One side effect of being a celebrity is that your work is put out in the world for anyone and everyone to share their opinions on, good or bad. While those in Hollywood will admit that nobody likes a negative review, most of the time they’re able to let the criticism roll off their backs, at least publicly. Every once in a while, though, there’s a clapback, and House star Hugh Laurie recently felt the need to apologize to a fan after beefing over the series’ formulaic writing.

How The Hugh Laurie House Beef Started

House aired for eight seasons on Fox, from 2004 to 2012, and is largely considered one of the best shows set in a hospital — some even maintain that it’s their favorite medical drama of all time. But when freelance journalist Janet Murray decided to see what all the fuss was about (the series can be streamed with either a Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription), she was underwhelmed — and said as much on X (Twitter):

The writer said that based on the House Season 1 episodes she’d seen, it featured the “same narrative every episode,” and she questioned how the series lasted so long. Well, that post made its way to acclaimed actor and comedian Hugh Laurie, and in the true nature of Gregory House — who’s known as one of TV’s most sarcastic characters — the actor responded:

Hugh Laurie joked that if House solved the medical mystery on the first try, the episodes wouldn’t have been very long, and if he didn’t solve them at all, his patients would have kept dying — neither of which, he argued, made for good TV.

The exchange went viral and apparently caused quite a bit of backlash for the journalist, who wrote about the experience in an article for Unherd. She said she was called all kinds of names and questioned the “oddly unsettling” instinct that made fans turn on a stranger with such vitriol over a slight — and not new — criticism.

Hugh Laurie Apologizes After Fan Feud Blows Up

The comedian seems to have read her report and was aware of what was happening to Janet Murray, because in response to her posting the article, he wrote:

There’s certainly something refreshing about someone just straight-up owning their mistake and apologizing for it. Because despite both making valid arguments, Hugh Laurie has a huge and passionate following, some of whom definitely seemed to over-react to the journalist’s musings.

I’m sure most of us can admit to doing something regrettable while “very slightly drunk,” but the actor says his intentions were not to turn the Internet against the journalist. Janet Murray, for her part, wrote that she appreciated the apology and recognized that what he said was in defense of his colleagues. “No hard feelings,” she said.

I’m not sure if this experience has sullied the writer on her House binge, but if she wants to be surprised by the series, Season 5 contains possibly one of the most shocking moments in TV history, so at least there’s that to look forward to. It might be worth the watch just to see actors like Michael B. Jordan and others you probably forgot were on House.

Stream all eight seasons on either Hulu or Disney+.

Adria Arjona is incredibly lucky to be surrounded by Hollywood leading men. So far, she's worked with the likes of Glen Powell on the Netflix movie Hit Man and Diego Luna on Andor, which returns for its final season amid the 2025 TV schedule. (Plus, she’s dating Jason Momoa in real life!) But if you were to ask her who her celebrity crush is, she’d name a character who has more brain than brawn. Bazinga, the Puerto Rican actress revealed it would be The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper, and her reasoning actually makes a lot of sense.

In a world filled with swoon-worthy, high-grossing actors and heartthrobs, a number of sought-after Hollywood stars surely come to mind. So I was surprised when Adria Arjona was asked by W Magazine who her celebrity crush was, and she picked a man who probably wouldn't even know about GQ Magazine or People’s Sexiest Man Alive. (Maybe Popular Science?) Nevertheless, Arjona spoke to mannerisms of Jim Parsons' Sheldon Cooper when explaining her attraction:

Dr. Sheldon Cooper is indeed tender, smart and “unaware” at times. At the beginning of one of the best long-binge sitcoms, the CalTech physicist was a socially awkward genius who lacked empathy and could not grasp social cues. Those attributes changed when Amy Farrah Fowler came into the picture and challenged Sheldon’s stubbornness about not wanting an intimate relationship with anyone. Her patience, wit and support brought out a side of Sheldon viewers probably never thought would come out of him.

While Sheldon and Amy’s bond was sparked by intellect, that eventually culminated in a record-breaking sexual relationship, and "Shamy" eventually got married as well. Sheldon may not be a perfect person, but his occasional lack of awareness and surprising warmth are quite endearing. So I can see where Adria Arjona is coming from.

