It’s been widely reported for several months (and making Variety’s breaking news this morning as an April 15 deadline looms) that FOX (which airs the series in its first run episodes) and Universal (which produces House) have not yet reached an agreement to renew the hit series TV series House, M.D.
“I would be absolutely astounded if there wasn’t a season eight,” noted House, M.D. creator and Executive Producer David Shore during a conference call with television journalists Friday afternoon. “FOX wants a season eight; Universal wants a season eight.” The question is, whether Universal, which produces the series, and Fox can come to a meeting of minds. It won’t be until after an agreement is reached that the studio can proceed with negotiating contracts with the supporting cast and David Shore himself. (Only Hugh Laurie and Olivia Wilde have contracts that extend beyond season seven.)
Shore explained that the series is moving forward on the assumption that there will be a next season. However, as Variety is now reporting, the sides are still far apart. If no agreement is reached, says the entertainment newspaper, FOX may lose the series, a mainstay of its schedule. Earlier this week, TVLine reported that Robert Sean Leonard is returning to Broadway, which may affect his role on House moving forward. Although Shore didn’t want to speculate, he is “operating on the assumption that [Leonard] will be back. That relationship [between House and Wilson] is one of the cornerstones of the show.”
Creating an unlikely hero in a misanthropic, cynical, atheist genius, Shore continues to be astounded by the success of the series, seen in more than 65 countries by millions each week. Although Shore has often described House as someone without a heart of gold—not a “good person,” House has always written as a multi-dimensional human being. But does he have a compassionate side beneath it all?
“That is a question that’s been on the table since day one,” replied Shore. Noting he doesn’t like answering questions that require interpretation, he prefers to let viewers decide for themselves, and let “the work speak for itself.” But House’s humanity (or lack thereof) is something Shore is particularly reluctant to discuss.
“Everybody has their own interpretation. I want them to see what they want to see; to challenge [the viewers] in that regard.” But, he continued, “of course he’s human; he’s not an automaton.”
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Sacha
So they want Olivia Wilde and are uncertain about the 'supporting cast'. I think that speaks volumes. I hope Jesse Spencer, Omar Epss and Lisa Edelstein will get their reward in the contract negotiations for being always enthusiastic and supportive about the show and won't be axed for stupid budget reasons. Moving on? I will if OW is becoming as important as Hugh Laurie.
2 - Orange450
Thanks Barbara!
Sometimes I wonder whether DS's reluctance to delve into the discussion of House's "heart of gold" or lack thereof stems from the origin of House's character. Wasn't House's nature supposed to have been modeled somewhat on Mr. Shore himself? If so, I can certainly understand his reluctance to speculate publically on the nature of his own inner depths :)
3 - Belle
This is an article that pretty much tells us nothing to be honest.
I was actually interest to hear DS say "
The trick of pulling off the relationship (while it lasted) was keep the characters in character: “to keep House, House"and to keep Cuddy, Cuddy.” One of his directives to writers in developing the story line was never to have them “too content or happy.”
His prime derective in keeping House and Cuddy never content and never happy as a couple is what soured me on the show. I kept hoping for sustaining moments of happy and all we got was misery and misunderstanding. In terms of character development of House and Character making them constantly doubtful and misery made what should have been an exciting, complicated, flashy and erotic pairing into something half formed and for many episodes dull. I loved Huddy and I'm dissapointed they wrote them the way the did and broke them up so lamley, I thought at writers they were better and braver :(
4 - vicpei
Well, read the conference call, read your insights, thnaks for it. It does not deserve more comments. End of House for me, if he is very pleased with what he has done. The channels and the polls and critics clearly do NOT share his delight.
5 - Lily
Don't be overdramatic. OW has a contract because it was probably part of the agreement when she left to go do movies this year. DS wants to hitch his show to a rising star and keep her for a significant period of time. It's perfectly logical. And we all know that HL is signed for eight seasons. The rest is of course, undecided when the show is undecided. But I don't think they'll cut any of the cast. It's just a matter of re-negotiating contracts.
Besides, if we're going by starpower and name recognition, OW is certainly second only to HL.
6 - barbara barnett
Sascha--Contract length has nothing to do with preference. OW signed her contract after the others last time evidently or had a longer contract than Peter, perhaps. She doesn't have a new contract. Don't read more into that than is there.
7 - Freyah
I really don't care if Olivia Wilde has a contract on the show. I do care about Lisa, Robert, Jesse and Omar and would like to know what is happening with them. I know that OW has a fledgling movie career but the show hasn't lived or died by her absence and 13 was never that big of a fan favourite in my opinion. The absence of Lisa and Robert though would make a hug difference to the show if there is a Season 8. I have no problem with OW as a person but can we just away from the OW train for a minute and find out about the futures of cast memebers that the majority of House fans actually do care for and about????
