About This Quiz
Starring British actor Hugh Laurie, "House" premiered in 2004 and went on to become one of the most-watched TV dramas in the world - except in Laurie's native England, where his longtime comedy partner, Stephen Fry, was often asked "whatever happened" to Laurie!Â
Medical dramas had already been drifting away from their ultra-sincere roots, with endlessly caring and nearly perfect doctors. The quirky '80s show "St. Elsewhere" and then the morally complex "E.R." were proof of that. But no one had seen anything like Dr. Greg House, a pill-addicted cynic whose mantra was "everybody lies." Following their mentor's lead, House's trainees lied to and manipulated their patients, as well as each other. Oddly, though, House seemed to bring out the best in his medical fellows, at least professionally. Meanwhile, Drs. Cuddy and Wilson tried to keep House's behavior within the realms of the semi-reasonable, Cuddy as House's supervisor and Wilson as his only true friend.Â
Are you a true "House" fan? Then return to the halls of Princeton-Plainsboro with our quiz! We'll test you on the dramas, diagnoses and drugs of this 2000s show... and we promise, for this test you won't have to climb into the MRI of Doom!Â
The full name was Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. This situates "House M.D." in the state of New Jersey.
Dr. Lisa Cuddy was technically House's superior. Though he tended to do as he pleased, he always went to her office to make his case for whatever ground-breaking and dangerous treatment he wanted to use. (Probably because he enjoyed their verbal sparring so much.)
Oncology is the treatment of cancer. The show suggests that it was inevitable that Wilson, a deeply caring person, would be drawn into this most difficult of medical fields.
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The name "House" was chosen to sound like "Holmes" (or "Home"). There are numerous other references to Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character in the show, including the shared address of 221B Baker Street.
House's fellows were Chase, Foreman, Cameron, Kutner, "Thirteen," Taub, Masters, Adams and Park. We're obviously not counting the giant class of candidates he brought in to compete for fellowships in season four.
The other fellows were already full-fledged doctors, though less experienced in diagnostics than House. Masters was a medical student; Cuddy pulled strings to get her the opportunity to work for House.
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Immunology involves the immune system, as the name indicates. Practicioners treat autoimmune disease, allergic reactions and similar issues.
House was frequently seen downing Vicodin. He did, however, have chronic pain that justified some, if not all, of his painkiller use.
We think of infarction as being in the heart -- a heart attack, essentially -- but they happen in other parts of the body when clots or emboli keep blood from getting to tissue. It was brought up several times on the show that his pain might be partly psychosomatic, a reflection of his inability to deal with psychological pain.
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Chase is stabbed by a patient having a psychotic episode. For a time he can't feel his legs, and it seems he might be paralyzed, but this is not the case.
Huntington's chorea, sometimes just called Huntington's disease, causes movement disorders, dementia and eventually death. Thirteen tested herself for the disease after the death of Amber Volakis, who was part of the "class" that competed for fellowships.
Taub was a successful plastic surgeon before a sexual indiscretion - apparently an affair with a partner's daughter - required him to leave his practice. The fellowship with House challenged Taub in ways plastic surgery didn't, and in addition, he was always working to repair his relationship with his wife.
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Wilson, having fun with a documentary film crew, goes on a riff about House being Wiccan in a Season Four episode. But House's background is apparently Christian, while Cuddy and Wilson are both Jewish.
Kutner was played by Kal Penn, who left "House" to take a job at Obama's White House. The reason for Kutner's suicide was never revealed and remains mysterious, as Kutner was the member of House's team who always seemed happy and excited to start a new day at work.
Yi is a comic actress, but she played the serious, often scowling, Dr. Park on "House." Park joined House's team after hitting a supervising doctor for groping her.
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No matter how close people get on this show, no one seems to call anybody by their first name. This was even true of Cuddy, who continued to call her boyfriend "House" when they were dating.
Foreman's mother is in mental decline. Early on, in a heartbreaking scene, Foreman tells her, "It's me, Eric." She smiles and says, "My son's name is Eric."
Actors Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer actually did develop a romantic relationship and nearly married during the run of the show. Their characters actually tied the knot, but since "House" seemed fundamentally opposed to happiness, their marriage didn't last.
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Tunney played Rebecca Adler (one of two times the Sherlock Holmes character "Irene Adler" is referenced on the show). Bonus points to you if you recognized the other three actresses as Tunney's castmates in the '90s classic "The Craft."
Sorvino's character was stationed at the South Pole when she fell ill and couldn't be transported for treatment. It was clearly inspired by Jerri Nielsen, the doctor who found a lump in her breast while stationed in Antarctica.
Uncharacteristically, it was the former seminary student who killed the patient, by letting a misdiagnosis stand and then a fatal treatment be administered. Foreman, often Chase's adversary, helped cover it up.
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"House" had a guest star every week as House's patient, and often they were character actors, not "Oh My God it's him!" types. James Earl Jones, though, was an exception.
Morse has played a lot of cops in his career, and "House" was no exception. Detective Tritter is determined to bust House for prescription drug abuse after... it's too weird to recount here; just watch the episode "Fools for Love."
Amber was one of House's fellow candidates in season four, and, briefly, Wilson's girlfriend in season five. After her death in a bus crash, she returns as a figment of his subconscious and helps him solve cases.
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Amber had just taken a drug called amantadine for her cold symptoms. She would have survived her injuries had her kidneys been functioning properly, but they weren't, making a normal dose of the drug a fatal overdose.
Vogler gives the hospital $100 million for research after his father dies of Alzheimer's complications. Does House find a way to screw up this windfall? Of course he does!
Cole was Mormon, leading House to needle him about his religious beliefs. House later fired Cole after Cole betrayed Kutner, his closest friend in the candidate group, to get ahead.
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The former "Buffy" and "Dollhouse" star never checked into House's diagnostic unit. The other three did, including Cynthia Nixon's memorable turn as a woman with Munchausen's Syndrome, who House is convinced has an underlying illness (other than her compulsion to fake being ill).
In "Bombshells," Cuddy seeks diagnosis for what might be kidney cancer. Her dreams take her into a zombie movie, a TV sitcom and a Western - and during exploratory surgery, a musical number.
In the "Adverse Events" episode, Chase observes a patient's gastric bezoar (basically a giant hairball), and comments that it's why he won't let Cameron get a cat (they were living together at the time). But later that season, House's hallucination of Amber comments that "Chase has a cat." So which is it? It's possible that House's hallucination was lying to him ... in that episode, House sets up Chase to have a life-threatening allergic reaction.
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House served time for running his car into Cuddy's house (long story)! That's where he met Dr. Adams, who soon comes to work for him.
Many fans saw this coming. Chase was said to be House's first hire, and his thought processes were the most like House's. Foreman, meanwhile, tended to oppose House and rein him in, which made it appropriate that Foreman took over Cuddy's job.
In season five, this song was employed to chilling effect, as part of House's hallucinations when he descended into mental illness. It was used again as House and Wilson rode motorcycles "into the sunset" on the finale.
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Attie joined the show in the fourth season but became a key player, co-writing the finale. The other three were all part of the show and main character's creation.
House was filming "Flight of the Phoenix" in Africa when he made the audition tape in his hotel-room bathroom - the only place that had sufficient light. This is one of the better known "fun facts" about the show. In his audition, Laurie seemed convincingly American.