Time is Not a Fixed Construct: The Timeline Thread

In "Distractions" (February 2006) Wilson says House has been stalking Weber for 20 years, which means he was kicked out of Johns Hopkins/in med school in 1986. There was probably some rounding of numbers involved, but it's another "clue." You're right. And not only that, Weber also mentioned the incident was 20 years go. But even with that, it doesn't place House and Cuddy in medical school at the same time - because we also have the legend statement from Humpty Dumpty.

The most likely House specific timeline imo would be something like this: 1959 * Little Greg House is born 1977 * House goes to college 1981 * Graduates college 1981 * John's Hopkins Med 1982 * Gets Kicked out of John's Hopkins 1983 * Enrolls at UMich Med 1986 * Graduates UMich Med, probably having repeated 2nd year 1986 - 1991 * Residency at UMich & Somewhere in there meets Cuddy 1991 - 1994 * Nephrology Fellowship 1994 - 1996 * Nephrologist somewhere, probably gets fired and forced to do a 2nd fellowship also he probably first met Wilson around this time 1996 - 1999 * Infectuous Diseases Fellowship 1999 or 2000 * Infraction 2000 * Stacey Breakup 2003 * Cuddy gives him the Diagnostic Medicine Department at PPTH

1988-1991: Cuddy and House meet at the University of Michigan. This certainly is not impossible. It may even be likely. I just think House was already a doctor when Cuddy met him. In a 2004 episode (I don't recall which one) House said he had been a doctor for 20 years. That means he was a doctor as early as 1984. In 1984, Cuddy was either 14 or 15. Even if House were fudging by two years, he still would have been a doctor by 1986. Cuddy said House was already a legend when she was in college. I assume she meant legend as a doctor. Agreed! Here is another possible version of Houses and Cuddys first meeting. Maybe House was holding Speeches before his infarction and has retired from the public life after the infarction. As we know from the very first episode (Pilot), House was / is avoiding seeing patients / people, because he don´t want that they see him as a cripple. When House was already a legend at the Time Cuddy met him, then I think, that it could be possible that House was holding a Speech / Guest Lecture at the University of Michigan and Cuddy was sitting in the audience and listening to Houses Speech. And after the Speech, they could have had a little chat, what could be the beginning of their friendship / acquaintance. Sorry for possible grammatical or writing errors. English is still a foreign language for me. But feel free to correct me. Then i can learn and make it better in future.

1986 - 1991 * Residency at UMich & Somewhere in there meets Cuddy Cuddy was about 16 or 17 in 1986. Cuddy probably started college in 1987 or 1988. 1991 - 1994 * Nephrology Fellowship Cuddy entered medical school when she was 21 which was 1991 or 1992. This is the time period in which I think House and Cuddy met. And the desk does lend support to this idea. House knew about the desk and its importance to Cuddy. I think we're also supposed to believe House saw the desk in Cuddy's dorm room or apartment while she was in medical school. Also, I thought the House firings were at hospitals on the east coast. Also, I'm not sure about this but didn't House do some training abroad? Maybe I'm remembering this wrong. Vicodin, I also agree with you. Their original meeting probably was more like fellow/student or faculty/student something similar to what we saw in 3 stories.

making him 30 to Cuddy's 18 or 19 when they met -- definitely an older man Eww! Also, I thought the House firings were at hospitals on the east coast. Also, I'm not sure about this but didn't House do some training abroad? Maybe I'm remembering this wrong. No, we've never been given a reason to believe either is true. Being an infectious disease specialist it would be cool if House did some training abroad, but we've never been given any suggestion that he did.

1986 - 1991 * Residency at UMich & Somewhere in there meets Cuddy Cuddy was about 16 or 17 in 1986. Cuddy probably started college in 1987 or 1988. 1991 - 1994 * Nephrology Fellowship Cuddy entered medical school when she was 21 which was 1991 or 1992. This is the time period in which I think House and Cuddy met. And the desk does lend support to this idea. House knew about the desk and its importance to Cuddy. I think we're also supposed to believe House saw the desk in Cuddy's dorm room or apartment while she was in medical school. Also, I thought the House firings were at hospitals on the east coast. Also, I'm not sure about this but didn't House do some training abroad? Maybe I'm remembering this wrong. The exact quote from Cuddy in Humpty Dumpty was : Uh, I was still an undergrad, but yeah, I knew him. He was already a legend. She was not in Med School when she met him , Med school is not undergrad, they met sometime between 1987 and 1991 the year Cuddy graduated college (since we know she graduated med in 1995 she definitely graduated college in 91)

Some of you may know I've always been a House/Wilson backstory geek with my own timeline. I've been following this thread with fascination for the last few days! I've updated my canon timeline to incorporate information from The Social Contract, including Danny & the ramifications of Cuddy's younger-than-expected age. Yes I have managed to incorporate it all to my own satisfaction! The main thing that struck me was that whether Cuddy is 38 or 40, she still wouldn't have been 32 at the time of House's infarction; so whatever role she played in that (if any - I know people disagree on that), it wasn't as Chief of Medicine. If you're interested, my timeline is here: A House/Wilson Canon Timeline Over Twenty Years

