Dr. House

Gregory House, M.D. — typically referred to simply as House — is a title character and the protagonist of the American television series House (2004-2012). He is played by Hugh Laurie. House is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, where he leads a team of diagnosticians. House's character has been described as a misanthrope, cynic, narcissist, and curmudgeon. He is the only character to appear in all 177 episodes. The season 6 premiere is the only episode in which House is the only regular character to appear, besides Wilson (briefly). In the series, the character's unorthodox diagnostic approaches, radical therapeutic motives, and stalwart rationality have resulted in much conflict between him and his colleagues. House is also often portrayed as lacking sympathy for his patients and having a practice allowing him the time to solve pathological enigmas. The character is partly inspired by Sherlock Holmes. A portion of the show's plot centers on House's habitual use of Vicodin to manage pain stemming from a leg infarction involving his quadriceps muscle some years earlier, an injury that forces him to walk with a cane. This addiction is also one of the many parallels to Holmes, who was a habitual user of cocaine. Throughout the series' run, the character has received positive reviews. Tom Shales of The Washington Post called House the most electrifying character to hit television in years. In 2008, House was voted by BuddyTV second sexiest TV doctor ever, behind Dr. Doug Ross from ER. TV Overmind has named House the best TV character of the last decade. In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly also named him one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years. He was elected TV's Most Crushworthy Male Doctor over Doug Ross of ER in a poll held by Zap2it. For his portrayal, Laurie has won various awards, including two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Drama Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor from Drama Series. Laurie also earned Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.