The Void Left By House

“It’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”

Season 1. Episode 1. Stated, by the ever mercurial Dr. Gregory House. This is a theme the carries forward in every season. House is the person you hate to love…you love to hate. He’s arrogant…but, he’s always right. He’s caring, but he’d never want you to know it. He’s a hard man to ever get to know. For 8 seasons, we tried. But, even at the end, in the very last episode, House proved to be exactly who we knew him to be – the man we hate to love and we love to hate.

House, by all accounts, is my favorite TV character ever. There’s never been anyone quite like him. House, was the first show that became must-see TV for me. Every Monday, there I was. Great characters, brought to life by the amazing writers who give them personality, make all the difference. House, without House…well, it wouldn’t be House. I don’t mean, House, in-name. I mean House, the way Hugh Laurie dimensionalized House.

With House, gone, my Tivo is a bit lonely and Monday nights are strangely, a bit emptier.

I love a good top 10 list and with House clearly cemented as my favorite character ever, the only real question was who the other 9 were. After much consideration and debate…here’s the other folks who made the cut.

10. Jack Tripper, Three’s Company: Hilarious. When you consider the role he played in the timeframe the show aired, John Ritter’s performance was all the more unbelievable.

9. John Locke, Lost: Never have I hated and yet respected a character before like I did with John Locke. He was infuriating and impossible to understand. Yet, you tuned in every week and wanted John to reveal yet another clue. It’s hard to imagine Terry O’Quinn as another character.

8. Sam Malone, Cheers: How could you not love Ted Danson as Sam Malone? His whit, his delivery, his facial expressions and his backstory were all reasons we rooted for him.

7. Tony Soprano, The Sopranos: Has there ever been a better character who was so beloved for being so wrong?

6. Dr. Christian Troy, Nip/Tuck: So much like House. The interaction between Christian and Sean was so similar to that of House and Wilson. Christian’s complete lack of a conscious was both frightening and exhilarating to watch.

5. Donald Draper, Mad Men: Hard to be “ad guy” and not love Don Draper.

4. Eric Cartman, Southpark: Can you believe Southpark has been on the air for 15 years? Mind-boggling. And Southpark without Cartman would be House without House.

3. Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother: What can I say that hasn’t already been said? He is must see TV. Yes, the show is about Ted, but without Barney…there is no show.

2. Ari Gold, Entourage: You just have to love Ari. We didn’t tune in for Vince. We didn’t tune in for Turtle or Drama. We tuned in to see what Ari would do next…what he’d say. It was deliciously good fun.

Others worthy of consideration The Fonz, Stewie Griffin, Jan Brady, Doogie Howser, Cliff Huxtable, Ally McBeal, Fred Sanford, Samantha Stephens, Captain Kirk, Hawkeye Pierce, Jed Bartlett, Columbo, Kojack, Perry Cox, Liz Lemon and Kramer.

Great characters become part of our life. Simple as that. House was the best and I will miss him.