Recently there have been rumours circulating, particularly around the cast and crew of House that this could very well be the hit show's final season. Of course, whenever a major character -- like Dr. Lisa Cuddy (House's love interest) portrayed by Lisa Edelstein -- leaves a show, the future of the rest of the series is always up in the air and its future is in question. With several major cast members up for new contract renewals, ratings slightly down and rumours that Dr. House himself, native English actor Hugh Laurie, beginning to miss life across the Atlantic, this season could indeed be the last one for House.
"Everyone loves House and would love to see it back for several seasons," a production assistant for the show admits. "There is no question the quality of the writing is as great as its always been, but House is an expensive show to produce."
In addition to the pricey star salaries most of the show's lead actors take home (who have been with the show ever since the beginning and their salaries continue to climb), production costs are also soaring. Simply put, House needs to keep its ratings high to keep the bean counters happy. So far, so good. Most TV insiders believe that the recent, small, dip in the ratings isn't enough to show Dr. House the door just yet. But, just a few seasons ago, leading man Laurie was honest in predicting he didn't see House running anything more than a respectable amount of seasons.
"Because of the nature of the show, and the character of House himself, I don't think we are meant for a long haul," Laurie said. "I think the character of House may be too unstable. The show right now -- because it is always concentrating on this one character so heavily -- it doesn't have that sort of easy stability of a procedural show where you can take people out and put people in, so I don't know if it is a 15-year show. I keep thinking there is a self-destructive element to House. It is like a guy standing on a window ledge. There is only so long you can stand there and then you have to jump back in the building. You can't stand there for 15 years, because then the audience says, 'Jump. Come on.' It gets too frustrating."
Laurie, though, admits he could be wrong about how long House will remain on the airwaves, confessing he has always been a bit of a pessimistic fellow. "You never know how long a show will be on, you never know that," he adds. "I am just convinced that the day that we put a down a deposit on a house that is the day we get canceled. That is inevitable. In fact the first season, I was in a hotel for the first three months, I was so convinced we were going to be gone. I didn't even unpack. I had a half empty suitcase. I just thought, 'Any day now.'"
However, Laurie is sure of one thing: when House leaves the air, it'll have nothing to do with ratings or salaries.
"It'll be our creative decision, because I think we'll know when it feels like we have said and done everything we wanted to on the show," he says. "We won't ever let it get stale, because we owe the fans a lot for their years of loyal viewing."
And, Laurie reveals he knows what has kept fans of the show coming back season after season.
"The show is unique, it is one of those things," he explains. "There is, of course, a suspension of disbelief to the whole thing. There are all kinds of things that are not really credible in real life. That is not the goal of the show. It has never been that. It had never been a fly-on-the-wall documentary. I think people may do start to enjoy and savour the structure of the formality and the fact that they know live or die the case will somehow be wrapped up in 45 minutes. There is something reassuring in that. Maybe people are comfortable with the format."
While he won't confirm it, chances are good House will be back next season.
"We have a couple of things, story-wise, that we need to tie up and take care of, and I think we might need more time to do it than just in the episodes we have left," he says.
Even if studio calls it a day at the end of this season, Laurie already has his next gig lined up.
"I am going back to London, and working as a cab driver, driving my children everywhere they need to go. Just ballet lessons and then sports and then this and that. That’s all. I like driving my children around. But, the pay is rubbish."
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House airs Mondays at 9.00 et/pt.