Hugh Laurie's old tricks

Hugh Laurie, we're on to you.

I'm a big fan of House, but they've been up to something, and I can't quite decide whether it's genius or starting to get on my nerves, or both.

We know, and the writers of House know we know, that someone has to become ill during the first, pre-credit sequence of every episode of the show. So House tricks us in to thinking one character in that sequence is set for illness, then actually goes ahead and makes another person sick.

Every.
Single.
Time.

Call it the House Bait-and-Switch.

My favorite use of the House Bait-and-Switch was an episode called Humpty-Dumpty. In the pre-credit sequence, Cuddy goes for a run, and it is the most suspenseful jog I've seen on television since that time Bradley Whitford showed up in a sleeveless shirt.

House knows that we know that if Cuddy ever got sick, it would be a great episode, and so every possible minor physical ailment that could happen, happens to Cuddy. Her leg cramps up, she gets a headache and just when she's choking on a glass of water, some dude falls off the roof of her house.

I'll tell you, I'm leaning towards genius. In an inherently stupid medium, someone is bothering to think about and acknowledge the expectations of us, the viewing public, and not pretend we don't notice. The House Bait-and-Switch is such an obvious ploy that, once you know what you're looking for, it's like the writing staff of the show saying hello to you at the beginning of every episode. It's like seeing an old friend every week.

Hello, writing staff of House. Tell me where the difficult-to-find tumor will be placed this week.