But would either Universal (who sells the DVDs and owns the rights for all those cable rebroadcasts and more) or Fox want to jettison a still-popular, well-made series? Although House’s ratings numbers are not quite as impressive as they were a couple of years ago, for a series in its seventh season, it is doing quite well, particularly in the all-important 18-49 demo. I can’t imagine either entity wanting to cut House at this juncture.
I certainly wouldn’t want to see House crawl to its end, prolonged way past its prime to squeeze out the last penny, but it’s not there, not by a long shot. And hey, TV by the Numbers scores House as highly likely to be renewed in its January 25, 2011 “Renew/Cancel” column.
I’m with them. I would bet that neither Fox nor NBC are willing to let one such a highly-rated, successful vanish. In any event, do let the network know how you feel.
And a question for you, my dear readers: what do you think? How many more seasons might we have left of Dr. House and his crew? Let me know in the comments below!
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Crazy4House
I agree that House shouldn't stay forever, but to end this season over this debacle would be too rushed and IMO not a proper ending to this wonderful. As much as I hate to say it,I think season 8 should be the last. I think it could go one a year or two past that, but 8 always seems to be the best season to end, not too short but not too long either. Plus, even though HL does still enyoy playing House, he probably won't extend his contract any longer. He must miss his family and he often sites the distance between them and the odd hours and the worst part of his job.
GY and all the House people in the internet world seem to be confident of the renewal as well, but thanks for the link to tell the network how we feel about this show. IMO the fact that this whole money thing made it into the news is because they want to see how much people really care so they have more leverage in negotiations.
2 - houseenthusiast
They could not possibly end this show with dignity during this season. It needs a proper good bye. IMO i think that season 8 should be the last. They also shouldn't keep suspense going, by that I mean if it is the last season tell everyone. I know I would need to mentally prepare!!
3 - marykir
I never expected negotiations to get serious before Fox has a chance to see how its winter/spring schedule does and what its pilots look like.
I would not be surprised if season 8 is the last season, especially if they keep (most of) the current cast at PPTH. The writers seem more interested in the interpersonal stories than the medicine and it's hard to imagine 40+ more episodes that feel fresh focused on House + the same 5-6 people.
4 - Housecall
There is very little doubt in my mind this show will most definitely be renewed for an Eighth Season. I feel that Hugh Laurie is determined to see this show "end with a bang" and to honor his contract. I believe in him.
I do feel that for the integrity of the show to continue, Robert Sean Leonard needs to renew his contract. He is the only cast member I sometimes have doubts about renewing- but I also feel that he will see the [H] journey through to its conclusion- whatever that may entail.
[H} was renewed very late last season and this season presents new challenges what with the NBC/Comcast merger. I would not be at all surprised if we did not have a definitive answer regarding renewal for quite some time...but I do feel it will come.
This is the most watched show worldwide. It is a veteran hit, year after year. There will be some way for them to work out whatever financial concerns there may be.I don't think they're in the habit of throwing Mega Hit TV shows off the tracks.
This show deserves a proper ending. This cannot possibly be done using the remainder of this Season. This is a journey we've been on and one which is finely nuanced and needs care in order for it to grow and unfold.
I do see this series ending in Season 8. That is just my opinion.
5 - barbara barnett
Marykir--I think the slightly weird feel to it is that the actors' contracts are tied up until the negotiations are over. Renewal issues and contract issues don't always coincide. I'm pretty confidant that that House will be reupped for next year. I'd like to see it get a proper sendoff--while it's still compelling and not do an "X-Files," which outlived its welcome.
6 - Erin
The show isn't what it used to be, plain and simple. Instead of focusing on the medicine and on House's interpersonal struggles, it's now turned into a ridiculous soap opera. I used to laugh until my sides hurt, cry my eyes out, and on more than one occasion, one of Hugh's trademark looks shattered my heart into a million pieces.
This season, all I can think is "meh" while watching. I disagree that it's still "popular and highly rated". I know it's anecdotal evidence, but many, MANY people I know both online and off have given up watching.
