The first season of ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' premiered November 16, 2004, and ended May 24, 2005. The season follows Dr.

Gregory House Gregory House, M.D. is the titular protagonist of the American medical drama series ''House''. Created by David Shore and portrayed by English actor Hugh Laurie, he leads a team of diagnosticians and is the Head of Diagnostic Medicine at the f ...

and his team as they solve a medical case each episode. The season's sub-plot revolves around billionaire

Edward Vogler This page is a comprehensive list and description of the various characters who appear, from time to time, in the television series ''House (TV series), House''. The list is divided episode-wise, as well as character-wise, and includes recurring ...

making a $100 million donation to the hospital. Through this donation, Vogler becomes the new chairman of the board and orders House to fire one of his team members. Vogler does this to show House he can control him: "I need to know that whatever I ask you to do, however distasteful you find it, you'll do it". Chi McBride joined the cast as Vogler in five episodes of the season. His character was brought in after Universal Studios president

Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American former media executive. Between January 2013 and February 2022, Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide. Zucker oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously C ...

threatened that the season would be cut short by six episodes if a "boss" character wasn't added. While there were possibilities of the character returning, he was generally disliked by viewers and critics and therefore not brought back to the show. Sela Ward, who would return as the main recurring character of season two, appeared in the final two episodes as Stacy Warner, House's former girlfriend.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* Hugh Laurie as

Dr. Gregory House Gregory House, M.D. is the titular protagonist of the American medical drama series '' House''. Created by David Shore and portrayed by English actor Hugh Laurie, he leads a team of diagnosticians and is the Head of Diagnostic Medicine at th ...

* Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy * Omar Epps as

Dr. Eric Foreman ''House'' (also called ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The series' main character is Dr. Gregory House (Hugh La ...

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known by his stage name Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson in the television series ''House'' (2004–2012) and Neil Perry in the film ''Dea ...

as Dr. James Wilson * Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron * Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase

Recurring cast

* Chi McBride as

* Sela Ward as Stacy Warner * Stephanie Venditto as Nurse Brenda Previn * Kenneth Choi as Dr. Lim * Ron Perkins as Dr. Ron Simpson * Currie Graham as

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...

Maurice Godin Maurice Godin (21 October 1932 – 14 June 2024) was a Canadian politician who was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2000. He was a manager by career. Life and career Godin was born in Montreal, Quebec on 21 October 1932 ...

as Dr. Lawrence Hourani

Guest cast

Andrew Airlie Andrew Airlie (born September 18, 1961) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor. Early life Airlie was born in Glasgow, Scotland on September 18, 1961. Career He has starred in television series including ''Breaker High'' and his TV credits include g ...

John Patrick Amedori John Patrick Amedori is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Gabe Mitchell in ''Dear White People''. Amedori appeared in the film ''The Vatican Tapes'' (2015). He has also appeared in a number of television shows, including '' ...

Skye McCole Bartusiak Skye McCole Bartusiak (September 28, 1992 – July 19, 2014) was an American child actress and child model. She appeared in '' The Patriot'' (2000), ''Don't Say a Word'' (2001), as Rose Wilder in '' Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura In ...

Patrick Bauchau Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau (born 6 December 1938) is a Belgian actor best known for his roles in the films ''A View to a Kill'', '' The Rapture'' and ''Panic Room'', as well as the TV shows '' The Pretender'' and '' House''. ...

Nicole Bilderback Nicole Bilderback (born June 10, 1975) is a Korean-born American actress, known for her recurring guest roles on the television programs '' Dark Angel'' and ''Dawson's Creek'', and the films ''Bring It On'' and '' Bad Girls From Valley High'' ( ...

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

Hedy Burress Heather E. "Hedy" Burress (born October 3, 1973) is an American actress. She had a starring role in the film ''Foxfire'' as Maddy, and later landed roles in television shows ''Boston Common'' and '' E.R.'' In the video game world, she is best kn ...

Nestor Carbonell Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...

, Ever Carradine, John Cho, Sarah Clarke, David Conrad, Christina Cox, Missy Crider, Myndy Crist, Nicholas D'Agosto, Ann Dowd, Stacy Edwards, Carmen Electra, Cynthia Ettinger,

Scott Foley Scott Kellerman Foley (born July 15, 1972) is an American actor and director. Foley is known for roles in television shows such as ''The Unit'', '' Scrubs'', '' Felicity'', and ''Scandal'', and in films such as '' Scream 3''. He has als ...

Erin Foster Erin Taylor Foster is an American writer, performer and entrepreneur. Career Foster was a writer on the NBC sitcom '' The New Normal''. With her sister Sara Foster, she created the TV series ''Barely Famous'' on VH1. It is a mockumentary satire ...

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Way ...

, Wendy Gazalle,

Michael A. Goorjian Michael Andranik Goorjian (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor, filmmaker, and writer. Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini ...

, Peter Graves,

Stanislav Grof Stanislav "Stan" Grof is a Czech-born psychiatrist who has been living in the United States since the 1960s. Grof is one of the principal developers of transpersonal psychology and research into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness ...

, Mark Harelik, Roxanne Hart, David Henrie, Aaron Himelstein, Marin Hinkle, Leslie Hope,

Lucinda Jenney Lucinda Jenney (born April 23, 1954) is an American actress. Early life Jenney was born in Long Island City in 1954. Career She began her acting career in 1979 with the film ''Impostors''. Several roles followed throughout the 1980s, with app ...

Andrew Keegan Andrew Keegan (born January 29, 1979) is an American actor best known for his roles in television shows including '' Trinkets'', '' Moesha'', ''Party of Five'' and '' 7th Heaven'' and in films such as ''10 Things I Hate about You'' (1999), ''The ...

, Shirley Knight, Harry Lennix,

Eddie McClintock Edward Theodore McClintock (born May 27, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series '' Warehouse 13''. Early life McClintock was born in Canton, Ohio, and raised by his father The ...

Scott Mechlowicz Scott David Mechlowicz (born January 17, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films ''Mean Creek'' (2004), ''EuroTrip'' (2004) and ''Peaceful Warrior'' (2006). Early life and education Mechlowicz was born in New York City, ...

, Tracy Middendorf, Elizabeth Mitchell, Meredith Monroe, Joe Morton, Danny Nucci, Faith Prince,

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in F ...

, Daryl Sabara, Amanda Seyfried, Alex Skuby, Jennifer Stone, Robin Thomas, Sam Trammell,

Robin Tunney Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. Tunney made her film debut in the comedy ''Encino Man'' (1992) and rose to prominence with leading roles in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her perform ...

, Kristoffer Ryan Winters, Kevin Zegers and Josh Zuckerman.

Reception

Season one gained high

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, averaging 13.3 million viewers an episode. It was 24th most-watched television show of the 2004–2005 television season. Hugh Laurie submitted the episode " Detox" for consideration at the

57th Primetime Emmy Awards The 57th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2005 and was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. BBC America received its first major nomination this year. The ceremony, which aired three weeks after H ...

in 2005. This resulted in his first

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nomination, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Gregory House.

Episodes

Home media

The Region 1 DVD set of Season 1 was issued in non-anamorphic widescreen (meaning those with widescreen TVs would have to use the Zoom button for the show to fit their screen properly, causing the picture to be blurry) on 3 double-sided discs. However, Universal reissued the Season 1 set on February 10, 2009, in the correct anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, which is now on 6 single-sided discs instead of the 3 double-sided ones.

References

;General * * ;Specific ;Further reading * * * *