Shark Jumping

[blondebaroness.livejournal.com]

OK, I'm not usually one to comment on fandoms but IMHO House jumped the shark two weeks ago with the comment, "I don't care that I'm not the best doctor, 'cause I'm in love." Really?!?

Comments

[merig00.livejournal.com]

yeah last two seasons were meh... before they had a healthy balance and interconnection between medical drama and life drama... The last episode with the standard tv-series "dreams" just completely killed it for me.

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

I still watch House, but I feel it jumped the shark quite some time ago.

[southernred2.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have been disappointed in House for some time now. Last week's episode was it for us. We're done. The soap opera has gotten ridiculous.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

My thoughts exactly, blondebaroness. All I could think was "That is not the House I know." His whole life was based on solving the puzzles and beating the diseases -- and that, as should go without saying, was not a bad thing!! That was the thing that redeemed him, so to speak, when there was almost nothing else redeeming about him.

[lilliew.livejournal.com]

Wow.

Okay, I'm really glad I stopped watching now.

[palmaceae.livejournal.com]

House jumped the shark for me years ago when I couldn't stand the fact that every. single. episode was exactly the same, so yeah. But that is an awful statement and what, is House undergoing a personality change too while he's at it?

[kimana83.livejournal.com]

Ditto. I mean, I still love Hugh Laurie and House's snark, but every. single. show. was exactly the same but with a different disease. I only watched maybe two seasons before I gave it up. You've seen Mad TV's parody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcQsD0HU0SY), right?

[blondebaroness.livejournal.com]

I don't have cable...and don't watch much else. My addiction is Survivor. I watch Military History Channel at my bf's house. We love Military History!

[kimana83.livejournal.com]

I don't have cable either but there are several network shows I love! I'm addicted to Survivor. Were you thrilled, like I was, when Russell was booted, or were you annoyed because he's a good player?

[blondebaroness.livejournal.com]

I was happy to see Russell go. I didn't like him from the first. I would have burned his hat, too!

[kimana83.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear! I actually liked him OK his first time. He was so good at strategy. But at the reunion show, when he showed just what an arrogant jerk and sore loser he is (I had thought perhaps that during the game it was just for the game), I couldn't stand him after that. Gotta say I *loved* that he got so close and then lost again his second time. I don't get why he (and others) think he's the greatest player ever, when he completely ignores a major aspect of the game: the social game. As much as I'm tired of seeing Boston Rob (although I've always liked him, and I actually do think he's the best player to ever play), he's shown that you can be good at all aspects of the game. He rocks the strategy, everyone always likes him, and he works hard in challenges.

Anyway. It's fun to talk Survivor with someone. =o)

[palmaceae.livejournal.com]

that was beautiful and so spot on accurate. yeah, i tolerated it for the first two seasons and then i was so done.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

Hmm. If you'll allow me to express an unpopular opinion here:

I don't think being "in love" made House a worse doctor. I think the canonical evidence shows that being unattached and unhappy are equally distracting, if not more so. Consider how badly he screwed up the case in Finding Judas, for example.

House's fear that being happy will interfere with his gifts is an irrational fear, and if he loves the mightess goddess Reason as much as he says he does, he should put that fear aside.

Mind you, I was and am a Huddy skeptic. But I was beginning to like the changes in House, which I feel were appropriately incremental (Yes, even the "I don't care if I become a crappy doctor" line. Remember that he had to get piss drunk to bring himself to say that, which indicates that his fears were still very much in tact.) I know many fans would prefer that House remain in stasis, but in my opinion, a character who doesn't grow or learn from his experiences is frustrating, not a bucket of fun.

Just my $.02.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

Mind you, I was and am a Huddy skeptic. But I was beginning to like the changes in House, which I feel were appropriately incremental (Yes, even the "I don't care if I become a crappy doctor" line. Remember that he had to get piss drunk to bring himself to say that, which indicates that his fears were still very much in tact.) I know many fans would prefer that House remain in stasis, but in my opinion, a character who doesn't grow or learn from his experiences is frustrating, not a bucket of fun.

That sums up why I can't bother to connect to the series. What is the point if the majority of the cast are jerkasses, yet won't change? Pass. At least in the first three seasons, yeah, House was an ass, but not in a Chessmaster/"you all are my pawns" kind of way. It works for Lex Luthor. It works for David Xanatos. It doesn't work for a doctor who supposed to save people's lives. Just saying.

[writerfangirl.livejournal.com]

I have only seen one episode--the one with Jack Coleman--and I wasn't too impressed. My jaw dropped when House had his people break into Coleman's character's house! REALLY?! And I was told that this was common place! It's really appalling.

[neemarita.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched since Amber croaked. I really hate that show now.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

Here I thought it was Thirteen that killed the show. We have a winnah!

As for canon ships, I don't mind them if done right. Unfortunately, we're dealing with two very dysfunctional characters (House, more so, but he admits it). Otherwise, let the fanfiction writers have their fun, as whatever the canon writers come up won't please everyone.

[athousandsmiles]

It was paying fanservice to the shippers that killed the show, IMO, and I say that as a diehard House/Cameron shipper. (I never wanted my pairing to become a couple; it's way more fun to explore in fic for me.)

Once they brought in a new team and turned it into a soap opera, I was done.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

(I never wanted my pairing to become a couple; it's way more fun to explore in fic for me.)

Exactly. Put in enough ship hints, and let the fans figure out the rest. Frankly, it cuts down on the headaches.

It depends on ships, I'm alright with them, providing they don't clash with the series' overall theme. The show is supposed to be about House solving medical mystery, while trying to be less of an ass, right? You're right about the soap opera aspects, as they are tedious and you probably could do better than from what I've seen, on-screen. I'm not doing ship-bashing, just saying the execution could be better.

[athousandsmiles]

Yes, keep the subtext (between all the potential pairings) and let the fans have their fun. Once they put a pair into a relationship onscreen, it's almost always a show killer.

I never was a diehard shipper until House/Cameron, and I doubt I ever will be again. (I only hoped they'd keep the subtext between them, but instead they ditched Cameron altogether and that was pretty hard to take.) But I still enjoy exploring the possibilities in fic, and I'm happy to let others enjoy whatever their ship preferences are. From what I've read of how they portrayed House/Cuddy, I'm even more glad they didn't do House/Cameron. I guess it eases the pain of her departure some to know that she's no longer part of the train wreck. But if there are those who enjoyed it, more power to 'em.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

Between that and the "will they, won't they," it can kill a show hard. Killed Caroline in the City.

I understand about Cameron's removal, as she probably was the most likable, or least screwed up character (Wilson would be, but he is always in flux). That's a good way to look at it, as you're right -- they would have botched up her character or put her with the trainwreck that is the past couple of seasons.

[athousandsmiles]

Oh Cameron had/has tons of haters, still. It's boggling to me, actually. I saw an announcement today that Jennifer Morrison is doing a pilot for ABC and some of the comments on there were so hateful. (Carry-over from Cameron haters, it seems.)

Cameron was pretty screwed up, though she showed a lot of growth in later seasons, which they sort of undid at the end. But all the characters are screwed up, so I never understood why she got so much hate for doing some of the same things other characters did.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

I never understood such things, either. You blame the fictional character's creators for any problems, not the character himself/herself. He or she didn't ask to be in a Crapsack World or have all these problems. Jeez. And why her? I could understand the fan hate for Thirteen, but what did Cameron do to them?

Exactly, character growth. That silly thing. Heh.

[longlostblue.livejournal.com]

Let's just say I'm glad I stopped watching a couple years ago.