List of House episodes
Encyclopedia
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, also known as House, M.D., is an American medical drama series
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
that premiered on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on November 16, 2004. House was created by David Shore
David Shore
David Shore is a Canadian writer, best known for his work writing and producing in television. As a former lawyer, Shore became known for his work on Family Law, NYPD Blue, and Due South...
. The show follows Dr. Gregory House
Gregory House
Gregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...
(Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
), an irascible, maverick medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
(PPTH) in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. In a typical episode, the team is presented with an unusual case; the storyline follows the diagnosis of the patient's illness, a process often complicated by the internal competition and personal foibles of the diagnostic team. The team leader, House, frequently clashes with his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy
Lisa Cuddy
Dr. Lisa Cuddy, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. She is portrayed by Lisa Edelstein. Cuddy was the Dean of Medicine and hospital administrator of the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. She also becomes House's love interest through the...
(Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
), and with his only friend, Dr. James Wilson
James Wilson (House)
James Evan Wilson, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is played by Robert Sean Leonard. The character first appears in the show's pilot episode when he introduces a medical case to Dr. Gregory House, the protagonist of the show. Wilson is Dr. House's only true friend,...
(Robert Sean Leonard
Robert Sean Leonard
Robert Sean Leonard is an American actor, who has regularly starred in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Since 2004 he has played the role of Dr. James Wilson on the TV series House...
).
In seasons one through three, House's diagnostic team includes Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison
Jennifer Morrison
Jennifer Marie Morrison is an American actress, model and film producer. She is best known for her role as Dr. Allison Cameron in House, whom she played for five-and-a-half years, and also as Zoey Pierson in the sixth season of How I Met Your Mother...
), Dr. Robert Chase
Robert Chase
Dr. Robert Chase is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Jesse Spencer. His character was a part of the team of diagnosticians who worked under Gregory House until the end of the third season when House fires him. However, he was then re-hired in season 6...
(Jesse Spencer
Jesse Spencer
Jesse Gordon Spencer is an Australian actor and musician. He is best known for his current portrayal of Dr. Robert Chase on the medical drama House and for playing Billy Kennedy in the Australian soap-opera Neighbours....
) and Dr. Eric Foreman
Eric Foreman
Eric Foreman, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Omar Epps.-Background:A neurologist, Foreman was a member of Dr. Gregory House's handpicked team of specialists at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's Diagnostic Medicine Department...
(Omar Epps
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...
). This team leaves the show in the third season finale "Human Error
Human Error (House)
"Human Error" is the twenty-fourth episode and season finale of the third season of House and the seventieth episode overall.-Plot:A Cuban couple travels to the United States after much difficulty, almost drowning in the ocean, to see House. Esteban, the husband, hopes that House can save his wife...
". The show achieved its highest ranking with the episode "Human Error"; this episode placed the series in first position for the week it aired. Each season introduces a recurring guest star, who appears in a multi-episode story arc. The fourth season was the only exception to this pattern. It introduced seven new characters who compete for the coveted positions on House's team, replacing Cameron, Chase and Foreman. House eventually selects Dr. Chris Taub
Chris Taub
Christopher Michael "Chris" Taub, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Peter Jacobson. He becomes a member of House's new diagnostic team in the Season 4 episode titled "Games".-Professional life:...
(Peter Jacobson
Peter Jacobson
Peter S. Jacobson is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Jacobson was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Chicago news anchor Walter Jacobson. He is a graduate of Brown University and Juilliard...
), Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
) and Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley
Thirteen (House)
Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House, portrayed by Olivia Wilde. She is part of the new diagnostic team assembled by Dr. Gregory House after the disbanding of his previous team in the third season finale...
(Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde is an American actress and fashion model. She began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including roles in the serial-drama The O.C. and The Black Donnellys. She portrayed Dr...
) as his new team; Foreman rejoins soon after. Following Kutner's death in season five, through a series of plot twists, House reacquires Chase, one of the original team members.
