'House' writers' room: The Huddy breakup and all that jazz

The “Bombshells” episode of “House” this past Monday shocked (and dismayed Huddy shippers) a lot of viewers. It was written by Liz Friedman and Sara Hess. They’ve taken a little time out of their busy schedule to answer a few questions about  this critical and unusual episode.

“Bombshells” had two major, major plot points: The breakup of Huddy and the re-addiction of House. What was the rationale behind tackling both of these game-changers in 44 minutes?

Sara: Well, for us the two things went hand-in-hand.  A major theme on the show is that people don't change.  House has been clean for a year and a half now, but addiction isn't something that just goes away.  When Cuddy started dating him, she told him she could accept him just the way he was ... but remember, he was sober at the time.  And while she's a doctor and knows the reality of his situation, I think she was able to convince herself for a long time that things would turn out OK.  But when someone with House's drug history starts using again, it's a seismic event.
That said, Cuddy doesn't break up with him because he took one pill.  We used House's addiction as a symbol of his inability to deal with pain. He's spent so much time and energy trying to insulate himself, but being in a relationship basically means making yourself twice as vulnerable.  And he can't accept that.  He won't let himself really experience what Cuddy's going through; selfishly, he uses the drug to protect himself, and that leaves her--in any real emotional sense -- alone.  Maybe Cuddy thinks she doesn't need him to change, but she does at the very least need him to be present.  And in the end he can't do it.

Whose decision was it to incorporate the dreams/nightmares as a plot device?

Liz: That idea came out of the writers' room at House.  The staff collectively hatched the notion of Cuddy contemplating various futures with House, each of those futures being a different genre, and those visions ultimately leading to the end of their relationship. In the original pitch, each act was a different genre ... but as we got into it, we realized that the break-up really needed to be grounded in reality, so we re-approached the dreams as a way to show what our characters were really thinking/worrying about.

How did you feel about the results of the fantasies? I still can’t get over the timing of the “Two and a Half Men” sendup, on the day Charlie Sheen is fired. Winning, duh!

Liz: We couldn't be more thrilled about the fantasy sequences.  As a long-time horror film fan, I had the best time writing House vs. zombies, using all the tricks I absorbed from endless viewings of "Evil Dead," as well as working for Sam Raimi. And the musical sequence was incredible.  It's a rare occurrence for writers when you get to pick a song and write a half-page description and then have more than a hundred truly talented people including the brilliant choreographer Mia Michaels work their butts off to turn that into a completely mind-blowing, unforgettable sequence. It was awesome.
Sara: The Charlie Sheen thing was just a major coincidence; we wrote this long before the meltdown of the last few weeks. It actually wasn't conceived as a direct send-up of that particular show, but in the execution it definitely ended up coming pretty close. 

Did this episode take especially long to film, considering the parodies of the specific shows?

Liz: We had one extra day, which is really nothing considering that each of the five dream sequences was a totally different world and look.  Production-wise that's the equivalent of doing five teasers.  Most directors couldn't accomplish that, let alone have each sequence be better than the last.  Our hats are off to Greg Yaitanes, our super-talented and resourceful exec producer director and our stellar crew for that.
Sara:The sitcom and the "Butch Cassidy" sequence were actually shot the same day.

Were you on the set as the fantasy sequences were filmed? Are the writers, as a rule, generally present on set, and if so, are there a lot of last-minute adjustments?

Liz: On "House," writers are on set the whole time their episodes are filming, so we were there for the fantasy sequences. I spent most of the time gawking at the set, the costumes, the actors, completely thrilled and dazzled at what the departments had done to make this crazy idea work. As for script adjustments, those get dealt with ahead of time, not on set.  

On a collaborative teleplay like “Bombshells,” do you all sit in the same room and scream at each other until you get the 44 pages?

Liz: We generally divide up the acts, each taking half of the script.  Then we swap halves and do a pass on each others material. Then we get in a room together and start screaming. 
Sara: Well, there's also some screaming in the early phases, when we're putting together the outline for the script.  This was the sixth script Liz and I have written together, so we've developed a pretty good system wherein we try to kill each other for a few hours, then clock out like the sheep and the wolf in that old Warner Brothers cartoon and go get Chinese food.
Liz: Funny thing is, I hate Chinese food.

Do you solicit or accept any input from the cast?

Sara: As an executive producer and our lead actor, Hugh certainly has the ability to weigh in and make suggestions.  Which he actually does surprisingly little of. He's a writer, and his respect for the script and the room sets the tone for everybody else. If an actor has a strong opinion about something, we will definitely consider that. But it doesn't happen very often.

Finally, how much, if ever, do you follow the fan feedback on the Internet, and if so, does it affect the direction of the series?

Liz: Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me and I take a peek to see how people are reacting to what we're doing.  But I personally don't believe in letting fan reaction dictate creative decisions; not out of disrespect for the fans, but because as a TV writer you have to stay true to the core vision of your show, whether it's coming from you or your showrunner. You let go of that, before long you won't know what you're writing and no one will be happy.

