Not2Stiff

“House M.D.” is my favorite TV show. I love the “whats-going-on” detective-like work, the medical mumbo-jumbo, the antagonistic friendships, the sexual tension, the sarcasm…

And so I’d like to share with you 10 useless but perhaps amusing tidbits you may not know about the show.

Hugh Laurie at the Screen Actors Guild

1. House and Wilson are based on Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

Think about it. House — note the similarity to Holmes, or “home” — is the brilliant detective who can solve any case through sharp observation, supersmart deductions and “aha” moments. Wilson — note the similarity to doctor Watson — is his admiring, and at times challenging assistant.

House’s home address is 221B somewhere — eerily similar to Sherlock Holmes’ address, 221B Baker Street, London.

2. Princeton Plainsboro doesn’t really exist.

Princeton University is of course real, as is the State of New Jersey, but you’ll find no Plainsboro Hospital there. Sad, really. It would have made a smashing product placement deal.

The aerial footage during the opening credits are from Princeton University buildings, though.

3. Actor Hugh Laurie studied at another prestigious university, Cambridge.

That would be Cambridge, England, of course, as Laurie is British. Producer Bryan Singer got fooled during the audition by Laurie’s perfect American accent. It only makes you wonder about Laurie’s extra-curricular activities.

4. Hugh Laurie once appeared in an episode of Friends.

Back in those days, he was still unknown in the U.S. It was one of the London episodes. Laurie plays a passenger on Rachel’s plane, and tells her what a horrible person she is for going to ruin Ross’s wedding. If you’ve never heard his real, British accent, play the scene below (it’s from “The One With Ross’s Wedding, Part 2“)

5. Robert Sean Leonard, who plays Wilson, was 20 when he played a 16-year-old in Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams.

He still has that boyish look, even though he’s past 40. Incidentally, actor Kurtwood Smith, who played Leonard’s character’s strict father in Dead Poets Society, landed a guest role in House M.D. starring as… a strict father.

6. The brothers and father of actor Jesse Spencer (“Dr Chase”) are actually doctors.

Just like in the TV show… Is this Method acting or what?

7. Dr Chase and Dr Cameron got married, the actors got engaged.

Did you ever wonder how they got the sexual tension just right on the little screen? They actually were a couple. Actor Jesse Spencer proposed to actress Jennifer Morrison at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. She accepted but 8 months later the engagement broke off.

I guess at least one of them must have thought: “We should have gotten married quickly, just like on the show, then got divorced quickly, just like on the show, and sue the writers for infringement of something.”

8. Hugh Laurie doesn’t limp, but playing House almost caused him to.

Years of playing “the gimp” is taking its toll on the actor, who in 2009 got treated for physical injury due to his continuous limping on the set.

9. House likes to watch himself.

That may not be much of a surprise, but the way he does it might. In the 2nd season, House’s TiVo list appears briefly on-screen. We see that he recorded British TV show “Blackadder II”, starring Mr. Laurie himself.

10. Denis Leary auditioned for the part of House.

It must still sting that he lost the part to a Brit with a fake American accent. But at least he got the part of Diego the sabretooth tiger in Ice Age.