More about Berton Roueche...

We talked about Berton Roueche and The Medical Detectives in class today, and one of the things that came up was the pacing of the stories (well, of the one we read for class, " ").  The general understanding seemed to be that an editor today would really slash the pieces to give them a faster pace.  I guess that is true, but I couldn't help but think about "House, M.D.," where the stories are, in a lot of ways, just as slow to unravel (all those false starts, dead ends, and red herrings [off-topic: where does the phrase "red herring" come from?  I will need to check]), but they just jazz up the narrative with pretty faces & bodies, and mildly salacious bits.  And generally a more dramatic opener, I guess.  But I really kind of like Roueche's understated tone.  In any case, I got a little distracted in class wondering just how much the House writers and creators were influenced by Roueche (turns out liquid forms of caffeine are not, in fact, substitutes for food - after a day of iced coffee & Coke, and some pretzels, when my head wasn't spinning, it was wandering!), and thought I would look it up when I got home.  The results of my search (God bless Google and Wikipedia, how did I waste time before?) are below, and the full entry is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_(TV_series)

Conception

In 2004, co-creators David Shore and Paul Attanasio, along with Attanasio's business partner Katie Jacobs, pitched the show (untitled at the time) to Fox as a CSI-style medical detective program,[3] a hospital whodunit in which the doctors investigated symptoms and their causes.[4] Attanasio was inspired to create a medical procedural drama by The New York Times Magazine column "Diagnosis", written by physician Lisa Sanders.[5] Fox bought the series, though the network's then-president, Gail Berman, told the creative team, "I want a medical show, but I don't want to see white coats going down the hallway".[6] Jacobs has said that this stipulation was one of the many influences that led to the show's ultimate form.[6]


After Fox picked up the show, it acquired the working title Chasing Zebras, Circling the Drain[7] ("zebra" is medical slang for an unusual or obscure diagnosis).[8] The original premise of the show was of a team of doctors working together trying to "diagnose the undiagnosable".[9] Shore felt it was important to have an interesting central character, one who could examine patients' personal characteristics and diagnose their ailments by figuring out their secrets and lies.[9] As Shore and the rest of the creative team explored the character's possibilities, the program concept became less of a procedural and more focused upon the lead role.[10] The character was named "House", which was adopted as the show's title as well.[7] Shore developed the characters further and wrote the script for the pilot episode.[3] Bryan Singer, who directed the pilot episode and had a major role in casting the primary roles, has said that the "title of the pilot was 'Everybody Lies', and that's the premise of the show".[10] Shore has said that the central storylines of several early episodes were based on the work of Berton Roueché, a staff writer for The New Yorker between 1944 and 1994, who specialized in features about unusual medical cases.[4]

Shore traced the concept for the title character to his experience as a patient at a teaching hospital.[11] Shore recalled that, "I knew, as soon as I left the room, they would be mocking me relentlessly [for my cluelessness] and I thought that it would be interesting to see a character who actually did that before they left the room".[12] A central part of the show's premise was that the main character would be disabled in some way.[13] The original idea was for House to use a wheelchair, but Fox rejected this. Jacobs later expressed her gratitude for the network's insistence that the character be reimagined—putting him on his feet added a crucial physical dimension.[10] The writers ultimately chose to give House a damaged leg arising from an incorrect diagnosis, which requires him to use a cane and causes him pain that leads to a narcotic dependency.[13]

1. ^ Mitovich, Matt (July 28, 2009). "Fox Moves Up Two Fall Premieres; Plus a Glee Video Preview". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/News/FallTV-Fox-changes-1008485.aspx. Retrieved July 28, 2009.



2. ^ Challen, p. 41.


3. ^ a b c Frum, Linda (March 14, 2006). "Q&A with 'House' creator David Shore". Maclean's. Rogers Communications. http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20060320_123370_123370. Retrieved January 2, 2007.


4. ^ a b Gibson, Stacey (March 2008). "The House That Dave Built". University of Toronto Magazine (University of Toronto). http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/cover-story/the-house-that-dave-built/. Retrieved April 5, 2008.


5. ^ Challen, p. 96.


6. ^ a b c d e f MacIntyre, April (November 17, 2008). "'House M.D.' interview: Katie Jacobs talks Cuddy, Cameron and House triangle". Monsters and Critics. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/features/article_1443308.php. Retrieved January 6, 2009.


7. ^ a b c d e f "House… and Holmes". Radio Times (BBC Magazines Ltd.): p. 57. January 2006. http://www.radiotimes.com/content/show-features/house/house-and-holmes-parallels/.


8. ^ a b c d e f Jensen, Jeff (April 6, 2007). "Full 'House'". Entertainment Weekly: pp. 44–47. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20016394,00.html. Retrieved April 10, 2009.


9. ^ a b c d Jacobs, Katie; Laurie, Hugh; Shore, David; Singer, Bryan. (2005). House Season One, The Concept. [DVD]. Universal Studios.


