TV Review: Hugh Laurie’s House Shatters M.O. in Sly Season-Six Premiere of ‘House M.D.’

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CHICAGO – Unrelenting pain, obsessive drug use and chronic hallucinations. Yeah, House has a problem. He’s broken. But can he be fixed? And will he let himself?

HollywoodChicago.com Television Rating: 4.5/5.0
Television Rating: 4.5/5.0

For the first time, Dr. Gregory House is embracing denial no more. In the undeniably worth-your-time two-hour FOX premiere of season six of “House M.D” on Monday, Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie instead shatters his M.O. by admitting his addiction to the narcotic painkiller Vicodin. He works on a drug detox as he tries to win jurisdiction over his hallucinations.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of House
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of “House”.
Photo credit: George Holz, Fox Broadcasting Co.

This time, calling the season opener an “epic premiere event” isn’t just the marketing folks blowing smoke up your whoopie cake. And this time, House mostly doesn’t step foot in a hospital where he usually plays the mastermind and callous doctor.

Instead, he’s now in a psychiatric hospital where he’s actually the patient. While it’s unfamiliar territory for the House character and the series in general following five successful seasons, the intrepid decision by the “House” makers pays off in spades.

The two-hour season premiere, which is titled “Broken” and can almost stand on its own as a made-for-TV movie, starts outside of House’s traditional hospital and maintains the theme throughout. At first, I felt the decision stymied my appreciation of this series because I wasn’t furnished with another inexplicable case needing House’s sly mind to decipher.

Andre Braugher as Dr. Nolan with Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of House
Dr. Nolan (guest star Andre Braugher, center) confronts House (Hugh Laurie, left) in the “House” two-hour season premiere episode. Also pictured: Megan Dodds (right).
Photo credit: Mike Yarish, Fox Broadcasting Co.

But as you cuddle the concept of a story that delves deep into another universe from what you’re normally accustomed to here, you soak up the new subplot in its new environment just as you do the previously traditional storytelling in the show’s previously traditional atmosphere.

There’s a possibility, though, that some House lovers might feel shafted. The show’s linchpin has been House’s emotional unavailability, his inability to love and the denial of his own problems while he so slyly cracks the curious cases of everyone else.

Just as the show has sold viewers on this modus operandi for so long, though, it just as quickly detonates these themes in one atomic bomb of a season premiere.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of House
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of “House”.
Photo credit: George Holz, Fox Broadcasting Co.

At first, I partially felt like this “House” opener is intensely “trying too hard” for high ratings in a cutthroat competitive television landscape. After all, this is entertainment and a dramatic mystery like this must keep putting up powerful numbers.

Once you understand and respect what the series must accomplish at a business level, you’re able to forgive season six for starting off in a way that may feel like you’ve been rused into a new veracity that’s the polar opposite of everything you thought you knew about this TV show.

Just as one door closes, another successfully opens in such a way that you’ll not only care but you’ll be refreshed to get on board just as you did when themes changed before.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House with Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alvie for the sixth season of House
House (Hugh Laurie, right) meets his roommate, Alvie (guest star Lin-Manuel Miranda, left) when he arrives at the psychiatric hospital in the “House” two-hour season premiere.
Photo credit: Mike Yarish, Fox Broadcasting Co.

Aside from Hugh Laurie again in the title role, “Broken” for the most part makes the bold decision not to feature many of the show’s typically beloved characters and actors (i.e. Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase, the Chicago-born Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron, Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy and Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman).

House’s vital colleague and friend Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson only appears in “Broken” in a cameo role. But without the show’s usual suspects, the entirely new-fangled story line also features a drove of fresh faces in guest-starring roles.

The Chicago-born Andre Braugher (“Primal Fear,” “City of Angels,” “Frequency,” TV’s “The Andromeda Strain”) is the episode’s most imperative fresh face. He’s the attending physician who strong-arms House into staying at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital to experience true rehabilitation.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of House
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of “House”.
Photo credit: George Holz, Fox Broadcasting Co.

As guest star Dr. Darryl Nolan, Braugher masterfully lets House know he can’t con a con man and be released without an honest recovery. House’s liberation from the psychiatric hospital is at Dr. Nolan’s sole professional discretion.

Then there’s the high-strung, wannabe rapper Alvie (guest starred by Lin-Manuel Miranda) who begins to idolize House when they become roommates. He’s an entertaining cup of caffeine.

Now Franka Potente (“Blow”) as the married guest star Lydia does more than just visit the psychiatric hospital and assist House in bending its rules. There’s a twist between House and Lydia you’ll have to watch to believe, but suffice it to say they tug at more than just each other’s heartstrings. The German-accented belle clicks with House in a way you couldn’t see coming.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for the sixth season of House
Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) has earned time out in the yard at the Mayfield
Psychiatric Hospital in the “House” two-hour season premiere.
Photo credit: Larry Watson, Fox Broadcasting Co.

