Sometimes You Get What You Need: The Satisfaction Thread
Some of y'all may be bitter, but some of you are...not. By popular request, here is a place to discuss the things that you like about the show. This is a place to celebrate the happy. As with the Bitterness thread, no one can harsh on your happy mellow here. If you find a topic here that you want to discuss in detail, take it to the appropriate thread (general season, episode, character, etc.) And if you are discussing spoilers, please please please make sure to spoiler bar them!!!!!!!!! So, go forth and enjoy!

(DON'T READ MY POST UNTIL YOU READ BOFFLE'S. It's definitely her thread. :D ) *sigh* Let me grab my girly drink and sunglasses and bask in the satisfaction for a bit... Ahhhh. :) Okay, I am happy that Cuddy finally got her baby. She deserves it. The woman deserves to be happy. The smile on her face at the end of "Joy to the World" was beatific. I'm not so naive to believe that it will be easy, but it's a good character development for her.

It is wonderful to have a place where people are going to say good things about the show instead of picking it apart. I like Cuddy's new storyline, the fact that Wilson had a story of his own beyond being House's sidekick, Kutner's quirky personality and insights, Spoiler that picture with the baby and House staring each other down, End Spoiler, Chase in mint green scrubs, last season's final two episodes, Hugh Laurie's amazing abilities, and the possibility that we are looking at some character change for House. Of course, there are some things I don't like, but I am glad to concentrate on the positive for a while! Mod Note: Careful - promo pictures are considered spoilers here, so please spoiler tag. Anything that has not aired in the ep, promos, pix, even episode names are spoilers here so tag accordingly. Thanks, Fid

I am happy that TPTB seem as invested as I am in House and Cuddy's relationship. As I predicted - and as David Shore recently said - House/Cameron turned out to be a plot device that played itself out. And I'm glad that it did. The decision to develop House/Cuddy is definitely one of the few things worth watching about this season, in my opinion. But, yes, let's focus on the positive. I'm happy that we are getting to see another side of House - his softer side. Whether in his attempts to get back together with Wilson or by getting Cuddy her med school desk as a gift for her new office. I'm interested and I want more.

Soooo happy to see this thread. No, it's not mine, but I 'm wildly in favor of having a place to "accentuate the positive." I sure do love House and give thanks to the mods for adding a place to share enjoyment of the little things (and big things) we individually and collectively love about House. So, if you're happy, I'm... Heh! It's that kind of tweaking and kinking and twisting of our expectations that I love about House's humor (both the show and the character). Love the House-ism's of themselves and because they show an exuberance and an edge that are bracing, sharp and cogent, hitting close to the bone, yet never splintering (well, almost never). The badinage: House with Wilson, with Cuddy, with pretty much everyone he comes in contact with. Love that he challenges people to put aside their egos, to think, to think even more and still think again. Love that he has the depth of a philosopher and the sensitivity of, well, an insensitive person. All the conundrums, complexities and charisma that make him compelling, charming, and cantankerous: it's great stuff and I'm so happy that it's successful. I have to pinch myself that it wasn't canceled right away which is what I expected to happen right after I first saw it. It's a hit! Who knew? And Hugh Laurie. I give great thanks to David Shore and co. for that casting decision. It has been a joy to learn about this man and all of his work over the years. It has been a revelation and I, if it's not putting too fine a point on it, am in some ways a better person for it. Much as he says he was a better person for having read PG Wodehouse as a youth (that helped me quite a bit, too!). Anyway, can't wait to hear what y'all love about the show: Chase's neckties, Cuddy's eyebrows, House's eyes, Stacy fans, let's hear it! ETA: Love, love, love the thread name, mods. Niiice!

Four and a half seasons, that's what I'm happiest about! Not all good shows make it past the first season (anybody rememberMedical Investigation?), and for House to have survived and thrived fills me with glee. :D

Thanks to Boffle for the suggestion and the mods for creating this thread! I'm happy that we continue to see the ebb and flow, the quirkiness, the wonderful thing that is the House/Wilson relationship. And I'm grateful for the unequaled brilliance of Hugh Laurie week after week, along with Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein. No matter what changes, I can't ever imagine not watching. Thanks as Boffle said to David Shore for creating this amazing character and for casting the only actor in my opinion who could take a character that on paper is so unlikeable, and to make him vulnerable and have the audience care so much about him. Hugh Laurie pulls it off so brilliantly, and I just don't think anyone else could. And shallow me is always happy to see Hugh in tight fitting tees, playing the piano or guitar, or just looking hot in the motorcycle jacket. Oh and I love when House walks without his cane. It's a very sexy limp, what can I say? :)

I'm so happy that we have a cast that is largely without drama. Maybe they're just good at keeping their dirty laundry to themselves, but it really seems like they're all very close and very much so a family. That lends itself so much to the chemistry we see on screen, especially among Hugh, Robert, and Lisa. Their scenes together are my absolute favorites.

