Tuesday Hodgepodge and a Poem

[nightdog_barks]

Beautiful weather -- sunny and 75 degrees (23.9 degrees Celsius), although the humidity is starting to creep up again. Possibility of rain Thursday and Friday.

Fannish Stuff:

House casting news, for those who haven't heard yet. Also, writer Lawrence Kaplow has announced he's moving to ABC's Body of Proof. I'd link, but you can't seem to link tweets.

Fic rec: From dominus_trinus, a short post-ep ficlet. House-Wilson friendship, the five a.m. conversation between Wilson and Cuddy. Bearing Strain.

Via Neil Gaiman, a (very) condensed version of this week's Confidential (for "The Doctor's Wife").

Poem:

Saw this Randall Jarrell poem on a meme this morning. Reminded me of another doctor.

90 North

At home, in my flannel gown, like a bear to its floe,
I clambered to bed; up the globe's impossible sides
I sailed all night -- till at last, with my black beard,
My furs and my dogs, I stood at the northern pole.

There in the childish night my companions lay frozen,
The stiff fur knocked at my starveling throat,
And I gave my great sigh: the flakes came huddling,
Were they really my end? In the darkness I turned to my rest.

-- Here, the flag snaps in the glare and silence
Of the unbroken ice. I stand here,
The dogs bark, my beard is black, and I stare
At the North Pole . . .
And now what? Why, go back.

Turn as I please, my step is to the south.
The world—my world spins on this final point
Of cold and wretchedness: all lines, all winds
End in this whirlpool I at last discover.

And it is meaningless. In the child's bed
After the night's voyage, in that warm world
Where people work and suffer for the end
That crowns the pain -- in that Cloud-Cuckoo-Land

I reached my North and it had meaning.
Here at the actual pole of my existence,
Where all that I have done is meaningless,
Where I die or live by accident alone --

Where, living or dying, I am still alone;
Here where North, the night, the berg of death
Crowd me out of the ignorant darkness,
I see at last that all the knowledge

I wrung from the darkness -- that the darkness flung me --
Is worthless as ignorance: nothing comes from nothing,
The darkness from the darkness. Pain comes from the darkness
And we call it wisdom. It is pain.


~ Randall Jarrell
Online source here, although it can be found in a lot of different places.

Comments

[misanthropicobs]

I am wondering now if that will change things for RSL or OE? Both of them have already agreed to new contracts with a reduced number of episodes - but without LE??? More instead of less??? I haven't yet seen anything about Jesse returning though.

[nightdog_barks]

Yep, I'm very curious to see how it all plays out too. I've seen some speculation that Wilson would become Dean, which I think is an interesting idea although I wouldn't want to see it as a permanent position. I really do hope Jesse Spencer returns.

[misanthropicobs]

I'm also rather curious to see how they write her out. Since the end of S7 is already done and since she's not signing a new contract it will be interesting to see what reasoning they come up with to cover her not being there at the start of S8, there almost certainly isn't going to be a "farewell to Cuddy" episode as she walks out the door for the last time.

[nightdog_barks]

This, exactly. I have to assume there'll be a bit of hand-waving involved -- maybe they'll say she's taken a job at a different hospital, across the country. Or she's left hospital administration entirely and is working in a different field. Or has decided to concentrate on raising Rachel for a while. Many possibilities.

[misanthropicobs]

Yes, lots of things they could do. Much of it depends on how soon after the end of S7 the beginning of S8 starts - immediately as we've seen a few times or with a gap of several weeks/months.

[nightdog_barks]

Ha, good point!

[damigella]

Is it so clear there won't be a fancy exit? If it was a budget problem they may well be able to afford some generous pay for one episode (and maybe the occasional cameo appearance).
Still, the show without Cuddy. It will not be the same.

[nightdog_barks]

I think it would be unusual for LE to come back for one goodbye episode, but you know, nothing is impossible in Hollywood.

It will not be the same.

It will not. It may be better, it may be worse, but it will not be the same.

[topaz_eyes]

Jennifer Morrison came back for a wrapup on her storyline, so it's not impossible. Whether LE wants to return or not is another story. (I wouldn't blame her if she didn't.)

(Is it me or does LE's departure have vibes of what happened to JM?)

