Dr. Gregory House has officially gone crazy, and fans are about to dive down the rabbit hole with him when House returns on Monday (8/7c, Fox).
The two-hour Season 5 premiere finds House confined to the mental institution we saw him walking into in the final moments of last season. If you’re a fan of Hugh Laurie’s cantankerous doc, you’ll certainly be happy with the premiere, as he and Wilson (he’s in one quick scene) are the only main characters to make an appearance. “It was daunting, I was daunted and I still am,” Laurie told TVGuide.com about House’s solo flight. “It was a big thing to take on for everybody, to set it in a completely different world, with a completely different cast of characters. A lot of people have taken a lot of risks with this. If nothing else, it’s exciting.”
In the meantime, TVGuide.com turned to Laurie’s co-star Lisa Edelstein to find up what’s coming up on this season of House. She reveals what the hospital is like without House, who might give Cuddy a new romantic distraction and what she thinks is the ultimate endgame for “Huddy.”
TVGuide.com: Fans were pretty upset with the season finale because the House and Cuddy love scene they’ve been waiting for was actually a hallucination. Lisa Edelstein: The thing that I thought was good news about it is that there’s only so far we can take it on the show before you change the dynamic, so the fact is, we kind of got a freebie in, because ultimately it can’t really be that successful because that’s not what House is about. The more time you eke out of the opportunity to just explore two people who have no relationship skills, the more we can play around. I get to be a virgin another time.
TVGuide.com: Was it awkward shooting those physical scenes with Hugh Laurie after having worked with him for so long? Edelstein: Not for me. I wasn’t awkward. Hugh kept saying how odd it was at the Paley Festival, but I’m not married, so there’s no issue for me. I think Hugh is awesome, we’re great friends and I love kissing, so why wouldn’t I love kissing Hugh Laurie?
TVGuide.com: How will the show evolve this season? Edelstein: The beginning of this season is really about House trying to find a sense of recovery from himself. He’s most likely doomed to fail in that regard, but that’s where we’re at right now in terms of what’s happening in the season.
TVGuide.com: House is like a rock for everyone in the hospital. How will that change now that he’s not around? Edelstein: The team is particularly insecure. Even though they all know they’re smart, nobody feels quite as smart as House. So there’s a lot of second-guessing going on on the team. When you have such an overbearing father, in a sense, it’s really hard to know when you can think for yourself. Learning how to think on your own two feet is a challenge when somebody is making all the decisions for you. They’re all kind of faced with that.
TVGuide.com: Foreman is taking over the diagnostics department in House’s absence. How does he handle the new job? Edelstein: He’s the one that demanded that position, by the way. She didn’t hand it to him. He demanded it. I think she respected that, but then she’s just like, ‘Step up then; this is what you want to do.’ He doesn’t handle it so well. In trying to be the best boss he can be, he actually really screws it up.
TVGuide.com: What does Cuddy get to do this season that we haven’t seen in the past? Edelstein: This year, Cuddy is really trying to step out a little bit and get her own life and a love life and try not to be so down and up with House, which of course will probably make him go for her even more. I think there’s a lot of exploration going on with that. She should get to sleep with somebody else too. All’s fair in love and war. Damn it, why don’t I get any love scenes with anybody else? Every once in a while, somebody shoves their tongue down your throat that you’re not happy about.
TVGuide.com: What would your ideal ending for House and Cuddy be? Edelstein: I’m not into endings because I don’t think that’s what life is. It’s not like Lost, where they’re going to get back to the island or everything is going to become clear at episode 17. I think life goes on for everybody. Whenever the show ends, it seems like there’s a chance that they might try, although the hope is very dismal for it to work. The complicated dance that they do kind of goes on forever. I would imagine [that] to be the most honest. To some extent, if you just surrender to it and let it be what it is, good and bad and ugly, that’s a beautiful thing.
I hit the “House” season premiere screening at the Arclight Cinema here in Hollywood last night where I got a bit of quality time with executive producer Katie Jacobs, who actually directed Monday’s two-hour opener.
Jacobs explains the idea behind the special episode, which chronicles the good doctor’s two to three month stay in the mental facility where Wilson left him last May.
How did it come together? When did the phenomenal guest actors like Andre Braugher and Franka Potente sign on? And will we see them again? Katie is talking.
Oh, and she’s spilling what’s to come, post-premiere. Wilson and House co-habitating?
House ended last season with a double twist. At first it seemed like Dr. House and Cuddy finally got together and he’d kicked Vicodin. Then they revealed that their tryst was a hallucination caused by House’s Vicodin addiction. The season finale showed House entering a psychiatric institution, which is where the new season will pick him up.
Hugh Laurie gave reporters a preview of House’s journey to come over the summer. For years we have been analyzing House’s behavior, the actor being the character’s de facto defender as his real world spokesperson. The issue of whether his entertainingly vicious banter is justified by his ability to solve rare medical mysteries has been at the heart of the show for its five years and counting.