The UM campus is not compact -- it sprawls all over -- and the hospital is not part of campus. It's separate with businesses and residential neighborhoods between it and central campus and it and North Campus. Plus if Cuddy was the focused wannabe doc at that age, she likely would have been involved in various events in and around the hospital. Hardly unlikely for paths to cross. .. There's no reason why House had to be in med school at the time of their meeting. She only defined him as "already a legend." I can see Cuddy involved in various events around the hospital, volunteering and organizing but I can't see House involved in them because he hates that stuff. How then could they have become friends? They meet and Cuddy is impressed with him but they wouldn't hang out at the same pub or have any friends in common because their circle of friends would be completely different. At that age, 11 years is the difference between being an undergrad with teenage concerns and being a functioning adult. When you're 30, the concerns of 18 year olds are long behind you. If they weren't friends, then Cuddy was an undergrad who heard of him as a legend and met when he was a resident, a sexy guy with power and authority. So she gets a crush on him, he's attracted to her and they either do or don't have a ONS and move on. Twenty years later, Cuddy's still got the crush and can't move on to a relationship with someone else (Insensitive). IMO it would have made more sense to use LE"s real age, then they could have been closer to a real friendship and made it seem less like a crush on a medical god on Cuddy's part.

hwshipper, I am truly impressed with how painstakingly you've constructed your time-line. It's the most comprehensive and complete one I've seen up to date. I am going to look at it more closely when I get a chance but it's making a lot of sense to me in terms of the timing of the big events (like the H/W meeting, H/C filing, infarction). Thanks for sharing it with us.

If they weren't friends, then Cuddy was an undergrad who heard of him as a legend and met when he was a resident, a sexy guy with power and authority. So she gets a crush on him, he's attracted to her and they either do or don't have a ONS and move on. Twenty years later, Cuddy's still got the crush and can't move on to a relationship with someone else (Insensitive). IMO it would have made more sense to use LE"s real age, then they could have been closer to a real friendship and made it seem less like a crush on a medical god on Cuddy's part. I don't see Cuddy as having a 20-year unrequieted crush. They met, and at some point they had a one night stand. Years and years later, they're at the same hospital, he has the infarction, she handles his case, a few years after that, she's named chief of medicine. She knows he's a good doctor whose skills are being wasted, creates the diagnostics department and hires him to run it. Their relationship evolves from whatever it was when they first met to doctor/patient and boss/employee to whatever it is now. No reason to believe that whatever either one of them is feeling now has been exactly the same throughout their entire history. Feelings evolve. Relationships evolve.

If Cuddy is now 38, then she would have been 28 when House had his infarction and only 3 years into her endocrinology residency with no administrative functions. She wouldn't have been around his case in any way because it's a hematology/surgical case and she didn't get to be Chief for another 4 years. Also the desk House got from her mother was her med school desk. When Cuddy was in med school, House would have been working in another city. How would he have known the importance of her desk in med school unless he was a visitor during that time?

How would he have known the importance of her desk in med school unless he was a visitor during that time? One day, they were discussing furniture and Cuddy said: "This desk I have now is nice, but I really miss the one I had in med school. It was just so big and unnecessary considering I lived in a 12x12 efficiency basement apartment, but it made me glad, you know?" That would be my guess, anyway.

If Cuddy is now 38, then she would have been 28 when House had his infarction and only 3 years into her endocrinology residency with no administrative functions. She wouldn't have been around his case in any way because it's a hematology/surgical case and she didn't get to be Chief for another 4 years. "Three Stories" says she was there. The writers/producers say that was really her in "Three Stories." Do these timelines make sense in the "real" world? No. But this is House's world. Trying to make everything make absolute sense makes my head ache. As long as the general flow of actions makes sense, and the emotional journey for the characters make sense, I can live with it.

Also the desk House got from her mother was her med school desk. When Cuddy was in med school, House would have been working in another city. How would he have known the importance of her desk in med school unless he was a visitor during that time? Why would you assume that? All we know is they met when Cuddy was an undergrad ... beyond that nothing concrete. We don't know where House worked, we just assume certain things that may or may not be right. It's not beyond the realm of reality that they met while she was in college and was a resident had a "friendly" relationship for a few years then had a one night stand years later. One night stands require 2 people to be in the same vicinity for one night, no more. Even if you believe House worked away from Mich he may have visited his old hospital for xyz reasons. And there is no endo residency ... when House met Cuddy at PPTH at most she was a resident, probably an internist. Now why would an internist deal with a leg pain patient I don't know ... nor can I explain Cuddy's authoritative demure (implying she was more than a resident) in the 3 stories scenes. To be honest the way 3 stories was presented creates a lot of timeline question marks ... for example House is supposed to have worked at PPTH pre infraction, nobody at 3 stories acted as if they were treating a colleague from the (presumably) ER attending that first treated him right through to Cuddy.

One day, they were discussing furniture and Cuddy said: "This desk I have now is nice, but I really miss the one I had in med school. It was just so big and unnecessary considering I lived in a 12x12 efficiency basement apartment, but it made me glad, you know?" That made me laugh out loud enough to make my sleeping cat open his eyes and shoot me a mildly reproachful look. Seriously, though, I doubt the writers are going as deeply into these timelines as we are. I am still interested in them and I appreciate the efforts of people who do do it because it helps me get a rough sense of how things hang together time-wise but I am not going to tie myself up into knots trying to make sense of stuff that, quite frankly, is pretty hard to swallow. I agree with whoever said that things might make much more sense regarding the H/W chronology if Wilson were 45. Similarly, the H/C timeline would make more sense if she were 42. Like I said, I am an equal opportunity disbelief suspender. If there's a good payoff for the suspension of disbelief, and with this show there generally is, then I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride. I can see Cuddy involved in various events around the hospital, volunteering and organizing but I can't see House involved in them because he hates that stuff. How then could they have become friends?..........Twenty years later, Cuddy's still got the crush and can't move on to a relationship with someone else (Insensitive). IMO it would have made more sense to use LE"s real age, then they could have been closer to a real friendship and made it seem less like a crush on a medical god on Cuddy's part. Taking my response to the House/Cuddy thread. ETA: cross-posted with Namaste and reckless

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