House

House, M.D. - Season One
$59.98
This is why I love this TV show. Great actors, great situation. I'm happy because there is no need to wait when local TV station'll make desision to show any of this episodes.

House
$14.98
Most people know the star, William Katt, as the star of 80s TV show, Greatest American Hero. Here, he takes a slightly different role about a Vietnam veteran with a troubled past. His character loses a friend in Vietnam & his son dissappears mysteriously which everntually leads to the breakup of his marriage. William Katt's character inherits an old (haunted) house when a late aunt dies & wills it to him. Mysterious things start to happen after that. House is a bit horror, a bit comedy with some good makeup and special effects thrown it. I think this was an entertaining horror film with George Wendt (of TV's Cheers) and Richard Mol (of TV's Night Court) as part of the supporting cast. This movie was a lot of fun. Check it out, you may like it.

House II: The Second Story
$14.98
House 2: The Second Story is a sequel in name only to House. No, not that doctor guy. You know that movie where Katt Williams moves into a house with monsters in the closet and passages to alternate dimensions and stuff? Yeah, that one. Judging from the eerie looking house and the severed hand ringing the doorbell seen on the cover art of House 2, one would be inclined to think that this would be another movie that mixes horror and comedy like the original. However, you may be surprised to find out that House 2 really doesn't incorporate any horror whatsoever. This is a straight up comedy/adventure movie that, if not for some cursing and alcohol references, would probably be suitable for family viewing.

In House 2 we meet Jesse, a young man who has recently come into possession of the titular house that has been in his family for generations. After reading up some some family history, Jesse and his fiend Charlie dig up his great great grandfather, a mummified cowboy who is in possession of a crystal skull that gives its owner immortality. Being the much-sought-after item the crystal skull is, a vast array of characters from different time periods are entering the house through its passages to alternate worlds in pursuit of the skull. Jesse, Charlie, and Grandpa engage in battle to keep the skull theirs.

House 2 isn't a great movie, but it isn't that bad either. If the brand of comedy presented in the original was your kind of thing, then chances are you'll enjoy this one just as much. Anyone that was expecting a HORROR movie will undoubtedly walk away feeling duped, but any rate, House 2 is too silly and light hearted to take much offense. Approach with caution.

House, M.D. - Season Two
$59.98
...and I might add medical comedy too. Part of House's appeal is that nobody since Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry is this tough, is such a professional purist who is allowed to continue practicing that profession for more than ten minutes, and last but not least has such funny one liner remarks.

House is rude to his patients and avoids them whenever possible, but part of what makes him repugnant to almost everyone around him is that he is about the search for pure truth, and superficial niceties have no place in his life. He doesn't wear a lab coat, and he sports tennis shoes and a scruffy beard. Thus when he does actually talk to the patients he lays it on the line and expects them to do the same. However, they almost always lie to him, something that he says he expects and one reason he avoids contact with them in the first place.

So why would such a rude unkempt character be so popular among viewers? Possibly it could be because as a nation we are sick of being lied to in every aspect of our lives by blow-dried poll-tested representatives of large corporate interests who are only interested in image, profit, and covering their backsides, and House is the antithesis of all of this.

This particular season has some superb episodes. Several said they did not care for the arc with House's ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner, now married to a man with all of the s ex appeal of the Staypuffed Marshmallow Man, and who is still unable to walk while recovering from an illness that House treated him for at the end of season one. I personally liked the arc because it showed the side of House that was capable of love. Stacy has already made the admission to House that he was "the one guy" for her, but that there was no room in House's life for her and there was room for her in her husband's life. This sets up the possibility that House and Stacy may reunite. First, however, House has to find out the absolute truth of Stacy's relationship with her husband - and what House does to get that information costs him dearly when Stacy finds out. House does make a new friend this season - a rat living in Stacy's attic whom he names "Steve McQueen".

As for the individual cases, they are interesting as always, but there are three episodes that really stand out. Two of them consist of the two-parter "Euphoria" in which Foreman is infected with a deadly disease that is of unknown origin and an unknown method of transmission. It turns out that Foreman, who is the most similar to House of any of his assistants, is different from House in one key way. He is willing to use any means necessary to preserve his life regardless of the possible future quality of that life. The final episode has House being shot by a disgruntled ex-patient. The big question left unanswered here is not so much will he survive, but will he be able to recover the use of his leg as a result of the shooting. You see, for Foreman the important issue is just staying alive, because he has no first-hand knowledge of life with chronic disability. House has been dragging around a useless but painful leg for five years now, and when the chips are down, for him just being alive isn't enough.

The extra features are spread out over the discs this season and include:
"An Evening with House" featurette
"It Could Be Lupus" featurette
Blooper reel
Alternate takes: the "Valley Girl" versions
Producer commentaries

The extra features here are better than the season one features, and I really enjoyed the commentary on the final episode "No Reason". Another improvement is that this season is spread out over six single-sided discs rather than the three dual-sided easily scratched discs of season one.