House’s Biggest Gamble Risked Ruining The Show (But Actually Saved It)

House took a massive risk after the show’s strong start, and while this could have ruined the series, it ended up saving it. Although Hugh Laurie’s Gregory House was the heart and soul of the series, House would not have been the show it was without the supporting characters. House was always working with a team of subordinates, all of whom were impressive doctors but still had a lot to learn. The dynamic between House and his team made the series different from other medical dramas, with characters like Cameron, Foreman, and Chase becoming fan favorites.

The first three seasons of House saw the titular doctor mentoring Foreman, Chase, and Cameron as they worked together solving medical cases every week. This simple formula worked greatly, quickly making House into one of the best TV procedurals available at the time. However, by the end of season 3, House’s team had fallen apart. Chase was fired, Cameron quit after learning of Chase’s exit, and Foreman quit after realizing he and House perceived medicine too differently. Suddenly, House’s core team of characters was no more.

House Season 4 Introduced A New Team (Without Cameron & Chase)

House’s Original Team Fell Apart In Season 3

House season 4 introduced the idea that Dr. House needed a new team following the events of season 3. With Chase, Cameron, and Foreman out, House had the opportunity to start a new team of doctors essentially from scratch, with only Foreman later returning to his previous position. Considering how things were never simple with Gregory House, he came up with a “reality show” to assemble a new team. House brought in multiple candidates, from promising young doctors to someone who did not even have a degree, and made them compete for a spot in the crew.

While House’s competition could have become repetitive very easily, it was surprisingly one of the most interesting portions of the whole show. Viewers got to spend time with brand new characters, not knowing which of them would become recurrent faces on the show. By the end of House’s competition, the team was now formed by Thirteen, Kutner, Taub, and Foreman. Only three seasons after the beginning of the show, House changed its main set of doctors almost entirely, a risky move considering how popular Cameron and Chase had become.

Why House Moved On From Cameron & Chase In Season 4

Cameron And Chase Grew Beyond House

Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer continued to be part of House’s cast in season 4, which made Cameron and Chase’s exits from the team even stranger. However, even though House was not always medically accurate, the show still had to maintain some sense of realism. Cameron and Chase could only be part of House’s fellowship program for so long before it became implausible for them to still be in that stage of their careers. House’s original pupils needed to grow, so the show had to give Chase and Cameron different roles in season 4.

Foreman was also past the role of House’s pupil, yet his firing from another job made it so that he had to come back to Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital with his old salary. House continued to give Chase and Cameron important storylines, but their presence in the series was reduced significantly compared to the first three seasons. Foreman, who continued to work closely with House, had a bigger presence in season 4 onward than the other two members of the original team. Seeing less of Cameron and Chase was bittersweet, even though it made sense within the story

House’s New Team Helped The Show Reinvent Itself

House Needed A Formula Shake-Up

Moving away from two of the show’s main characters after only three seasons was a very risky move, and it could have ruined House forever. Fortunately, introducing a new team not only helped House reinvent itself but also made the show better. House’s first three seasons were incredible, but the series was already starting to become repetitive by season 3. There was only so much drama and tension that could happen between the original team, meaning House needed to try something different. House’s search for new protegees shook things up, and the new characters were all great.

Thirteen, Taub, Kutner, and Amber – the last of whom never made it to the team but continued to be on the series – were major additions to House and changed the show forever. Some of them would continue to be on the show until its ending, whereas others would be involved in tragic storylines that massively impacted House. The moments in which House’s old pupils interacted with his new ones were also great, adding to the perception that House was moving forward rather than trying to replicate the first couple of seasons over and over.

House Took A Big Risk Making This Kind Of Change

Cameron And Chase Were Integral To The Formula

While the changes made in the post-Cameron and Chase era paid off, House still took a big risk by moving on from the characters. The pair were integral to the dynamic of seasons 1-3, so their step back wasn’t insignificant. This gave the showrunners two options — play it safe and introduce two new characters who fill the same narrative function as Chase and Cameron, or gamble on innovation and make significant changes to House so that their absence is barely noticed.

Ultimately, the new characters introduced in House season 4 worked, as evidenced by the fact the show continued all the way until season 8. This was never a guarantee though, as there have been many shows that lost or moved focus away from key cast members and never fully recovered. Some notable examples include Charlie Sheen leaving Two and a Half Men, Steve Carell leaving The Office, or Mathew Gray Gubler not returning for the Criminal Minds sequel-spinoff Criminal Minds: Evolution.

Of course, the death-sentence for these shows doesn’t have to be immediate, nor immutable. There were still many who enjoyed the Ashton Kutcher years of Two and a Half Men, Dunder Mifflin without Michael Scott in The Office, or are growing used to the BAU without its token savant in Criminal Minds: Evolution. This doesn’t change the fact, however, that each example has a strong contingent of fans who mark specific characters leaving or no longer being a focus as the point their favorite series took a downard turn.

House managed to escape this phenomenon, as there are few among its vast fanbase who seem to be of the opinion that the show got worse after Cameron and Chase left. They may have been popular characters, but House managed to use their exit from the core team as an opportunity to enter a new era of sorts. This was a huge risk at the time though, and there was no guarantee it would pay off.

Which Team In House Was Best?

Many Still Feel The Season 1-3 Team Was Strongest

There have been several different teams and lineups in House, and this is partly why Cameron and Chase are still among the more widely discussed of all the doctors on House’s core team. While the show managed to reinvigorate itself after their exit from the titular doctor’s inner circle, many fans still consider them to be the best of all House’s doctors. Any team lineup with them on often gets cited in discussions among the strongest House teams or viewers’ personal favorites.

Olivia Wilde’s 13 (real name Remy Hadley) seems to be a close second for many, with her presence on any specific lineup of doctors in House makes it a memorable one for many fans. Omar Epps’ Foreman is another such character, and there are many who also consider anytime Foreman and Taub (Peter Jacobson) or Cameron and Chase have to work together as some of the show’s best team-up dynamics.

Even then though, there are many who also enjoy the Foreman, Cameron, and Chase moments from House seasons 1-3 when it comes to best teams. So, while it’s still true that House managed to continue without Cameron and Chase on the core team, and even improved in many ways, their loss still remained incredibly significant.