It’s been 20 years since, one of the best medical dramas, House M.D. debuted. The series about the titular curmudgeon doctor who hated most people, but could figure out what was wrong with them, starred Hugh Laurie in the title role and was a massive hit for its eight seasons. In the finale House and his best friend literally rode off into the sunset, but in the years since many have wondered, what happened next?
David Shore, creator of House M.D. recently sat down with EW to talk about the 20th anniversary of the series. It’s brought up that a popular fan theory suggests that House didn’t actually survive the final episode. While Shore says that was never his intention, he also says that one of the reasons he has never created a definitive answer to the question of what happens next for Dr. Gregory House is because he doesn’t want to destroy the fan theories. Shore said…
I don't want to pin myself down, weirdly. Because, I mean, every now and again, it does cross my mind that I would like to explore that, and so I'd have to figure out how I'd explore that. But also — and this relates to the last question you asked — I like the idea that other people are thinking of that too. And I hate to tell them, ‘No, he's doing something else.’ He's out there doing something House-like. Which I love that House-like became a bit of a phrase.
The final episode of House sees the title character caught in a building fire, and it initially appears he burned to death. Later we learn that House faked his death and he and his best friend, Dr. Wilson, played in the amazing House cast by Robert Sean Leonard, ride off into the sunset.
But the fan theory posits that Wilson, who we know is dying of brain cancer and doesn’t have long to live, has hallucinated House’s survival and his friend did die in the fire. Even David Shore admits there’s nothing in the episode that specifically contradicts that reading.
While David Shore may not currently have an answer to what happened to House after the end of the series, he hasn’t entirely discounted the possibility of coming up with one by doing some sort of follow-up. We’ve seen many popular shows get sequel series long after the fact, and while Shore is clearly hesitant about doing that with House, he’d be worried about spoiling the legacy of the original series and suspects getting the cast back together would be difficult. He continued…
Not really. I wouldn't say no to it, but those things are very, very difficult to do. You don't want to spoil anything. As Hugh said at the time, Dr. House is the type of guy who leaves the party early rather than late. People are going, ‘Where'd House go?’ Rather than, ‘Why is House still here?’ You don't want to spoil your legacy. But at the same time, yeah, we had fun with it, and I could see it being fun. But you'd have to have the right story, a great story that we were really happy with, and schedules would have to align, which is in a weird way the much more difficult task.
As a huge fan of House M.D. I’m just as torn on the idea of more House. I loved the show and of course, I would love more of the thing I liked. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine it could recapture the magic of the original, so maybe leaving it alone is the best way to handle it. The show is available now on several of the best streaming services, including Hulu, Peacock, and Prime Video, so if fans want to watch House again, they can go back, and see all the future stars who appeared on House, any time they wish.