'House' is Over

FOX hasn't renewed 'House' for a ninth season. The current season, season eight, will be the last.

I loved 'House' from the very beginning, and even loved it as the cast lost Jennifer Morrison (Cameron), and gained Olivia Wilde (Thirteen).

This season, the loss of Wilde and of Lisa Edelstein (Cuddy) hurt the show a great deal. The cases have still been interesting, but the show has lost its tempo.

That being said, it's the end of an era, and I'll be sad that I won't have new episodes of 'House' to look forward to every week.

emmy nominations for 2011 are announced! drama

2011 Emmy Nominations "Drama"
...who's nominated, who I want to win, and who probably will
looking for "comedy"?

Lead Actress--Drama:
*Elisabeth Moss I stopped watching 'Mad Men', so I can't really comment. Except to say I stopped watching 'Mad Men'.
*Connie Britton Maybe the 3rd nominated year will be the charm? She's a fine actress, but there are bigger names here.
*Mariska Hargitay Even after all these years this show is still great, and Hargitay is a big part of that. Plus it probably won't be around much longer. She's been nominated every year since '04, but hasn't won since '08.
*Mireille Enos This is her first time being nominated, and the Emmys do occasionally like surprise wins. But do enough people watch 'The Killing'?
*Julianna Marqulies She won 6 in a row for 'ER', and this is her second year nominated here.
*Kathy Bates She is a favorite, but I just couldn't stick with 'Harry's Law'

Lead Actor--Drama:
*Steve Buscemi Apparently this means I need to watch 'Boardwalk Empire'
*Michael C. Hall I love 'Dexter', and I think Hall's brilliantly acting plays a part in this. Plus, I'm not sure many people could be so successful acting next to their ex-wives who play their sisters.
*Kyle Chandler Damn, I need to watch more 'Friday Night Lights'.
*Jon Hamm I don't think this will happen, but maybe the Emmy folks will surprise me.
*Hugh Laurie This is one of my favorite shows, and Laurie makes it what it is. Plus, he can drop his accent like woah.
*Timothy Olyphant This category often likes the first time nominees to win, and that's what Olyphant is.

Supporting Actress--Drama:
Kelly Macdonald Never seen it.
Christina Hendricks She's good, but is she good enough to beat Panjabi?
Michelle Forbes Put a photo on your page, how will the voters know who you are?
Archie Panjabi She won last year, and I bet she'll win this year.
Margo Martindale Again, lets hope the voters aren't relying on the Emmy website!
Christina Baranski She keeps getting nominated and keeps losing, her last win was in 1999.

Supporting Actor--Drama:
*John Slattery There's a chance voters will want to give 'Mad Men' a bone.
*Andre Braugher I think he might actually win.
*Walton Goggins There's no photo on the website!
*Peter Dinklage Hmm...a little too much fantasy for the voters?
*Josh Charles No photo? Go yell at your agent.
*Alan Cumming Go ahead, yell.


Check back later for my opinions on the other Emmy categories (Comedy). Also, think I'm wrong? Think someone should have been nominated who wasn't? Leave a comment! Who will win? Who should win?

House and Cuddy: "Is this break-up for real?"

Did House and Cuddy Break-Up?
forever? how? why? really...why?

I shouldn't be giving anything away at this point when I write that House and Cuddy have ended their relationship.

In a recent episode of "House" ('Bombshells') we found out two things 1) House is taking Vicodin again and 2) Cuddy is breaking up with him.

I have to say, I was incredibly frustrated with both of these things for numerous reasons, and even more frustrated because they happened in the same episode. I do understand that addicts relapse. This is a fact of life, and it is also the reason that Friedman and Hess (the authors of this particular episode) gave for House's use of pills. However, I think it would have been better if House's relapse had been triggered by a stressful moment (for instance, Cuddy's health issues). However, it is clear that he has been using again for a long time because Cuddy's daughter (Rachel) calls prescription meds "candy"...House's code word for Vicodin. I find this frustrating because it undermines the happiness that surrounded his relationship with Cuddy. Can't the viewers at least experience a brief moment of true happiness in House's life? Does he truly have to be miserable all the time?











Not This Rachel!

This Rachel

I also find it incredibly irresponsible and unlikely that Cuddy would break-up with House the moment she finds out that he is using again. He is an addict, she is a doctor, she should be able to get him help. He clearly does love her, and she does love him, so I think it is more probable that this love combined with her Hippocratic oath would (in the very least) inspire her to get him into rehab. Breaking up with him does not help him in any way, in fact it only hurts him more, and as a doctor and someone who is (supposedly) in love with him it just seems more likely that she wouldn't do so.

It is not that the writing in the episode is bad, but more that the direction that the episode takes is so completely improbable that it makes the episode bad. I realize that by having House be addicted to Vicodin again and by breaking-up the show's central relationship "House" is returning to its roots. However, I think there are far more probable ways that this could have been done. At the very least these two events could have been split between two episodes...

Finally, all I can say is that viewers were far too enamored with Huddy (the fans name for House and Cuddy) to let the writers break them up forever. Maybe they'll break-up for a couple of episodes, maybe they'll break-up for a year, but ultimately they're bound to get back together. It's what the fans want.

edit: I may be very wrong about that last thing...see this link to an LA Times interview with some of the writer's of "House"

update: Lisa Edelstein who plays Cuddy has officially left the cast of 'House'. I guess they really have broken up forever! Read more here.

They have accents?

Wait, What Accents?

There are a shocking number of foreign actors and actresses who appear on American television using American accents.


Often we know who these people are, but occasionally it's shocking.


For instance, did you know that Kevin McKidd (who plays Owen on "Grey's Anatomy") is Scottish? Well, I had no idea...until I saw him being interviewed for the "Greys" musical episode.



Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who played Vivian Johnson on "Without a Trace" for 8 seasons, is also British. I discovered that (with a great deal of shock) when I watched the special features on the series DVD.







Oh, and lets not forget "House". Hugh Laurie is also a Brit. But they're not the only ones invading.

"Without a Trace" barely qualifies as an American television show. Poppy Montgomery and Anthony LaPaglia, the shows other two leads, are both Australian. But you wouldn't know it.






"Fringe", currently airing on Fox, has an Australian lead (Anna Torv), and so does "The Mentalist" (Simon Baker).





And, Portia de Rossi, who I've previously mentioned for her roles on "Ally McBeal", "Arrested Development", and "Nip/Tuck", is yet another Australian.







Here are the following shows that have foreign actors playing American leads different television stations:
1) "Fringe" and "House" on Fox
2) "The Mentalist" on CBS
3) "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC
So, that's the two out of the Big Three plus the 'newcomer' network!

I guess I really can't complain about an Australian/British invasion on "our" television. After all, I have British citizenship too, and I'm not planning on moving out of the U.S. anytime soon.

Check out this fun story about foreigners playing Americans that was first heard on NPR in 2008.