Tuesday, February 22, 2005

"House" of Laurie

It's Tuesday! And that means, in the Mosley household, that it's time for a new episode of "House". I've been a fan of this show since it first premiered late last year and it has become, along with "Lost", something to look forward to each week.

It stars Hugh Laurie, who is a very familiar face to anyone who's a fan of British comedy. He plays a brilliant but ornery American doctor named Gregory House. He works at a walk-in clinic that is a part of Princeton University and solves incredibly complicated cases. It would appear that Laurie learned a thing or two from Rowan Atkinson during his years on "Black Adder", because House is a master of the rejoinder. The dialogue is half the fun of the show, so I've posted a few below.

Dr. Cameron: You want me to tell a man whose wife is about to die that she may have cheated on him?
Dr. House: No, I want you to be polite and let her die.

Dan's Father: How can you just sit there?
Dr. House: Well, if I eat standing up, I spill.

Dr. Cameron: Men should grow up.
Dr. House: Yeah. And dogs should stop licking themselves. It's not gonna happen.

Dr. Foreman: I think your argument is specious.
Dr. House: I think your tie is ugly.

Dr. Chase: You must be joking.
Dr. House: Well, hard not to. Nothing's funnier than cancer.

Dr. Wilson: Did your pager really just go off or are you ditching the conversation?
Dr. House: Why can't both be true?
And finally, in an address to people sitting in the waiting room of the clinic, House offers his services:

Dr. House: But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you're particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It's mine! You can't have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem... but who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm too stoned to tell. So, who wants me?

3 comments:

John said...

Have you seen Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster in the Jeeves series? Both he and Fry gave magnificent performances there.

I've recently discovered another old British comedy series that I had never heard of before. It's called "Yes, Mr. Prime Minister" and is very Blackadderish. There's a cassette of three episodes at the Orange Park library (ergo Peggy could get it for you) but otherwise, I've never encountered it.

Alonzo Mosley (FBI) said...

Bertie is well known in the Mosley household. Mrs. Mosley is a long time fan on PG Wodehouse and I purchased the box set of the series several years ago for her.

Laurie was perfect as Bertie, which makes his turn to more serious roles more jarring and impressive. The first time I saw him do such was his supporting turn in "Sense & Sensability". Putting his role in that alongside Bertie is night and day.

As for "Yes, Prime Minister" (costaring the late Nigel Hawthorne, if I remember correctly), I have yet to see an episode. A coworker of mine from a previous Library job praised it to the hills, though, so I plan on seeing it when given the time and opportunity.

John said...

I just had a coversation with my team, and they have never even heard of Monty Python or Blackadder. My heart bleeds for them. I should close down the library for a couple of days and have a 'training session' in order to enlighten them.