House, M.D. - Season Four Reviews

• Diluted. Over-priced.

  
  By A2DG655MYOVC0L on 2008-06-03
  Seasons One through Three of House are outstanding. David Shore's creation, Dr. Gregory House, is perhaps the most brilliant and thought provoking television character currently on air.
  
  Season four trashed this show. With the character load increasing nearly two fold; the audience is left longing for the enjoyable, and frequently hilarious character interactions between House, Cuddy, and Wilson. A few episodes aside, this show has become severely diluted giving it an almost 'daytime soap opera' like quality lacking the substance and excellence that it's audience has come to both appreciate and expect. It's time to either bring back the original cast, or move on.
  
  Instead of the same twenty-four episodes we would normally expect, season four leaves us with a mere sixteen episodes due to the WGA strike. Amazon's current sale price of $41.99 is insulting. While I'd gladly pay $30.00 to complete my (low-resolution DVD) collection, this is one season I'd recommend you pass on until the price is lowered or included in a season 1-4 box set priced no higher than $150.
  
  

• House, M.D. - Season Four

  
  By A2MZ1VBYTQ7MO5 on 2008-06-03
  The fourth season of "House, M.D." was one of its best seasons yet. This very entertaining (and popular) drama series has already three strong seasons behind it, and season four does not disappoint. I was kind of weary going into season four because of what happened at the end of season three, when everyone's favorite crabby TV doc lost his team. I wasn't sure if this show would still be as good as it was, but I'm glad I stuck it out for season four. Give the writers credit, because this time they decided to have some fun going into the season, and great fun it was. The show at times is very dramatic, and at other times it's very funny.
  
  The season starts off in the first episode with Dr. House still without a team and trying to diagnose a patient on his own, while Drs. Cuddy and Wilson (House's boss and good friend, respectively) try to persuade him to put together a new team by hiring some new doctors. The humor in episode one is still very much intact, especially in the scene where House tries to get ideas from the hospital janitor ("You were bouncing ideas off a janitor", Wilson tells him hilariously). When House finally decides to give in, there are 40 candidates vying for 3 positions on House's staff. And that's where the real fun of season four begins. The next several episodes turn into a "Survivor" type game where House eliminates the candidates one-by-one until he finally makes his final decision in the ninth episode. These episodes worked very well and it was a lot of fun to watch House play off these potential candidates. In the middle of all this, House's three former team members (Drs. Foreman, Cameron, and Chase) all return to Princeton-Plainsboro, but now working in new positions. The latter episodes deal with the three new doctors trying to deal with House as well as the patients they're diagnosing. And in an interesting subplot, Dr. Wilson finds a new love interest who just happens to be one of the same doctors who was trying to get onto House's staff and lost out. The final episode ends with a heartbreaker as House and company try to save the life of a person who was the victim of a bus crash, and House's inability to find out what really happened since he was also a victim of that same bus crash and has come down with temporary amnesia which makes the other doctors' jobs a whole lot harder.
  
  Hugh Laurie once again dominates this show as he has from day one. Lisa Edelstein (Dr. Cuddy) and Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. Wilson) provide great support as usual. Omar Epps (Dr. Foreman) is back and is given a pretty good amount of screen time since his character is now overseeing and watching the new team. Former real-life couple Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Cameron) and Jesse Spencer (Dr. Chase) are also back, but weren't given much to do this time around. This is due to the three new cast members whose characters were the ones that House picked to make up his new team. Peter Jacobson (Dr. Taub), Kal Penn (Dr. Kutner), and Olivia Wilde (Thirteen) were the best ones for the job, and if I were a doctor and I had to chose some new team members, I would have picked these same characters. However I would have picked an additional fourth member to be on the staff: and that would have been Amber. Anne Dudek was a major standout in season four as Amber, who has a personality that's just like House. This character ended up being the last to go when House made his final decision on who he wanted for his team, but she was back (surprisingly) in the later episodes as Wilson's new girlfriend.
  
  Because of the writers strike that shut down television production on all TV shows, the fourth season of "House" is shorter. Only 16 episodes this time around, but they're some of the best episodes that this terrific show has to offer. I hope it gets multiple Emmy nominations this year because it deserves them, and maybe this time out it'll win some Emmy Awards. My fingers are crossed.
  
