So I was watching some of the House, MD reruns on USA when it occurred to me that all they did for this show is take Dr. Cox from Scrubs and made him not so funny. Let's look at the facts. Both men had abusive fathers that turned them into egotistical assholes who can't stand to form close relationships with other people. They, in turn, belittle everyone else for their own amusement as well as a way to keep them at arms length even coming up with little nicknames for his favorites. One choses to drown his sorrow in Scotch, the other with Vicodin. Both men were still in love with their ex-wives. They both have lofty ideas about the practice of medicine that are unwaivering and unrealistic.
Now, for the not so obvious rip-off aspects. House's original team was a chick, a white guy, and a black guy. Hmm.... Sound familiar?
House's main foil for the show is an administrator who he has to sneak his treatment of patients by because they may just break the rules.
Of course, House's foil has better tits.
I'm sure that the people who created House watched Scrubs on a daily basis taking notes before they called up Fox to arrange their pitch meeting. That period where Cox didn't shave probably made them go, "That's great! Our guy should have stubble all the time too. That way he looks like and outsider because outsiders don't shave." They were probably sitting on the coach with their notepads and pencils when the episode where Dr. Cox got the vasectomy and limped around for a quarter of the episode thinking, "He's limping. Our guy should limp, like, all the time." "And have a cane." "Yeah! A cane! Because outsiders have canes."
All in all, I think Fox should be kicking back some of that ad money coming in for House to the guys and Scrubs who pretty much created their popular character but in a more entertaining and funnier form.