If there's a way to wrap it up cleanly at the end of this season, I think they should do it and free up the cast for pursuits that are more engaging and worthwhile.
And I know, Barbara, that you'll give me one of your trademark snarky answers, because you're so "blinded by love" you can't even entertain that this show has lived out its life.
7 - ruthinor
WOW!! Pot:kettle anyone??
8 - barbara barnett
Snarky? Me? I don't think so. Really?
I do believe that I'm on record saying that I would love to see the series go out on a high note, perhaps at the end of season eight.
See, Erin, "meh" is an opinion. You have them, I have them, other people who watch the show have them. When people don't like a show they vote with their remote control and move on to other things. I know lots of people who ONLY began watching this season. Or last season. Or in season four. I also know several people who stopped watching and this year are once again in love with the series. YMMV. It is the way of the world.
9 - Action Kate
I think an eighth season would allow a dignified wrap-up without stretching the show out to "X-Files" thinness.
However, as a former X-Phile, I am constrained to point out (1) Chris Carter had only planned for five seasons, and gave in when Fox backed up a dump truck full of money into his driveway (2) BOTH series leads left at one point. The show started out being about Mulder the believer with the abducted sister and Scully the skeptic. Without those two characters and that plot, the show fell apart.
This hasn't happened with "House, MD" since the show is first and foremost about House, who has not left. His story was never a pre-determined arc like Samantha Mulder's abduction (and the increasingly complicated mythology behind it). Wilson and Cuddy were always House's main two foils, and they are still around. And given that the ducklings are supposed to be learning from House, it's not unreasonable for those characters to cycle out at some point.
10 - Pip
Frankly, this show should have ended back in season 5 or whatever; whenever House went to the asylum. It ended perfectly.
11 - barbara barnett
Action Kate--You are completely correct. I don't want to see david shore lured with a boatload of cash and feel trapped (along with everyone else) into seasons beyond where they can do it justice. For me, XF ended at the end of season six. I simply stopped watching when I wasn't home--and stopped taping it (pre-DVR days).
I don't know if House has 1 more year or 5 more years left. I'm enjoying the ride. for me, it's never been about the medical stories. It's always been about joining House on his complex journey.
XF got silly after awhile and the entire mythology fell apart, and the show lost its way from tracking Mulder's classic hero's journey, which was the heart of the series.
12 - madfashionista
I hppe they don't have a Season 8. I'm one of those who still watches, but feel the show has turned into a distorted parody of itself. I've noticed how House has fallen off the radar in most "What to Watch" lists and various other gauges of media interest.
Also, don't forget, they canceled "24", which was still INTENSELY popular, because of production costs. And that was before Comcast.
13 - barbara barnett
I think a large part of why it's fallen off those lists is because it's no longer novel. It's a show that's been on for years, and has never shaken the "medical procedural" label, despite the fact that's it's never really been that except in structure.
24 was never as highly rated a series as House, and far more expensive to produce. The final year it rated #39 it never made it into the top 20 (except for one year when it *was* #20).
Everyone's entitled to their opinions. Hey, I loved Rubicon, and I think it was me and four other people on the planet that watched it. :)
14 - karo
I think the conflict in the statements may be because the cast is probably all optioned for s8 & can't actually take job elsewhere until NBC releases them, but they also don't know that their options will be picked up & won't until NBC resolves whether its going to go it alone or can figure out some sort of deal with Fox.
Does anyone know the answer to the following - why is Lisa E discussing other cast members contract status? She's not their agent & I can't imagine that she's been appointed spokesperson for either any of them. The HL season 8 situation is at least public, but there seem to be a lot of other rumors flying about RSL's status & I'd have thought if he wanted any formal statement made either he or his agent would make it, not have Lisa E do it on a press call. Plus since when is she the spokesperson for NBC or Fox's negotiations status, even if her information is accurate, which I'm not so sure about, it reads as if she's spinning - if the character were that valuable to the future of the show & that confident of how s7 would play out, surely tptb would have locked her up at the same time they signed HL for s8.
