You have to give the "House" production team credit. Your show has the "American Idol" lead-in and is often the highest-rated scripted drama on TV. However, instead of playing it safe with disease-of-the week plots, "House" swung for the fences several times: putting its main character in jail and threatening him with prison; ramping up the conflicts between all six of the main characters; and ending the year with a big cliffhanger that threatened to cut the main cast in half. Even when a given episode wasn't advancing the progressive storyline, the writers attempted to push the envelope with several politically themed episodes.

Early in Season 3, the big storyline revolved around recurring guest star David Morse, a detective out to get House and his questionable supply of Vicodin. In previous years, lengthy story arcs were given to Chi McBride and Sela Ward: would House lose his job? would House get married? This year, the theme was: would House go to prison? Morse dominated his episodes by playing the rare character that wouldn't back down to House. Although some media critics grew tired of the plot, which perhaps went on 2-3 episodes too long, the resolution was clever and allowed House to keep his dignity (and his job) without having to sacrifice... anything.

Several subplots emerged throughout the season, such as the romance between Drs. Chase and Cameron (first shown in season 2), and Dr. Foreman's growing dissatisfaction with having House as his mentor. House's fascination (or, some might say, obsession) with his boss, Dr. Cuddy, reached new levels. By the end of the season, House faced near mutiny from his underlings... and still didn't seem all that bothered. Perhaps House was too busy counseling a patient to end his life, or faking cancer in order to get a supply of pain medications. Perhaps he was dodging the romantic advances of a teenager, or trading in his case for a wheelchair in order to recover his handicapped parking spot. The more outrageous the behavior, the better Hugh Laurie was in the role. He even upgraded his cane to a model decorated with stars.

Standout guest stars this season included John Larroquette as a man waking up from a decade-long coma, Joel Grey as an ailing doctor, Dave Matthews as a stunted piano prodigy, and the return of Charles S. Dutton as Foreman's dad.

While the "House" season DVDs are never what you'd call packed with extras, the tightly knotted plots and the rapid-fire dialogue makes this a great show to watch more than once. Also try and track down plot-lines that never quite went anywhere, like Cuddy's rumored pregnancy or her not-quite romance with Wilson.

"House" season 3 drew top ratings while continuing with the show's unflinching dialogue and medical situations. This may not have been a great year for "Grey's Anatomy" or "E.R.", so cruise on over to Princeton Plainsborough for a few hours of intense hospital drama.

That incredibly crabby doctor with the serious leg pain is back for the third season of the acclaimed medical series "House, M.D." And once again Hugh Laurie and company came up with another winner of a season, although in my opinion it was just a tad notch below the first two seasons. Still, "House" season three is still very much worth watching.

Laurie once again dominates season three as he did with seasons one and two, and come Emmy time he better be rewarded! (He's already won two Golden Globes and one Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Dr. House.) Being snubbed for a nomination for season two was a crime! His performances throughout season three was probably some of the best acting that Laurie has done on the show so far, thanks in part to one major storyline early in the season. David Morse was introduced in the fifth episode as Detective Tritter, a cop who comes to the hospital as a patient. Guess which doctor he ends up getting? Before you know it, Dr. House starts off by treating him rude, and if that's not bad enough, pops Vicodin right in front of him. Later on, he arrests Dr. House for possession of drugs, and thereafter tries in every way to make the cranky doc's life miserable (such as when Dr. House has to go for days without Vicodin and ends up in rehab). In addition, these turn of events also put a disturbing effect on his team, as the cop pressures each team member to give him some answers about their boss. This was a very strong storyline, and Morse was excellent in the role of the ticked off cop.

Sure "House" is the Hugh Laurie show, but lets not forget about the superb supporting cast: Lisa Edelstein as hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as neurologist Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as oncology specialist James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as immunologist Allison Cameron; and Jesse Spencer as intensive-care specialist Robert Chase are all back for season three, and they're better than ever. For all three seasons these actors are given plenty to do in support of Laurie, and each of them does a great job playing off not only Laurie but each other. This is thanks to some terrific writing by creator David Shore and his writing team. They not only make this show compelling but smart as well. My favorite episode from season three is the one titled "Airborne", where House and Cuddy board a plane departing Malaysia that soon becomes a hospital ward when several passengers become seriously ill (including Cuddy); while back at Princeton-Plainsboro Wilson, Chase, Cameron, and Foreman try to solve a medical mystery on their own. This is a great episode, maybe the best overall episode of the show so far. It's not only thrilling and dramatic, but funny and shocking as well. Other great episodes include the second episode "Cane and Able", in which House and his team try to figure out why a 7 year old boy thinks he's being tortured by aliens, and the next-to-last episode "The Jerk", in which Dr. House meets his match with his latest patient: a teenage chess player with an arrogant attitude that's even worse than House's.

Despite this show's greatness, I had a few quibbles on the third season of "House". One season three episode didn't work for me (episode #12 - "One Day, One Room"). I found this episode kind of dull and not all that interesting. It's not real bad, but I just didn't seem to care about it all that much, which makes it the weakest episode of "House" so far. One minor storyline that was also kind of silly was the sexual hook-ups between Chase and Cameron, which featured them getting down and dirty in the hospital, in a patient's house, etc. And it was only for fun. Chase wants a relationship, but Cameron doesn't. This really isn't smart writing on the part of the writing team on "House". I think it was only thrown in their due to the real-life engagement of the actors who play Chase and Cameron (Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison got engaged midway through season three). But in all fairness, I think this storyline would have worked better if the writers had done exactly what Chase wanted: let them have a relationship. These actors do look great together. I think a serious relationship storyline between Chase and Cameron would be awesome. Perhaps that might come later.

Familiar faces who show up for guest appearances during season three include: John Larroquette ("Night Court"), Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 13"), Joel Grey ("Cabaret"), Charles S. Dutton ("The Piano Lesson"), Piper Perabo ("Coyote Ugly"), Kurtwood Smith ("That `70s Show"), and pop star Dave Matthews.

The final episode of season three apparently will be opening the door for changes when season four debuts in the fall, as House lost his entire team (Foreman and Cameron resigned; Chase fired). I'm hoping that this will not be the end for some members of this great ensemble cast. I love this cast on "House", and if any one of these cast members leave the show or end up being let go, I will be very saddened by it. But this is the show's big cliffhanger for the summer. We'll eventually find out what will happen when season four returns this fall. And my fingers are crossed that all these cast members return.

This is the only show currently running which consistently holds my interest. Most programming these days is "reality" programming--which seems to mean watching anxious people locked in fierce competitions which reveal the worst human characteristics and are often ugly to watch--that's cheap, junkfood TV and it truly is a mindless waste of time. Dr. House is a breath of fresh air. With all his oddities, his demons, his arrogance, and his brilliance, he's an original character I find fascinating. He's locked in his own struggles, too, as are all the other members of the cast. To me the fictional show seems more real and valid than all the "reality" shows. It's a wonderful show and I look forward to each new episode. Hope the entire team makes it back this fall!