House battles between his attempted cons at earning (or even blackmailing) for his release and whether or not he wants to take the drugs and navigate the hospital’s intended process.

Will House’s pride and typical demeanor win the day or will a real recovery be fashioned by a complete opening and humbling of his beautiful but broken mind? “Broken” is two of the best hours on TV that you can spend right now in your pursuit of the answer.

StarRead viewership numbers on the 2009 “House M.D.” season premiere.
StarRead our news on Jennifer Morrison of “House M.D.” leaving the show.

“Broken,” which is “House” episode 6.1, is the special two-hour season-premiere episode of “House” airing on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 at 7 p.m. CT, 8 p.m. ET and 10 p.m. PT on FOX. Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House in “House M.D.” was trumped by Bryan Cranston as Walter White in “Breaking Bad” for the 2009 Emmy for an outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

“Broken” features Hugh Laurie, Curtis Armstrong, Angela Bettis, Meghan Bradley, Andre Braugher, Luke Davis, Alex Désert, Megan Dodds, Norman Fessler, Harrison Forsyth, Andrew Leeds, Ana Lenchantin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Artemis Pebdani, Jack Plotnick, Franka Potente and Robert Sean Leonard in a cameo role. The trailer for the season-six premiere can be watched now below!

StarRead viewership numbers on the 2009 “House M.D.” season premiere.
StarRead our news on Jennifer Morrison of “House M.D.” leaving the show.

HollywoodChicago.com editor-in-chief and publisher Adam Fendelman

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2009 Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com LLC

Anonymous's picture

"No, He's Right"

Common you moron, don’t be referring to yourself in 3rd person now.

You didn’t like Broken? Well, then I have to conclude you probably loved Battlefield Earth. That means that not only does your opinion not count, but you, sir, also are a waste of the gene pool. Now please do humanity a favor and die.
Thank you.

Anonymous's picture

House jumps the shark

WIKI: “Jumping the shark is a colloquialism …used by TV critics and fans to denote the point in a television program’s history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations. This usually corresponds to the point where a show with falling ratings apparently becomes more desperate to draw in viewers. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have ‘jumped the shark’ are typically deemed to have passed their peak.” This shoe fits all too well here with this off road two hour special, sadly. The reviewer says with a straight face that this premiere is the best two hours you could watch now. That’s like rating McDonalds a four star restaurant. Congratulations to the forces of political correctness. House has been castrated off his opioids — can’t have druggy addicted heroes — his sharp edge and eventually his prime time audience. Oh, I’ll have an order of fries with my next Happy Meal episode, please.

Anonymous's picture

Similarly disappointed

This was the worst episode of House I have seen, and I have missed very few
Fans of the show might feel betrayed by this is that everything we have come to know and expect from the character was thrown out. We know the character, and have bonded with him as he was. It may not have been that he was always admirable. Sometimes, we loved to be disappointed or angered by him. But, WR KNEW HIM. Now, we know nothing. The Greg House who left Mayfield seemed like a stranger. Why tune in to watch a stranger?
My only hope is that he was playing the game to get out.
My fear is that the show has become Patch Adams.

Charlie's picture

Don’t you want to see a

Don’t you want to see a character evolve and become better?

Anonymous's picture

evolve, maybe (although,

evolve, maybe (although, after this episode i am no longer sure). but not change overnight!

Anonymous's picture

Good way to get out of a rut

Looking back at the golden years of seasons 1-3, I’ve often thought that the writers/producers FEARED they would get into a rut if they allowed things to continue. To me, getting rid of Cameron and Chase threw the show into a tailspin for the past few years (especially given that the only new characters I liked, Amber and Kutner, were killed). Every week of season 5 I kept hoping they’d fire Taub and/or 13. I think this attempt at shaking things up on House’s inside world will be a breath of fresh air. Hope they bring Cameron back into the mix, especially now that she’s married. She is a much more convincing love interest for House than Cuddy.

Anonymous's picture

SPOILER

SPOILER

oh, i am so sorry to bring you the bad news, but Cameron was written off the show. her last episode will be shown in november. SPOILER

Anonymous's picture

House season 6 premiere

Very unconvincing! Boring! Disappointing! Though I still love him! So how long was he in the mental ward? How did he overcome his demons? And it was very out of character for him to smash his face in the cake in the end. How silly. This does not become House in the least.

luiserack's picture

In truth

In truth, immediately i didn’t understand the essence. But after re-reading all at once became clear.

dwyane barnes's picture

House MD

Its wonderful show. I like this show very much. The story and the character of this show is great. And thanks for the article.

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