Entertainment, TV, Television - Navy Times

Fox’s ‘House’ celebrates its 100th episode

On “House, M.D.,” Dr. Lisa Cuddy is smart, analytical and sensible. She also has been having an off-and-on flirtation with seriously messed-up Dr. House, played by Hugh Laurie. Could someone so on-the-ball really fall for someone like that?

“Intelligence has nothing to do with taste,” says Lisa Edelstein, the actress who plays Cuddy. “I think I’m pretty smart, but I have horrible taste in men.”

She says that if House were a real person, she’d let him hang his stethoscope in her bathroom, Vicodin addiction and all.

“I like a really, really smart man, even maybe one who is a little mean,” she insists. “Meanness with truth behind it is OK. I admit it: I really like (jerks).”

Since the show debuted in 2004, House has remained antisocial and antagonistic. He’s not exactly Tony Soprano, but he is definitely an anti-hero that viewers have taken to heart. After all, the program reaches the milestone 100th episode with the show that airs on Feb. 2.

“It’s really cool,” says Edelstein, whose resume includes short stints on “Felicity,” “Ally McBeal,” “Seinfeld” and “The West Wing.” “I’ve never had that experience before. It’s unusual for actors to be working with the same people for six months, so five years feels extraordinary.”

As the show has progressed, the relationship between the two doctors has deepened, adding a nifty three-dimensional quality to the proceedings.

“It’s gotten more full,” Edelstein says. “I don’t think it’s changed; it’s more like it has unveiled itself over time. You can’t really change a character on a television show. All you can do is shine a light on things, and expose them and keep digging and digging. All the things we’re seeing now were always there.”

Of course, as fans will breathlessly report, House and Cuddy locked lips for the first time during a show this season. In a tear-jerking episode entitled “Joy,” Cuddy was set to adopt a newborn, only to have the birth mother change her mind at the last minute and keep the baby. House provided comfort to a grieving Cuddy.

“People were always wondering how they could get Cuddy and House to kiss,” she says. “The way they did it was so beautiful. I can’t think of a better way than pain to get those two people to have an intimate moment together.”

The looming sexual tension between the two adds a delightful will-they-or-won’t-they layer to the show. The chemistry between Edelstein and Laurie was instant, she reports.

“We just really got on well,” she says. “We appreciate each other, and I think the chemistry was always there. I always enjoy hanging out on the set with him. I enjoy the whole cast. It’s a great group of people. I’m very fortunate.”

But five years? That’s an eternity in TV time. One imagines Edelstein could spend the rest of her career playing variations on Cuddy once the show ends.

“I’ve always had to deal with typecasting,” she says. “When I played a lesbian, I had 20 lesbians offered to me. After this, I’ll get typecast as a smart woman? OK, I can live with that.”