8 - barbara barnett
I do get what Shore says about things open to interpretation. Escher makes a sketch. What's in the sketch? It means different things to different people.
Spock is created as emotionless, tamping down his human soul--eventually, his humanity began to overwhelm the rational Vulcan. But when that happened is open to interpretation.
Characters in film, literature and on TV mean different things to different people. Paintings and photographs mean different things to different people based your personal experience and how the character resonates with you (or doesn't). So I understand his reluctance to be definitive about his creation, That was one of my questions. I didn't expect him to answer it directly, but his response satisfied me.
9 - barbara barnett
Freyah--we don't know right now. I think I actually broke the story originally back in October when Lisa E told me about the contract negotiations. Fact is, we don't know. Variety broke two stories today about House. The latest was this afternoon's, which was breaking news for the paper.
10 - Jane2
Thanks for the write up! Each interview from TPTB is more dispiriting than the last. I have no hope now. I think they are lost.
11 - Anne
I should be more surprised, but with his doom and gloom campaign of late nothing surprises me.
It's not uncommon these days to wait until the very last second to come to contractual terms, so we just have to wait it out. House still has a lot of popularity, so it wouldn't be in the network's best interest to let it go.
On another note, his directive should have been "explore the characters to the fullest." Not keep them miserable and unhappy. What kind of direction is that for a show that has shown the creativity, complexity and depth of House? That's an inexcusably, limiting directive. The assignment with House and Cuddy should have been to explore fears, magnetism, passion, anger, and the inate complexity of these characters in the context of how these two broken and damaged people can possibly face the challenges in love. Exploring this relationship to the depth that they built these characters in the first place would have been much more interesting than "keep them unhappy." Get for real.
If DS really gave those directions, he's lost his creative genuis and the shows doomed anyway. The other option is that he's full of crap and yanking the audience's chain for a greater purpose.
That's all I'm saying.
12 - tauwja
"Shore commented briefly on the House-Cuddy relationship “I’m very pleased,” he said, “with what we did with that.”"
I'm sure you are. Too bad you're the only one.
"Acknowledging that with millions of fans, some are going to be disappointed with the ultimate resolution to the story arc, he said that it’s impossible to please everybody."
Absolutely. But with the way they did it, they haven't seemed to pleased *anyone*. And that's why it's been such a complete failure. And I hope one day they will finally come to understand (because it really doesn't seem they're listening to the bucketloads of -- very valid IMO -- criticism they're currently getting from all sides) it wasn't so much the *end* of the relationship that bothered us (although that also was rather random and OOC), but pretty much the *entire* relationship that made no sense. It was all just one big gigantic mess and most of it a huge disappointment.
"The trick of pulling off the relationship (while it lasted) was keep the characters in character: “to keep House, House"and to keep Cuddy,”"
Yup. And -- aside from shallow and silly storylines -- that's where you failed, BIG TIME. House was okay, but Cuddy has just WAY off since early in the season. Her character was all over the place and just didn't make any sense anymore after the first few episodes. And she's been behaving completely contradictory to how she was in the earlier seasons. Which is odd, considering DS &co are so convinced people don't change..... then what do you call what happened to Cuddy??
Seriously, just..... never mind. *deep sigh* This is just hopeless. These people just really don't get it it seems. If he is serious about this, if this is really it, then I'm done.
13 - Celia
I think the Networks have destroyed the [H]ouse that Shore build. The state of their contract debacle explains RSL's outburst yesterday. I so wanted to see [H]ouse go out on a high note... and I was silly enough to think it might run for 10 Seasons. I may need a differential diagnosis on my poor litttle, broken [H]ouse heart. :-(
14 - barbara barnett
Anne--what he's saying is no different than he's said since day 1 about House. Why would he change that?
Orange--I think you may be on to something.
Jayne--what dispirits? DS said very little about anything new. Not everyone dislikes OW (some people have been highly anticipating her return). Not everyone lives and breathes House-Cuddy.
DS has to follow his own vision. It's his character and his story. I'm still very engaged in this exploration. I understand that many are not for whatever reason(s). Each has to judge for him or herself. That's all I can say. I wish he'd said more; I wish he had news of the negotiation, but I can't say that what he said dispirited me--he didn't say anything that we didn't already know he felt.
15 - tauwja
Re: Anne, #11:
"On another note, his directive should have been "explore the characters to the fullest." Not keep them miserable and unhappy. What kind of direction is that for a show that has shown the creativity, complexity and depth of House? That's an inexcusably, limiting directive. The assignment with House and Cuddy should have been to explore fears, magnetism, passion, anger, and the inate complexity of these characters in the context of how these two broken and damaged people can possibly face the challenges in love. Exploring this relationship to the depth that they built these characters in the first place would have been much more interesting than "keep them unhappy." Get for real."