  
  

• If for no other reason, the season finale is devastating.

  
  By A2BFIYZYNK54QX on 2008-06-22
  I've loved HOUSE since its inception for the most obvious reason: Hugh Laurie. This season decided to sidestep a little and really take some time to highlight the supporting characters. The moments of the series that give me the most consistent pleasure are the moments with Laurie interacting with Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein. Those scenes are attacked with gusto and a great deal of humor. The "medical mysteries" are slightly more edgy than your usual doctor drama, but don't really add to what makes the show great as often as they could. I will close this review by saying that the season finale is one of the most tragic episodes of television ever. I was sobbing like a little girl who skins her knee while finding out her puppy just ran away from home at the same time she found out that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny don't exist. I found it very difficult to stop crying for several minutes AFTER the show was over!
  
  

• Over the Line, Sagging Badly

  
  By AUWQCWVMOS7ZX on 2008-07-27
  I have to preface this by saying that House is one of my favorite shows. However this last season was almost unwatchable at times. In the first 3 seasons we learned that House could be a real jerk, but we felt that underneath it all he cared about his patients (and about his relationship with Wilson) and that his less admirable behavior was more from past baggage and not from malice and inherent nastyness. His game-playing usually benefited his patients or forced his team to recognize something in themselves. We forgave him his behavior because the net outcome was always positive. (And because he was always right, ultimately.)
  
  In Season 4, however, House is playing games just for the pleasure of watching the negative reaction. Worse, he is shown as being wrong in his diagnoses. This is over the line. I guess we're supposed to believe that he is sinking to a point where he will be forced to choose between his relationships with patients and friends vs whatever neurotic jollies he's getting from his negative behavior. But you can't change a character's nature just to fit your dramatic needs.
  
  He does indeed reach a choice-point in the final episode of the season, and this is the best episode this year, but the set-up for this isn't worth it.
  
  I do feel for the writers of this show. It's extremely difficult to keep a show fresh over 4 years (and more) and there is a need for longer archs and conflicts. Season 4 just wasn't one of their more successful efforts.
  
  

• Horrible season and over priced

  
  By A3659YA1RBWCOF on 2008-06-05
  Robert Sean Leonard was the only one who made this season slightly bearable. Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison weren't used enough and after a full, half season I still don't care about the new characters. There is not enough information on the original cast to thrust new ones into the mix. This show does not do well with a larger cast. It gets one star for the pretty green color.
  
  
• Outstanding Season
  By A1H6BHVS4XPLEQ on 2008-05-31
  House has always been one of the best dramas since its premiere which is not because of the medical drama, but because of the unique characters that make this show so much fun to watch.
  Of course, Hugh Laurie is simply fantastic in the role of the grumpy, sarcastic and unconventional Dr. House, but not only does Laurie give amazing performances throughout the series, in fact all the other actors do the same and have helped to create characters that one truly cares for, that are interesting and have an edge.
  The writing on this show is exceptional and the performances by the cast-members are some of the finest to grace TV and get even stronger the more the story-lines start to get more personal towards the end of this strike-shortened season.
  At the beginning of Season 4 House is alone, without his team Chase, Cameron and Foreman who were fired (by House) or quit. But it doesn't take long and he is running something like "House's Idol" to fill the three fellowship spots that Cameron, Chase and Foreman left.
  This part of the season is loads of fun and has incredible writing as well as interesting medical cases to maintain the typical House feeling from previous seasons.
  This Season gets stronger with each episode and the addititon of a certain female character promises lots of extremely funny and, for House unusual and challenging moments.
  Finally in the two-part season finale, which is "House, M.D."'s best to date the season ends on a very, very strong note that is both emotional (slightly unusual for this show), touching and fascinating to watch as House's Head and Wilson's Heart are examined and a story that has you at the edge of your seat is brought to life on your TV screen by actors whose performances in these two episodes alone literally scream "Emmy". (Robert Sean Leonard should definitely be nominated!)
  If you are already a fan of "House" then this Season set is, of course a must-have and for people who were a little disappointed in Season 3, Season 4 is way beyond better, although it is different to the previous ones. However for somebody new to "House, M.D." I'd recommend getting one of the earlier seasons as this Season relies heavily on the dynamics from Season 3 and creates a new House which is still the same though.
  House's best season yet and one of the must-buys for every TV junkie who cares for a great drama series with a stellar cast, a show that is intelligent and extremely witty at the same time as providing great medical and character drama.
  
