Television Collision: House’s Future Looks Grim
Written by: Phoebe Raven, CC2K Staff Writer
I was going to write a rave this week (as I had promised last Tuesday) about the season premiere of House. When I decided to write this rave last week, I hadn’t even seen the one-hour premiere yet, but I was sure it was going to be great.
Now that I am writing this I haven’t seen the second episode yet, and the first episode was as great as I had hoped, and yet I am not about to write a rave, but a rant.
Cover your eyes and ears; what follows has MAJOR spoilers, not just about House's premiere, but about the ongoing season.Yes, I too, wished I had never read these spoilers, but there was hardly any avoiding this one.
So, House in the mental institution was great and all. I mean, I liked that they didn’t cut back and forth between him and what “the team” does in the meantime, but focused on him. His journey in there made sense, how he was rebellious at first and then hatched all kinds of plans to annoy and usurp people. But finally, finally, after five long years, he realized that maybe living sober was worth a shot.
Sure, he was a high functioning addict, and I was never one of those moralists that would condemn his behavior to all hell and blame it all on the drugs. I am sure he will still be much the same sour rationalist as he was before, only less evil and with a little more respect for others’ life. At least I hope so. A changed House isn’t something I am looking forward to.
Which brings me to the actual part of my rant: it is well known that viewers don’t take well to changes on their favorite TV shows. Every recasting, addition or subtraction of a cast member, sudden plot twists etc. lead to outbursts of anger a lot of the time.
Remember the backlash when House fired Foreman, Chase and Cameron? (Okay, two of them left on their own accord, but you get what I mean!)
Now, to be honest, for me the show has never fully recovered from this backlash. And I am not the only one. There are legions of fans out there still hating Thirteen’s guts and finding her completely dull and boring. Which she is, men just can’t see it because apparently Olivia Wilde is hot.
I don’t have to explain why Taub is boring though.
At the end of this season though, their fellowship will be up. Yes, we have stuck it out with them for three seasons, can you believe it? And I sincerely hope that they will suffer a fate even worse than the first ducklings and will leave the show never to be heard from again. (Hey, Thirteen could just die, that would work for me.)
But the shocker this season will be what might very well break the show for me: Jennifer Morrison will leave the show. Cameron will last be seen in an episode in November, for now at least, she won’t die, so there is a chance for “guest appearances”.
The circumstances of this departure are foggy, as it is with spoilers, but apparently it has something to do with House turning Chase against her and her then realizing that she can’t work like that anymore.
Now, for several reasons this kind of makes sense. Cameron has grown so much over the years, it is logical she would be consequent enough to pull the string when things got too bad.
And maybe House needs to start over with a team that doesn’t have his past behavior stuck in their heads, now that he is clean.
And yet: Cameron leaving is outrageous! When her and Chase were sidelined for so long, show runner David Shore promised it was for a good cause and that they would eventually be reintegrated somehow. I was never sure how that was supposed to work (maybe they could have gotten their own department or something), but I was counting on it.
I thought everyone just needed a bit of space to find new angles to the characters.
I am one of those people who used to trust what the writers of House were doing, because they hadn’t taken too many wrong turns.
I have changed my opinion recently. Sure, they found a way to “make use” of the fact that audiences responded exceedingly well to Amber, but that was a last-minute solution. The writers had picked the wrong three fellows to become regulars and they needed to fix that.
Kutner made somewhat of a turnaround, but just imagine what the writers would have done to him if Kal Penn hadn’t wanted to leave?
Spoilers have it that Jennifer Morrison did not quit the show or wanted to leave, it was a purely creative decision to write her out. What poor judgment these writers have shown of late.
I am worried that I won’t like House as much as I used to. Heck, I haven’t liked it as much as I used to in a long time. I hung on for the promise that one day my favorites would be restored to their rightful place at the forefront. I am not sure how much longer I will hang on after Cameron leaves.
That said, I wish Jennifer Morrison all the best in her career. Actually, I wish her things even bigger than a show on Fox. How about snatching up a role in Mad Men and nabbing an Emmy? I will follow Morrison’s work, that is for sure. I am just not sure yet if that means I will also be leaving House.
Recommended Collisions with your Television
(combine at will, all times EST, only new programming listed)
| Tuesday, September 22nd |
|
| 8 p.m. | NCIS (CBS) |
| 9 p.m. | Warehouse 13 (SyFy) |
| NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) | |
| 10 p.m. |
The Forgotten (ABC) |
| The Good Wife (CBS) | |
| Wednesday, September 23rd |
|
| 8 p.m. | So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) |
| New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) | |
| Mercy (NBC) | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Gary Unmarried (CBS) |
| 9 p.m. |
Modern Family (ABC) |
| Glee (Fox) | |
| Criminal Minds (CBS) | |
| Law & Order: SVU (NBC) | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Cougar Town (CBS) |
| 10 p.m. |
Eastwick (ABC) |
| CSI:NY (CBS) | |
| Thursday, September 24th | |
| 8 p.m. | Bones (Fox) |
| Flash Forward (ABC) | |
| Vampire Diaries (CW) | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Parks and Recreation (NBC) |
| 9 p.m. |
Grey's Anatomy (ABC) |
| The Office (NBC) | |
| CSI (CBS) | |
| Supernatural (CW) | |
| Fringe (Fox) | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Community (NBC) |
| 10 p.m. | Project Runway (Lifetime) |
| The Mentalist (CBS) | |
| Friday, September 25th |
|
| 8 p.m. | Ghost Whisperer (CBS) |
| Brothers (Fox) | |
| Law & Order (NBC) | |
| Smallville (CW) | |
| 9 p.m. |
Dollhouse (Fox) |
| Medium (CBS) | |
| Monk (USA) | |
| 10 p.m. |
Psych (USA) |
| NUMB3RS (CBS) | |
| Saturday, September 26th |
|
| Sunday, September 27th |
|
| 8 p.m. |
The Simpsons (Fox) |
| 9 p.m. |
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) |
| Dexter (Showtime) | |
| Family Guy (Fox) | |
| Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Bored to Death (HBO) |
| 10 p.m. |
Mad Men (AMC) |
| Brothers & Sisters (ABC) | |
| Army Wives (Lifetime) | |
| Cold Case (CBS) | |
| Californication (Showtime) | |
| 10:30 p.m. | Entourage (HBO) |
| Monday, September 28st |
|
| 8 p.m. |
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) |
| House (Fox) | |
| Heroes (NBC) | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) |
| 9 p.m. |
Lie to Me (Fox) |
| Gossip Girl (CW) | |
| Trauma (NBC) | |
| Greek (ABCFam) | |
| Two and a Half Men (CBS) | |
| 9:30 p.m. | The Big Bang Theory (CBS) |
| 10 p.m. | Castle (ABC) |
| CSI:Miami (CBS) |