House M. D. Was the Best Medical Drama, but Only Until This Disappointing Storyline
It's another proof: TV projects shouldn't last longer than four or five seasons.
Only four characters on House M.D. lasted all eight seasons – they were the main character, his best friend Wilson, and the doctors Foreman and Chase. The show was canceled after Season 8, despite good ratings and reviews, and fans wondered for a long time why.
And what's more, after all these years Hugh Laurie was still ready to star in the ninth season, but the new chapter never happened because of contract disputes between Fox and Universal.
Universal wanted to order 22 episodes for a full-fledged farewell to House. Fox insisted on 13 because of the high production costs: each episode cost about $5 million, of which Hugh Laurie's fee was $700,000. Series creator David Shore, Laurie and actor Peter Jacobson agreed to lower their salaries for the new season.
Universal offered to cover some of the costs, but Fox was not satisfied with that either. In the end, David Shore put a fat end to House's story with the episode Everybody Dies. But what if we told you that House should have ended even earlier, after the fourth season? And here's why.
Cuddy & House Romantic Storyline Was Completely Useless
The whole thing was ruined by the full-blown romantic storyline between Lisa Cuddy and House, which seemed superfluous and looked like it was ripped from some 90s sitcom like Friends.
There was always some tension between Cuddy and House, but it was never implied that it would become a really big and important storyline in the fifth season. With its appearance, House stopped being the best medical drama and became just another one.
Worst of all, three and a half seasons came after that moment, and the sad ending of the relationship between Gregory House and Lisa Cuddy, which was obvious to any viewer, either hung uncomfortably over the plot or was basically forgotten, as if it had never happened.
It's as if the writers were following the lead of the fans, as in the case of Mulder and Scully from The X-Files – the creator of the show about unexplained cases and their investigations, Chris Carter, originally planned for the two to have only a professional and friendly relationship.
So, the creators of House listened to the long-standing pleas of viewers and eventually brought Cuddy and House together, but then didn't know what to do with the storyline. And it shows.