How much influence do you have over the direction of your character? Do you feel that Cuddy has been written consistently over time? What are her strengths and weaknesses?

In the broad strokes, no, I don't have any influence over the decisions made about Cuddy's story line. However, I think when an actor has been playing a character for long enough, the way you end up inhabiting the character has an effect on the way the stories unfold in the writers' minds. It would be a different Cuddy with a different path if someone else were playing her. In the beginning I was worried that she wouldn't be fleshed out, that she (and I) would be trapped in this mechanical role of saying "Oh no you don't!" every episode. But little by little, as time went by, the character of Cuddy began to emerge. I don't think it's been inconsistent in terms of who she is, it's just that she doesn't get to win very often. She is, much of the time, the one that has to say "Doh!"

THE TEAM TREATS A SLEEPWALKING PATIENT
EXPERIENCING UNEXPLAINED BLACKOUTS
AND CUDDY DECIDES TO ADOPT A NEWBORN BABY
ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, ON FOX

The team takes on the case of a dreary middle-aged man who has been experiencing unexplained recurring blackouts and time lapses. With possible diagnoses ranging from a stroke to a concussion to toxins from the consumer products he has been testing for work, they soon find that the man, who is raising his 12-year-old daughter on his own, has been experiencing intense sleepwalking spells. As the team tries to find out what he could be doing during his sleep to make himself sick, his condition continues to deteriorate and his daughter also falls gravely ill. Meanwhile, House finds out Cuddy is going to adopt a baby that is due in two weeks. But when Cuddy meets the birth mother in person and notices a strange rash on her arm, Cuddy brings the mother to Princeton-Plainsboro where her condition worsens. Cuddy must take on the case as both a doctor and a potential mother, and she and the team are faced with a heart-wrenching decision that could risk either the birth mother’s or the baby’s life in the “Joy” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Oct. 28 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HOU-506) (TV-14 L)

"When the opportunity for the series came up, I welcomed it," he says. "I like mixing up my roles. I did '24' and I did 'House.' Then I did (the sequel) to 'Harold & Kumar.' I like mixing it up that way."

Then he looks at how he's dressed during the interview - a rumpled shirt and jeans. "I guess I'm not too concerned with image," he deadpans.

Eventually House reconciles with Wilson.

“The lovers are reunited,'' Laurie jokes. “They are sort of meant for each other, I think.

“For all his darkness, all his misery, there is something sort of vital about House that attracts Wilson to him, if for no other reason than Wilson is entertained by him. And entertainment is not a trifling thing.''

THIRTEEN’S PERSONAL LIFE IS BROUGHT
TO THE EXAMINING ROOM TABLE
ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, ON FOX

Michael Weston Guest-Stars

When a woman with whom Thirteen had a one-night stand falls ill and has a seizure at Thirteen’s apartment after a night of partying, Thirteen accompanies the woman to Princeton-Plainsboro where House and the team take on her case. House jumps on the opportunity to delve into Thirteen’s personal life, and he and Foreman search Thirteen’s apartment to find any possible causes of the woman’s illness. Thirteen suspects the woman’s drug use has caused her condition, but she soon finds the patient has a long medical history and has seen several doctors over the past few years. She soon finds out the patient slept with her only to get to Dr. House, and that she had been trying to get House to take her as a patient for over a year. Foreman sees evidence of Thirteen’s hard-partying lifestyle and confronts her about her self-destruction, warning her that her attitude is sending her life and her job into a downward spiral. Meanwhile, House keeps his private investigator, Lucas (guest star Michael Weston), hot on Wilson’s trail in the “Lucky Thirteen” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Oct. 21 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/ PT) on FOX. (HOU-505) (TV-14 D, S)

Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Kal Penn as Dr. Lawrence Kutner; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen

Guest Cast: Michael Weston as Lucas; Angela Gots as Spencer; Al Damji as Paramedic; Helena Barrett as Woman with Thirteen; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse

HOUSE GETS BACK TO HIS ROOTS
AND A PATIENT FALLS ILL SEARCHING FOR HER OWN
ON “HOUSE” TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, ON FOX

When House receives word that his father has passed away, he brushes off the news and dismisses the idea of going to the funeral. However, he is soon coerced into going despite his strongest protests. Back at Princeton-Plainsboro, the team encounters the case of a young woman adopted by American parents who collapsed while in China looking for her birth parents. With House en route to his father’s funeral, he must work with the team to diagnose the woman via cell phone while on the road. The team runs through possible diagnoses and various genetic disorders, but when House’s phone dies, the team must decipher what House was trying to tell them before the girl’s condition deteriorates. Meanwhile, the back story of how House and Wilson met for the first time is revealed in the “Birthmarks” episode of HOUSE airing Tuesday, Oct. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/ PT) on FOX. (HOU-504) (TV-14 D, L)

Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase; Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub; Kal Penn as Dr. Lawrence Kutner; Olivia Wilde as Thirteen

Guest Cast: Diane Baker as Blythe House; R. Lee Ermey as John House; Samantha Quan as Nicole; Scott Paulin as Bob; Christine Healy as Janice; Jack Conley as Sheriff Costello; Ho-Kwan Tse as Fang Dong Wen; Raymond Ma as Wu Zheng; Esther Kwan as Wu An Lan; Jonathan Palmer as Minister; Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse