Michael Tritter
Encyclopedia
Detective Michael Tritter is a recurring fictional character in the 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...

 House
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...

, portrayed by David Morse
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...

. He is the main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 of the third season, which ran between 2006 and 2007. Tritter is a police detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

, who tries to get 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...

) to apologize for leaving him in an examination room with a thermometer in his rectum. After House refuses to apologize, Tritter researches House's background and discovers the doctor's Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...

 addiction. Tritter turns people close to House against him and forces House to go to rehab
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

. When the case ultimately comes to court, the judge sentences House to one night in jail, for contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

, and finishing his rehabilitation, telling Tritter that she believes House is not the drug addict he tried to make him out to be.

The character was created as somebody who could go "toe-to-toe" with House. Morse, who had never seen the show before, was unsure if he could portray the character and was not impressed after familiarizing himself with the show. The excited reaction of his friends to the acting opportunity finally convinced him to take the role. Initial critical responses to the character were mostly positive, but critics later felt that the seven-episode Tritter story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...

 became "boring"; however, Morse was praised for his portrayal and gained an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Guest Supporting Actor.-Award winners:1970s*1975: Patrick McGoohan – Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light...

 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 nomination for his appearance in the episode "Finding Judas". Morse stated in a 2006 TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

interview that, although he had discussed it with writers of the show, bringing the character back on the show would be "practically impossible."

Storyline

Tritter first appears in the episode "Fools for Love
Fools for Love
"Fools for Love" is the fifth episode of the third season of House and the fifty-first episode overall.-Plot:A young interracial couple is hospitalized after the husband, Jeremy, attacks robbers who threaten his wife, Tracy. Her airways close and she collapses, apparently experiencing anaphylaxis....

". His character is a police detective who suffers from a severe irritation in the area of his groin, which he believes to be caused by a sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...

, and who becomes a patient of the walk-in clinic. Although House diagnoses Tritter with dry skin, a common side effect of the nicotine gum
Nicotine gum
Nicotine gum is a type of chewing gum that delivers nicotine to the body. It is used as an aid in nicotine replacement therapy , a process for smoking cessation and quitting smokeless tobacco. The nicotine is delivered to the bloodstream via absorption by the tissues of the mouth.It is currently...

 that Tritter is chewing, Tritter requests that a sample be tested. House declines on the grounds that he has already met this month's quota for indulging "stubborn idiots". After Tritter causes House to trip, the doctor feigns acquiescence, but insists he has to take Tritter's temperature rectally. After inserting the thermometer, House leaves the room, with no intention of returning. Tritter later complains about his treatment to House's boss, 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:...

), saying that he would rather "beat the crap out of" House than sue him; however, House refuses to apologize. Later that night, Tritter pulls House over for a traffic violation and arrests him after finding unprescribed Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...

 pills in his pocket. Other charges brought up against House include resisting arrest and driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...

 (DUI).

In the next episode, "Que Será Será", Tritter searches House's apartment and finds a large quantity of Vicodin pills and two apparently forged prescriptions that bear the name of House's friend 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...

). During "Son of Coma Guy" and "Whac-A-Mole", Tritter pressures Wilson and members of House's diagnostic team to testify against him, but they all refuse. In "Finding Judas", Cuddy finds Tritter spending his day off looking through the hospital's log for evidence against House. She accuses him of not having a life and "personalizing every slight." Tritter responds that "nobody [at the hospital] is innocent", as everyone allows House to treat patients despite knowing of his Vicodin addiction and that it takes a police detective to uncover what the doctors are deliberately hiding. At the end of the episode, Wilson visits Tritter and indicates his willingness to testify.

In "Merry Little Christmas
Merry Little Christmas
"Merry Little Christmas" is the tenth episode of the third season of House and the fifty-sixth episode overall.-Plot:Dr. Wilson attempts to create a deal between Detective Tritter and Dr. House, but House stubbornly refuses, in large part because the deal involves House spending up to two months in...

", Tritter and Wilson work out a deal to allow House to continue practicing medicine if he pleads guilty and spends two months in rehab. Meanwhile, House uses a dead patient's name to obtain Oxycodone
Oxycodone
Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from opium-derived thebaine. It was developed in 1916 in Germany, as one of several new semi-synthetic opioids in an attempt to improve on the existing opioids: morphine, diacetylmorphine , and codeine.Oxycodone oral medications are generally...

 pills as a Vicodin replacement drug. When he visits Tritter early the next morning to agree to the deal, Tritter says the deal is off, after going through the pharmacy's log and reading that House signed for a dead man's drugs.

In the final days leading up to House's court case, House realizes the severity of the situation and finally apologizes to Tritter (episode "Words and Deeds"). When Tritter refuses to accept the apology, House goes into rehab, putting on a show for Tritter and the judge, but Tritter cites his experiences with addicts as evidence House has not changed. The judge tells Tritter that she does not believe House to be the drug dealer that Tritter tried to show him to be and orders Tritter to move on. Just before the bailiff escorts House out of the courtroom, Tritter tells him, "Good luck. I hope I'm wrong about you."