Interestingly, Sheldon Cooper isn’t the only brainy character in the back of the Father of the Bride actress' mind. There’s another TV doctor on the talented actress’ radar who was like the Sherlock Holmes of the Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital:

There’s absolutely no denying that Sheldon Cooper and Dr. House are brilliant in their fields, and there are women who really love brainy men. I give actors Hugh Laurie and Jim Parsons a lot of credit for being able to memorize their characters’ scientific monologues. These fictional scientific professionals have their charms, and I hope they continue to captivate women, who watch them unapologetically show off their knowledge in their respective shows.

Kudos to Adria Arjona for having somewhat out-of-the-box taste. Now, I'm just wondering if Jason Momoa needs to talk science to his girlfriend to sweep her off her feet. That aside, you can stream all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory using a Max subscription, and the eight seasons of House by way of a Hulu subscription.

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…

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…

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.

There was a time when music videos were as important as the radio in promoting the hottest artists and songs of the day. Back in the '80s and '90s, MTV was one of the most powerful cultural forces in the country, and that was reflected in how many stars you can spot in videos from the day. 

Sometimes, they were already huge stars, like Robin Williams and Chevy Chase, other times, they were actors looking to get their break and now, years later, we can marvel at their humble beginnings. This is a list of famous people in videos from the zenith of MTV highlights both.

Alicia Silverstone - "Cryin'"

Alicia Silverstone first got famous for starring in videos, specifically Aerosmith videos. The Clueless star appeared in three videos for the Boston rockers, the first for the song "Cryin'", then later showing up in the videos for "Amazing," alongside Dazed & Confused cast member Jason London. Silverstone's final appearance, and maybe the most famous video, was for the song "Crazy," alongside Steven Tyler's daughter, Liv Tyler. 

Courteney Cox - "Dancing In The Dark"

One of the most famous examples of a star getting her first break in a music video is, of course, Friends star Courteney Cox in the video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark." The video, which came out in 1984, was directed by Brian De Palma and, according to Cox, she was one of several women Springsteen could have picked out of the audience, and it was random that he chose her. What kismit! 

Cindy Crawford - "Freedom '90"

Director David Fincher, who has had quite an amazing career in film, started in music videos. One of those videos, George Michaels' "Freedom '90," was challenging because Michaels told Fincher he wasn't going to appear in the video. Fincher decided to cast a bevy of famous supermodels to lip-sync the song, including Cindy Crawford in a bathtub. 

Eva Mendes - "Miami"

In 1998, a young actress from Miami was cast in a video for the Will Smith song, "Miami." Eva Mendes had starred in one direct-to-video movie at that point and was that actress. It would be another three years before her breakout role in Training Day. It's a brief moment in the video, as she drove her convertible next to Smith's on the causeway to Miami Beach.

In 1993, Janet Jackson was on top of the world. Her fifth album, janet. was another huge hit, selling millions of copies, partly on the strength of the single, "That's the Way Love Goes." Little did anyone know at the time that one of the extras in the video would go on to a career that eclipsed even Jackson's, a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez. 

Matt LeBlanc - "Miracle"

Bon Jovi's "Miracle" is, let's be frank, not the New Jersey legends' best work. One thing they did get right was the casting for the video. Matt LeBlanc was a young actor and model just starting out on a career, so while his job is really only to look good in this video, he certainly does. It would be a few more years before America was introduced to his comedic chops too. 

Hugh Laurie - "Walking On Broken Glass"

By the time Hugh Laurie appeared in the video for Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass" in 1992, he was already very famous in the UK. It would be a few more years until the legendary TV show House would debut in the US, making Laurie a household name on both sides of the pond. John Malkovich also stars in the video, reminding fans of his role in Dangerous Liaisons. 