Sara: We certainly appreciate and are grateful to our fans, but scripted shows aren't -- and can't be -- about audience participation.  That's what "American Idol" is for. If we bent to every opinion out there -- and there are a lot of them -- we wouldn't be writing "House," we'd be writing a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-type thing.  Which, come to think of it, isn't a bad idea. I'm going to call my agent.

Show Tracker thanks these busy writers for talking about their craft, and a fun episode of their highly ranked show.

-- Linda Whitmore

Photo: In the big musical finale, House (Hugh Laurie) dips Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). Credit: Adam Taylor / Fox

 

Comments

[emm305]

House is such a morally reprehensible character that watching the show is more like morbid fascination than really enjoying it.

The Team (minus House, of course), in it's many incarnations, is the only part of the show I really like. They create the real tension and entertainment. They are all more real than House, Cuddy or Wilson. I have always found Cuddy annoying and uninteresting. Wilson, just not much there, but there could be.

It's strange, I like Hugh Laurie, but not House. And, gee, don't they have about 8 hard to diagnose diseases that they switch around from episode to episode and season to season.

[Tessnea]

I may be the only one but even when he was with Cuddy, I didn't feel that House had change. I mean, he still was enough miserable (their relationship weren't an happy one ! Or I really feel for the one who think that), he still was a jerk and a Bastard to Cuddy, his team and his patients. He still had genious and slightly outrageous ideas.

The Stacy storyline and the end of season 1 (or 2 can't remember) and pretty much all of the show had shown that House would have been an arrogant and miserable jerk even without Vicodin. Even in any kind of relationship.

Being with Cuddy had not change House. He still did dangerous and ridiculus stunt for selfish reason. I'd love that he didn't break up with Cuddy even if it's made him a bad doctor because it was totally selfish and show us, again, how much House is an anti-hero. (A Hero sacrifices everything that count for him for the others. House sacrificed others live, for himself ! THAT is the House we know and love ! A Selfish bastard who's ready to letting people die just because he want to be with the woman he loves).

So, again, can someone tell me, in which way House changed when he was off vicodin and with Cuddy ?

(Sorry for the bad english and errors. I am not english, but, I tried)

[linda]

that house episode sucked,hated it.and House is my favorite show

[MCC]

She knew who he was when she went to bed with him in the first place. Flirted with him through his deepest days of addiction and rehab. What is he too much trouble now for her pampered princess self ? Shame on Cuddy and her writers.

[Amanda]

Choose-your-own-adventure:

Ok! I want to see House hook up with 13 which will make Cuddy over the top jealous and cause a rift in Houses little crew, (all while still popping pills of course) then have it pointed out by Wilson that House is still in love with Cuddy and have him waive his finger at House. THEN, I want to see Cuddy and 13 get into a b*tch fight and have House witness it...I could go on! I could so write what happens next :) Please do something dramatic and interesting!! I love DRAMA!!!

[Linnie]

If Cuddy and House are finished~then so am I. I will no longer watch the show,even though I have spent so many hours/years with House,Wilson and Cuddy.I will miss them!
What the writers did was a great mistake and it sickens me.

[ana]

Are people upset because HUDDY is over or because the way the writers are well...writing? Honestly people stop throwing a temper tantrum over a couple splitting up. And to those thinking that since the show began it's been leading up to Huddy's big happy ending...please. Just don't. This show is not about HUDDY it's about A man solving medical cases and us learning more about him and how he sees things. Breaking them up was not a mistake. You weren't ripped off. Smh I look forward to where House will be going-druggie house was always very entertaining in season past! Him recovering was excellent writing. Him and Cuddy? Thank you for showing the viewers why they can never be: she wanted to change him, and people don't change. Maybe a lot, but never completely. An old piece of them always remains. I was not a fan of domesticated submissive house at all lol I can't imagine why people loved it.

[Danelle]

First of all...for those of you who CLAIM to be House fans....it's CUDDY, not HUDDY. Second, this episode was intellectual and brilliant. There were so many fabulous nuances and I loved the giant candy cane which I imagine represented blood and bandages as did the old barber shop poles. I suppose not all viewers were quite bright enough to see the hidden messages and all the work you fantastic writers put into it. It's usually the dumb ones that turn on you for one episode they don't identify with but keep it up ladies and gentlemen...Season 7 is great! Lastly, the show is about House...that's why it's called "House". If all you want are medical cases watch Forensic Files or Life in the ER.

[Shelly]

I don't think I can continue to watch House go through more bottles of vicodin. It just became really OLD. Sure, addicts are always addicts, but they CAN live a normal life; so I think we should all be given a break and spared from the old story line and move on to House being a doctor. Give us a break!