[nightdog_barks]

I ... don't know? I thought Jennifer Morrison's Cameron was used less and less as the season went on, and Cuddy has had this fairly large arc all season, so I don't really think she was being underused. Her character may have been ill-written, but she wasn't being underused.

[topaz_eyes]

Maybe not in terms of being underused, but in terms of creativity. Cuddy's character arc ended when she broke off the relationship in "Bombshells." Where else can Cuddy's character development go, really? Once Cameron and Chase left House at the end of S3, they had very little to do creatively, either. This might be better for LE in the long run, instead of retreading old ground. But then, I blame the writers for writing Cuddy into this corner in the first place.

[nightdog_barks]

Ah, I see! :-)

Yes, I agree. I'm not sure where Cuddy's character could have gone, creatively. Given enough time, I think the writers probably could've come up with something, but who knows how convincing it would have been? And now we'll never know.

But then, I blame the writers for writing Cuddy into this corner in the first place.

But wasn't LE lobbying the writers to put her in this corner? I honestly believe this could've been a realistic, terribly bittersweet arc that would have ended with both of them sadder and (maybe) wiser, but for whatever reason, it didn't. But the impression I got from various interviews was that Lisa E. wanted development for her character, and this was the direction she wanted to go.

[topaz_eyes]

Ah, I should have said, I blame the writers for writing House/Cuddy into this corner in the first place, not Cuddy. Sorry about that. You're right, LE lobbied for Cuddy's development. I thought it was clear in the narrative that Cuddy did want a mature relationship. House/Cuddy could have been realistic and terribly bittersweet had House remained in therapy. However, once House quit therapy in "Baggage" the writers' hands were tied. Right then they made clear, House had no intention of changing his ways. So IMHO there was almost no chance for a mature House/Cuddy relationship because House's character development wouldn't allow for it. Since the show is necessarily driven by House's development, the House/Cuddy arc was limited to what it was.

[nightdog_barks]

Now I have it. :-)

I loved "Baggage" -- it's easily one of my top five episodes. Yet now I wonder if that's the moment the lid of the box closed, because that's been my chief frustration with Season 7 -- nothing changes, and House is doomed again and again to fail. What I wouldn't give to have Andre Braugher back for one more guest episode. *g*

[namaste]

I'm not even gonna click on any posts in quite a few communities.

I do wonder if, between both LE and Kaplow's decision, this whole debacle of a negotiation between the suits at Comcast/NBC and Fox will become known are an archetype in how to screw things up in Hollywood business. They jerked around the on-screen and off-screen talent for so long, that they pushed people to the point of walking away, although the show was still a decent money maker.

We'll have to see how things go, obviously, but there is a potential of killing the golden goose here.

[nightdog_barks]

Heh, I've been watching the h_w thread a bit, but no way I'm going to look at any of the crazy sites.

You know there are some people who are going to say TPTB already killed the golden goose when they went the Moonlighting route and had David and Maddie House and Cuddy sleep together. I don't know ... I still think it could've worked if it had been handled differently, but then I wish a lot of things had been handled differently. To be honest, I thought the negotiations were the usual game of Hollywood brinksmanship and that everyone would come to an agreement in the end, but apparently they weren't.

OTOH, having just watched this, I can maybe see why Fox and NBC Universal were looking to cut costs. That's an awful lot of CGI money being thrown at the screen.

[namaste]

True, it's not what it was, but it has continued to be a solid (if not stellar) performer. Whereas Terra Nova is unknown and has already been delayed for a year. (I think James Poniewocak called it the second year in a row for being the most anticipated new series).

I do think that negotiations and tactics started as normal, but once Comcast came in as the new kid and started throwing its weight around, things got nasty very quickly.

[nightdog_barks]

Yep, and Comcast didn't have the best of reputations to begin with.

[pwcorgigirl]

I had seen mention on HHOW of an interview she gave to a publication in Europe (Italy, maybe?) in which she said she received a warning letter from Fox after making a "keep abortion safe and legal" PSA for Planned Parenthood. Wouldn't surprise me if that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The whole concept of House as a character does not work without her or Wilson, so they'd be crazy not to try to get her to come back.

[nightdog_barks]

I saw that too and was horribly disappointed in Fox. (Of course, it is Fox, so.) I know networks prefer their stars not take publicly "controversial" views, but come on people.

