared he'd never change. I'm not interested in watching a character who never changes. It doesn't make much of a difference if it comes back next season or not.
62 - Sneaky Microbe
House's relationship with Cuddy has been THE big story this season, and that's following several years of leading up to it. Even if you hate the pairing, THAT is the topic of discussion because THAT has been central to the show this year. Some of us, who happen to be very mature and very well educated (NOT starry-eyed school girls), welcomed House's evolution into potential happiness.
I found it interesting, Barbara, that House/Cuddy was not mentioned by KJ in your interview. Did you steer away from that subject intentionally?
Yes, the show is about Dr. House. About his journey and attempts to have a better life. I can't understand the intense anger regarding Cuddy, given the multi-year development of these two. I don't care for many of the other characters, but I don't see the need to go on and on about how horrible and boring they are. Because I know that hurts people's feelings. Alas, humans will be humans.
63 - bluehue
Thanks for "behind the scenes" interview & new insights. Nice.
I like the fact that KJ mentions cuts in funds could actually contribute to "better stories," like maybe in the sense that less is best, or trims options on the bigger type production extras. No "bunker busting bombs" to open the show is okay-fine.
Just instruct the writers to "sharpen thy pencils," or I guess "polish key boards," & get busy with stories, as she hints..that show us, raveled & unraveled..what is going on in that mind of House..complicated ball of knotted up string that it is.
P.S. Sorry, wrong place to comment, but I'm liking "The Fix," more after several days of "sinking in." It served to warn us "sqeamish" & set the mood for "After Hours." The images of House on the "butcher block" table, (unintentional) tho foreboding now.
Also, I was thinking, remembering (sad story/offbeat parallel) about House's pet rat he named after the actor Steve McQueen, who (so desperate to cure his own cancer) died (at 50) of complications, after taking an apricot derived drug..in Mexico, banned in the USA.
64 - Drdiagnostic
Thank you for this interview Barbara! I gathered the same thing from KJ's comment about the things House has tried. From those experiences, he's learned about those flaws. Based upon what he wants in his life, it's up to him to decide if he wants to keep them or make himself better. For example, if he wants love, then he might have to be able to take on someone else's pain and try to be more open and conforting. If he wants to be clean again, he has to get his head cleared and learn how to manage his leg pain in a more proactive way.
Also, I just want to point out your sentence to people where LE and "crucial to season 8" are in the same sentence. I gather based upon the planning process that Cuddy is going to be a crucial part of Season 8 and that's why they are really hoping to get her signed.
I do appreciate the eloquence to KJ's answers. She makes the bitterness of some of Shore's and GY's comments a lilttle sweeter and explains what's in House's head a bit better. She's not quite as...shall we say...blunt.
I do hope they sign Lisa and give her a reasonable deal. She is a very diverse actress, as Hugh has also stated. She, in my opinion, is detrimental to the storytelling of the show just as much as Wilson is. The show needs that...."grown up" interaction, I feel.
65 - rjw
Barbara,
i hope that Lisa Edelstein is signed.No matter whether you love or hate her character,Lisa is a very talented actor,and (in my book) very underrated.I do follow House,for House,though.Lisa just happens to be an important member of the cast.
66 - hazel eyes
I don't care what anyone says. but I think Hugh asked for the delay of the filming of season 8 was so that his best buddy RSL could be back from the start. Hugh has admitted that he wouldn't of got through the last 7 years without him.
67 - Sara
@ Barbara, thank you for answer. I believe in you so I hope you represent all fans doubts in the next interview.
@ Lina
"Dear Kate, there are many actress (even your JMO or OW! for example) with the same talent or capacity of LE so I don't think she is the best".
Are you joking? JMo and OW are subpar actresses. You can dislike Huddy as much as you want but Lisa is a far superior actress than those two.
She is essential for the show and this is why TPTB is fighting to have her back. If they didn´t fight for JMo maybe it´s because they didn´t find her character so important anymore.''
It's just your opinion, JMo and OW have a great career (Jennifer is a lead in a new important show now, and OW is more request in the movies) so I doubt LE is universally considered a better actress than other two. I think LE, JMo and OW are very talent actress (equal quality, no one is better than other two and the facts prove this.)