  
• Superb season...again!
  By A3QPJ728H3OV5H on 2008-06-02
  I say this every year: how can "House" top its previous stellar season?
  
  And yet the divinely inspired creative combination of David Shore and Hugh Laurie have collaborated once again to deliver an outstanding outing in this fourth season. The bold decision to scuttle the previous team of Chase, Foreman, and Cameron at the end of season three was feared by some viewers, but the results were breathtaking in their creativity and panache. Shore's brave instincts paid off in glorious fashion.
  
  The irrepressible and difficult House sets up an elimination competition among highly qualified candidates to determine who would be left standing and ready to form his new team of diagnosticians. This season House was light-hearted, except when he was endangering his own life; fantastically flirtatious except when he was reeling from an unexpected death of a patient; hilarious and deeply serious in breath-takingly swift succesion in every episode.
  
  The two-part finale in which House questions his own mental abilities and the nature of his friendship with Wilson was one of the strongest episodes of television ever. The brilliant and magnetic Hugh Laurie shines throughout this quirky season with stunning supporting performances from Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, and the surprising Anne Dudek.
  
  This is definitely worth every cent to add to your collection.
  
  
• Still better than most of today's trash tv, but falling fast.
  By A1I3RFTJA0WMXI on 2008-07-16
  
  For me personally, this was the season that Fox basically shot itself in the foot. About the whole fellow-selection thing: If I wanted to watch Survivor, I'd watch Survivor. The show introduced too many characters and provided a scant amount of background about each one. What I really liked about the first few seasons was that we delved further and further into the characters' histories, peeling the onion back and learning more about them with each episode. The longer the show has run, mostly in season four but also declining in season three, the less we learn about the characters and the more insubstantial the episodes get. They used to be dramatic, philosophical, funny, heartwarming, touching, terrifying, amazing... Now it seems they only focus on comedy and cheap, soap-operatic thrills that test even the most staunch believers in "Creative License." The episode that really killed this season for me was Mirror, Mirror. It was just such a cheap, unimaginative piece of work that I really started to lose my faith in House as an original, creative series. House has slowly devolved and is now, sadly, pretty much like everything else on the market today.
  
  
• WHAT???
  By AAM6F7J2B0OQC on 2008-05-30
  How can this price be justified? This season has a lot less episodes and costs more than the previous ones... How is that fair?
  
  
• Worth it just for House's Head episode
  By A3DAT920M0N5MT on 2008-05-16
  Although this season was mediocre, it was all worth it just to see "House's Head" episode, where the season reaches its peak at the last 5 minutes. Those last 5 minutes are one of the best TV bits I have ever seen. Truly, worth sitting through the season just for this episode.
  
  
• The House Jumped Over the Shark
  By A2MVXFHBEOY77C on 2008-08-12
  I watched this show religiously for the first three seasons. I have been a major fan of Hugh Laurie's since the days of Blackadder III and of Robert Sean Leonard since Dead Poet's and Last Days of Disco. I even have all of the previous seasons on DVD and had set my TIVO for a season pass this past year. After the first three episodes I began to delete them without watching them. Part of the interest of the show was the interplay between House and his three underlings -- to have some elimination contest like a bad reality show really turned me off. I realize that they had to do something to mix things up since the show was getting pretty formulaic -- but bring in a bunch of doctors who we don't care about was not the answer. It jumped the shark. Too bad. It was far superior to any of those overrated CSI shows.
  
  
• Season four - a drop in overall quality
  By A3M6WFO58SATXM on 2008-08-14
  First let me start by saying House my my favorite show, I couldn't think any more highly of season 1 through 3 - intense, compelling, funny, great camera angles, writing, just everything about those seasons is perfect in my eyes. Even today watching those episodes for 5/6th time, I'm still so impressed.
  
