OK, first I have to say, the show really is pretty formulaic. This spoof is right on target
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBda4wfFlp0
But in spite of that 
it’s my favorite thing on TV these days.
To the other fans out there…what did you think of last night’s episode? On the one hand I felt manipulated (it was someone’s turn to get fired or die or something…) but on the other hand, I thought it rang true. I’ve been racking my brain to see if there were any warning signs I missed.
Dead Ringers is consistently brilliant.
I wish the Beeb would put out more
DVDs, but I’ll have to settle for
watching it via bittorrent.
They once did an ER parody which
revolved around “ER” standing for
Elizabeth Regina (which stands for
Queen Elizabeth, and shows up on
post boxes in the UK). In the skit,
Her Majesty mostly went about
cutting ribbons to open new hospital
wings, but she did it with appropriate
melodrama (“Shears, STAT!”).
Also, I’ve always been impressed with
Hugh Laurie’s American accent. My wife
saw him recently on Saturday Night Live,
and she said, “what’s with the fake British
accent?” I nearly choked from laughing.
This article explains all…
Apparently the actor Kal Penn was looking for an opportunity to leave the show in order to work in politics.
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/house-exclusive.html
I understand it was your decision to leave House. True?
KAL PENN: Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I’m going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They’re basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It’s similar to what I was doing on the campaign.When did you first learn Kal was thinking of leaving House?
DAVID SHORE: It was very early in the process that he told us that he might [at some point] want to move on and work in politics. He has been involved in a number of other things [while working on House]. He worked very extensively for the Obama campaign and he’s been teaching at Penn. Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, ‘I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.’ And you sort of think, ‘That’s admirable, but there’s no way he’s going to do it.’ This is a good gig he’s got here.
KATIE JACOBS: As time went on, it was still on his mind. And then we took a writers retreat right at the beginning of December and David sort of had this “A-ha” moment about how to both free Kal up to pursue other things and, most importantly, service where David wants to go at the end of the season with House’s story.
SHORE: The fact that it happened over a long period of time allowed him to pursue his goals as a human being, but also allowed us to make it work within the confines of the show.How did you react when you found out how they were writing Kutner out?
PENN: One of the things I love about our show is you never know what’s going to happen. So that news struck me in the same way we hope it strikes the audience: there was a little bit of anger and some depression. You really go through those emotions, especially when somebody dies in that fashion. Ultimately, it was a really interesting choice for them to make. We don’t really know why he did it, unless it’s resolved in the episodes after > , which, of course, I’m not privy to anymore. At least in [last night’s] episode, we don’t really know why he did it. There’s no note. There’s no explanation. And as a testament to David and Katie, that’s a huge risk. 'Cause it is going to make people upset, and it is going to piss off some of the audience. And, ultimately, in my opinion, that’s what art really is – when you can conjure up those kinds of emotions. And it’s rare nowadays to be able to do that on network television, but they managed to.
I was definitely shocked as Kutner was my favorite character besides House himself. I am glad it wasn’t due to some onset friction between the powers-that-be and Kal. I was surprised though that Kal didn’t even appear in the episode - his face is never seen so I thought that was a little odd that they wouldn’t have filmed some footage utilizing him before he left.
I think Kutner might have killed his own parents (or did something that enabled it) and was guilty about it. House will figure it out, and seemed to have a glimpse of it.
Yeah, Kal was on NPR this afternoon for the second time in two weeks.
House is pretty cool, but it’s nothing I want to watch often. I just can’t help from cracking up every time I see Bertie Wooster as an intense American doctor. I prefer Bones.
I haven’t seen the episode yet (it’s on our DVR) but NPR spoiled it for me this afternoon 
I guess it can be said that it’s generating quite a bit of buzz.
He’s getting ready for Harold and Kumar 3: Kumar goes to the White House.
I understand Kal Penn’s reason for leaving, but I found the suicide scenario rather hard to buy (even though I had read the spoilers, so I was expecting it). Maybe they’ll come up with a way to make it plausible, but to be honest, of all the characters on “House,” Kutner was the least likely, to my mind, to commit suicide (especially with no explanation…he seems the type to have, at least, left some kind of comforting words to his adoptive parents). It also seems rather extreme in that they’ve burned his bridges…there’s no room for him to come back, if he decides that he prefers acting to politics.
I’ve been a “House” fan for several years, but I’m feeling more and more that it’s jumped the shark. This scenario just isn’t working for me at all.
Redwolf
The whole thing has been spinning a bit out of control ever since the “group job internship” bit. I don’t think the show can last for a long time but I enjoy what they offer each week.
it seems like the producers don’t want to rely on the laurels of the strongest characters (or have run out of ideas for them), by diluting them with sidestories. The whole 13 bi-sexual gonna die thing has been a bit incredible.
If anybody was going to kill themself, it would have been Taub. He is so angsty these days. Even Wilson is kind of bizarre, if you think about it. Now, I guess they are bringing the original Cameron-in-love-with-House bit back. That was the teaser for the next show.
As for the Bertie Wooster bit, it doesn’t bother me. I am fascinated by the talent of Hugh Laurie to own an American character, and the most complex I can remember for quite a while.
Nonsense. Victoria Principal can always
wake up and find him in the shower.