Summary

• House is a modern Sherlock Holmes with Gregory House as the genius doctor investigating the human condition.
• Season 7 disappointed with the House-Cuddy relationship, but Season 8 saw a nostalgic and happy ending.
• Season 5 gets dark with deaths, while season 4 shines with new team building and a Willy Wonka-style competition.

House is a clever medical drama series that ran for eight seasons, with highs and lows throughout its 2004-2012 run. Hugh Laurie stars as the genius doctor, Gregory House, who also has a pill addiction, a god complex, and commitment issues. The series is a modern twist on the Sherlock Holmes story, positioning House as the genius who investigates the human condition, with his friend, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) standing in for Watson as his moral com and only true friend.

Throughout the series, House is in constant pursuit of knowledge and control over disease and suffering, with most of his cases being resolved thanks to his medical prowess. However, he is unable to cure his own conditions or find peace and happiness as his obsession turns to nihilism. The show explores his character and his relationships with his colleagues throughout the eight seasons and continually manages to engage audiences with its deeper moralistic ponderings. While the show was relatively consistent, there are definitely big gulfs in quality between the worst and best seasons of House.

8 House Season 7

House And Cuddy Get Together

While it was still good TV and a satisfying watch, season 7 was the worst season of House, mainly because of how it handled the relationship between House and Cuddy. For almost the entire run of the show, a relationship between House and his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) is hinted at, but it isn't until the penultimate season that the pair make it official. House season 7 has its moments, but it struggles to maintain the high standard that the rest of the show has kept.

Many viewers felt that the end of House and Cuddy's story wasn't a worthwhile payoff

Season 7 is slower, the relationship is a trainwreck, as it was always going to be, and ultimately, it just ends up going in circles until House and Cuddy break up and House drives into her home. It's a disappointing end to a relationship that was supposed to save House from himself. Many viewers felt that the end of House and Cuddy's story wasn't a worthwhile payoff considering how many episodes the will-they-won't-they storyline had played out too.

7 House Season 8

The Final Goodbye

House's final season shifted the focus to the team for much of the time. Considering House was in prison, then unable to work, and finally faking his death, the things that made him great didn't see much screentime. However, the season does dig deeper into him as a person and his motivations. The series ends strong with nostalgic returns and a happy ending for House and Wilson, despite the struggles it took to get to that point.

Season 8 would have placed higher if House had been more present

While it wasn't the worst in the show's run, the final season was also far from the best, with many viewers feeling that House. Season 8 would have placed higher if House had been more present and able to work more on the diagnostic team, but at least the show contained a positive arc in the end.

6 House Season 5

Things Got Dark

The fifth season of House primarily focuses on the relationship between House and Wilson, which is the strongest relationship of the entire show, but it also introduces elements that put the biggest strain on their relationship yet. The season starts two months after Amber's (Anne Dudek) shocking death, and towards the end, the happy-go-lucky Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) suddenly commits suicide.

This season gets darker than any before, but the show leans into it and uses that to its strengths.

House season 5 stands out because of the many shocking moments throughout, and the fact that the overall tone of the show became much more serious and less lighthearted (not that House was ever a comedy, but season 5 upped the dramatic and tragic plotlines considerably). This season gets darker than any before, but the show leans into it and uses that to its strengths.

5 House Season 2

Establishing House As A Character

House season 2 had a big job in following up the first season and continuing to build out the characters. Still with his original team, House and the diagnostic specialists work on a series of cases in serial format, with most of the episodes following a procedural pattern. This is in no way a bad thing, as that very pattern is what made the show great, to begin with, but it does little to move the narrative forward.

It did a fantastic job of laying down the fundamentals that made the show so beloved, and proved that it had longevity beyond a single season run.

While House season 2 didn't do as much as other seasons to make it stand out, it did a fantastic job of laying down the fundamentals that made the show so beloved, and proved that it had longevity beyond a single season run. House is brash and defiant and continues to create problems for himself as he greets his patients, his team, and everyone he meets with hostility and disdain — something audiences lapped up and kept returning to.

4 House Season 6

House Begins To Change

Six seasons in, House finally comes out of his shell to try and get treatment, become a better man, and stop shutting the people who mean the most to him out. Following major losses within his team, House seeks help, meaning that House season 6 has an impressive amont of emotional moments and character growth compared to some others.

House is well and truly on the up and up, and season 6 balances the cases and the development of it's leading man exceptionally well to create one of the best seasons of the entire show.

House season 6 features several incredibly significant moments both for Gregory House and the rest of the ensemble roster of characters. He gets honest with people like the Dean of Medicine, Cuddy, initially stepping away from the job to recover before he becomes stable enough to return, and ultimately confesses his feelings for Cuddy. House is well and truly on the up and up, and season 6 balances the cases and the development of it's leading man exceptionally well to create one of the best seasons of the entire show.

3 House Season 3

A House Divided Cannot Stand

The third season of House was one of the strongest in the entire run, both because of the overall quality, House's personal character arc, and several dramatic character exits. This season is the last to feature the original dream team of Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Chase (Jesse Spencer), and Foreman (Omar Epps) working together with House. While later seasons brought in new characters to replace them, many viewers feel that the original lineup was the strongest in the show's run.

The stakes are high in this season as tension between the characters reaches a fever pitch, preparing the path for the strongest stories of the show.

As House's behavior and his Vicodin addiction come to a head, he ends up firing Chase, while Cameron and Foreman resign. House faces legal issues due to his addiction and is at risk of losing his medical license. The stakes are high in this season as tension between the characters reaches a fever pitch, preparing the path for the strongest stories of the show.

2 House Season 1

The Season That Introduced The World To Gregory House

House season 1 may have been the first in the show's run, but it remains one of the strongest of all 8 that eventually made it to air. House all begins by introducing Dr. Gregory House as a narcissistic, egotistical genius. The series does a tremendous job setting up the cast, introducing House to his team, and defining him as a character. House season 1, episode 21, "Three Stories," is potentially the best episode to develop and flesh out a character in television history.

House season 1 is an incredible feat in television, only bested by a later season which continues to explore the brilliant cast.

The show is dynamic, witty, features incredible performances from the cast, especially Laurie, and it creates a format that carries the show, while also remaining distinctly different from other medical procedural shows. House season 1 is an incredible feat in television, only bested by a later season which continues to explore the brilliant cast.

1 House Season 4

House Finds A New Team

House season 4 is nothing short of a remarkable television drama, and it easily stands out as the best season of House. Despite season 4 being the shortest with 16 episodes due to the writer's strikes, it manages to deliver the strongest narrative arc. With House's team gone, he needs to start over. House sets up a sort of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-style competition to have candidates compete and prove that they possess the characteristics House is searching for.

Everything is done to a high standard and the show peaks with House season 4.

The former team remains in the show in various roles, no longer working under House, and this season develops the relationship between Wilson and House. Everything is done to a high standard and the show peaks with House season 4.