And Cuddy is important yes, but Cameron was/is important too (do you see season 1, 2 or 3? She has greatly contributed to the success of the series at the beginning but unfortunatly TPTB don't remember it)
They don't fight for Jennifer because there are many strange logics on this show so some actors and characters have all their caring and other it's abrutly don't appreciate at all. This show is about House so he is the core, others are a support carachters so all of them have the same utility and importance. But TPTB don't have any sense of justice or correctness. I hope some day someone will hurt them as they have dealt Jennifer so maybe they will understand what it means.
And Jennifer is really a nice person, because many actors, in the same situation, did not have the same class and grace that she had.
I hope I'm wrong and one day TPTB prove they are a good and correct people.
68 - barbara barnett
Hey guys, thanks for keeping this (mostly) civil. Debate is great. Keep it going. Sneaky--I steered away from it intentionally. Whatever she would offer would piss off one or another part of the fandom. The topic is so divisive in the fandom. I just felt I didn't want to make the interview "about that." KJ has given virtually no interviews this season. This was her first in month. I wanted to keep it informational and informative, not set fire to a tinderbox in one direction or another.
She only mentioned LE because she's yet to be signed (I believe everyone else is on board already). Cuddy is a crucial piece of the pie. House vs. a new Dean would be a disaster. He'd be gone in a heartbeat (or the series would devolve into some sort of Hogan's Heroe rip. The series was build on the trio of House-Cuddy-Wilson with House at the top. The fellows are important, but are not his main support structure.
Bluehue--yes. That's exactly what she meant in context of our conversation. When you have to do with less, you have to get more creative. Maybe that means less blockbuster teasers, but more getting into the emotional core of the stories.
69 - Cardiac Monitor
Ms. Barnett: HOW is Cuddy a "crucial piece of the pie?" I ask again: what else can be done with her character? If it was indeed her purpose to be a "future love interest" for House from Day 1, as many have insisted, well, I'd say that that ship has sailed. Now what?
If Lisa E was smart, she'd move on. Better to leave on her own terms than to allow the character she spent 6 years building to be further bastardized. And next time, find a writer who knows how to write for women, not the cliche-addled bunch currently employed by David Shore.
70 - barbara barnett
Cardiac Monitor. LE's purpose on House is, has and always will be as his Dean: his protector when necessary and his foil when necessary. Their relationship has always been underpinned by mutual affection, history and respect. No matter what House has done, Cuddy has always understood fundamentally why House does the things he does. No one else (as we say in season 5's Big Baby, I think) is capable of walking that line: managing him and trusting him.
There have been sparks there since (really) late season 2 and having gone through this very slow relationship and it's aftermath, they have to at least get back to "go".
Put another character in that necessary role at t
71 - Celia
Is it just my prism Barbara,or did KJ sound deflated and already a bit nostalgic during your interview ? She has to know they're in this situation because the Ratings dropped...for wahtever reasons. Gotta' be depressing.
72 - Sneaky Microbe
Barbara, Thank you very much for your response to my question. Given the climate of late, it is interesting to see what THEY want to talk about, so I appreciate steering away from certain subjects. The ongoing debate regarding whether House CAN change, HAS changed, or has a sense of humanity is central to everyone's interpretation of the series. Based on what we've heard from others recently, it's helpful to hear/read the perspective of Those At The Helm.
And I agree with Barbara that Cuddy was never meant to be a love interest for House. That's why it's been fun to follow over the years, since the chemistry created itself. Throw in bits from their past together, and you've got an interesting relationship. With that said, I sincerely agree with the many who call for a more respectable portrayal of women on the show. I find Dr. Cuddy's bared cleavage to be a joke, an insult in a way to professional women everywhere. While I like Cuddy (perhaps mainly because I adore Lisa E.), I agree that the character has weakened in the past few years. I think the character has great potential, yet for whatever reason her role has been sub par. Let's hope writers correct this oversight in Season 8. I honestly don't know that I'd watch the show without the Complete Triumvirate.
73 - Susan
FYI - I came across a few interesting articles and assorted pictures on the internet of some of the "House" stars, who are on a week long trip to Israel. Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps and his wife, Jesse Spencer (with a horrible crew cut),Amber Tamblyn and producer David Shore visited two hospitals(among the usual tourist spots). LE tried "her hand at simulated arthroscopic surgery.
“I’m so glad this is not a living person,” she said Wednesday, shifting the controls over a robotic dummy, eyes fixed on a computer screen that revealed her would-be patient’s internal organs. “I think I just mangled its liver.”