Angelina Jolie - "Wondering"

Angelina Jolie was a model in Hollywood from her teen years on, so it's no wonder she would have a few videos of her resume, including The Rolling Stones' video for "Has Anybody Seen My Baby," but it is surprising to see her in a video for the Athens, GA-based jam band Widespread Panic's song "Wondering" from 1993. Jolie also appears on the cover of the band's album Everyday, which includes "Wondering."

Zooey Deschanel - "She's Got Issues"

Zooey Deschanel is as successful in music, with her duo She & Him as she is on the big screen, so of course she has an early credit in a music video. Deschanel appears with fiery red hair in the video for "She's Got Issues" by The Offspring. 

Naomi Campbell - "Is This Love"

Bob Marley died over four decades ago, but his legacy is as big as ever, with the release of the biopic One Love in 2024. Back in the day, the reggae superstar filmed a video in London for his song "Is This Love" featuring a couple of local kids, including a 7-year-old Naomi Campbell!  

Macaulay Culkin - "Black Or White"

Michael Jackson redefined what a music video could be with "Thriller" and after that, he often released short films that were much more than just a song, and often they had big stars in them. For "Black or White" in 1991, MJ brought in Macaulay Culkin and George Wendt to play father and son, for example. 

Christina Hendricks - "One Hit Wonder"

Long before Christina Hendricks hit the big time with her role in Mad Men, she was a model and struggling actor in the '90s. One of her earliest roles, way back in 1998, was in the video for "One Hit Wonder" by Everclear. Luckily for all of us, that wasn't her only hit. 

Matthew McConaughey - "Walkaway Joe"

Alright, alright, alright, we'll concede that Dazed and Confused is what made Matthew McConaughey famous, but before that, he appeared in Trisha Yearwood's video for her hit "Walkaway Joe," playing the titular character of the song. 

Wesley Snipes - "Bad"

For the second single, "Bad" from his album of the same name, Micheal Jackson teamed up with Martin Scorsese to make an 18-minute short film for the video. In the video, Jackson famously has a dance-off with his rivals in a New York subway station. One of the baddies is none other than Wesley Snipes, who only had a few credits under his belt previously. 

Patrick Swayze - "Rosanna"

Toto's song "Rosanna" is famously about Rosanna Arquette. Less well-known is that if you watch the video closely, you'll notice a familiar face as one of the West Side Story-like dancers. Patrick Swayze, one year before his big break in The Outsiders is one of the dancers. In an even cooler bit of trivia, another one of the uncredited dancers in the video is Cynthia Rhodes, who would co-star as Swayze's first dance partner, Penny, in Dirty Dancing. 

Elijah Wood - "Forever Your Girl"

Elijah Wood has been working in Hollywood forever. He started as a child actor in films like Back to the Future II and The Good Sun, but before those even, he had a part in Paula Abdul's video for "Forever Your Girl" in 1989. 

Chevy Chase - "You Can Call Me Al"

Chevy Chase was one of the biggest stars on the planet in 1986 when he starred in the video for "You Can Call Me Al" with his buddy Paul Simon. It is, no lie, one of Chase's best performances, and it's impossible not to crack up at his facial expressions and physical comedy in the video. 

Johnny Depp - "Into The Great Wide Open"

Johnny Depp has always wanted to be a rock star, so it was a great move by Tom Petty to get him to play the part of one in the video for "Into The Great Wide Open" in 1991. The video also stars the legendary Faye Dunaway and Gabrielle Anwar. 

Jennifer Connelly - "I Drove All Night"

The late, great Roy Orbison found almost as much fame after he died as he found in life. Two albums of all-new songs were released posthumously and one song, "I Drove All Night," released in 1992, featured Jennifer Connelly alongside Jason Priestly, in the video, along with Orbison in grainy images of an old TV appearance. 

Kirsten Dunst - "I Knew I Loved You"

Does anybody remember the band Savage Garden? The Aussie duo had a string of huge hits in the late '90s, including the song "I Knew I Loved You" which features Kirsten Dunst as a woman on a subway with whom the lead singer, Darren Hayes, is in love. 

