I Want Hugh Laurie Back...!

Help...! My favorite comedian has been kidnapped and is being held hostage by an American television studio. I believe they're paying him staggering amounts of money -- he's the highest paid actor in a TV drama -- but they've turned him into someone completely unrecognizable.  They've taken away his sense of humor, his lovely British accent, his mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and they have turned him into a hopeless drug addict.

Nooooooo....

According to the folks at Wikipedia, "House is critically acclaimed and has high viewership ratings. It was among the top ten rated shows in the United States from its second through its fourth season; in the 2008–09 season, it fell to nineteenth overall. Distributed to 66 countries, House was the most watched television program in the world in 2008. The show has received several awards, including a People's Choice Award, a Peabody Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. The finale of the show's sixth season aired on May 21, 2010. House's seventh season will premiere September 2010."

When the show was first announced starring Hugh Laurie, I was looking forward, with great anticipation, to watching it. Hugh Laurie is amazing, and before "House", Hugh Laurie was known in Great Britain and Canada, and thoughout the rest of the world, as a brilliant comedian. He was wonderful.  So, I kept waiting to see some of his comedic brilliance in "House" ... but ... nothing. According to A.A. Gill of The Sunday Times "...the show had "lost its sense of humour". The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan wrote, "House used to be one of the best shows on TV, but it's gone seriously off the rails".

Apparently, in 2005 Hugh Laurie appeared on the cover of TV Guide as "TV's Sexiest Man". and in 2008 House was voted second sexiest television doctor ever, behind ER's Doug Ross.  Bertie Wooster...?  Sexy...?  Well, that depends on how you define sexy, I guess.  A hilariously funny, brilliant, charming, bumbling idiot, yes.

"Dr. House, please crack a smile occasionally -- even just a little one."

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie as "Jeeves and Wooster" in their first trip to America.