‘HOUSE’ (LAST) CALL: DAVID SHORE TALKS ABOUT THE END
It’s a sad, sad thing to see. Here at the Fox lot, the oversized doors of Stage 15 were usually closed, with a security guard often stationed outside, helping keep safe the secrets of the institution that existed within: Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
But for the last few weeks, the doors have been open. Piece by piece, door by door, wall by wall, crews have been dismantling PPTH.
And now it is gone.
Just an empty soundstage remains… for now, at least. Soon, sets for a new project will be constructed within those walls, and the Hollywood circle of life goes on. “House” creator/executive producer David Shore is all too aware of that. He recalls how cool it seemed at the time when, back in the show’s second year, construction crews started creating what would become the exterior to Dr. House’s home.
Until he realized that the facade being torn down was the entrance to “NYPD Blue’s” 15th precinct. “I loved that show,” Shore told us. “And I just realized, well, that’s the future. That’s the nature of it. There’s not a lot of sentiment.”
Being just days away from the show’s finale, it’s certainly a time for “House” fans to get a little sentimental. One of the most popular TV dramas of the past decade, its loss gives fans plenty to mourn — no more House, no more Wilson, no more Foreman or Chase or Taub, no more of the dialogue that was written so expertly and performed so brilliantly, no more of the “a-ha” moments that often signaled House’s break in the case, no more of the music-backed montages that captured an episode’s emotions so perfectly.
With that in mind, we spoke with Shore about the end of “House” — and its beginning.
Did he have an “a-ha” moment of his own, when the seeds of the show were first planted? (Click on the media player to hear David Shore.)
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Back when the show was conceived, did Shore have its ultimate ending in mind? And does the real finale come close to what he might have envisioned?
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The annals of TV history are littered with series finales that haven’t lived up to viewers’ expectations. After all, when viewers become invested in a show, its characters take on a new life inside each viewer’s own imagination.
We all have different ideas about where we’d like those characters to wind up (Shore admits he’s had plenty of people tell him how they’d like to see the show end), and so it’s up to the show’s writers and producers to craft an ending that, well, feels right. An appropriate ending that equals — or surpasses — what we’ve come up with ourselves.
And in an age where “spoilers” has become part of our everyday TV vernacular, it’s not easy to deliver a finale that hits the right notes and packs the emotional punch that can only come with the element of surprise. Which is why Shore said he’s taken plenty of precautions to keep the ending secret until it airs — and why he’s refused to talk about anything that could be construed as a spoiler.
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The series finale of “House” begins Monday night with a special one-hour retrospective at 8/7c on Fox, followed immediately by the cryptically titled episode, “Everybody Dies.”
Do you think the show can deliver a satisfying ending? What do you think will happen? Do you have your own ideas about how you’d end things? And do you think we’ll ever see another show like “House”?
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18 Comments
the series that began with criticism now will end hey actors must be devastated by the end of the series leaves série.DAVID proceed.
By: Janayna Salustiano - Posted May 21st, 2012 12:06pm
The character of House was what made the show in my opinion. He was annoying, frustrating , even repulsive at times, but brilliant. It was great watching how he could manipulate and uncover the problem. I rooted for him, for both good and bad things to happen. Wilson having cancer, brilliant way to write the ending, incredibly sad to watch and Cancer is awful. Wilson was the character that brought the balance. If he is gone, theres nothing left to balance out House. Its a great final ending.
There are a few other Doctor shows out there that are pretty excellent in their own way. But there should not ever be another House.
What I could see happening is something like what happened with Cheers. Dr. Fraser Crane had his own show. Completely different than Cheers, but the character was the same. I can see one of the team doing that. The what, how and who I would have to leave up to the brilliant writters out there.
By: Nanette - Posted May 21st, 2012 12:12pm
This has been my all time favorite show!!! I’m gonna miss it terribly!!!
By: Brande - Posted May 21st, 2012 1:10pm
Now there will only be 1 show worth watching “Bones”
By: Richard - Posted May 21st, 2012 1:19pm
Great show. I will really miss it. A lot of of my friends say that i’m just as cynical as House is. I’m even on Vicodin!
By: Daniel McGregor - Posted May 21st, 2012 1:29pm
It was cool to read about how the set went up and had to come down again, and it’s really sad to think that’s its all over. I soooooo wish House wasn’t getting cancelled… Do you think he could make a come back in the future? I know they’ve cancelled shows before and then brought them back again. Maybe this will just be a “break” for House? :/
By: Chantelle - Posted May 21st, 2012 1:45pm
House was one of the FEW and I do mean FEW shows that I never wanted to miss and now…..:( It’s ending….It was one of the best ones I’ve seen. Maybe they will change their mind HeeHee
By: Trish - Posted May 21st, 2012 2:56pm
I have so enjoyed watching House! I’m going to miss the show so much!!!
