Dr. Cuddy Is Calling It Quits
Lisa Edelstein must really want out from House. Her contract expired at the end of the season, but I think everyone expected her back for next season because it will probably be the last. If you start something and you can see the finish line, you would think she would want to stick it out. But, nope, Dr. Lisa Cuddy is calling it quits. She was one of my favorite characters on the show and I cannot imagine it without her. I think she might end up rethinking this through the summer and sign a contract for next year. She was one of the best parts of the show and will be missed.
If this is true, then this is the answer to the TV franchise with all the bad behavior.
ReplyDeleteI like Lisa Edelstein but I don't like her character on "House" because I just can't believe her. Cuddy is supposed to be a strong independent woman so why does she fall for House's stupid juvenile selfish immature bullshit? In other words her character is not true to herself. This is not Lisa Edelstein's fault, that's just bad writing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame. She and House are great sparring on that show.
ReplyDeleteDon't know the character since I don't watch the show, but it seems like it's just a salary negotiation tactic...offer enough money and the character returns.
ReplyDeleteI read the producers asked all the leads to take a cut in salary for the coming season, and she refused. It's the end of the 7-year contractual cycle most programs use. Isn't this what happened to Melina Kanakaredes on CSI-NY?
ReplyDeletewhy would anyone on a top show take a salary cut?
ReplyDeleteIs that true Weezy? I thought negotiations when your contract was up for salaries went up and the how much up was the negotiation. House is a hit show in primetime, and generally the salary cuts are in soaps. At least that's my understanding.
ReplyDeleteIt's a mistake for her to leave, IMO. It's most likely last season. I think they ruined House a bit by putting him with Cuddy but she's needed on the show. What's one more season, she doesn't seem like a busy actress.
I stopped watching the show a couple seasons ago. It got to be the same thing over and over: patient with a mysterious illness, run some tests, give wrong diagnosis, treat wrong diagnosis, nearly kill patient, more painful tests, House gets an idea from some random comment or observation then saves the day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Patty - I stopped watching a long time ago. As an healx-ray tech I've found the hospital routines on House to be the most unrealistic I've ever seen - including soap operas. I've NEVER seen a radiology procedure done on that show as it is in real life!
ReplyDeleteMy husband was a big fan of House but for some reason he stopped watching it. I would watch it on and off. I got to see when House and Cuddy got it on but just couldn't continue watching the show.
ReplyDeleteI can see why she's ready to be out. Her character has gotten pretty boring, and it felt like the show jumped the shark when they got together (if not before). I still watch House if I catch it on syndication, but it's not a go-to show for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have trouble seeing Lisa jumping into anything good right away. The best bet I see for her is switching over to theater for a while until a quality role comes along. There just isn't a lot of good TV being made right now, period.
I will miss her on the show. Loved her putting House in his place.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a shame. I liked her character, and they could have wrapped the series nicely with all the main players in place. She should stick it out for the fans ... it's just one more year - that just ain't that much work for a whole heck of a lot of money ...
ReplyDelete@ the first poster: House isn't a franchise, though ... there hasn't been any spin-offs, etc.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I still love House, I think just because I love Hugh Laurie so much in that role. It's always been really formulaic, and the other part of the formula is for some to find deep inner meaning in some innocuous comment and dissect it to death ... but then be right. LOL
Any show that gives in to the sexual tension jumps the shark. I'm desperately hoping that they don't screw up Bones that way.
I think Cuddy IS a strong woman, but a woman in love with a very damaged but brilliant man. He feeds something in her, and she can't quit him. I get it. I actually find Wilson's willingness to put up with House more boring.
But I do think the writers have run out of ideas, and should let the show go out on top.
I think it could last another season without Cuddy, but like others said, I can't imagine what she's got going that's so hot she'd walk away from a sure thing.
I stopped watching the show when they kept breaking and entering people's houses/apartments in order to diagnose them....
ReplyDeleteI never cared for the Cuddy character; I hope the show improves with the departure of Lisa Edelstein. The stories have really gone downhill in recent years; disappointing, but pretty typical for TV dramas. I'm also looking forward to the departure of Amber Tamblyn; I haven't liked her character at all. Olivia Wilde's return recently was a relief.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Melina Kankaredes and Lisa Edelstein in a tv show together, playing wavy/curly haired brunettes who kick ass despite frizz and the failure of every hair product known to man. I need some positives role models dammit!
ReplyDeleteIsn't Tamblyn already gone?
ReplyDeleteCuddy and Wilson are important foils to House....I wonder if they'll replace her?
On taking a salary cut on a hit show -- other costs the producers claim they can't control are going up and this saving may keep it on the air another season. Or Fox lowered their license fee because ratings (and ad sales) are slipping slightly for this show.