Now the issue deepens. His painkiller addiction has compromised his sobriety, and if he’s not practicing medicine, can he still get away with insulting others? House returns September 21 on Fox. Read More→
AN AILING PATIENT SELF-DIAGNOSES BY POSTING HIS SYMPTOMS ONLINE ON “HOUSE” MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, ON FOX
House returns home to Princeton where he continues to focus on his recovery, but surprises Cuddy with the news that he’s making a big change in his life. Meanwhile, the team is unable to diagnose a loud-mouthed video game creator who posts each new symptom on the internet and opts for treatments suggested by the online community rather than by the doctors, and Foreman angles for House’s job, but the pressure to solve the case creates tension in his relationship with Thirteen in the “Epic Fail” episode of HOUSE airing Monday, Sept. 28 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-603) (TV-14 D, L)
Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen
Guest Cast: Andre Braugher as Dr. Darryl Nolan; Fredah Foh Shen as Cecile; Rick Wasserman as Vince; Wai Mui as Lee; Brett Gilbert as Roy; Barry Pearl as Dr. Paulson; Michael J. Kirkland as Dr. Felker
HOUSE SEEKS PSYCHIATRIC HELP ON THE TWO-HOUR SEASON PREMIERE OF “HOUSE” MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, ON FOX
Episode Directed by Executive Producer Katie Jacobs
Andre Braugher, Franka Potente and Lin-Manuel Miranda Guest-Star
House begins a detox program at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital to get the vicodin out of his system in an attempt to control his hallucinations. House plans to leave the treatment facility once he is clean, but he is strong-armed into staying by his attending physician, Dr. Darryl Nolan (guest star Andre Braugher). Dr. Nolan agrees to write a recommendation to reinstate House’s medical license only if House agrees to further treatment. When House is moved to a new ward in the hospital, he develops a close relationship with his new roommate, Alvie (guest star Lin-Manuel Miranda), and Lydia (guest star Franka Potente), a frequent visitor who helps House bend the rules. House asks Alvie to help him uncover incriminating information about Dr. Nolan that would allow him to blackmail his way out of the treatment center and convinces Lydia to loan him her car to sneak out a delusional patient in an attempt by House to undermine Dr. Nolan’s course of treatment. But when devastating events ensue, House is humbled into reluctantly accepting help in “Broken,” the special two-hour season premiere episode of HOUSE airing Monday, Sept. 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/ PT) on FOX. (HOU-601/602) (TV-14 D, L, S)
Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson
Guest Cast: Andre Braugher as Dr. Darryl Nolan; Franka Potente as Lydia; Megan Dodds as Dr. Beasley; Andrew Leeds as Dr. Medina; Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alvie; Derek Richardson as Freedom Master; Jack Plotnick as Hal; Curtis Armstrong as Richter; Artemis Pebdani as Diane; Angela Bettis as Susan; Ana Lenchantin as Silent Girl; Alex Desert as Jay-Bird; Dale E. Turner as Stomp; Sloan Robinson as Nurse Safer; Meghan K. Bradley as Nurse Valez; Harrison Forsyth as Ben
Following a guest-starring stint that received mixed reviews (and rumors of his own spin-off), Michael Weston will reprise his role on House this season as private eye Lucas Douglas.
Last fall, House hired Douglas - who turned out to be quite similar to the honest cranky doctor we all know and love - to trail around Wilson. He appeared in multiple episodes and then pretty much vanished.
But Michael Ausiello confirms Weston’s return to the series this season, though plot details are unknown at this time.
Meanwhile, Hugh Laurie told E! News that season six will also feature a lot of nudity. Seriously. Or not seriously. It’s hard to tell when he speaks in a British accent…
As the extended season six trailer for House depicts, this character’s stay in a mental institution won’t be a pleasant one. In a revealing interview with TV Guide Magazine, star Hugh Laurie attests to this fact.
He’s filmed three episodes of season six so far and says the troubled doctor is experiencing a “harrowing” journey.
“It’s been a very dark and challenging experience but a good one. He’s a character seeking redemption in some way or another, and I think there’s always a glimmer of hope, but it is a dark place to start. It’s a character going through a very traumatic experience.”
Will House be practicing medicine any time soon?
“I don’t know,” Laurie said. “I’m operating in a consultative capacity at the moment. His license is suspended, as it would be, and has yet to be given back.” While waiting for his license to be reinstated the doctor is simply trying to behave. “House is trying to keep himself in check and curb his acerbic tongue. How long that will last, remains to be seen. I have my doubts.”
The two-hour season premiere of House airs on September 21.
What impact will last season’s fantasized hook-up between House and Cuddy have on these characters’ relationship this fall?
Michael Ausiello asked House creator David Shore that question He replied:
“We’re stepping back from it a little bit. We’re not ignoring it. We have to carry forward… It’s going to go someplace eventually. But the beginning of this season is primarily focused on House trying to find some semblance of sanity, and not completely succeeding.”
Follow this article’s jump for more of the Q&A with Shore, including his thoughts his plans for Cameron and Chase next year.
