He's not paid to look bored
TELEVISION: House has seen a spike in popularity, ranking as the No. 1 show in the country
Posted By BILL HARRIS, SUN MEDIA
Posted 3 months ago
This much is a medical certainty: If Dr. House were in charge of swine-flu vaccinations in Canada, the lines would be even longer.
With the recent implementation of the new Portable People Meters to measure TV ratings in Canada, the viewing numbers for most shows have gone up. But House, in particular, has emerged as the biggest winner, consistently ranking as the No. 1 show in the country.
Of course, House -- which is back with a new episode on Monday (post-World Series) as the sixth season continues on Fox and Global -- got to where it is almost exclusively on the gruff charm of its star, Hugh Laurie.
"Well, I'm paid not to look bored," Laurie said when asked how he keeps the role of Dr. Gregory House fresh. "That would be the very minimum they are entitled to expect.
"No, I'm not bored by it. I find it constantly challenging and
interesting. I find the scripts constantly funny and dramatic. And I find the people I work with to be a constant delight. That's a really dull answer, but it happens to be true.
"I'm not saying there aren't hard days. Of course there are hard days. But by and large, I feel very blessed."
You know a TV show is successful and has been around for a while when rumours of cast members leaving start to flicker through the media. There was one of those involving Laurie earlier this year, when a report suggested he was considering quitting because he was developing a real-life hip injury, due to his characters' pronounced limp.
That rumour subsequently was dismissed as exaggerated, or an outright joke on Laurie's part. Our experience with these things points toward there usually being at least a small fire where there's smoke, but in this case it doesn't appear Laurie is going anywhere for a while, anyway.
The same may not be true for Jennifer Morrison, who plays Dr. Allison Cameron.
Rumours that her character is departing this month (either temporarily or permanently) have been circulating. House hasn't been shy about jettisoning characters-- remember Dr. Lawrence Kutner's suicide? -- but we're assuming Dr. Cameron hasn't been set up for anything that extreme.
Regardless, House will be around as long as Laurie wants to be around.
"We're in a sort of transitional state, where House is trying to keep himself in check and curb his acerbic tongue and connect with people in a way he hasn't done previously," Laurie said.
