Here's a C/C question from today's
Matt Roush column:
Question: I recently got the first four seasons of House and have been devouring them. I just finished the first season and am about to start the second. I watched all of last season and enjoyed it, but frankly, the earlier seasons from what I've seen are far superior, and I'm pretty sure it's due to the team. I know this has been debated to death, but is replacing two members of the team with three other people really the best thing for the show? On the one hand, fresh blood can be a good thing, but if the fresh blood doesn't live up to the new blood, is it really worth bringing in? I know that the writers at the time didn't know for sure who the final people would be, but even so, Taub reminds me of a grumpy old man, Kutner as someone who was a little too aware of just how smart he was, and Thirteen...well, enough's been said on that. Even Foreman seems to have lost his edge. Is there something to be said here for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" And is this really something Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer are happy with? Getting massive amounts of screen time cut can't feel good. Sure, they're getting paid more than the new team members, but high amounts of money didn't stop T.R. Knight from leaving Grey's Anatomy after he got such little screen time. I just can't help but feel that they'll soon say "Enough's enough" and leave. Am I onto something here, or just paranoid?—Joel T
Matt Roush: From all reports, Chase and Cameron will be much more visible this season, which is a good thing. When we can look back with some distance at House when it eventually ends its run (no time soon, let’s hope), I think the consensus will be that shaking up the team the way it did was too drastic a change coming too soon in the show’s run. It has yet to recover from this, but I’m hoping this season will be a step in the right direction.