Grabbing His Cane

"Each year brings the retirement of at least one fondly remembered favourite. This past year was no different. Of all the series to disappear into rerun heaven over the past 12 months, perhaps none will be as fondly remembered, or was more influential in its time, than House, M.D.

Jennifer Morrison, who played Dr. Allison Cameron for six of House’s eight seasons, thought the final note, in which Hugh Laurie’s irascible Gregory House faked his own death — even going so far as to switch his own dental records — so he would be left alone, was pitch perfect.

“I thought it was a great ending,” Morrison said in a private interview on the Vancouver set of Once Upon a Time, in which she plays Emma Swan.

“I thought it was an interesting way for (House) to win his freedom. It was the culmination of eight years of him working, and what it meant to be free from that. The fact that he chose a friendship over his work was such a big deal for him as a person, because his work was all he ever felt safe doing. It was such a fresh and unexpected way to end it. For sure. Because if he had died, and actually died, then there would’ve been no room for his growth as a character. The show was always about growth.”

Morrison has fond memories of her time on House, and she thought the ending played to London, Ont., series-creator David Shore’s penchant for black humour and twisty surprises. The House finale was pure House, she said, and pure Hugh Laurie, thanks to Shore.

“David was always true to himself,” Morrison said. “He never wrote to satisfy other people’s ideas of how things should be. He wrote what he thought was authentic for the characters. Always. David’s an extraordinary writer, and I’m sure he put a tremendous amount of thought into the right way for (House) to have that moment of epiphany. The show’s no longer House if House isn’t House. You can’t have him suddenly evolve into this loving, warm person who’s great in relationships.

“It was eight years of these tiny little bits of watching him grow incrementally. The You can’t have House not be House. There wouldn’t be a show. So how do you end it in such a way that you maintain the integrity of who he was for eight years? I think that David walked that line perfectly.”

TV procedurals rule the world.

House was a procedural, in a sense, and it enjoyed a number of seasons as the world’s single most-watched TV series. ..."

Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/television/Bucking+trends+return+sitcom+shocking+ratings/7734602/story.html