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| Picture from house.download-tvshows |
After I had finished watching the entire Blackadder series, I began searching for TV programs which were performed by the leading actors, one of which has become incredibly popular on the American TV, and that is no other than Hugh Laurie. I suppose those of you who have been keeping up with my blog postings, including the one about Hugh learning American accent, you have expected that I will soon write about his TV series.
House M.D., made its debute in November 2004 and the series is at its 6th season thus far, starring Hugh Laurie as Dr. Greogory House, M.D. who works in the fictional Princeton‑Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH) in New Jersey. In the first episode, he is already a highly reputable doctor who heads a team of diagnosticians, however, as oppose to the general reception received by great doctors, his misanthropy has put him on the list of "an ass" (as his colleagues put it in numerous episodes). Despite all these, his team of diagnosticians and his colleagues still hold very high respect for him, for his brilliance in thinking "out of the box" and thus arriving at the correct diagnosis.
His favourite line is "the patient is lying!"
To understand if the show is worth watching, we should look at the awards. Quoting from Wikipedia,
The show has been nominated for six Golden Globe Awards and received two. Hugh Laurie has been nominated four times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama; he won in 2006 and again in 2007 In 2008 the series received its first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama. House was nominated for best dramatic series again the following year, but has yet to win in the category.
What I personally think about the show is really simple, "Once I start watching, I can't stop."
However, there are tonnes of medical terms and I am really really weak in these. So, I get a little help from the internet.
When I am enjoying the show on Tudou.com, I just listen to what they say and enjoy the show, when I finished watching a particular episode, I will go to the Politedissent.com's medical review and read up on the diagnosis made and learn a few names of the diseases. The website is cool because the writer, sounded like a doctor themselves, also mentioned the errors made in the series and how different they would have diagnosed the patient in the episodes. The writer also did a great job in putting up links to the explanation of the medical terms, which saves a lot of my time in looking for the meanings by myself. It is hard to find a blogger who writes with heart and I have found a comrade here.
All in all, House M.D. is a TV series which doesn't require any medical background to enjoy, the soap opera and the twists are enough to entertain most viewers, yet if you want to learn some medical terms, you too will find interests.
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Vocabulary:
fictional -- imaginary
diagnostician -- a medical doctor who makes diagnoses
reception -- the way in which people react to something or someone
misanthropy -- the act of not liking other people
diagnosis -- a judgment about what a particular illness or problem is, made after examining it
comrade -- (UK comrade-in-arms ) old-fashioned a friend, especially one who you have been involved in difficult or dangerous, usually military, activities with
soap opera -- a series of television or radio programmes about the lives and problems of a particular group of characters. The series continues over a long period and is broadcast (several times) every week.
twist -- [C] a change in the way in which something happens
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http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/tv-drama-black-adder-for-english-lovers.html
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/speaking-learning-accent.html