  Season four took a drop, I can't see myself watching the episodes over and over like I could the first three seasons. Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer are no longer in the show (much, anyway) and all the great chemistry between House and his team is gone, replaced by three new boring one dimensional characters. The writing seems like it's slacking, resorting to ridiculous lines that feel as if they're only there for shock value.
  
  If you're new to House, I recommend picking up the first three DVDs before considering this one. It is still a great show compared to what else is on TV, but it doesn't stand out like it used to.
  
  
• Season 4
  By A3KPSYQKBU1YWG on 2008-04-10
  Season 4, although good is no match for the first three seasons. I would think that new blood in this series could be entered in a different way, keeping the original team together. I am not satisfied with the medical mis-statements and the original team being split. I don`t know what the ratings are, but I see my favorite series saying "OPPS" on the operating table.
  
  
• 22, 24, 24, Down to 16??? What is that at $41.99
  By A3MBV5GIPLK6YW on 2008-05-31
  I love House, and have few complaints as to the content of storyline but I do question DVD content per episodes which number in this season, 16, down from previous seasons, 1=22, 2=24 and 3=24 episodes. Season 3 purchased thru Amazon cost me $37.99 for the 24 episodes equal to $1.58 per episode. Season four will cost me $2.62 per episode. It's a shame price hikes seem to be a fact of life but should a price hike offer less value or content value equal to previous years?
  
  
• House Comedian
  By A2IGYM7K8MFJRC on 2008-06-17
  Changes in Plainsborough Teaching Hospital. House's staff are gone and replacements are wanted. There are plenty of reviews talking about the plot, so I'll concentrate on the effect.
  
  I think they overcooked it with this one. House is still played to perfection by Hugh Laurie and his interaction with Cuddy and Wilson is, as we have gotten used to, greatly entertaining. The cases too, are as mindbending as ever. However, the rest of it doesn't really work that well, in my opinion. There has been a shift of focus from drama to comedy in the fourth series, which sort of mucks it up a bit. Not that this sudden comedy is bad as such, but I don't see how it's justifiable. All the new doctors are stereotypical jokers and fools and you don't really care about them at all. Also keeping drs. Chase, Cameron, and Foreman in the opening credits is probably overdoing it slightly. Their characters are pushed in the background and only come forth in cameos once in a while.
  
  It's not a bad show, but it's not as good as it was before. 3,5 stars.
  
  
• Love the show but episode 3 hangs
  By A38W3HDFNNOVJA on 2008-04-02
  House MD is my all-time-favorite TV show (so far?). I purchased Season 4 from Amazon Unbox, and picture quality is good on my 720p LCD TV (I think DVD is just a bit better though comparing to Season 3 that I saw on DVD). I've seen 11 eposodes of Season 4 so far. I couldn't watch Episode 3 because Amazon Unbox hangs when I try to play it. I tried it on a different computer -- same result (Windows XP Pro on both computers). 4 stars only for this bug.
  
  
• Awesome Season, but Price is still a little High
  By AMVMGYU0BDLVW on 2008-06-02
  House gets better and better with every season and episode, but this asking price is still a little ridiculous! Amazon has come down in price a little and now I'm actually thinking about spending the money, but again, there's only 16 episodes! I like to buy each season b/c there's no commercials and the quality is a lot better than the internet sites which post them for free, but I don't think I can justify buying this season. Instead, I'll just watch them for free on the various websites.
  
  As for season 4, it was awesome! And if you haven't seen it, then this is a must. But if you also cannot afford/justify this high price, just search for the episodes online and you should be able to find them. But if you are wealthy, BUY THIS!
  
  
• House just keeps getting better and better!
  By A3MJMZF6NHCHXX on 2008-06-05
  I have no idea how the writers manage to do it, but just when I think that I've seen the best episode ever of House, the next one manages to top it. This season was really great, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that after the writers' strike, the writers didn't miss a beat; House just continued to be as awesome as it always had been. There wasn't a single bad episode in this season. My only complaint is that we don't really know much about the new doctor's on House's team yet, so it's hard to get to know them the same way we knew his original team. Also, the first part of the season, when House was choosing his new team was
  a bit confusing with all the extra characters, but neither of these minor complaints would even remotely take away from my 5 star rating of this awesome show; they do, in fact, make me all the more eager to receive my already preordered copy of Season 4!
  
