Customer Reviews

House Season 2

5 star:		(216)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After ER, Chicago Hope, and dozens of other medical dramas, how many really good stories could be left? Turns out, quite a few if done in the right way with an excellent cast. House M.D. breathes new life into the hospital drama by adding a dash of CSI type sleuthing with a stellar cast, led by Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House and also starring Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison, Jesse Spencer, and Robert Sean Leonard.

Dr. Gregory House is an incredibly unusual doctor. He dislikes patients, is partially crippled by a muscular disorder, pops Vicodin like they are tic-tacs, and is addicted to reruns of General Hospital. He would rather read a medical journal or hide out in the OB/GYN lounge than deal with a patient. His true purpose in life is leading a team of young doctors in diagnosing the usually rare and fatal maladies that baffle most doctors. Here House is part Sherlock Holmes and part Gil Grissom. He assembles the puzzle, often failing to get the pieces right, until finally the solution is arrived at. In the meantime he runs rampant across the hospital, badgering or simply bullying his way into getting what he needs to try and help the patient. His bedside manner is not pleasant, in fact House is a jerk because being a jerk is the fastest way to get patients healthy.

Season 2 started off a bit slow overall as a subplot about House and his ex-girlfriend Stacy (Sela Ward) takes up too much screen time, but once she departs the season picks up dramatically. There is quite a bit of character growth for the staff: Dr. Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) still holds a bit of a torch for House but moves on to other and more risky things, Dr. Chase (Jesse Spencer) has difficulty dealing with the death of his father and still doubts his own abilities at times, and Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps) discovers that he is willing to step on others to ensure his own success, and that sometimes tragedy strikes closest to home. Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) get some great screen time, becoming more three-dimensional and much more interesting, and we learn quite a deal more about House and the skeletons in his closet that make him tick.

The 2nd season set contains 24 episodes, with the best coming towards the end of the season, several featurettes, and at least one commentary according to the tvshowsondvd guys. Top episodes include Sex Kills, All In, Sleeping Dogs Lie, House vs God, and the brilliant two-parter Euphoria, which showcases some phenomenal acting by Epps, Morrison, and Laurie. The writing is particularly fresh, original, and inspired, and the cast seems to thrive on the energy. Some of the incredible guest stars include LL Cool J, Ron Livingston(Office Space), Alanna Ubach(Legally Blonde), Cynthia Nixon(SATC), Greg Grunberg(Alias), Samantha Mathis(Pump up the Volume), Michelle Trachtenberg(Buffy), Elias Koteas(Traffic), Charles S. Dutton(Threshold), Michelle Clunie(Queer as Folk), and D.B Sweeney(The Cutting Edge). Improving on a great rookie season is difficult, but House M.D. succeeds brilliantly. Pick up your copy today. Highly Recommended.

A.G. Corwin

St.Louis, MO

While some shows experience a "sophomore slump" of sorts, this was certainly not the case with "House" which picked up right where it left off with more great stories and more interesting cases. Once again, Hugh Laurie stars as the mysterious and brilliant Dr. House. Also back are his crack team of assistants Drs. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), and Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), his loyal friend Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), and his regularly exasperated boss Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein).

In season 2, the show broke the mold a little bit and focused a little more on the backgrounds of the characters to give us a better idea of who they are and how they came to be working at the hospital. Especially interesting was the relationship between Dr. House and his former girlfriend Stacy Warner (Sela Ward). This storyline gave viewers a better idea of who House is and how he came to be the way that he is.

Standout episodes from this season include "Acceptance" (about a death row inmate), "Skin Deep" (about a beauty queen with a bizarre ailment), "Failure to Communicate" (about a journalist who can't talk), "Euporia" (about a sick cop), and "No Reason" (abot what happens after House gets shot).

And of course, House is back with some more zingers:

Jack: "I don't want to hear semantics."

House: "You anti-semantic bastard."

- No Reason

"Why do you wanna sleep on a couch anyway? You got money. At least until the divorce is finalized."

- Clueless

Cameron - "Could pain medication cause an orgasm?"

House - "I wish."

- Distractions

Wilson - "Did you know your phone is dead? Do you ever recharge the batteries?"

House - "They recharge? I just keep buying new phones."

- Failure to Communicate

"Is it still illegal to perform an autopsy on a living person?"

- Autopsy

I love watching House. Not only is Hugh Laurie great in this, but the whole cast and the story lines make for entertaining television. This is great and he should definately win the Emmy this year. He really deserves it.

Here are some of my favourite episodes in this season. Autopsy featured a brave and mature little 9 year old girl with cancer. Daddy's Boy, showed a student with weird electrical shocks that they try to figure out, and House's parents come to visit him. And finally, I really loved Failure To Communicate where he and Stacey Warner are stuck at an airport waiting for a flight where they begin to rekindle their deminished romance.

