November 25th 2009
The parting of ways
8 episodes into the sixth season of House the time has come for me to stop watching the show.
I know who would have thought it would come to this? Unfortunately try as I may and no matter how many excuses I have made over the last year and a half (and that is an enthusiastic estimate on my part) and no matter how much I am fond of Hugh Laurie and his thespian talents I simply cannot watch anymore (hint – once you start fast forwarding every single episode it just might mean the time has come to quit).
The show I knew and genuinely enjoyed is gone. What was once a show filled with medical mysteries, outrageous cases, moral dilemmas and interesting patients of the week (do you know I can only remember 2 patients from last year?) is now soap-ish drama with some medicine thrown in. Story lines have gone from bad to worse, all the subtle hints and nuances are gone, writing is contrived, dumbed down, haphazard and botched up and continuity went out of the window.
And don’t even start me on the characters – Cuddy got turned into a limpish caricature, Foreman is the same as he ever was and showing no character progress whatsoever and they are turning my lovely Wilson into a Huddy Cupid/life coach/shadow of his former self. Taub is tolerable while Thirteen makes me feel no emotion whatsoever. While I adore Hugh Laurie and would be happy to watch him read newspapers all day long, it is uncomfortable for me to watch him struggle with some really bad writing.
The only other person that showed some acting oomph was Jennifer Morrison. Her scenes with Hugh Laurie last season did remind me why I enjoyed the show so much to begin with. Unfortunately now she too has been written out in a piss poor lets-get-her-out-of-the-door-fast manner that really do not justice to Morrison or her character.
For shows that have been on as long as House it is necessary to shake things up and make some changes to keep it current. I believe the stage for that was successfully set with this season’s premiere. But instead of utilizing on that opportunity the best House writers could come up with was this… I’m trying to find a word that wouldn’t be too horrible but … it has to be rubbish.
I was once told that if you support a football team (as in soccer for our American friends) you stick by them through thick and thin, win, lose, no matter what. I never was one of them whatyoucallthem shippers but I do consider myself a genuine fan of the show. So I am not writing any of this lightly.
But my patience (after 3 years mind you) has worn thin and it is time to bid House goodbye. It has been fun while it lasted but the time has come to see other people 
Now where did my put my DVDs of A Bit of Fry and Laurie?