10. ^ a b c Werts, Diane (January 29, 2009). "Fox's medical marvel stays on top". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999278.html?categoryid=3530&cs=1. Retrieved April 5, 2009.


11. ^ a b c Jensen, Jeff (April 8, 2005). "Dr. Feelbad". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1043940,00.html. Retrieved December 7, 2008.


12. ^ a b Shore, David (2006). "Developing The Concept". Hulu.com. The Paley Center for Media. http://www.hulu.com/watch/21606/house-house---developing-the-concept#s-p2-st-i1. Retrieved September 16, 2008.

update

Since apparently it's not just C and myself who read this, I feel the need to add that C just texted, in reply to my "wtf with these essays?!" kind of message "Haha.  I'm staring at barbarella's [name changed to protect the guilty of heinously abusing a word processor], trying to figure out anything to say.  Why does she only profile chefs she clearly wants to bang?"  This, ladies and gentlemen (well, ladies, as far as I know) is entirely true, which makes the awfulness even worse.  If someone wrote so poorly about me I would take my chances with a human-monkey hybrid before choosing to repopulate the planet with that person.  Although that whole last-man-on-earth scenario has always seemed totally stupid to me, because if my only choice was to fate my children to a life of incest, and my descendants to a life of problematic, and likely ugly, inherited phyical and mental issues, I really don't think that would get me in the mood.  But the boredom, maybe.  Eh.  In any case, to keep up the pretence this blog is a "book-log" and not just me b*tching to the cosmos, I started Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett yesterday, after I finished The Reincarnationist.  Bennett also wrote something called Figures in Silk which was a fun, if somewhat fluffy, historical fiction/romance, but with an interesting look at the development of the silk trade in England, tied to all that craziness with the Shore girl & the War of the Roses.  I feel like I learned a lot, but I would need to check to make sure the information was correct - but the author lists sources for more reading, etc., on her (rather interesting) website (which you can read here; also interesting, but topic for another time - why are UK covers generally so much cooler?  also, just realized she's written some other stuff - should look into it if still feeling positive after Portrait) so I think it is.  I also think this new one should be good - but, somewhat, loosely, to my point, the main character is one of Sir Thomas More's adopted daughters, and I think More could totally be like this guy in the essay.  I mean, super promising, and then kinda huge let-down, inspiring all sorts of violent thoughts.  Can't quite get a grip on More, though, seriously; read a great biography of his daughter & his relationship, and have TRIED to read one about him, but Wolf Hall and The Tudors are just so much more.  Oh...I should really just think of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers whenever I am mad.  I just went from 0 to blissful in about a second.  I know The Tudors is not a book, but it gets a link & image anyways :)  Okay, calm now.  Will take another shot at my homework.

AAAAAARGH

The reading was worse than I thought.  One essay was lovely (C, if you're reading this, it was yours!), one was sorta pointless, but whatever, and ONE MADE ME WANT TO DROWN THE WRITER IN GREEN BEER.  And the worst thing is, in this flaming pile of dog crap that she calls a profile of an Irish imigrant "living the American dream" (actual, literal f***ing quote) and who reminds her when he "talk[s] about being an immigrant and grabbing every opportunity that comes your way, you feel as though you're speaking to your grandmother talking about when she first stepped foot on Ellis Island in 1920" this wac actually f***ing PUBLISHED somewhere.  I hope in her IMAGINATION.  Seriously, C, if you are reading this, and it's tomorrow (Tues.) please gchat me and talk me the hell down, because I want to strangle the profile's subject with the d*** strings from a f***ing Irish harp.  No, I want to tear out his guts and use them to string the harp, and then use THAT to play a dirge at his funeral.  While I laugh. 
I have not had such a visceral reaction to a chraracter in a long time and I just read a book this weekend where there was a slave owner who repeatedly raped his slave/half-sister.  And then I was like "hmm, I want to know more about their backstory, what an AMAZING subject that could have been for Perkins-Valdez to expand on." 
But this person I want to kill.  Persons.  Subject and profiler.  Well, can't do that, but clearly, I am never going to Tommy Doyles.  And once again the preferrable option will be for me to sit in sullen silence in the back of the room during class, because God help us all if I open my mouth tomorrow to comment on the paper.  And Kendall Square is not in Boston!  Maybe other people don't know the difference between the City on a Hill and the People's Republic, but that is no excuse for being sloppy.
Hmm.  Sometimes even I am taken aback by how violent and mean-spirited I am...but I guess that's because I'm not from an island in Maine :)  Good thing nobody turned in an essay this week profiling those d*** barefooted wanna-be hippies lolling about on Newbury Street playing their sitars.  I am probably going to be removed as Governor of Browntown, but something about the sitar just makes me want to hit people.  Totally the opposite of all chill and enlightenment-find-y.  Could just be the sight of other people's filthy feet out in public, though...yeah, let's go with that.