ReplyDeleteI liked Cuddy. I think the House/Cuddy crap seriously damaged the character of House and the whole show. I stopped watching entirely because of it. Based on Lisa E's embarrassing drooling over Hugh Laurie in interviews, maybe she's quitting because she finally figured out he's not going to boink her.
ReplyDeleteNext stop for her, celebrity reality show hell. Maybe Dr Drew will consider being addicted to Hugh Laurie good enough to go on Celebrity Rehab.
white lorelei nailed it. Couldn't have said it better myself.
ReplyDeleteThe show is formulaic as hell and it's supposed to be loosely based on Sherlock Holmes. I find it entertaining...but, like Reese, I'm actually glad that she's leaving. There are no more good storylines for her and the whole Dr. Mom thing is stale as hell. To be honest, I hope they give her job to Foreman. That would make the show GREAT.
And I think I was the only one who LOVED Martha M. Masters. Then again, I have a serious crush on Amber Tamblyn and I have an even more serious thing for super nerdy borderline Asperger's brunettes with *amazing* taste in shoes. Every time Martha came on screen, I'd just start giggling. I really wish she got put on the show full-time instead of the little balding troll doctor. You want to talk about unbelievable things...Taub actually getting laid is the most unbelievable thing on that show, nevermind the medical procedures.
And does anyone else think that Thirteen is way more awesome now that she's been to jail & should have a spin-off?
Ha Nightmare Child! I agree! The idea that ugly little man can get so many young chicks is beyond ridiculous. I like Thirteen. I wonder if they are going to kill her off at the end because of her disease? House did say he would euthanize her when the time came.
ReplyDelete@Nightmare - I thought I was the only one who liked Amber Tamblyn's character, but then I like everything she does. I even liked her cop show that got cancelled.
ReplyDeleteAnd the House/Holmes Wilson/Watson thing is kind of fun but I wish they stuck closer to the Sherlock Holmes parallel. Seems like they went out to sea somewhere down the line.
But the 13, "I'm a lesbian, now I'm not" character is just another example of bad non-character driven writing. She was a lesbian when the writers thought that was interesting and then she hooked up with Foreman when the writers needed a new idea. BAD WRITING!
I really loved the episodes where House was in the mental hospital (i am sure there is a different word for it but you know what i mean). It changed things up and i really liked the sparring between House and the guy in charge. It is sad that they never re-visited that place.
ReplyDeleteI'm with @Susan. I work in healthcare, and House is by far the most unrealistic medical show in the history of television. The concept of a "diagnostic team" is totally preposterous, and that's just scratching the surface.
ReplyDeleteThat said, House peaked a few seasons ago and has been losing viewers the last couple years. All the leads were asked to take pay cuts, Lisa E decided to jump off the sinking ship. I don't blame her.
@looserdude - I agree with you 100% about Amber...but Thirteen is BI-SEXUAL. She's always been BI-SEXUAL. Maybe you didnt' pick up on that, I dunno...but Thirteen is ragingly bi, man. No bad writing there. If anything, she's pretty well written for a bi-sexual character who's going to end up bat-shit crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd Masters...not gonna lie, I wanted to straight up suck her toes. I LOVED HER.
This makes me so sad, Cuddy was the only reason I was still watching. 1 more episode to go then I'm done.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Deadline Hollywood and TVLine on this subject. Reading between the lines it seems like they made her a low-ball offer, the sort that can only be refused :-( . She deserved better treatment than that after 7 years. Why is it always the actresses who are seen as expendable?
"ragingly bi". I like that.
ReplyDeleteAll good points, but I still love that show. The episodes when he was in the mental hospital, the one where he actually killed himself for a few minutes to satisfy his question about the afterlife...? Genius.
ReplyDeleteThey wanted her to take a pay cut. House's ratings have been dropping drastically, to the point that it almost wasn't renewed this year. They've had their budget slashed, and the only way they could afford to bring back the show (because it is expensive to produce - being an ensemble cast who all make a decent amount of money, and starring Hugh Laurie who makes a LOT of money) is by cutting characters, or if they all took pay cuts.
ReplyDeleteI think some people would say it's greedy of her to have refused the pay cut, but really, if someone asked me to do my same job, but for way less money, I'd tell them to get effed and I'd go get a new job. Plus the show is a shadow of it's former self (used to be one of my faves, and now I have half of this season sitting on my DVR, but I just never want to watch it) and why would she come back, to a worse show, for less money? Especially when it's already been decided that next season is the last season, so she knows she's out of a job in a year anyway. Might as well get out there and start looking for something else now.
I thought the episodes of him in the mental hospital were fantastic also.I still watch and think it's a good show but not first season good. I'll miss the sparring with Cuddy.
ReplyDelete