Posted by Frosty ;

HOUSE M.D. - Season One

Review by DirtyWater ; OK I admit it.; I’m a House M.D. junkie.; I felt like trying a new show last season (and with the amount of TV I watch that is a big thing) and I figured what the hell, this Bryan Singer produced show might be good.; ; If you’ve never seen House, it is part CSI, part medical drama and part, well, House.; The main character of Dr. Gregory House is as unique and fresh in today’s television that he literally leaps from the screen into your subconscious.; He is incredibly intelligent, witty, raw, brutally honest and filled with flaws.; The man manages his day to day pain of a leg injury with pills while on the job.; On top of that he happens to have an aversion to dealing with patients, something one would think would be important since he has to treat them.; The character is just portrayed so well by British actor Hugh Laurie (yes you read that right, he is British and you would never know it) that he became one of my favorite actors after just one season of television. ; The surrounding cast works incredibly well too.; Omar Epps (Dr. Eric Foreman) joins Jesse Spencer (Dr. Robert Chase) and Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Allison Cameron) as House’s team of doctors who methodically breakdown the most complex and mystifying medical cases from a CSI point of view.; Each of the three brings their own unique take on the cases and House plays off their backgrounds to insult them into motivation.; Lisa Edelstein plays House’s boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, and the sexual chemistry that exists between the two is there purely for House’s enjoyment.; In a day and age of political correctness, this relationship is refreshing.; Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. James Wilson), most notably from Dead Poets Society, plays House’s only real friend and fellow doctor and their relationship plays out as real and authentic.; You feel the frustration and closeness of their unhealthy friendship, but understand it at the same time. ;

The key to the series is their unorthodox methods of treating patients combined with the crassness of Dr. House.; Truthfully, it’s the character of House that keeps you wanting more.; His in your face attitude embraces everything from racism to xenophobia and yet you like him the more he disgusts you.; This is clearly a sign of great writing.; I’m at a loss to find anything wrong with this show outside of the formulaic TV aspects of the show.; Every episode starts out the same, patient in their environment, patient has trouble, cool CGI effects inside the human body and they land on the steps of Dr. House.; I can deal with all that because of the great writing and great acting.; It also doesn’t hurt that they chose Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” as their theme song, one of my favorites. ; Video/Audio/Extras ; The show was filmed for HD Broadcast, so the video is anamorphic widescreen, and the audio is in 5.1 Digital Dolby. Overall I thought the video and audio was fantastic, as I noticed no imperfections. ; About the Extras: Dr. House – A small featurette exploring the character of Dr. House and the brilliance of Hugh Laurie.; Well done and insightful, including interviews with Bryan Singer. ; Medical Cases – A small featurette about some of the medical cases in Season One and where they find them. ; The Concept – A small featurette about the origins of the series and what they drew inspiration from in creating the show. ; Set Tour – Jennifer Morrison and Lisa Edelstein take us around the set and we get behind the scenes look at the “hospital.”; Quick note here: Lisa Edelstein is very funny in this.; Props for making this enjoyable. ; HOUSE-isms – A light look at some of House’s classic lines and great delivery from Hugh Laurie. ; Casting Session with Hugh Laurie – Just that we get to see a casting session with this brilliant actor. ; Overall, the Special Features were only OK, and I say that because they left me wanting more.; It appeared that they were taped during the;production of the final episode, so it is clear that they got a late start on producing this box set.; I guess that is what happens when you’re not sure if a series will take off in Season One. ; Final Words ; I highly recommend this Box Set to any House M.D. fans, as well as anyone who happened to miss Season One, and would like to watch Season Two.; In the day and age of the average medical and police drama, House M.D. is a fresh and funny take on the two.; When someone produces good television like they have in this case, they deserve praise, and that’s what I have for this show. Well done. ;

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