Robin Williams - "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Bobby McFerrin's 1988 song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" has to be one of the most surprising #1 hits of all time. The song was huge when it came out, and went on to win three Grammys. Someone must have had an inkling though, because superstar Robin Williams co-stars in the video with McFerrin. 

Kim Basinger - "Last Dance With Mary Jane"

Tom Petty made some legendary videos during his career, but the strangest has to be the one for "Last Dance With Mary Jane" which features Kim Basinger playing a corpse, dressed up as a bride. Great song, but a very weird video.

Keanu Reeves - "Rush, Rush"

1991 was a big year for Keanu Reeves. Not only did he star in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Point Break, but he also appeared as a James Dean-like character in the video for "Rush, Rush" by Paula Abdul. 

Eddie Murphy - "Do You Remember The Time"

In case you've forgotten just how huge Michael Jackson was in the early '90s, remember there was a time he could premiere a video on MTV, BET, and Fox all at the same time. The video starred Jackson, of course, along with Eddie Murphy and Iman as ancient Egyptian royalty. Magic Johnson also appeared. 

Katie Holmes - "Tongue Tied"

Katie Holmes' career was just starting to take off in 1999 with her starring turn on Dawson's Creek. She also found some time to appear in the video for the song "Tongue Tied" by pop punk band Eve 6. It's not the last time Holmes has appeared in a video, either. A year later, in 2000, she starred with Micheal Douglas and others in a Bob Dylan video. 

Winona Ryder - "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child"

By far the award for the strangest appearance on this list goes to Winona Ryder in the video for Mojo Nixon's song "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child." Leave it to the late Nixon for coming up with the most ridiculous premise for a song, then landing a star like Ryder to star in the video in 1989, the same year she appeared in Heathers. 

RuPaul - "Love Shack"

If one were to guess which 1980s video to expect a RuPaul appearance, the smart money would be a B-52's video. That's exactly what happened in 1989 when RuPaul popped up very briefly in the video for "Love Shack" as a dancer and partygoer. He wasn't close to famous yet, but he was good friends with the band and he fits right into the campiness of the video. 

Benicio del Toro - "La Isla Bonita"

Benicio del Toro made his big screen debut in 1988 in Pee Wee's Big Top, but a year earlier, he was one of the extras in the video for Madonna's "La Isla Bonita." He is way in the background and can only be clearly seen in one shot, but when you watch the video, it's unmistakenly del Toro. 

Liv Tyler - "Crazy"

According to Liv Tyler, she didn't meet her biological father, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, until she was eight, and didn't know he was her father for another few years. Still, by the time she starred in the video for "Crazy," they had developed a healthy relationship, and the video, in which she co-stars with Alicia Silverstone, launched her career.

Captain Lou Albano - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Cyndi Lauper was one of the biggest breakout stars of early MTV and for good reason. The low-budget video for her debut single, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" featured a quirky cast that included her mother (playing her mother), her lawyer, and wrestling star "Captain" Lou Albano as her father. It's a video as fun as the song and it was played on repeat in those early MTV days. 

John Goodman - "Wild Wild Life"

The song "Wild Wild Life" by The Talking Heads was part of their soundtrack for the David Byrne-directed film True Stories. For the video, he recruited some of the people who appear in the film, including John Goodman, who lip-syncs along with the song in a karaoke bar. 

LeVar Burton - "Word Up"

LeVar Burton first found fame as Kunta Kinte in Roots, one of the most memorable performances by any actor, ever. About a decade later, between Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Burton popped up in the video for "Word Up" by Cameo, playing a police officer trying to arrest the band. 

One video we left off this list because it's just too big a list on its own is the video for Ghostbusters which, in addition to the stars of the film also includes Chevy Chase, Danny Devito, Peter Falk, Al Franken, John Candy, and more. It's all too much to add to his list of some of the coolest appearances of stars in music videos! 

There have been a great number of book-to-screen adaptations the past few months, with more coming to theaters and streaming services before we put the bow on the year that was 2023. One of those adaptations, All the Light We Cannot See, is based on Anthony Doerr’s 2014 novel of the same name, and follows two young people on opposite ends of World War II as they try to survive the devastating global conflict. 