I'm very interested now to see how the showrunners deal with this. There's a bit of speculation going on that if they don't bring in a new character, Foreman could end up as Dean.

[pwcorgigirl]

Oh, God, not Foreman! I used to like him -- he was my favorite back when they were Ducklings -- but they'll need to custom-make the Dean's chair to accommodate the 2x4 he has up his ass. :/

[nightdog_barks]

Hee! What I'd actually like to see would be a short story-arc where Wilson is the temporary Dean.

:-D

[pwcorgigirl]

Poor Wilson's head would go splody! :D

[nightdog_barks]

:-D

If he thinks he has problems now dealing with House ...

[mer_duff]

Yay, Randall Jarrell! One of my all-time favourite poems is "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner."

I think the timing of the news is interesting. I wonder if the decision was in fact made some time ago and was dealt with in the finale, but they've been keeping it under wraps to avoid spoilers. It would explain why they had to revise the last half of the season. And it would explain House's attitude in the previews, if she's told him that she's leaving the hospital.

While I haven't been a fan of Huddy (mainly because of it's peripheral impact on the characterization/use of Wilson), I've always liked Cuddy and will definitely miss the character.

[nightdog_barks]

Before this, the only poem I knew by Jarrell was Death of the Ball Turret Gunner! *g*

I thought it was very odd timing, and that's an interesting take on the situation. It was really strange to me that TPTB decided, seemingly out of nowhere, to suddenly tack on an episode 23. Maybe they have known about this for a while.

[taiga13]

Wisdom is pain. Depressing but true. I remember reading somewhere that when they were casting for the role of House the network wanted someone younger but David Shore (Bryan Singer? one of those guys) said no, we need someone who understands pain.
I just saw the news about Lisa Edelstein and I'm stunned. I never, ever saw that coming. How will they make it work without her? It's one of the cornerstones of the show that Cuddy is the only person who would employ House! As glad as I am to see the House/Cuddy thing die, I'll miss her. I'm not sure the show can survive cutting her, not just because she's CUDDY but because now the storyline will be House dealing with losing Cuddy.
I wonder how they'll cut her. She leaves PPTH? She fires House and he takes his team to a new hospital? She dies?

[nightdog_barks]

My assumption is that they'll say she's moved to another hospital or she quits medicine in order to concentrate on raising Rachel. I honestly can't see the writers killing her off, although god knows they whacked Kutner.

I dunno ... I'm actually looking forward to Season 8 now, really curious to see how they deal with this. *g*

[taiga13]

I'm curious to see how they handle it, definitely, but... in their run they've twice chosen to cut a charactor, and they were both women. That puts a bad taste in my mouth.

[nightdog_barks]

I don't know that they chose to cut Lisa Edelstein. It may have been her choice to walk away from the table.

[zulu]

Sure, after they cut her pay--I wouldn't feel respected in a work environment like that.

[nightdog_barks]

:-)

A very valid point. On the other hand, RSL and Omar Epps (and who knows who else) apparently decided they could work with lower pay. So perhaps LE is to be respected more for walking away? I don't know -- all I was saying was that I don't think there was ever an actual "You're fired" coming from TPTB.

I'm guessing none of us will ever really know what happened.

[zulu]

*nods* From what I've read, RSL's pay didn't get cut, but Epps took a hit. It's really too bad.

[nightdog_barks]

Did OE get cut? Sheesh, that sucks. I thought both he and RSL had signed for their old salaries (no raises), but for only 18 episodes (instead of 22).

:-(

[zulu]

I can't confirm because of course I've lost the link, so I could be wrong. But yeah, it rather sucks all 'round. I'm sad for Cuddy, but glad for Edelstein.

[nightdog_barks]

No, I think you could totally be right. I'm Googling but my brain is getting sleepy (midnight here) and I don't see any of the really specific articles about the cast contracts turning up. *g*

I'm glad for Edelstein too. I wish it could have turned out differently -- I would have loved to have seen a House/Cuddy arc without all the Sturm und Drang.

[takes_a_fairy]

I'm beat, but thought I'd at least say 'hi' since the day is basically over.
Will hopefully get some major strides in painting done tomorrow.