The Creative Process: Inside House

After an uncharacteristically late start (for their standards), the Paley Center for Media’s special presentation of “The Creative Process: Inside House” began with a brief introduction by Craig Hitchcock, who joked that he knew what kind of day it was going to be when he arrived at the center at 8 AM that morning (June 17) to find four (4) people already in line for the event, with one of the members traveling from Utah to be there. Mr. Hitchcock then introduced the night’s moderator, Ray Raymond, a renowned entertainment journalist for Variety and The Hollywood Reporter (among others). Mr. Raymond made a short speech about House and introduced a 7-minute clip reel of scenes from this past season.

A thunder of applause from the packed audience was heard after the completion of the clip, and without further ado, the guests for the night were announced, starting with cast members Omar Epps, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard and Hugh Laurie. Executive Producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore as well as Co-Executive Producer and Director Greg Yaitanes rounded off the panel.

The Cast of House at the Paley Center for Media

A series of questions were lobbied at the cast by Mr. Raymond , ranging from their favorite episodes – which Ms. Edelstein answered as the two-part Season 4 season finale “House’s Head/Wilson’s Heart” – to how Mr. Laurie landed the critically-acclaimed and award-winning role of Dr. Gregory House – which was done via a short video tape made by two cast members of Mr. Laurie’s as he filmed a movie in Namibia – to what it was like for Ms. Edelstein to “make out” with Mr. Laurie (in character, of course) in one of the most-talked about couplings in TV history – which was answered by Mr. Laurie as “odd” (which then set everyone to laughing and blushing when Ms. Edelstein joked that it was so ‘flattering’ to be considered odd) – to what it is like to work on the show – which all the cast members agreed as actors it is a fantastic experience to be allowed to be part of such a creative show.  Mr. Shore also explained the reason for choosing the names House and Wilson, which was done in honor of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.  Different specialty fields but both “teams” detectives in their own ways.

The audience had an opportunity near the end of the panel, as is the norm, to ask questions of the cast and crew. Some of those questions included:

If Mr. Laurie would ever write an episode of House to which he asked succinctly, “No.” He related that it is such a gargantuan task that he would not feel up for that.

What are their inspirations for the storylines, to which Mr. Shore answered they are based on actual medical cases that are researched by their team of writers (some of who were in seated in the audience) and vetted by three (3) doctors who are available to them by phone and on-set medical consultants.

House Executive Producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore

The youngest member of the audience, a spritely pre-teen boy enthusiastically raised his hand, causing Mr. Laurie to point him out to the Paley usher and asking to provide the young man with a microphone. The boy proceeded to ask Mr. Laurie, “What was the grossest thing he ever had to film.” Mr. Laurie answered after a slight prompt from Ms. Edelstein that it was the tape worm in the young girl who could feel no pain. Mr. Laurie stated he is not overly squeamish, but that particular scene was gross because the tape worm was so very long and it felt like forever that he was pulling it out of the character’s body.

One woman asked Mr. Laurie if he liked doing comedy or drama better since until appearing in House, he had been most well known (at least in his home country of England) for his comedic work. If memory serves correctly, Mr. Laurie answered that he enjoyed both equally.

The night then had to come to an end with a roaring round of applause for the actors and crew on stage. As Tiffany and I left for the evening, Mr. Laurie and Ms. Edelstein were graciously signing autographs for the throng of fans who had advanced to the stage seeking their opportunity for an albeit short meet and greet.

House returns to FOX on Monday, September 21 at 8 p.m. (7/CT) with a two-hour premiere.

Photo Credit:  Rueben and Tiffany