FOX renews 'House' for Season 8

Hugh Laurie will be back, but several stars are still negotiating

By Daniel FienbergTuesday, May 10, 2011 1:10 PM

Hugh Laurie of 'House'

Credit: FOX

Capping a period of prolonged negotiations between FOX and Universal Media Studios, "House" has finally been renewed for an eighth season.

The formal announcement came as the long-running and Emmy-winning drama continued a bit of a spring swoon, averaging under 7.8 million viewers for its recent airing and coming in under a 3.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. Those numbers are down, but still on the high side for FOX offerings, making the renewal a no-brainer, once various licensing issues could be straightened out.

"Over the past seven seasons, 'House' has redefined the medical drama and has given us one of television’s most compelling and iconic characters," states FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly. "From the producers to the incredible writers to the unbelievably talented cast and crew, the 'House' team is fearless in its creativity and I can’t wait to see what they have in store next year."

The big question in recent weeks has been which castmembers will actually be back for the new season. Going into this week, only Hugh Laurie, Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson had contracts for Season 8, though there have been reports that other stars have also struck new deals. Universal Media Studios politely declined to offer confirmation on where things stand at this moment, cast-wise.

"House" has two episodes remaining in Season 7, with the finale set to air on Monday, May 23.

Check out other shows in spring limbo in HitFix's TV Shows on the Bubble 2011 gallery.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

Related Searches: fox, House, renewal

djones

They've given the other team members so little to do in recent years that I'm not sure I'd even notice them being gone. Just test some new actors on their ability to make at least 5 distinct "mildly disgruntled at House's behaviour" faces and you're good. Robert Sean Leonard is doing a play and will hopefully be back even if it's a reduced role. I kind of hope they write Cuddy off since they've thoroughly ruined her character and a new admin could actually shake up the formula a little.
May 10, 2011 at 2:26PM EST Reply to Comment
Dave I

I like House, love it at its best. Really though, this is a show that could use an end-date or some sort of goal to strive for. The patient-of-the-week, complete with House coming to some cure/diagnosis that just so happens to directly parallel his life got old years ago, so that is seldom a draw. House & Cuddy seems to have been (as DJONES stated) ruined, if for no other reason than the way she unceremoniously dumped an addict for having one relapse because, ironically, he was learning to deal with the possibility of losing her. They did all kinds of stupid with that. And his total relapse and destructive behavior seem like backtracking, which is fine IF they do something with it.

I still like the character of House, I even like the team members. I think they need to do something direction-wise. Do more with the staff characters, let House & Cuddy play out (or end for real) in a logical progression, have some reason for House to be on the screen and something to strive for, and let them be humans. House can (and should) make mistakes, and sometimes there should be a win for the supporting cast. If Foreman or Remy "Thirteen" make a diagnosis, or overture of friendship, or Wilson points out that House is hurting himself, or House (gasp) realizes he is wrong, it is o.k. for House to apologize or to acknowledge others have helped him or to recognize and grow from his mistakes or tribulations. They should be more of a team, and House should be able to accountable to reasonable quasi-real-life-like consequences for the stuff he pulls. Even a medical genius on a TV show needs to be somewhat grounded.

Mostly though, I want to see direction, not just tune in because Hugh Laurie is a great actor and I still fondly remember when they showed the characters in more 3-dimensional roles (although Wilson and Thirteen have gotten those moments, Olivia "Thirteen" Wilde in particular, and Foreman has had been given shades of it). I am obviously still watching, however when I stop and think about it I almost have to ask why.

-Cheers
May 10, 2011 at 2:56PM EST Reply to Comment