House Overview

[butterbuns.livejournal.com]

Overview

House takes place at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, in Princeton, New Jersey. It follows House, head of Diagnostics, and his team, containing Allison Cameron, Robert Chase and Eric Foreman as they try to diagnose people’s illnesses before they die. The cases they undertake are the ones no one else can find an answer to, and their patients are always critical. Also part of the bunch are Lisa Cuddy, House’s boss, and James Wilson, head of Oncology, apparently his only friend. Add in clinic hours, and moronic patients, and it’s like any other hospital.

Main Characters

Gregory House (Hugh Laurie):

He had an infarction in his right thigh years ago, and they removed much of the muscle that had died as a result of the bloodclot, leaving him permanently crippled. He’s the head of Diagnostic Medicine at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, but would rather sit in his office watching General Hospital and playing his Nintendo DS than seeing patients. He sees very few patients, choosing those whose illness’ interest him. When stuck in the clinic, trying to catch up his hours, which he hasn’t done in six years, he hides out in empty exam rooms, or calls for unneeded consults. He will make scathing comments to anyone, and is constantly popping Vicodin, because of the pain in his leg. He also constantly makes comments about Cuddy's chest, and about the two of them having sex.

Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein):

She’s the Dean of Medicine at the PPTH and the hospital administrator. It was her that hired House, and has been setting aside $50,000 a year for his legal expenses, because she knew he was nuts when she hired him. She’s 42, and has been the DoM for 10 years. She graduated second in her class at med school, and was the second youngest Chief ever, and the first woman. She gets many comments made to her, by House, about her chest, and the clothes she wears.

James Wilson Robert Sean Leonard):

House’s best, and apparently only friend. He’s the head of Oncology, and his third, and current marriage to his wife Julie is on the rocks. He has two brothers, one who is homeless who he hasn’t seen in nine years.

Eric Foreman (Omar Epps):

A neurologist on House’s team. He went to John’s Hopkins, and tends to be the butt of House’s jokes, often including cracks about his skin tone. He tends to be the one that consistently things House is off his rocker, and he’s usually the most levelheaded of the ducklings.

Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer):

An intensivist on House’s team. His father is world-renowned Rowan Chase, who is a Rhumetologist. From Australia, House has a habit of repeatedly calling him British. When he was younger, he attended seminary school, and now hates nuns.

Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison):

An immunologist on House’s team, who was hired because she looks good. Graduated in the top of her class from med school, and had an internship and the Mayo clinic. Cameron was married for six months when she was younger, at which point her husband died of thyroid cancer.

Recurring Characters

Edward Vogler (Chi McBride):

A billionaire who gave the hospital a hundred million dollars, and tried to run it like a business for a while, before he was more politely told to take him money and stuff it. He attempted to get rid of House, repeatedly, and fired Wilson, who was rehired as soon as Vogler was gone.

Stacy Warner (Sela Ward):

House’s ex-girlfriend, a constitutional lawyer. She and House moved in together, a week after they met/began dating, and they broke up five years ago. It was her decision to use the middle ground when it came to House’s infarction, and he doesn’t seem to have ever forgiven her for that.

Fanfiction Links

housefic
house_slash
house_ficchain
vicodin_addicts
house100
houserareathon
housebunnies
house_recs
house_ficathon
awfulhousefic
House Fanfiction Archive
House MD Fanfiction
House MD Slash
House Slash

Show Links
Transcripts
House on Fox

Relationship Comms, often containing fic that’s not cross-posted
house_cuddy - Gregory House/Lisa Cuddy
house_cameron - Gregory House/Allison Cameron
pureandpretty - Robert Chase/Allison Cameron
house_wilson - Gregory House/James Wilson
wilson_cuddy - James Wilson/Lisa Cuddy
foreman_cameron - Eric Foreman/Allison Cameron
house_stacy - Gregory House/Stacy Warner
house_chase - Gregory House/Robert Chase
cameroncuddy - Allison Cameron/Lisa Cuddy

Comments

[almightychrissy.livejournal.com]

But but but....Cameron's dead husband! And Chase at seminary school! And the House/Cuddy!

People who have so far been deprived of House need more info than this! *g*

Very good summary, though, and you picked great pictures

[butterbuns.livejournal.com]

Added the first two. The second is only a shipper's fantasy. *snicker*

[cjk1701.livejournal.com]

But! You never mentioned that House is a sarcastic bastard who will make seriously nasty (but damn funny) jokes about every subject at hand, has a personality that makes the viewers wonder if one friend isn't a friend too many, is rather scarily smart, and continuously takes pain medication for his leg...

Obsessed? Me?

[almightychrissy.livejournal.com]

I meant House's wildly inappropriate comments but yeah, you're right :)

[derien.livejournal.com]

House’s infarction

What's that?

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Infarction = blood clot that leads to tissue death, like a heart attack. Specifically, this one was in the artery his leg. It went undiagnosed/misdiagnosed for three days until he finally slapped some sense into his doctors (who were convinced that he was some kind of drug addict looking for a morphine buzz, despite the fact that he was screaming in pain). By that time, it had already done irreversible damage, and a great deal of necrotic tissue had to be hacked out (well, there were other options, but that's an episode you should really watch yourself), leaving him crippled and in chronic pain, and evidently twice as bitchy as he was before.

[derien.livejournal.com]

Oh... see, I'm such an idiot, I was thinking it was something he'd done.

[tuff-ghost.livejournal.com]

She and House lived together before they broke up, when she moved in with him after a week.

i should just clarify - stacy moved in with house a week after meeting him. they lived together for five years. then they broke up (and presumably ceased living together).

also

[tuff-ghost.livejournal.com]

"moronic patients" need not be exempted from what makes a "normal hospital". moronic patients are what make normal hospitals go round :)

Re: also

[butterbuns.livejournal.com]

Added the first bit, but...they're not exempted.

[robi0688.livejournal.com]

What about the fact that Cameron's husband was already terminally diagnosed by the time she knew him/married him?

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Thanks for finally posting this. Are you planning on making recs in November, or should we tap the first person on the waiting list?

[butterbuns.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this was supposed to be posted a *long* time ago, I know, but RL massively bit me in the rear. I can do the first set, unless you don't want me to.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Nope, the first month of recs is the perogative of the writer of the overview. Just wanted to make sure you'd be around.

TVWoP: Sara M's recaps are outSTANDing

[earthquake1906.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the overview - with pix! I was glued to the set for the first 8 eps and then due to RL stress had to stop watching. The recaps at Television Without Pity have been very comforting. Here's the overall category:

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/category_1196.html

I strongly recommend the recaps of Sara M, who masterfully flourishes her slashy, snarky sense of humour while managing to also convey the facts. (Warning: a typical recap is 10 pages so they take almost as much time to read as the ep does to watch - ) She has a strong point of view (e.g. about Cameron) but you don't have to agree with her to enjoy reading her.

For example, check out this excerpt from http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a846/

House walks behind Vogler to give him a reassuring shoulder massage, and -- this is a pretty awesome little detail -- he has no limp, telling us right there that we are in House Fantasy Land, as opposed to, say, Wilson Fantasy Land, where House still has trouble walking, but for different reasons.

Sara M, if you drop in here, I'm your fangirl for ever. / eq (currently posting from Australia, where H is big)

[evalangui.livejournal.com]

This is cool...:) but for some reason the only pic I can see it's the one of Edward Vogler, dunno if it's me but I thought I would let you know :p

*goes off to investigate the memories*