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| It's not Lupus |
Oh Gregory House, while I entered medicine knowing full well that the day in the life of a doctor is nothing like what you do, I would kill to have your fictional job. Unlike the other shows included on this list, House does not need to be watched sequentially to be enjoyed. While the show does have story arcs that span across episodes, ranging from the superb "House vs. Vogler" arc to the less exciting "Does Cameron have AIDS?" plot line, most episodes follow the same basic formula. As opposed to recent seasons which have had more convoluted diagnoses, the cases in the first season of House seem pretty legitimately based in medical fact, even after a year of medical school. Of course the time it takes to reach the diagnosis and certainly the methods used to do so may deviate from reality (you don't have to be in the field of medicine to know House would have been fired at any real hospital halfway through the season).
Additionally, House's brilliant but self-destructive personality was novel and captivating in the first season, and Hugh Laurie may just be the best actor on network television. What makes Laurie's acting even more incredible is the fact that the man has a full-fledged British accent, yet sounds more American on screen then most of his viewers. In addition to Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard also does a great job as House's foil (and best friend) James Wilson and Lisa Edelstein is equally impressive as Lisa Cuddy. House is not the storytelling masterpiece that the wire was and neither does it have the captivating plot devices of LOST or the action of 24. However, season one of House is the pinnacle of TV drama that you can just pick up and watch .
