Now following the boys underhanded recommendation I watched the first season of "House, MD". Others have recommended it as well, and I think I understand why.
First of all the lead character, Dr. Gregory House played by Hugh Laurie, a splendid character full of wit, charm, personality, and both pithy and perspicacious observations on fellow staff and patients.
This is why I suspect most people watch it. Funny no one's offered me a T.V. show.
Now to the rest of it...
A CSI rip-off, merely set in a Hospital rather than a Crime Lab. A main plot involving a mysterious disease that usually reveals itself just before the end. There sure are a lot of "One in a Million" diseases out there, folks, watch out. CGI graphics zoom inside the patient to reveal the inner workings of the human body while the attending physicians puzzle over improbable symptoms to arrive at a diagnosis.
The plot follows a predictable path: A primary patient, who’s situation is grave and demands a thorough 45 minute investigation by both House and Staff, and a secondary patient (his assigned Clinic hours) whose primary purpose is to provide comic relief. Some politics and friction between the main characters.
It is of course complete and utter balderdash. Much like people like to believe CSI and other such "Law and Order" type shows demonstrate some aspect of the real world, there is no way a team of dedicated experts are working on resolving your murder/mystery ailment for days on end, let alone 45 minutes. The way they treat both the homeless and poor with the same care and dignity as they do the rich and privileged is as well ridiculous, it's the "Fairy Tale" of healthcare. And the way they use "Seizures" to indicate the situation is serious - well, it's a bit predictable, isn't it? As predictable as the "Human Interest" aspect of every show and the invariable cheesy ending.
But this is in general the state of television at the moment. What is missing in the series is the fact that the healing is seldom put in the charge of the patient, the psychological or inner life of the patient is seldom probed (apart from when House exposes it with his witty repartee), and there's missing (so far, I've only done Season 1) a more spiritual view of medicine that confronts placebos, belief, deathbed visitations, wonder and the mysteries of existence. House is a purely material, atheistic view of medicine and the body which I think we have somewhat cast doubt upon, if not clearly disproven.
House really needs a miracle.
Now I've downloaded Season 2, I'm hoping for more of a character "arch" - where the characters develop over the season, than was present in Season 1, but - well, I'm also quite prepared to abandon it. While Hugh Laurie is great he's hardly enough reason to waste 45 minutes watching the show. I'm a bit sad the boy has invested so much time in it, but I suspect it's just that he's missing my caring parental style...