  
• A good season, overpriced DVD
  By A34Q5F3POUV57Z on 2008-06-14
  Even though the season was shortened because of the WGA strike, this season was still solid.
  
  The price is ridiculous, as many others have said. It should be priced no higher than $30, given what the other full 24 episode seasons are going for. $39 for 16 episodes...nope, not good enough.
  
  
• This series needs therapy
  By A3SB58PKQOGHAK on 2008-07-03
  The concept of a narcissistic sociopath doctor with a detective bent seemed like a good idea, for three seasons as least. Unfortunately, House M.D. has now suffered irreparably from weak storylines, poor character development and lack of originality. The series is now a parody of its former self with the main protagonist engaging in even more bizarre, unethical and dangerous behavior. There is a fine line between suspension of disbelief and plausbility. House M.D has crossed this line and is now running off life support.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Genius has side effects
  By A255JJL8AJLJOO on 2008-07-03
  House is a show about a miserable misanthrope you'll learn to love because he's a medical genius with a very sarcastic attitude.
  
  This show has been one of my favourite ones for almost a year now and there are so many reasons I love this show so much:
  - The character House. It's pretty ironic that you love a character who is designed to be hated. He's brutally honest, can be a total a**, a drug-addict, unfriendly, but still: You really like him and you somehow want him to be happy but still he shouldn't change because that's who he is.
  - The cases. They are absolutely amazing. From a tooth-pick that almost kills someone to some other rare disease: It's almost something completely unexpected (but never Lupus ;))and House gets it every time. I know some people think the concept is reprehensive, but it's still very interesting.
  
  The humour. House's jokes, his total avoidance of patients, his mind-games with Cuddy or Wilson are just hilarious and he's always sarcastic and entertaining.
  - Hugh Laurie. WOW. Just WOW. Absolutely great actor.
  - The stories that don't involve medicine. Whenever we get into House's mind, "Three Stories" or the season 4 finale comes to mind, it gets truly amazing and the stories are well-written and cleverly plotted.
  
  
  
• Overrated beyond belief!!
  By A3O2X9R5OXWPQH on 2008-08-13
  How a show like this is still on the air is a mystery to me. This show should have ended after 2 seasons - now it has just become a parody of itself. Same plot regurgitated again and again - don't waste your money.
  
  
• Irritated and disappointed
  By A2FYU6MHE0F72K on 2008-08-17
  Add my thumbs down to the others. Hugh Laurie was absolutely brilliant in the first three seasons. My hubby is a doctor about the same age and accomplishments and he would LOVE to say some of the stuff "House" got away with!! Every second of the "clinic" story line (where House is forced to serve as per contract)is just hilarious. Just say what you think... imagine that! I enjoyed the story arc of each character and the astounding way the cast handled all the jargon. We NEVER watch medical series because so much of them are a load of crap. But we always loved Hugh Laurie and when I saw the first season at a megamart, I decided to give it a try.
  
  Then season four... yuck! I couldn't believe that they chose to add/replace the original cast and worse still, they couldn't make up their minds who they wanted to settle on. Dilute is spot on! Some of the newbies are so similar to the vets that I can't tell the difference!
  
  Also, the drug addiction/relentless jerk cop story line was just idiotic. Very few people realize that narcotics addiction is nothing compared to alcohol addiction. Continuing the scare tactics of pain pill habits bore and annoy me. Narcotic habituation interrupted brings on flu-like symptoms that last a few days. Withdrawal from alcohol is extremely dangerous... people die from it. Showing House going about his daily routine with the aid of pain medication was quite refreshing. Then, cue the evil empire music... Bahh! Humbug!!
  
  
• *sigh*
  By A7UI1GS9XFPU6 on 2008-08-21
  
  I absolutely adore Hugh Laurie; we go waaaay back.
  
  But...what can I say, after the uber lame Season 3, and a few episodes of Season 4, things took a major shift. What was once a great - and funny - show about the darkness of human condition, simply became....well, pure "General Hospital".
  
  So I broke up with House.
  
  Enough said.
  
