I really don't see anyone 'blaming' their disappointment in this season on HL, but what I do see are a lot of posts where the posters feel bad for him because of the 'awful and embarrassing' material he has to work with. Personally, I think that's silly.

Personally, I think that's silly. I think it's silly too. There's nothing at all embarassing about what Hugh has done on that show this year. So, the episodes aren't up to everyone's standards? Fine. But, Hugh's not being humiliated on a minute by minute basis. For that matter, and interestingly (to me, at least) there isn't a popular or unpopular opinion on this season as best as I can tell. There are fifty different POVs. You need look no further than the la-*test*-('") thread on house_daily about the final four newbies. It's pretty amazing. With previous arcs it's been very easy. You loved Tritter or hated him. You loved Stacy or hated her. Hating Vogler seemed to be the popular pasttime, but the episodes themselves were redeemed in many ways and the majority or "popular" vote would have been in their favor when it came to character development. With these episodes the opinions are all over the place and there is no favorite or least favorite character. Each one is hated, each one is loved, each one is tolerated and so on. That thread pretty much sums up the feelings about this season as best as I can tell: there are no standard feelings about the season. Fortunately (for me, because I'm not interested in that nonsense) there don't seem to be a lot of "poor baby Hugh" or "Hugh Laurie is ruining the show!" opinions running rampant over there. I haven't read the "other" board in weeks so I don't know who is saying what about Hugh or why, although I did enjoy DOB's comment above about the group that don't like Hugh or the show, etc. The house_daily thread included multiple appearances from a poster who's flounced more times than I can count, hates the show, David Shore and probably Hugh as well. It's hard to keep track. She's probably still at that other place as well, but, you know, see above. I get why people who are frustrated and upset with the direction of the show or disappointed in the quality would continue to discuss it and complain about it and bitch about how it's not as good as it was, but I don't understand why someone would still be there, watching it and discussing it over a year after they first declared that they were no longer going to watch it anymore. Which reminds me: I haven't hung out in places that blame Hugh for the direction of the show, but it does always make me laugh to see the finger pointed at Hugh wrt why the House/Cameron ship has never amounted to anything. They clung to hope, after he made some positive comments, that he was "campaigning" for it. Then, when it didn't happen, he was responsible for it ending. Of course Jesse Spencer, Katie Jacobs, David Shore, Lisa Edelstein and Jennifer Morrison are all responsible too, but that Hugh got blamed always kind of cracked me up because...huh? Re: the duckwalking and such... Sometimes I think Hugh does something on the set just for the fun of it and he may not know which take they used. He may have done a lower key take. In fact, he may have thought it would be fun for a blooper reel, but the editor or director decided it was just too good to pass up. Of course Hugh isn't going to know which take they're going to use, but I have a little bit of a hard time believing that he does "blooper takes" on purpose when they're trying to get it right. When a shot is blown, okay, but while they're actually filming a scene without error I can't see him saying "fuck it, this will look good on the end of season gag reel!". It doesn't really fit with the Hugh that he and the other actors and producers keep feeling the need to outline for us. If House is doing something on screen I'm pretty sure that there was a conscious decision made behind him doing it there at that time.

I didn't know people were blaming HL for the quality of the show. Seems misplaced. I think HL and RSL do a phenomenal job with the material they're handed. What I got from the S3 blopper reel is that HL really enjoys working with RSL, they're very comfortable with each other, and they have really awesome chemistry, which is difficult to create solely by acting. I got a different impression from his S3 blooper interactions with LE and OE.

When a shot is blown, okay, Yeah, that's what I was meaning, thought not what I said :-) That the take was already blown and he just ran with it for fun and maybe someone liked it and used that take. I'd never even considered the idea that he sits around thinking up things for the blooper reel. That would be silly and he's way too intense and professional as is everyone else there. As for blaming him for the quality of the show? Weird. I guess if people don't like it, he's the lightning rod for criticism. I'd say crediting HL for the high quality of the show would be more my response. And, honestly, I've just watched this whole season in the last couple of days and like it way better: House just seems to be so packed with clever lines, interesting concepts and stories, and phenomenal acting, at least in the major roles, that it just is too much to take in in one viewing. Even episodes I thought I disliked changed my mind once I took my focus away from some irksome piece and started to take in all that was being presented, shown, suggested, and hidden.