We previously broke down everything we know about All the Light We Cannot See, and now that the new Netflix arrival has finally been released, now seems like the perfect time to go through all the actors and the characters they portray on Shawn Levy’s new limited series. Here are all the major players who make up the All the Light We Cannot See cast and why the actors in the 2023 TV series look so familiar…

Aria Mia Loberti (Marie-Laure LeBlanc)

Aria Mia Loberti leads the All the Light We Cannot See cast as Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a young, blind teenager who flees Nazi-occupied Paris before finding a place for herself in the French Resistance.

Surprisingly, Loberti is a newcomer when it comes to acting, and the first-time actress beat out thousands of other hopefuls when she auditioned for the part, Deadline reported back in December 2021. Loberti, who is blind, was a fan of the original novel and decided to audition for the part after learning about it from a teacher. 

Nell Sutton (Young Marie-Laure LeBlanc)

Nell Sutton shows up on All the Light We Cannot See as a younger version of Marie-Laure LeBlanc. Similar to Aria Mia Loberti, the 2023 Netflix series is the first professional acting gig for the visually-impaired young actress.

Mark Ruffalo (Daniel LeBlanc)

Academy Award-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo shows up on All the Light We Cannot See as Daniel LeBlanc, Marie-Laure’s caring father and a curator at Paris’ Museum of Natural History whose position puts him in possession of a priceless gem sought out by the Nazi occupying forces.

Ruffalo, who previously worked with director Shawn Levy for the 2022 Netflix original film, The Adam Project, is quite possibly the most recognizable member of the cast, as he has portrayed Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk in several of the best Marvel movies to date. But that is just a portion of Ruffalo’s body of work, as the talented actor has given commanding performances in all-time great romantic comedies like 13 Going on 30, thought-provoking journalism movies like Spotlight, and a long list of crime thrillers that includes Zodiac, Collateral, and Dark Waters, to name a few. 

Louis Hofmann (Werner Pfennig)

Louis Hofmann takes on the role of Werner Pfennig, a German teenager who becomes a cog in the machine that was Adolf Hitler’s massive and notoriously brutal Nazi army. Tasked with tracking down illegal radio broadcasts during World War II, Werner’s life will be forever changed by the conflict.

Though not as recognizable as Mark Ruffalo, Hofmann is no stranger to the screen, as the young actor has landed quite a few notable roles over the course of his career. This includes small parts in everything from Red Sparrow and The White Crow to leading roles in the likes of Sanctuary and Land of Mine. His TV work is just as impressive, with roles on shows like Dark, You Are Wanted, and the upcoming Masters of the Air, the highly-anticipated followup to Band of Brothers and The Pacific.  

Lars Eidinger (Reinhold Von Rumpel)

Every show needs a villain, and that’s where Lars Eidinger comes in with his portrayal of Reinhold Von Rumpel on All the Light We Cannot See. A ruthless, cut-throat, and dying Nazi officer, Von Rumpel is as persistent as he is cruel, especially when looking for a missing gem with purported powers.

Throughout his career, which has been mostly spent in his native Germany, Eidinger has landed roles on shows like SS-GB, Babylon Berlin, Berlin, Berlin, and Shades of Guilt. American audiences may also recognize him from his work on shows like Netflix’s Sense8 and the 2022 HBO limited series, Irma Vep. Eidinger’s film credits include White Noise, Personal Shopper, Dumbo, and The Origin of Violence, to name only a few. 

Hugh Laurie (Etienne LeBlanc)

Hugh Laurie shows up on All the Light We Cannot See as Etienne LeBlanc, a World War I veteran whose wounds from the conflict are still around nearly 30 years later. Locked up in his house, the damaged character records illegal radio broadcasts as part of the French Resistance movement.

Perhaps best known for his portrayal of the titular doctor on the successful medical drama series, House, Laurie has done a little bit of everything throughout his career that goes back more than 40 years. Shows like Friends, Veep, The Night Manager, Blackadder, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? have all featured the decorated actor in some shape or form. His list of film credits is impressive with everything from Stuart Little to The Personal History of David Copperfield featuring his talents. 