  
  
  
• House md season 4... and beyond
  By A2PQLWV1TWXE19 on 2008-06-01
  First of all just let me say that house is my favorite show of all time. I love six feet under, and dexter, but not as much as house. Of course I miss the old team, but I have a feeling they'll be a big part of five. Just look at the case (which by the way looks great), you don't see taub, kutner, or 13. You see cameron, chase, and foreman. Wouldn't that mean that the new three seem temporary? All in all house this season did for me like the other three did. It made me count down the hours until the next episode. And just alone the two part season finale is worth the price, what an amazing season finale. Can't wait for august 19th, I almost wish summer was coming to an end, then season five would be starting.
  
  
• No like before
  By A3IVAJ70SKNQMH on 2008-08-21
  I haven't had so much fun with a show since The West Wing, and then they changed the cast aaaghhh why why?? why do such thing?, I forced my self to see the fourth season, and I still like House tremendously but, something was missing, it just was not the same. Someone please give us back the team!!
  
  
• House Fans Beware
  By A3ALYSMFO4YZ0A on 2008-08-26
  I was so excited when the forth season of House M.D. became available. My husband and I are huge House fans. I was somewhat shocked when I got season four to find that it only had sixteen episodes. I felt somewhat cheated. Then watching it I felt that the first five or six episodes, while okay, seemed more like some reality TV show where House is eliminating his choices for his team down to three. I became more interested in who was going to be fired next than House's brilliant diagnosis' and bizarre treatments. Once House picks his team, the shows begin to feel more like those of season's one thru three. But then the two part season finale hits kind of out of place with the rest of the season. I felt like I had skipped a couple of episodes. I don't want to spoil the season for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I will say that the finale was completely unexpected. True House fans might be somewhat dissapointed as I was, but true fans will still buy it and watch it.
  
  
• This is really expensive!
  By A3B7O74GI7V7XX on 2008-06-01
  House is a fantastic Tv. series, God, you know I love so much this, (the season finale was my favorite episode ever) but....this is excessive expensive. 41,99 US$ for the most short season (only 16 episodes) Come on!!!!!!! People don`t need to pay the cost of writers`s strike.
  
  About House: Hugh Laurie is a fantastic actor and Robert Sean Leonard a underrated character. He deserves more. Much more.
  
  
• Clever and Entertaining
  By A2GDEPPC8BAZRY on 2008-08-16
  I've said it so many times before, and played it for proof to so many of my friends- that now all that remains is to carve it out here for posterity: "House" is the most clever and witty medical tv series ever presented before the American viewing public!
  
  Hugh Laurie, who's British, plays the title character. (He played an amusingly droll Mr. Palmer in 1994's SENSE & SENSIBILITY, alongside Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet)- I therefore knew, even before I saw the first episode of Season 1, that this was going to be an entertaining show...
  
  Season 4 differs from the previous seasons because House's whole staff must be replaced due to circumstances laid out by, essentially, his own idiosyncrasies.
  
  This, surprisingly, hampers things very little. The sharp intensity of the storylines that has characterized this series- the conflict, heartbreak, angst and humor- does not let up for even a little while.
  
  Again, let me just say that the availability of Unbox has made it possible to enjoy the past season of this excellent program most engagingly!
  
  
  
• What are they thinking?
  By A3DO3XDKL7CSB5 on 2008-10-11
  Okay, so we had a great show, with a conventionally unlikeable but definitely fascinating main character, surrounded by a likeable and often interesting support crew. As Series Three progressed, House became increasingly troubled and dare I say unsympathetic (am I the only one to think that arch-villain, Tritter, actually had a point?)
  
  So the solution? Get rid of the sympathetic characters and in Series Four make House increasingly unsympathetic to the point of actual repellence. Series creator, David Shore, what are you thinking? Series Four is consequently the first series we have not bought.
  
  We hang in there with Series Five but not much longer. The character of House has virtually become a parody of itself, with credibility sacrificed to cheap laughs. And in these truly benighted times do we really need a hero who gets results by being selfish, self-absorbed and totally amoral? The character is on record in one episode as saying he needs an epiphany. Bring it on!
  
  
  
  
  
  

• House, M.D. - Season Three
• Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season
• House, M.D. - Season Two
• Heroes: Season 2
• House, M.D. - Season One