By: Linda - Posted May 21st, 2012 3:12pm
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don’t want it to end:( This has been one of the VERY BEST shows on television, since TV’s start!!!!!
By: Cathy S. - Posted May 21st, 2012 3:21pm
This is a very sad day today not only for me, but for all the people who also loved watching this WONDERFUL show made by the great Davied Shore! All I would like to say is that it’s a tragedy that this show will no longer be airing on tv anymore and that I will be anxiously waiting for the dvd to come out in,stores an complete my collection of House movies =) David Thank you so much for creating and sharing this show with us and i wish you the best in life and i hope you create something interesting as this AWSOME show that is no longer going to air on tv =( this show was what made my mondays worth waking up so early to go to school and come back home and expect to see house and his crazy ideas that would always make him seem like he is a jerk but he is a very caring man who’s interest were what saved people’s life! I also loved how he would mess with chase, taub, formen, and ESPECIALLY with Willson! House always made me laugh with his pranks, jokes, and sarcasm =D I LOVED HIM! And like i said i will be waiting for the last movie to come out and complete my collection. And when i do complete it i will see them all over and over again until i learn all the diseases that house and the crew have solved to cure people! That is how much I LOVE THIS SHOW! I can not imagine Hugh Laurie in any other show but as House! Again thank you David Shore and all the people who made this show possible =D I LOVE YOU GUYS and may you have many other succsseful shows in the future! I LOVED this show and i do not know what i am going to do without it =.)
With love <3
Alejandra Mejia <3
By: Alejandra Mejia - Posted May 21st, 2012 5:52pm
I have watch House for 8 years, I have seen some friends pass, we always looked forward to the next episode and like all good things they to will move on. House was a great show. I wish the best for Hugh Laurie and the rest of the cast. I hope that David Shore remains so creative and comes up with another medical series as brilliant as House. Really going to miss this show.
By: Brenda JS - Posted May 21st, 2012 5:54pm
kThis is a very sad day today not only for me, but for all the people who also loved watching this WONDERFUL show made by the great Davied Shore! All I would like to say is that it’s a tragedy that this show will no longer be airing on tv anymore and that I will be anxiously waiting for the dvd to come out in,stores an complete my collection of House movies =) David Thank you so much for creating and sharing this show with us and i wish you the best in life and i hope you create something interesting as this AWSOME show that is no longer going to air on tv =( this show was what made my mondays worth waking up so early to go to school and come back home and expect to see house and his crazy ideas that would always make him seem like he is a jerk but he is a very caring man who’s interest were what saved people’s life! I also loved how he would mess with chase, taub, formen, and ESPECIALLY with Willson! House always made me laugh with his pranks, jokes, and sarcasm =D I LOVED HIM! And like i said i will be waiting for the last movie to come out and complete my collection. And when i do complete it i will see them all over and over again until i learn all the diseases that house and the crew have solved to cure people! That is how much I LOVE THIS SHOW! I can not imagine Hugh Laurie in any other show but as House! Again thank you David Shore and all the people who made this show possible =D I LOVE YOU GUYS and may you have many other succsseful shows in the future! I LOVED this show and i do not know what i am going to do without it =.)
With love <3
Alejandra Mejia <3
By: Alejandra Mejia - Posted May 21st, 2012 6:12pm
Love this show will miss it so very much
By: Elizabeth - Posted May 21st, 2012 6:34pm
Dear Mr. Shore,
Thank you for your creation. What a wonderful eight years of high level, intellectual, earthy and honest entertainment. I loved the season finale as much as the eight years that preceded it.
One of my favorite things about House, M.D. was the way the show embraced atheism and freethinking.
I am a person with a number of autoimmune diseases. Yet, I actually found it extremely amusing when lupus would come up so often during differential diagnoses. I sometimes wished that real medicine worked as well as the medicine practiced by your fictional characters. I sometimes think that if there were more atheists and freethinkers medicine could work that well.
I wish you the best and hope that you feel just how much this series has meant to so many of its fans.
Best Regards,
Fran
By: Frances Welte - Posted May 21st, 2012 8:39pm
I can`t believe it`s over!
An end to an era… goodbye House.
By: gertruda - Posted May 22nd, 2012 1:33am
This is by far, very far, the best, most riveting, completely engaging television program of my whole life. In fact it needs a better noun construction to describe it, a moving, living, comic, tragic, serialized video novel.
A masterwork, and as happens in nature every 100 billion years or so, the perfect meeting of a character and the only man alive who could have played him.
Looking back over the last eight ( can it be ! ) years, incredible as it may seem, House healed me in many ways.
Thanks all.
Thanks Hugh.
Thanks House.
By: Jay Diamond - Posted May 22nd, 2012 5:00am
I love it. Especially House and Cameron scenes, they have a great chemistry. Thank you Mr Shore.
By: M. - Posted May 22nd, 2012 4:41pm