For House, the play will indeed go on

medialifemagazine.com

TV This Week
For House, the play will indeed go on
By Diego Vasquez
May 5, 2008 - 1:00:40 AM

Among the many enjoyable quirks of Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House is his obsession with the faux daytime soap “Prescription Passions.” But his enjoyment turns to concern tonight at 9 p.m. on “House” when he becomes convinced that one of the lead characters has a serious illness, based on mannerisms that are not part of the character he's playing.

House being House, his main goal is to ensure that the actor, Evan Greer (“Sex and the City’s” Jason Lewis), gets treatment, simply so his favorite character won’t exit the show. But Greer resists House’s treatment overtures, dismissing him as a crazy fan and leading the cranky doc to take drastic measures like injecting him with medication while a distracted Greer texts on his cell phone.

The episode will likely be the top-rated program of the night among adults 18-49.

"House" posted Fox’s best Monday numbers in over a year last week, its first week back from the writers’ strike, though it was not nearly as strong as it had been in its old Tuesday slot. “House” drew a 5.8 rating, down 18 percent from its previous season-to-date 7.1 average, according to Nielsen.

There are probably many people who don’t know the show switched timeslots when it came back, after airing on Tuesdays behind “American Idol” for four years. But the slip isn’t much of a surprise, considering other top dramas have also seen declines since their strike returns.

What’s most important to Fox is simply padding its sweeps and season lead, and “House” will clearly help do that. After the first week of May sweeps through last Thursday, Fox led the other networks with a 3.5 averaging rating, 13 percent ahead of No. 2 ABC.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, MAY 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	“Major League Baseball” (S)	The Red Sox take on the Tigers in an AL clash.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	Each couple performs a ballroom dance and a Latin dance.
8:30 p.m.	CBS	“How I Met Your Mother” (C)	Ted’s relationship with Stella is threatened after he reveals a secret to his friends.
9 p.m.	Fox	“House” (D)	House thinks a soap opera actor is ill just by judging his onscreen symptoms.
9 p.m.	CW	“One Tree Hill” (D)	Lucas wonders if Dan really has a heart condition.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: Miami” (D)	Alexx’s son is the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Hills” (R)	Heidi ends it with Spencer (yeah right) and takes a job in Las Vegas.
TUESDAY, MAY 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Singer Josh Groban guests and performs.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	The final four show their stuff.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	The judges countdown their all-time top 10, followed by this week’s results show.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Hell’s Kitchen” (R)	The chefs try to impress a teen who comes to the restaurant on her birthday.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (D)	A pregnant woman is found raped and killed in a burning house.
10 p.m.	BET	“College Hill” (R)	The group hopes house tension won’t affect their trip to London.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” (R)	Tila has another “bi”-athlon.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	CBS	“The Early Show” (N)	CBS Sports personality Jim Nantz discusses his new book.
7 p.m.	ESPN	“Major League Baseball” (S)	The Indians take on the Yankees in New York.
8 p.m.	CW	“America’s Next Top Model” (R)	The remaining four impersonate Hollywood stars during a photo shoot.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	There will only be three remaining after tonight.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Criminal Minds” (D)	The team tries to hunt down a stalker who crosses state lines.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Audition: Barbara Walters’ Journey” (N)	Walters discusses her career and, of course, pushes her new book after doling out a few juicy tidbits on “Oprah” yesterday.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Real World” (R)	The roommates organize an intervention for Joey.
THURSDAY, MAY 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	New York Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both guest.
8 p.m.	CW	“Smallville” (D)	A stranger attacks Lex, but it’s really a message to Clark.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Jim tries to secure a deal while golfing, except he has Andy and Kevin with him.
9 p.m.	CBS	“CSI” (D)	Katey Sagal guests a TV sitcom star who’s murdered.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	Seattle Grace enacts a date-and-tell policy.
10 p.m.	NBC	“ER” (D)	Morris sees a therapist after he’s robbed.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Lost” (D)	Locke finds out the location of Jacob’s cabin.
FRIDAY, MAY 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Actor Henry Winkler guests and Mary J. Blige performs.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	Melinda looks back a murder that took place in 1979.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	A conference semifinal playoff game, teams still to be decided.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Moonlight” (D)	The grandson of one of Mick’s friends from WWII is kidnapped.
9 p.m.	Sci Fi Channel	“Doctor Who”	The doc learns some not-so-nice things about the human race.
10 p.m.	CBS	“Numb3rs” (D)	Our heroes look into the drive-by murder of a rap star.
SATURDAY, MAY 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third-round coverage of the so-called “fifth major,” The Players Championship.
3:30 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Yankees-Tigers, Cards-Brewers or Diamondbacks-Cubs.
7 p.m.	Fox	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	The Dodge Challenger 500 from Darlington, S.C.
8:15 p.m.	ABC	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The playoffs come to broadcast primetime, teams still to be determined.
9 p.m.	Sci Fi Channel	“Aztec Rex” (M)	Spain’s Cortes finds an Aztec tribe that offers human sacrifices to a T-Rex.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Shia LeBeouf hosts, My Morning Jacket performs.
SUNDAY, MAY 11
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Final round of The Players Championship, won last year by Phil Mickelson.
3:30 p.m.	ABC	“NBA Basketball” (S)	More conference semifinal playoff action.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	Season finale. Two-hour finale followed by the hour-long reunion show.
8 p.m.	Fox	“The Simpsons” (C)	Homer’s mother dies before he can forgive her for abandoning him.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	Carlos and Gaby find out a secret about their new tenant.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“The Tudors” (D)	The Catholic Church loses power during Reformation.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Brothers & Sisters” (D)	Season finale. Kevin and Scotty move their relationship forward.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.