Last few lines of that episode were ad libbed by Hugh Laurie: “You know how it is with nuns. Take out their IUD and they bounce right back.”
I absolutely loved this scene.
I’m in agreement with House here, but this scene was such a setup by the writers. REALLY? RELIGIOUS PEOPLE BELIEVE IN INVISIBLE SKYDADDY? Even by House’s personal standards, it’s a low effort dig.
I love House, most jokes in that show are very funny and a bit scathing but at least they make fun of everyone and everything. Much better than nowadays, where most comedy is very plain and safe.
What the fuck are you talking about? Watch more shows.
Alright I’ll bite, give me some examples of good shows with multiple layers of storytelling, interesting characters and engaging story telling that were made in the last five years. And as I’ve said in another comment, I know there’s still some good ones out there (The Boys, Gen V, Blue eye samurai, Better call Saul, After life), my point is that it feels like there’s less of these while the total amount of shows has only increased over time.
After rereading my comment I’m sorry that I started out so aggressively. That wasn’t fair to you.
I think the feeling of fewer good shows coming out stems from a few places.
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The shows that we remember tend to be the ones that left a lasting impact. I think that when looking back it’s important to recognize our nostalgia tinted lense.
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The feeling that there’s so many more shows may come from the accessibility that streaming services have created. Scrolling through massive catalogs let’s us see the massive amount of options and how few of them we actually want to engage with. I’d argue that the ratio of good to bad shows isn’t substantially different from before, but how we engage with these shows have changed. Admittedly, I haven’t counted all of the good and bad recent shows and then compared that with the amount of good and bad shows from a couple decades ago.
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“They don’t make shows like they uses to,” is the type of thing people have said forever when their tastes stop developing and the cultural zeitgeist moves on without them.
In addition to the shows you mentioned, I would add, The Bear, The Last of Us, Arcane, and Our Flag Means Death.
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The Crown
The Last of Us
Loki
Succession
Will Trent
Yellow jackets
Abbott Elementary
Mrs Maisel
Reservation Dogs
What We Do in the Shadows
White House Plumbers
Andor
House of the Dragon
Severance
Yellowstone
The White Lotus
Barry
Ghosts
The Bear
Dead to Me
Pam & Tommy
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Inventing Anna
Bodies
Star Trek Lower Decks
Squid Game
The Morning Show
This Is Us
The Great
Sex Education
WandaVision
Ozark
Lovecraft Country
Perry Mason
Schitt’s Creek
Fleabag
Barry
PEN15
Chernobyl
Bojack Horseman
The Good Place
Superstore
Catch-22
Lol how many bees were for a nickel in your time?
I love how often this is referenced around here
Easily top 3 features of Lemmy
People tend to take out of shows what they want it to say. It’s very consistently acknowledged, House is an asshole. People are openly terrified of becoming like him. They consistently work to fix him. So he’s not like that. That said, I love House, I’ve been watching it repeatedly since it aired. I still find new layers to the subtext and relationships of the show. And the reason people tried to help House, not be like he is, is because he has a richly developed character with deep endearing empathy and sympathy for others, he consistently puts others before himself, sometimes risking his own life, just to save someone else. He might say the asshole thing, but it’s calculated and planned for a good outcome, he might be helping someone face an uncomfortable truth that will ultimately save a life. Like how he spoke to the family of the guy in the wheelchair who pushed himself into the pool. He needs answers that politeness wouldn’t allow, like the guy who refused to admit he was taking steroids. But was. He thinks his meanness is purposeful, even towards his team. He has that old school boomer gen attitude of toughing people up to motivate them. Which, during his character growth he comes to realise isn’t right. He deeply cares about the people closest to him. Often giving them kind and endearing comforting words when they need them. He is a balance, and he is in a lot of pain. Even the kindest person is a bit of an asshole when in constant pain. The show is a little dated, in the sense that we as a society have realised those jokes are beneath us and we strive to be better, so don’t make those references that hurt others when we realise. But there’s not too many spots like that, it does well for its age, mostly.
I don’t think House was ever trying to help anyone by being mean? He was just arrogant and self-assured, so he knew that even if he was rude and assholish, it would pay off because he would save someone’s life and that would justify his behavior for those people and those people would in turn then find him endearing and likable. In short, he knew how to use his charm and intellect to get what he wanted the most, a fix for the pain he felt, literally and otherwise. At least that’s how I interpret his behavior, but of course like any good piece of writing there can be different interpretations.
I will show my age.
I agree. The current landscape of tv, storytelling, enjoyable characters, and screenwriting is virtually extinct to just 10-20 years ago. The result is they appear plain and safe, or uncomparable and not-risky-enough. Even when the current show is popular, award-nominated, long-running, etc. Very little today catches my eye. It’s not just the stories, it is rewriting all the standards as well.There are still some good shows left but it definitely feels like more of a challenge to find them then before. I haven’t watched regular TV shows in ages because most of it is crap nowadays. The last one I can vividly remember watching whenever it came out was Castle and I even quit watching that after 1 or 2 seasons.
There’s almost no original story telling in shows anymore, it all just feels the same. The only standout shows I can remember watching last year were Blue eye samurai and the Boys. Everything else is just a bit of a blur.
Some may say that House MD wasn’t risky enough, that it was too formulaic and relied on the same kind of “edgy renegade gets the job done on his own terms” cliché that was everywhere in the 00s. Taking shots at people and their personal beliefs can make for witty and engaging dialogue, but just setting up cheap shots so that the Chad House can dunk on the Virgin Nun is just hacky.
I enjoyed it for the first 3 seasons then it just got to predictable. To be fair it always was but I was hoping that at least once house wasnt the one who found the solution and let someone else get a W
A lot of times he couldn’t figure things out by himself. They made a big point of his team being there to complete him, not just to do what he told them to.
In the season where they were looking for a new team member there was one candidate that was pretty much a 1:1 copy of House, who got the best evaluations in the tests and stuff, but in the end got disqualified for “what use is there in someone who’ll think of the same stuff as me?”
House is the sleeper OG diversity and inclusion advocate. (With lots of mockery!)
They definitely did do that with Chase a couple of times.
Also Kutner
I’m kind of amused by the image of the great Thranduil sitting down after doing thranduil stuff to watch some House.
Is thranduil an actual character? I dont remember how I choose this name probably randomizer
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I’m not the commenter you replied to… But in my experience, the Dave Chappelle Show, Def Comedy Jam, Mad TV (are comparable some i remember off the top of my head) did exist. Currently there are no similar shows on the big six tv networks. In streaming, I only comparatively know of Jenny McCarthy’s: Dirty Sexy Funny standup show. But it’s just barely comparable.
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