Maybe it's Dr. House's (Hugh Laurie) extreme obnoxiousness and conceit that do it for me, but the fact of the matter is that I never miss an episode. If you don't know what I am talking about, I suggest that you tune in to Fox on Tuesday evenings at nine o'clock , or Friday evenings at eight. The characters- for the most part- are dynamic and rich and combined with the interesting story lines, "House" is one of the best shows on network television.

Dr. House is an infectious disease specialist and leads a team of other MD's to solve mysterious, life-threatening illnesses. He is also a drug-addict whose drug of choice is Vicadin, which he over-indulges in to help ease the pain of a leg injury. His drug use plays a big role in the development of his character. Not only is he borderline criminal in his methods, he is anti-social. Despite his faults, Dr. House is usually right about his assessment of his patients. He sees their personality faults easily, in part, because they are his own. His cynical nature compels his team to disagree with him and aim to prove him wrong. Of course, this rarely happens and it is House who usually has the last laugh.

Unlike "ER" and other medical shows, "House" is not hokey and does not focus on the distracting inter-hospital love affairs of its staff. While there are several relationships that do come to the forefront, the show is more focused on the science (finding the root and cure of the patients problem) and less on the sexual needs of the staff. In other words, this show is no "Grey's Anatomy."

There are faults, however. The show follows the same pattern every week: House makes a call, the staff fights it, House ends up being right. The monotonous nature of this story pattern is a little frustrating as I find myself rolling my eyes each time House is proven right. The few deviations from the pattern are refreshing. Patients who die in spite of House's off-centered methods, patients who vow revenge on House for one of his many crimes against civility, and co-workers who are just as cocky, but less honest then House, are welcomed breaks from the standard story. In fact, Season III included more episodes like these thus making it the best season of "House" so far.

In fact, Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps), the team's neurologist, has proven to be a interesting character in his own right. His determination to be as different from House as possible is complicated by the fact that he is more like House than anyone else. Foreman,

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