differential diagnosis

it's an advanced case of vasculitis...or it could be lupus. no, thankfully, i haven't been afflicted by either disease. but if i were, i would want to be under dr. gregory house, m.d.'s care. easily the best show on regular tv (i don't watch anything else on regular tv, so i must be right), house earned hugh laurie a well-deserved golden globe this year.

one of britain's best actors, laurie is probably best known to discerning american audiences (about 1/398ths of the general population) for his roles in the hilarous blackadder series, the equally hilarious "a bit of fry and laurie", or the also equally hilarious "jeeves and wooster" (noticed how i used "hilarious 3 times because i couldn't think of anything else?).

house, produced by paul attanasio, david shore and bryan singer (yes, of "superman returns" fame), is an ill-tempered, but brilliant cripple (trust me, i wouldn't normally use the word, and i don't think house will complain), who specializes in medical cases that stump other doctors. and boy is he ever good. it is easy to see how house is similar to that other famous fictional detective, s. holmes.

and there are a number of running jokes...vasculitis and lupus find mention in pretty much every episode. there's a fair amount of sexual tension too, between pretty much every member of the cast, just to keep things interesting. in the end though, the laurie owns the show, he makes house human, eccentric and imminently watchable. season 3 starts 9/5, and seasons 1 and 2 are available on dvd.

picture courtesy: http://www.hollywoodjesus.com