Sometimes you get what you need... I am exceedingly happy about two great gifts I got tonight that were exactly what I needed...this new thread, which gives me hope, and the review of Painless by Andrew Ryan that has just been posted on the spoiler thread. I am posting the beginning and the ending, which do not contain spoilers. It says so much of what makes me happy about House...and, of course, I'm very happy that Ryan said it. You can cheer up now, the cranky doctor is in Why so serious? Bleak financial forecasts and harsh winter weather have made us a cranky nation, but do try to chin up and consider the small pleasures that still make life worth living. TV helps. Try to look past the daily rounds of dire economic predictions, if you can, and look forward to this week's arrival of a new American president – tomorrow's inauguration of Barack Obama is already touted to be the global TV event of the century – and take the time to appreciate tonight's return of the angriest man on television. Dr. House is back, and his foul demeanour seems right in keeping with these times of high anxiety. House (Fox, Global at 8 p.m.) returns after a winter break, but on a new night and in an earlier time slot. Fox has relocated the series to Monday to make room for the karaoke competition that is American Idol. Tuesday's loss is Monday's gain. Shifting nights and moving back an hour would spell the end for most network dramas, but House devotees will change personal plans and follow the show over to Monday night. A select group, House viewers are fiercely faithful to the show, which they recognize as the best drama on network television. In its fifth season, House still feels like a real medical drama, and for all the clinical coldness exuded by the peerless British actor Hugh Laurie as the sharp-tongued, Vicodin-addicted Dr. Gregory House, the series has great warmth The original premise of House trained on a medical genius saving lives while beset by fools – or at least fellow medical geniuses he perceived as fools. Unlike the doggedly serialized ER or other examples (go ahead, try to name another medical series from the past decade), House has changed gradually from being a singular character study intoa fine ensemble drama, giving audiences more to watch. ********** House is all about hope, even though the publicity shots for the new season feature the entire cast in softball-team jerseys with the words, “Hope is for sissies” emblazoned on front. It's all a grand joke, of course. These guys are the merchants of hope. House is feel-good television for the informed, in a way. The medical theme serves the dramatic content, instead of the other way around, and some wonderful acting transpires, mainly by Laurie; anyone doubting that film acting is all in the eyes should watch this man. And those people close to House are gently advanced in their storylines, thereby making them more interesting. House is probably the only show on TV that has viewers caring about the support players. Even by usual House standards, it's an above-average outing that demonstrates the smart evolution of a good series. House marks its 100th show on February 2. The century-episode milestone is often the time when a network series simultaneously slides into sameness and first-run syndication, but that's not happening on House. Unlike most shows on television, it's still growing.

I love that I can sit on my couch and watch episodes over and over again and not be bored. First and foremost I love the character of House (and of course that is the brilliance of Hugh Laurie). I then love his friendships with Wilson and Cuddy. I can't see myself ever tiring of it. This season I love House and Cuddy. I didn't even mind the boob grab. I agree with Chippers, I'm so happy Cuddy got her baby. And can I gush about that scene with her and House looking at her at the end of Joy to the World? I love that scene. I can't wait for Monday. I never thought I'd say that.

I know I hide the fact well, but I love Hugh Laurie. I love watching him act. I love how he moves. I love his facial expressions. I love how everyone he acts with really tries to match his level of quality. I love often they achieve it. Watching him and RSL do a scene together is magical. I love clinic patients. I love a lot of the scripts. I love that the hero of this show is a sarcastic, bitter, drug addict who sleeps with hookers on a regular basis. I love that he sees the world in black and white -- no grays. I love that all the regular characters on the show are smart. Really, really smart. I love that they're all so emotionally screwed up that they don't always act smart.

I love the way House looks when he's in the zone, when he has the revelation that may or may not solve the case. He gets that far away look while the camera moves in close, which is when you just about fall into those eyes. Formulaic? Yeah, but who cares?

I'm happy that the show can surprise me. I'm happy that there's often no black and white in the characters and their patients, that their ethical dilemmas make us think. I'm happy that thanks to watching House I sometimes figure out the diagnosis on 'Mystery: Diagnosis' before the doctors do. And I'm happy that I have you great people to talk about the show with!