Gail Berman, who headed Fox Entertainment, loved the idea [for the show], but she had one caveat. “Gail decreed that he not be in a wheelchair,” Mr. Shore said. “That’s when the cane came in.” But Fox did not object to House’s other quirks, like calling patients idiots and popping Vicodin like M&M’s to stave off pain in a damaged leg. ...

It became the title of the show, though that initiated another issue because “House” sounded like a family show, not a medical show. (Mr. Erwich said one title considered was “Jagged Little Pill.”)

The title problem was addressed in two ways: first, adding “m. d.” in tiny letters after the title, and then, in what Ms. Jacobs called a clever touch by the Fox graphics department, putting a square around the first letter in “House” to signal the setting of the hospital.

WHILE ON COMPULSORY CLINIC DUTY, HOUSE ENCOUNTERS
A RAPE VICTIM WHO CHALLENGES HIM
TO UNRAVEL A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF MEDICAL PUZZLE
ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, ON FOX


House has beaten the drug charges and is back at the hospital after a short stint in rehab. Cuddy comes to collect on House’s debt for perjuring herself on the stand and keeping him out of jail. She forces House to pay off the debt in clinic hours, requiring him to carry out a series of less-than-desirable patient exams in the clinic. Tired of House’s incessant whining about his disdain for the patients, Cuddy turns his clinic duty into a game, with the stakes raised to a level that speaks to House – money. At the clinic, House encounters patient Eve, who has tested positive for an STD and admits she’s very recently been raped. Knowing he can’t do anything more for Eve medically, House refers her to a psychiatrist, but she refuses to talk to the doctor and will only be treated by House. He repeatedly tries to dismiss himself from her case, but finds himself forced to unravel a very different puzzle than the sort he’s used to – and compelled to come to terms with events in his own life in order to help Eve make sense of her own. Meanwhile, at the clinic Cameron encounters a homeless man with terminal cancer who, in spite of her pleas to let her ease his suffering, admits to her his basis for refusing pain medication during his final hours in the “One Day, One Room” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Jan. 30 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-313) (TV-14 L)

TVGuide.com: On House, you're playing Eve, a rape victim. What else can you say about this episode and your role in it? I'm hearing the words "controversial" and "stirring" tossed around....
Katheryn Winnick: It's probably one of the biggest guest-star roles ever written — not just in terms of the size and amount of material, but in the way it goes very in-depth for a guest star, as Eve goes head-to-head with Dr. House. I don't know how much I can give away, but she's a rape victim who goes through a lot of different stuff within the episode. It was pretty intense while shooting it.

TVGuide.com: I imagine you share a lot of meaty scenes with Hugh Laurie?
Winnick: Yes, which was unbelievable. I try to break him down, but his character is very strong and he doesn't allow his feelings to get involved with patients. But for whatever reason, because of what I've been through, I feel that I can relate to his pain.

HOUSE MAKES A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO AVOID JAIL TIME,
AND THE TEAM TAKES ON THE CASE OF A FIREFIGHTER
WITH A SECRET SO GUARDED HE’S WILLING TO RISK HIS LIFE
TO KEEP IT FROM BEING REVEALED
ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, JANUARY 9,ON FOX

David Morse Guest-Stars in Conclusion of Six-Episode Story Arc


House is forced to respond in court to the criminal charges against him regarding illegal possession of narcotics, and the judge sets a date for a preliminary hearing. Enough is enough for Cuddy, who insists that House apologize to Detective Tritter as a final attempt to stay out of jail, since he refused to respond to Tritter’s previous deal by the deadline. Meanwhile, the case of Derek Hoyt, a firefighter suffering from extreme body temperatures and disorientation, leads the team to believe their patient is suffering from an extreme hormone imbalance, but Derek has a violent reaction to their course of treatment, potentially causing serious bodily harm to Cameron in the process. Clearly distracted from Derek’s case, House stuns the team when he makes a shocking revelation in an attempt to save himself from jail time. As Derek’s condition worsens, the team must try to solve the mystery of his illness without House’s help, but information from Derek sends them in the wrong direction and leads Derek to choose a risky, radical treatment on his brain which, if he survives it, will kill the person he currently is in order to hide a secret he’s not willing to reveal in the “Words and Deeds” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Jan. 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-311) (TV-PG L)

In the episode, set to air in March, Matthews will play a savant who was hit by a bus when he was 10. The accident impacted his mental development, but suddenly gave him the ability to play the piano flawlessly, despite never having taken a lesson.