House's Dad

This week's episode of "House" made me again recall the similarities between House and Patrick McGoohan's Number 6, from "The Prisoner." House's Dad died, and House confides to Wilson that he discovered his father wasn't really his father. House's real Dad was a friend of the family, whom House apparently bears some resemblance to. This character was said to have been at his Dad's funeral, but we never got to see him on screen. I know who should have played him! Patrick McGoohan! It would have been perfect!

House of the Prisoner 2

I was watching an old episode of House on the USA network this weekend, and there were 2 interesting similarities to the 1960's TV show The Prisoner. (For more connections between the 2 shows, see my earlier post "House of the Prisoner.") In this episode, House was wearing a turtleneck, similar to what Number 6 often wore on The Prisoner, which made Hugh Laurie look even more like Patrick McGoohan. Okay, so that's maybe not that interesting...but the next point is. House is "teaching" some medical students because he's avoiding working in the clinic, and they're asking him all these questions that he finds exasperating. He answers one of their questions with, "That would be telling," familiar to Prisoner fans as one of Number 2's favorite sayings. It's even in the dialogue that precedes every show.

Number 6: "Whose side are you on?"
Number 2: "That would be telling."

So, deliberate homage or just a coincidence? Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

House of the Prisoner?

Is Hugh Laurie the new Patrick McGoohan? The more I watch "House," the more similarities I see between Laurie's Dr. House and McGoohan's Number 6 from the classic 60's TV show "The Prisoner." Laurie and McGoohan bear more than a passing resemblance to each other, which is what started my thinking about this. McGoohan was roughly the same age as Laurie was when "House" started, and an essential part of both characters is their age. They are not young men, they have seen the ups and downs of life. The physical resemblance that strikes me the most is their brilliantly blue eyes. Laurie does this thing where he puts his head slightly down, and just stares intensely with those eyes, it reminds me of so many moments in "The Prisoner" where McGoohan has exactly the same look on his face.

The characters share a completely anti-authoritarian philosophy, Number 6 for a clearer reason than House. They both use their sardonic humor to put down those in power. As House has Dr. Cuddy to constantly annoy him, so Number 6 is always matching wits and doing battle with Number 2. (How about a different Dr. Cuddy each week?) And although House ostensibly has his freedom, unlike Number 6, who is forced to remain in the Village, House is just as much a prisoner of his own narcissistic, poisoned worldview as Number 6 is. House has built his own prison, and however miserable he claims to be, he makes no attempt to escape it, unlike Number 6, who is always seeking a way out of the Village. One of the themes articulated by the last episode of "The Prisoner" is that we all are in a prison of our own making, no matter how comfortable it might seem to be. (That's all I'll say without giving too much of the last episode away.)

Those are all the similarities that spring immediately to mind, I know this isn't totally fleshed out, but I wanted to get this down before I forget it all.