Hugh Laurie really is very talented. Not only does he use an American accent with perfection, but his timing and delivery are brilliant and he's very believable. It's a great show and it's smart and enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

After having seen Hugh Laurie in shows such as Black Adder (in which is absolutely hysterical) and movies (Sense and Sensibility and Peter's Friends), anything he is in had to be terrific. So when the trailers for the first season started playing and Hugh Laurie was going to star in it, I knew I had to watch it. I wasn't disappointed and couldn't wait for Season 2 to start this past January. I am glad they will be starting Season 3 on September 5th rather than mid season. Season 2 picked up the story line following the relationship between House and the return of Stacy that was the bombshell of Season 1. I was glad there was resolution of sorts, and was also glad it happened early in the season. House has to be House without distractions; it is what makes us love him. There is a reason why House scored consistantly in the Nielsen top 10 this past season; it is because it is a terrific show that doesn't have to constantly show gore to get the point across. All the characters are intertwined and the dynamics of their relationships and how they relate to each other and their patients is what carries the show's points across. Anyone who likes a show that is fast paced and intellectually sound should watch this show and own it on DVD so it can be enjoyed over and over.

I was hooked by the very first episode that I watched. Dr. House's character is rough around the edges but it is to hard not to care for him. And the other members of the cast are amazing as well. I can't wait for the 2nd season to come out. I already preorder my set.

I caught this season in reruns over the summer. I found it a wonderful change from the typical run of the mill doctor shows. In this show House does not attempt to feign a polite bedside manner. I personally found him hilarious in that he says what you imagine every doctor really wants to say. He strikes me as an impolite version of Quincy, from the 1970s.

The early season with the interaction between House and ex-girlfriend Stacy (Sela Ward) was slow, but as the season progresses his staff, Drs. Cameron, Foreman, and Chase, begin to take a larger role in the episodes. I found the devolopment of their characters interesting as they seem to play different aspects that are missing from House's personality.

This season gives you a lot of background on House, however, beware that the season does end with you wanting to see more.

House, M.D. is bar none the best drama (medical or otherwise) to come along in a virtual drought of worthwhile viewing. The five star reviews, posted here, are for the most part accurate and to reiterate is redundant. I will focus on the differences between the two popular (medical) drama series listed here, both usually in the top ten best sellers.

Grey's Anatomy will appeal to the evening soap opera crowd, who also liked Friends (and is swayed easily to chuckle along with the laugh track, instead of the actual dialogue and whose view of real world is somewhat fantasy based). House, on the other hand. Nuff said!

Okay, that obviously doesn't refer to the demeanour of the central character, but this is just the best thing on TV. I don't really care how medically accurate it is, or if any hospital on the planet ever has so many serious cases time and again, or even if a doctor with such extensive knowledge has ever, will ever, or even could ever really exist. All I care about is the incredible dynamics created between the central players. As for the dialogue? Man, the dialogue is beyond equal on TV today. House has throwaway lines that other shows would kill for, but there are just so many, I'm sure most viewers simply don't realise how clever it is. It really is one of the funniest shows on TV, even though it's not a comedy.

If you like watching specialists solving mysteries, you must see this. If you want an idea of what it's like, try thinking of Columbo meets Qunicy meets CSI - though House surpasses all of them.

Hugh Laurie and the script writers have done such an incredible job bringing House to life. God knows how the writers come up with all the possible diseases and cures, but it never seems a stretch to go with them. And all the while, House is there to deliver acidic lines to tantalize the viewer and keep the show crackling along.

House is a rare treat. Get it. Savour it. Love it.

This is the best TV has to offer at the moment. It blows away all other medical dramas, the plots are inventive the dialog sharp and ah! The acting. All the cast is great but Hugh Laurie is an absolute trip! Where has this guy been all these years?

I usually don't recommend anyone to buy TV shows on DVD, you have the reruns to enjoy for years to come. But House is one exception.

I have never found medical dramas to be very interesting or exciting, and I am among the few people in my circle who was not swept away in the big ER craze of the mid-1990's. However, I was attracted to House MD because of British actor Hugh Laurie, who I have been a fan of since his days in Blackadder and A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and now I am firmly hooked on the show. The combination of fine acting and razor sharp writing roped me in, and now I am longing for Season 3 to come out on DVD!

The namesake of the series is Dr. Gregory House, played to dramatic and comedic perfection by Laurie. He is as eccentric as they come - sarcastic, uncaring, and totally devoid of social skills. However, he is a medical genius, and he solves with relative ease what other doctors cannot even scratch the surface of. Each show follows a standard formula - patient falls ill, original diagnosis is incorrect, patient gets worse, Dr. House and his team attempt to solve it, they guess wrong the first time, but at the end Dr. House identifies the cause of the illness and all is well. In between, we see how Dr. House and his team interact, and this is where season two stands out. If season one had a weakness, it was that the character development was limited to their daily lives in the hospital. In season two, we see more personality coming out of the main characters. We see what Dr. House is like to live with, we meet Foreman's father, and we see things get hot between Chase and Cameron. By far the most interesting scenes involve Dr. House living with his one and only friend, Dr. Wilson, who seems to value their friendship despite Dr. House's lack of tact and compassion. Equally compelling is Dr. House and his relationship with his ex, Stacey.

I bought this DVD set for the show alone, so I am not too disappointed by the lack of quality extras. There are a few alternate takes, a 6 minute blooper reel in which we see the cast blowing their lines, and a dull 20 minute chat session titled "An Evening With House". This consists of the producers (and some of the actors) sitting around talking about the show, with only Hugh Laurie offering the occasional insightful comment. However, the show is more than worth the price, so even without any extras, this set would be a great buy.

House MD is an excellent show across the board, most notably for Hugh Laurie's excellent performance. It combines mystery, humor, and heart, and having seen both season one and two, I can say that it keeps getting better. This is a highly recommended purchase.