JMO, but it looks like she's trying to step into Katie Jacobs role & given how much of a persona non grata Jacobs is right now with NBC it strikes me as a foolish move. As for tying herself so publicly as the development if the Huddy storyline, there's a reason writers are writers & actors aren't. She looks like she's undermining Shore's position that the show is entirely his baby & reduces his value as showrunner/writer for his contract renewal. (that is an impression i got from the screenrant-LE-intw-trankript)
15 - bigHousefan
Help!
My 'do let the network know' link is not working. What is the actual address?
I hope the show continues and David Shore, the writers, and the cast have all the time they need to complete the story as they see fit even if it takes another 7 seasons! (she adds beseechingly!)
16 - DebbieJ.
@bigHousefan #15: it is:
askfox@fox.com
17 - barbara barnett
Karo--
That is NOT what Lisa E was doing. She was honestly answering a question posed to her directly. I directly asked her as a follow up to a question I'd asked back in October. She would have said nothing had she not been asked. And had she evaded the question, people would be zinging her for not being forthright.
What info do you have about KJ being personal non grata. That's news to me.
18 - bigHousefan
Many thanks, DebbieJ!
19 - switchkosterice
"I certainly wouldn’t want to see House crawl to its end, prolonged way past its prime to squeeze out the last penny, but it’s not there, not by a long shot."
It definitely has. Everyone I know who used to watch the show does not any longer, and hasn't this entire season. Season 6 was melodramatic/soap operatic enough for them, this was just too much. I saw the comment Barbara made of how she knows people who have started watching more recently, or picked it up again recently, but the issue there that being a House blogger, being so ingrained in the fan community, naturally that's the case. I'm not saying she isn't being objective here, I'm saying that unfortunately she CAN'T be objective in realizing that there has been a great loss of interest in the past two seasons.
20 - barbara barnett
switchkosterice--actually the people who've just started watching are not part of the fan community, but people I just happen to know, to work with, run into, etc. Be that as it may, I wrote about XF too (had my own website with reviews, fanfic and all the trimmin's). When the show stopped being to my liking (I won't say "bad" because to some, maybe the show wasn't), I just stopped watching--and stopped writing about it.
XF stopped being the show I started watching for. To be completely honest, House is still the show I signed on to watch. I find it interesting to watch him experiment with really rejoining the human race, being involved with someone--and all the challenges he'll face with that as we head into the second half of the season in a few weeks. We are still in the first half of the season at this point. there's much more to come. But again, YMMV. But please don't suggest that my opinion isn't objective because what...I'm a fan of the show? Because I write about the show (because I'm a fan of the show?) That's all I'm going to say on this.
21 - DebbieJ.
You're welcome, bigHousefan :0)
22 - spoilerfan
Thanks for the Fox's email address. Shot off an email requesting that House be canceled ASAP. This season adds no value to the formerly great series.
23 - Sera G
Hi, Barbara,
I was prepared to be depressed when I saw the heading of this article. I am pleased that the news is not all that grim.
I, too hope that this is all negotiation and money related.
The show is still great, imo. Certainly 100% better than what is in th top 10 and and passes for quality. As you probably already know, Monday's episode was up in ratings, so maybe that will help. I think the stories are still interesting, the acting only gets better and there is life in the series, for at least one more year. I agree with whomever said that at least the writers/DS should be allowed time to end it the way they want, rather than rush to a conclusion. Plus, I need a year to prepare emotionally.
It seems from the comments today that people either still love the show or have moved on. I think the lovers outweigh those against.
24 - Sera G
Thanks for the link, Barbara.
I sent an e-mail. It always makes me feel better to think I have done something.
25 - Cynthiaanne (hiyacinth)
I hope House goes through to season eight, not sure how i feel about beyond that, really don't want this fantastic ride through Dr. gregory's life to end, on the other hand would hate to see such a brilliant show not go out on a high note.
So enjoy reading all your previews, reviews and cast interviews on the show and it's characters, will miss that too !