[No "Huddy"]

By pairing House and Cuddy, you diminished her character. Why would an intelligent woman want to be with such an ass? Go back to the original ideas and stop the nonsense. This episode was plain stupid, other than the break-up.

[Susan L.]

I was very disappointed in Monday's show. Can't the writers get off the vicodin drug kick. It was very nice to see House happy for a change. I must have been in a romantic coma, because I was blindsided with the breakup. Epic fail for me. Not sure I'm going to watch it anymore. I'm even more disgusted after reading the comments by Sara and Liz. They are very much full of themselves. Don't they realize the show plays to the audience?

Failure..........

[Drendar]

To the three people attempting to correct people on the use of the term "Huddy," yes, we know, her name is Cuddy, we know this quite well in fact. The term "Huddy" is a pop-culture portmanteau of the names Cuddy and House (House + Cuddy = Huddy) and is used to reference their pairing. Much as, when in the series Foreman and Thirteen were in a relationship, House termed them "Foreteen."

Now, as far as the episode was concerned, I was disappointed by how the break-up went down, but not necessarily that it happened. I was also down to see that House had returned to Vicodin. However, as far as the episode is concerned, I did enjoy the B-Plot of the actual patient, and I thought the dream sequences were quite amusing. Loved the musical number, and as a consistent fan of the survival-horror genre of fiction, I found the House vs. Zombies sequence highly amusing and satisfying.

Yes, the romance subplots are somewhat cut and dry and disappointing, but the rest of the show is still House solving medical mysteries.

[Marie]

I was sad that House and Cuddy broke up, but that is not why I disliked the episode so much. I got hooked to House during season 1, and have watched every episode since. In the beginning, it was awesome. Bizarre illnesses, mysteries, ethical dilemmas, and awesome close up shots of anatomy and things going wrong. The characters developed slowly as background stories, not as the focus. Now it is like watching a soap opera. We barely see the patients, its more of a "dude is sick, there are a few things that could be wrong with him, oh look, its this" while focusing on the Drs relationships and how they are all crumbling. To top it all off, there are no awesome graphics, hardly anyone gets to the brink of death only to be saved at the last moment.

I am also sick of all these "fake" episodes. Hallucinations, flash backs, dreams. Thats not what "House M.D." used to be about. I really believe that if they kept the old formula, the show could last over 10 seasons. The way its going now, I won't be surprised if it doesn't show up again in the Fall.

[Amanda]

IS HOUSE NOW "HLEE"?
-Yes... I am poking fun at using the "Brangelina" thinking in "Huddy" as well as likeness to Glee...

My opinion is that the writers of House are not considering their "audience" when writing.... People who started watching House are into:
-Nonfiction, Suspense, Realistic Drama with Humour/Witt
What categorization is it now? Are the writers purposely changing the genre?
-Fantasy? Fiction with Love Drama? Musical - "Glee"? Soap Opera?

What happened to the A story and B story format that used to be used when creating episodes?
Did you fire your medical consultants? What is happening?
Also, are the ratings actually better? I am confused...

Here is a suggestion: Use RAFT when writing

R- Role - What role am I taking on when writing this script? I am writing to entertain?/inform? etc.
A - Audience - Who is my audience I am writing for? (or... What market are you appealing to? Fact/Fiction)
F - Form - Script (Given)
T - Topic - (This is another place where things are hazy - love/medicine - What is your focus?)

When you try to do it all the message is lost. When you change styles your initial audience isn't going to "buy in". I am wondering if the creative team needs to sit down and define the show again. The essence has changed. It is quite unfortunate.

[Marg]

I used to really like this show but the last few episodes have been so ridiculous that if you don't get back to "normal" you are going to lose a diehard fan.

[Charlie]

Vicodin? Really?

There are so many better drugs out there. House should try some of those.

[DesertDude]

I'm sorry I missed some of the parts of the show. My kids kept interrupting me. I got the candy references in Cuddy's dreams but what was up with the zombies? Did they represent anything or were they there just for fun?

[I Changed I am no longer a HOUSE fan!!!]

Sara said: "A major theme on the show is that people don't change. "

The thing is, people do change. And watching characters grow is a great deal of the attraction for stories. Change doesn't occur all at once. And there are a lot of setbacks. But people do change. Too bad the scriptwriters don't.Writers should have been brave enough to change, people will get tired of "the usual sad-on vicodin House".
I'm Very sure there are other things I can be doing with my Monday nights. What an incredible disappointment!!!!!!!!! :0(

[Magda]

I think the seventh season for the best because of the relationship House and Cuddy. There were medical cases and it was romantic, funny and sad. Funny scene with Cuddy's doughter and mom. Now it will be the same pattern. Medical incidents, quarrels with the Caddy, a test of strength and stoned House. Back to the beginning of the series. Boring. The idea of ​​relationship breakdown House and Cuddy is failed.

[Kwai Chang Caine]

Who's Huddy?