House
Admission – I have a minor addiction to the Fox TV series House. Everyone’s favorite pill-popping misanthrope has hired, fired, rehired most of, fired most the remaining interns and residence he’s had under him, has tried to have several under him (mostly female), killed at least one patient (with an assist from his almost-but-not-quite-yet team and alleged methodology/process) and yet, kept his job. This is after he’s driven away his original team (who, surprisingly, remain close).
Mega suspension of disbelief going on here. My biggest qualm with the show is that his *boss* should be fired for keeping him on staff for more than five minutes (which, I trust, would be the length of his tenure if this was not TV). She seems to serve no other purpose than to enable the idiot, genius though he be.
My biggest fear is that the Hugh Lorrie’s House character might be a (very) bad influence on impressionable young interns and doctors. They are, after all, so impressionable at that stage in their lives…
But other than that, he’s a great character.
There have been other insane/genius doctors on popular television – M*A*S*H’s Hawkeye Pierce comes to mind. But he wasn’t a misanthrope – he was just a perpetual frat-boy (until the writers turned him into a woman during the last couple of seasons). House will be caught pulling pranks (and outright law-breaking), but he’ll never be caught laughing with someone (laugh at them, yes. Not with them, however). He hates everyone, including himself and the God he doesn’t believe in, too much.
Except that he’s starting to have his doubts, isn’t he? Naw…
But maybe.
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