OMG. THIS so much!! That's perfectly stated! I really couldn't agree more.
16 - barbara barnett
Anne, tauwja--how do you know that the only directive? Trust the writers, but remember: House is an unhappy guy. I think that sort of caveat is always crucial when writing a love story about a fundamentally very unhappy man. The rest of it would come naturally.
17 - Jill
What with Robert Sean Leonards comments yesterday, the stalemate in contract talks, and now David Shores comments! This all really does make me feel, that this is the end of the show, there will be no season 8, I had a bad feeling about everything when they added an extra episode to the season. I just have saddness in my heart with all this negativity thats been coming out this week. Can they really let a great show like House, that has brought in so much money for the networks, and has delighted so many around the world, end like this?
18 - josie
Mr. Shore believes the central character of a television show should never change, however, after 6 1/2 years, he is losing his audience. Since House never changes, it's just getting boring. There's nothing to look forward to. House has faced drug addiction, failed at romance, risked his job, and risked his life on numerous occasions. The character is 51-years-old, and as an audience member, I'm just shaking my head, saying to myself, "Grow up!". The writers have drawn the character so broadly that I don't think he resembles the Gregory House of Season 1. Every cast member of the show is miserable, and I can't understand why David Shore would think audience members would find this appealing. I also don't understand why the show is "drawn" so broadly. There's too much slapstick, such as in "Now What" with the only one neurosurgeon storyline. When this show first aired, I thought it was a class act. To save this show, I think it's time for Gregory House to finally learn "how to balance on the type-rope of life". If this season ends with a downer, I truly think a staggering amount of audience members are going to stop watching.
19 - espejoses
Basically what you expose does not say anything not said before in other seasons, because he never to wet with any shipers. If anything the only difference is that you no longer qualify as an absolute selfish and a jerk, and talks about the character with certain degree of humanity (which we have always seen.) Of course this contradicts the categorical statements that all have been telling us that House for being such a jerk, he can not be husband material (and therefore in our view a reason very simplistic explanation).
I think they made a mistake to think that we the viewers want complete happiness for the characters, far from it we have always pensadoo in a complicated relationship, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, moderately happy, not without problems, but yes functional in its dysfunctional way. I think they have underestimated the same hearing in which he is both amazed and proud.
In any case, their opinions are quite biased and devoid of any hint of what really will come. We are so blind to what is going to give the final.
20 - Sneaky Microbe
Thanks, as always, Barbara, for this report. I've been unhappy with the show, and I'm afraid the more I hear from TPTB, the deeper my heart sinks. I'm definitely going through Kubler-Ross' stages of grief. The House and Cuddy "arc" should not come to an end, not after building it up for 6-7 years. I fear they've made a big mistake and miscalculated the depth of fans' passion for the show. I have bad feelings about the future of the show.
21 - MusicandHouse
This whole contract negotiation thing is making me really nervous. Especialy since Shore says he is operating on the assumption there will be a season 8...meaning this season probably ends with some type of cliffhanger that won't get resolved if season 8 doesn't happen. Although I guess the fact that Variety considered this to be important enough to be breaking news shows that people really are concerned and want to see the show continue.
22 - barbara barnett
You may all disagree with me, and this is the last thing I can say before I need to prepare for Sabbath, but we actually don't know what's going to happen, who's going to interact with who, or how the final 6 (well, for me, 5) episodes will unfold.
I've never been one to jump to conclusions, believing that the people who created the show and have the most invested in the characters know what they are doing, even if I don't always agree with them.
If I ever get to the point where the show no longer does it for me, I'll stop watching. I watch so few television series now, it's unusual for me to grab onto one as hard as I've grabbed onto House. The series has had its narrative ups and downs in my opinion, which is why I asked DS that question. But even at its worst, there is so much there (whether I interpret in there or its intentional--it really doesn't matter in the end) for me, I'm still captivated.
23 - vicpei
Barbara, I would love to agree with you. Just love.
24 - tahina
Why is it so hard to trust David Shore anymore. Im getting to that point mentioned by Barbara where the show no longer does it for me anymore, and Im not even a Huddy.
25 - josie
I'm sure there's a plan to this entire season, but I'd like to enjoy each episode on its own merits. There hasn't been an episode this season (and very few from last season), that I have completely enjoyed from start to finish. I have no desire at the end of the season to watch an episode again to see how it fits in the general storyline. Some of these shows have been down right offensive--House drugging Cuddy's mom, House conducting a DDX in front of his team with a hooker in his bed. Shame on the FOX network for airing that at 8 p.m.