The medical series House aired from 2004 to 2012, and in 2008 was the most-watched TV show in the world. The series broke new ground by featuring a main character who wasn't all that likable, and people liked it, so much that many series using the same scheme came afterward: Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, 24, House of Cards, etc. And House varied from the usual TV drama in other ways.
Hugh Laurie (Gregory House): It’s strange, but there was very, very little sex in the show—which is why it was sexy. Once people actually start having sex, it rapidly ceases to become interesting. On television, sex is unsexy. I can just see that being a quotation, but you know what I mean. The camera is in a situation the camera would never be. I don’t want to be in the room with two people when they’re having sex. I hardly want to be in the room when I’m having sex. The sex on House was rare and unspoken and often unseen, and I thought that was better. But that makes me sound like a repressed Englishman.
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Anne Dudek (Amber Volakis aka Cutthroat Bitch): We’re in what people are calling “the Golden Age of TV.” There’s so much good TV, and so much good writing for TV right now. But during the era of House, there wasn’t a lot of entertaining television that was shooting so high in terms of its quality, its writing, and dealing with complicated issues. They really trusted that the audience was smart and looking for smart content. It wasn’t escapist television so much as thought-provoking. Of course, that’s Hugh Laurie 100 percent. He anchored the show and its ability to address deep things people wanted to think about and be moved by. Who else can play that character and have you love him and hate him so passionately?
The cast and crew of House got together to reminisce and tell us all the story of how House came about, and why it was such a hit. Read it all at GQ. -via Digg