"The cast members looked on as medical students re-enacted a particularly dramatic scene from the last season of the show in which a patient who was crushed under a falling building has his leg amputated and is rushed to the operating room."
One medical student said "The show is good entertainment, but at medical school we learn what not to do from it. After all, this is Hollywood we are talking about.”
So maybe this is why LE hasn't signed her contract yet - she's been abroad - operating.
74 - Sara
Thank you too, Barbara :)
And I'm sorry about my elementary english, again.
''The series was build on the trio of House-Cuddy-Wilson with House at the top.''
I'm sorry but I don't think this the true. Or rather, it is true now, but it was not true at the beginning. Look season 1, do you really think the original show have this premises? No, it haven't.
Wilson maybe, but Cuddy don't have any real intimacy rapport with House in season 1 (they call each other ''Dr'' in the first episodes) she is simply her boss, they have some little flirtation but they are not friends or close, on the cotrary patients and team members are very important in the original show and House/Cameron pairing is the first love and romantic ship, and House/Wilson is the most important friendship relation of the show. If you read first interviews look that. But I don't deny the importance of Cuddy or the existence of House/Cuddy pairing, just say that all cast members are the same importance. Chase and Foreman are the perfect opposite of House on the team so this dynamics is important too.
And TPTB created three ships: H/Cam, H/Cu and H/W, so why they don't the same importance as all three? If they loves only House/Cuddy pairing it's simply: they were to just create their love. But if you create even House/Cameron romance (for example) you you have to give him the same dignity and importance. We don't invent Hameron or Hilson subtex, TPTB invent it so they have a debt to their audience. Guest carachter romance (Stacy or Lydia) are differente because they are simply guest so viewers know they are just provisional.
And poor OE, PJ and JS, they treat them like a wallpaper now (most of the time). 13 have a good fortune.
And especially fatal error, they have also pushed on the second floor even patients! So in the last seasons House md is less procedural and more soap-operish. They don't longer find a balance between this two vital istances.
Bones have two main charachters and a marginal supporting cast. House don't. Contractally and narratively House have only one star (lead) and a supporting casts with the same importance and salary.
I'm sorry but it's ojective. I don't hate Huddy, I'm ok with Huddy exploration if they explorate other two ship (Hamerson and Hilson) and if they same dignity to OE, JS, PJ and OW (we loss Kunter but it's a actor decision so TPTB are innocent about it).
I really hate when the same mother create many children but treats them differently some better and others worse. And why all regulars cast have a the right to stay still the end, Jennifer isn't? Where is the justice?
This show chance a lot. This is a fact.
Maybe Bryan Singer absence have a great impact.
This is just a commercial produts so money logics (and not artistic logics) reigns but show failed also from the commercial point of view in the last years so it's really a big mistake.
House was a international success in the first seasons (critical acclamation, mportant awards and big ratings) because artistic value was higher. All plots (patients, team dinamics etc) are the best.
I think most of those who followed him think so. In my country House have the same decline and bad critics when ''change'' arrived. House now is just a number 2 of a great movie, don't have the same charm, appeal and quality the first seasons.
I'd like to call ten major and independent expert critics and ask them if the show was better the first year or (after all this changes) in the last years. I'm sure 80% or 90% choise the first option.
Do you look ''The silence of the lambs'' and ''Hannibal''? I have the same sensation, the first is a masterpiece (mistery, subtex, great plots!) the second is like a worst carbon copy with less quality. Same plot but a very difference results!
The great problems on tv is that: creators use best ideas and atmospheres in the first years (even Huddy is the best in the early season) but after they totally destroy it's same creature because long seriality is very difficult to maintain. There are but some exceptions (some sit.co or pure procedurals age more slowly) but are rare. TPTB still crate some good scenes or episodes but the global quality of seasons are worst.
I Think even David Shore know though but, obviously, he never admit it.
I have just one deidere: that TPTB use the last seasons to give dignity to all actors all characters, and all the storyline that have created and close all arcs with a good and respectful balance between all of them. All regular character, still Cameron. Because she stay six years so it is absurd to pretend it never existed so I hope they report Jennifer in the last season in some episodes.
I still have some hope.
If TPTB are really clever and have really respect for all of them, we'll see a great final season.
75 - barbara barnett
Susan--The series triumvirate is House-Wilson-Cuddy. Whether or not there was ever a relationship planned for anyone, that triangle still stands. It is the basis for the show. That is where the power struggles and conflict and tension boils.