For those of you in the UK (and possibly elsewhere in Europe?), it looks like CNBC will show one of Hugh's appearances on Leno Saturday. Info from mydigiguide.com: Time: 20:00 to 20:45 (45 minutes long). When: Saturday 24th November on CNBC Chat show with host Jay Leno. Jay chats with the cantakerous Dr House, British thesp Hugh Laurie better known for his comedy roles. This is the UK/European CNBC, not the US version.

Is this the one he did this season, do you know? Because I liked that one, and I usually hate to see how uncomfortable is at these things. He seemed quite relaxed, and of course the vest made me laugh. If it's the older one, I think I'll pass. Doubt CNBC is on my cable anyway. If any of you can recommend some interview on Marykirs site that I can watch without feeling like hiding behind the couch, please let me know!

jonne I'd say there's something interesting in nearly all his interviews. The only ones that were genuinely cringeworthy were because the hosts were so utterly self-absorbed (the dreadful Dennis Miller), oblivious (Regis) or mean-spirited and oblivious (Letterman); though on the Letterman one you do get to see the picture of HL's dad getting his olympic medal, you also have to put up with a crude joke about the dad whom HL reveres enormously. The Ferguson ones are delightful, the Leno ones mostly fine (the most recent the best), the Ellen ones have at least a moment or two that are HL at his most uncomfortable (watching himself) but also adorable moments. I also love him on the British chat shows (Wogan and Parkinson are great) because he is more relaxed (at least in the last ten years or so) on his home ground. In fact, the more I look at HL's work (not just on talk shows) I find he's very often got a cringe factor built-in, sometimes gently (fortysomething) and sometimes in your face (some of his more aggressive ABoF&L characters) which I only bring up to say that the cringe factor is something he seems to like to explore both in himself and in having that effect on others others (a bit like Andy Kaufman used to do, though HL has entirely different methods) which he uses to great effect in his portrayal of G. House, M.D.. More than you wanted to hear, right? ;-)

jonne, there's not enough information in the digiguide listing (i.e. names of other guests...) to know for sure, but I'd assume they are showing the most recent interview. boffle, it seems to me that most humo(u)r is based on discomfort, highlighting the more embarrassing bits of life, cultural/lifestyle differences, etc.. So it's not surprising that some of his characters have that cringe factor.

From Boffle: The Ferguson ones are delightful, the Leno ones mostly fine (the most recent the best), I love the Ferguson interviews. I definitely agree that his most recent interview with Jay Leno was so much more relaxed. In fact, I got the distinct feeling that Jay and Hugh had spent time together socially between appearances. edited by GG to remove extra tag

Thank you all! I'm totally OK with cringeworthy humour. ABOFL, Blackadder and House all (more or less) have that, and I love it. I just can't bear looking at him when he is so uncomfortable while not acting, but just being questioned about himself. The things I read about Ellen make me determined never to watch it.

Yeah, to be it's much more enjoyable watching a comfortable Hugh give an interview. Maybe he can have a little blushy moment, but if the whole interview is just about making him uncomfortable, then boo. Say what you want about Jay Leno, it does seem that he doesn't go out of his way to embarrass his guests. Add me to the list of those who really want to see Hugh on Conan's show though.

I just can't bear looking at him when he is so uncomfortable while not acting, but just being questioned about himself. The things I read about Ellen make me determined never to watch it. If you rely on other people to do your decision making for you you might miss out. The second Ellen interview has an uncomfortable moment with the old Polaroid commercial, but you base the whole thing on that one moment then you miss out on the great game with him and Tommy Lee. You don't watch Dennis Miller because some folks find him smug and you miss the only season one or early season two interview that's not so rigidly scripted that you can predict the questions before they're asked. Not to mention the fact that Hugh didn't seem at all uncomfortable in that interview. Maybe he can have a little blushy moment, but if the whole interview is just about making him uncomfortable, then boo. I'm not sure that I've seen any show where the intent of the interview seemed to be making Hugh uncomfortable and nothing more.

While HL was certainly embarrassed about the Polaroid commercial, I found it funny. He seemed to have a sense of humor about it, cracked a good joke about it and they moved on with the interview. He's a big boy, and it didn't look like he was about to slit his wrists because he saw himself onscreen. It's also worth noting that, whether you like the Dennis Miller interview or not, that's the only talk show host he's apparently actually friends with off-screen.

I think every H/W fan should watch the Leno interview because it is TRULY AMAZING given that the TPTB are trying to market HL's character House as a sex symbol that no woman can resist. After that interview I just totally fell in love with HL all over again.