Personality

The main antagonist of the third season, Tritter is a "stubborn," "vengeful," and extremely determined police detective. According to David Morse, the offensive thermometer incident in "Fools for Love" made it easy for Tritter to stand up to House; as House's equal, Tritter "gets who House is on all levels and can really shake his foundation." Tritter's experiences with drug addicts color his view of House, and he becomes so morbidly obsessed with House that, according to executive producer Katie Jacobs
Katie Jacobs
Katie Jacobs is an American television producer and director. Together with her husband, Paul Attanasio, the couple run Heel and Toe Films production company, which produces the Fox series House and the now defunct series Century City...

, the story arc turns into "a battle of egos" between them. The character shows a manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

 streak when he forms a plan to coerce each member of House's team to testify separately in "Finding Judas." Robert Bianco of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

described Tritter as an initially "legitimately, if belligerently, aggrieved adversary" character who later morphs into "some kind of insane supercop, tearing his way through the hospital and the Constitution at will." In spite of his adversarial and manipulative acts, however, he maintains a very soft-spoken and even-keeled demeanor when dealing with people, especially House, in contrast to House's generally denigrating treatment of others.

Creation and casting

The Tritter character was created as someone to go "toe-to-toe" with House. The producers envisioned a character with an inner strength, intelligence, and single-mindedness to match that of House. In 2006, House creator 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...

 contacted actor David Morse
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...

, with whom he had previously worked on Hack, for a guest-starring episode arc on the show. According to Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...

, Morse's earlier portrayals of "scary" cops (in 16 Blocks
16 Blocks
16 Blocks is a 2006 crime thriller film directed by Richard Donner. It stars Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. The movie unfolds in the real time narration method.- Plot :...

and Hack) helped him clinch the role.

Morse was unfamiliar with the show. After watching several House episodes, he was surprised that the show had a strong audience with "[such] a total jerk" as the lead character. It was not until Morse told a few long-time friends about the job offer that their enthusiastic reaction convinced him to take the role. Katie Jacobs
Katie Jacobs
Katie Jacobs is an American television producer and director. Together with her husband, Paul Attanasio, the couple run Heel and Toe Films production company, which produces the Fox series House and the now defunct series Century City...

, executive producer of House, was impressed by Morse's performance. In a 2006 TV Guide interview, Morse said that although he discussed the possibility with House writers, it would be "practically impossible" to get the character to return in any later seasons.

Reception

Initial responses to the character were mostly positive. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

declared Tritter the best male villain of the fall of 2006. 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:...

, who portrays 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...

 on House, named David Morse as one of her favorite House guest stars, saying that he did a great job portraying the character. Barbara Barnett from Blog Critics Magazine and Charles McGrath of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

compared Tritter to Inspector Javert of Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...

, and Alynda Wheat from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

stated that Tritter annoyed House more than any other character, surpassing other antagonists such as Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek
Anne Dudek
Anne Louise Dudek is an American actress, known for her role as Dr. Amber Volakis on the television show House and her leading role on UK television series The Book Group as well as playing Francine Hanson in the series Mad Men...

), Stacy Warner (Sela Ward
Sela Ward
Sela Ann Ward is an American movie and television actress, perhaps best known for her television roles as Teddy Reed on the American TV series Sisters and as Lily Manning on Once and Again...

) and Lucas Douglas (Michael Weston
Michael Weston
Michael Weston is an American television and film actor. His best-known roles are the private detective Lucas Douglas on House, the homicidal meth addict Jake in the critically acclaimed HBO drama Six Feet Under and Pvt...

). Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

s Stuart Levine considered Tritter a "worthy foe" for House.
However, the continued character arc increasingly bored critics. Staci Krause of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 found the first few episodes of Season 3, in which House recovers from being shot, more interesting. In a review of "Que Sera Sera," Entertainment Weeklys Michelle Kung noted that while David Morse is a fine actor, "his cop is so ridiculously one-note and revenge-bent that his scenes are often just excruciating to sit through." In a review for "Fools for Love," Sara Morrison of Television Without Pity doubted that Tritter's revenge on House was worth his time and aggravation, and later called the Tritter arc an "insane quest for ass-thermometer justice." The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...

s Alan Sepinwall stated that "pitting House against a comedy-impaired cop was both dull and not a fair fight."

The show's fans had shown dislike for other antagonists with multi-episode guest-starring arcs, and critics suspected that Tritter's character would receive similar disdain. The conclusion of the storyline, and Tritter's departure from the show, were described by USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

critic Robert Bianco as a Christmas gift for fans of the show. Morse jokingly stated after his departure that various fans had told him of their hate for Tritter after what the character had done to Dr. House.

Morse, however, gained mainly positive responses to his portrayal of Tritter. The Star-Ledgers Alan Sepinwall called Morse a "superb actor," and Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune stated that Morse's "understated performance" made Tritter all the more scary. Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...

's Daniel Fienberg regarded Morse as "one of our very best character actors." Cynthia Littleton of Variety, who already considered Morse's work in St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...

Emmy-worthy, was glad that Morse's submission of the episode "Finding Judas" for a 2007 Emmy Awards consideration was accepted in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Guest Supporting Actor.-Award winners:1970s*1975: Patrick McGoohan – Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light...

." The award eventually went to John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...

 for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American dramedy television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It ran for 22 episodes.The series takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional television network NBS , whose format is similar to that of NBC's...

.

External links

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