Since its premiere, the show has constantly received both high ratings and critical acclaim. Seven seasons have aired in the United States, the fourth of which was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
and included only 16 episodes instead of the regular 24. Despite this interruption, House achieved its highest number of viewers for the episode "Frozen
Frozen (House)
"Frozen" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of House and the eighty-first episode overall. It aired on February 3, 2008, following Super Bowl XLII; it attracted slightly more than 29 million viewers, making it the highest rated House episode to date...
", for which there were over 29 million viewers on the night it aired due to its position as the lead-out program for Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...
. In January 2009, House moved from its Tuesday, 8:00 pm ET slot to a new time slot of Monday nights at 8:00 pm ET, immediately before the Fox hit 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
. Fox renewed the show for a seventh season, which premiered on September 20, 2010. An eighth season was announced on May 10, 2011, premiered on October 3, 2011, and is expected to be Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
's last season.
The first seven seasons were released on DVD by Universal, encoded for regions
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
1, 2 and 4. The show is aired in more than 60 countries , with 86 million viewers worldwide. In the following list, the number in the first column refers to the episode's number within the entire series. The second column indicates the episode's number within that season. "US viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans in millions who watched the episode live while it was broadcast or by a few hours later with a digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
.
, a total of 163 episodes of House have aired, spanning eight seasons.
Season overview and ratings
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | U.S. viewers (millions) |
U.S. ratings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Overall rank | 18–49 | |||||
| Rank | Ratings/share | |||||||
| 1 | 22 | November 16, 2004 | May 24, 2005 | 13.3 | #24 | #20 | 5.2/13 | |
| 2 | 24 | September 13, 2005 | May 23, 2006 | 17.3 | #10 | #6 | 6.8/16 | |
| 3 | 24 | September 5, 2006 | May 29, 2007 | 19.4 | #7 | – | – | |
| 4 | 16 | September 25, 2007 | May 19, 2008 | 17.6 | #7 | – | – | |
| 5 | 24 | September 16, 2008 | May 11, 2009 | 13.45 | #16 | – | – | |
| 6 | 22 | September 21, 2009 | May 17, 2010 | 12.67 | #21 | – | – | |
| 7 | 23 | September 20, 2010 | May 23, 2011 | 10.3 | #42 | – | – | |
| 8 | 22 | October 3, 2011 | Spring 2012 | TBA | TBA | – | – | |
The show started on November 16, 2004, and has received a high viewing rating from the first episode to the current one. It has achieved a maximum 29.04 million viewers and its highest overall rank is seventh during its third and fourth seasons. It also ranked sixth in the 18–49 age range during its second season.
Season 4: 2007–08
Note: This season has fewer episodes due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
.
Home video releases
| Season | DVD Releases | Blu-ray | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Region A | Region B | |||||||||
| Date | Discs | Date | Discs | Date | Discs | Date | Discs | Date | Discs | ||||
| August 31, 2010 | 5 | September 27, 2010 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||
The DVDs have been released encoded for regions 1, 2 and 4 as complete season boxed sets. Season one was initially released in the full-screen format, while all other seasons have been released in their originally-broadcast wide-screen format. On February 10, 2009, season one was re-released in the wide-screen format encoded for region 1. Season six was the first season to be released on Blu-ray.
In North America, Region 1, there was a combined season 1–2 box set with 12 discs and a combined season 3–4 box set with nine discs, both released on May 19, 2009 A season 1–4 boxed set was later discontinued. In the UK, Region 2, there was a season 1–3 boxed set released on November 19, 2007 and season 1–5 boxed set released on October 5, 2009. A season 1–4 boxed set has been discontinued. In Australia, Region 4, a season 1–3 boxed set was released on December 5, 2007; seasons 1–4 were released in a boxed set on November 19, 2008 and the seasons 1–5 boxed set was released on September 10, 2009. The season 1–3 boxed set contains 18 discs; the season 1–4 boxed set contains 22 discs; and the season 1–5 boxed set contains 28 discs.