Marion Bailey (Madame Manec)

Marion Bailey plays Madame Manec on All the Light We Cannot See, the no-nonsense yet loving family matriarch who does everything in her power to protect those in her home.

Fans of The Crown will surely recognize Bailey from her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother during the third and fourth seasons of the royal drama (the show’s sixth and final season arrives later in November 2023), but that is just a small piece of her extensive filmography. Bailey has also appeared on shows like The Trials of Jimmy Rose, The Thing About Vince, To Have and to Hold, and The Bill. She’s also appeared in movies like All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Allied, and Brighton. 

Luna Wedler (Jutta Pfennig)

And then there is Luna Wedler, who takes on the role of Werner Pfennig’s sister, Jutta. 

Wedler, who some may recognize from her portrayal of Emma Engels on Biohackers, has built up a nice series of credits the past decade, including movies like The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, The Story of My Wife, and Blue My Mind.

You can see all of these actors, and many, many more, by watching All the Light We Cannot See, which is currently streaming for anyone with a Netflix subscription.  

Stream All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix. 

Upon hearing the sad news that Robbie Coltrane passed away, many actors who have worked closely with him have reached out to give their condolences and tell stories about the beloved actor. Now, House star Hugh Laurie has shared a super sweet story about spending time with the late actor. 

While Robbie Coltrane is best known for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies and his time as Valentin Zukovsky in the James Bond movies, he also starred in a lot of other smaller movies and shows. In two of these cases, he worked with his pal Hugh Laurie. The two starred together in the late 1980s show Blackadder and they were both on the sketch show Alfresco in the early ‘80s. All these years later Laurie posted about his fond memories with Coltrane by way of this sweet story on Twitter: 

The two actors were 9 years a part in age, and it makes sense that Laurie had such a blast listening to the actor explain the “ways of the world.” Stories like these show just how loved Coltrane was by his fellow actors. 

Many have spoken about their love for Coltrane following the news of his death. Including a lot of the Harry Potter cast. Daniel Radcliffe paid tribute to his co-star saying he was “one of the funniest people [he's] met.” Much like Laurie, the actor behind the titular wizard noted that he was constantly laughing on set, and he has “fond memories” of the Hagrid actor keeping morale up on set. Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, echoed Radcliffe's sentiments, saying Coltrane “could fill ANY space with his brilliance.” 

Earlier this year when the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter was celebrated Coltrane said: 

Hagrid is one of the most beloved characters from the franchise, and he’s lived on for the last 20 years, and as Coltrane said, will likely live on forever. I know I'll always have fond memories of seeing him say "Yer a wizard, Harry" for the first time, or crying along with him when he's sad about his creatures being taken. I know the image of Hagrid carrying Harry out of the woods in Deathly Hallows will always stay with me. 

Much like Hagrid, Coltrane will remain close to fans' hearts, mine included. Based on all the love and stories that have surfaced over the last day and throughout his life, it’s clear to me that this gentle giant will always be remembered fondly. It’s stories like Hugh Laurie’s that warm my heart, and even though this is a sad time, it’s lovely to see all this love for Coltrane. 

You can watch Laurie in his signature role on House with an Amazon Prime subscription. Also, you can always go back and watch Coltrane as Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, which can currently be watched with a Peacock subscription. 

Superhero movies have been dominating the TV and film industries for years now, but there was a time when these types of projects were major risks. Case in point: the original X-Men movies starring Hugh Jackman. And Thor: Love and Thunder star Chris Hemsworth might have his own “feud” with Jackman now that he’s approaching a Wolverine record.

Hugh Jackman played Wolverine for 17 years, ending his run with James Mangold’s Logan. Since then he’s started a hilarious faux feud with Ryan Reynolds, to the delight of fans. Chris Hemsworth has already played Thor for 11 years, and was recently asked by BBC Radio 1 if he’d like to beat Jackman’s comic book movie record. The Extraction actor responded delightfully, saying:

Well, there you have it. While Chris Hemsworth is already making MCU history as the first superhero with four solo movies, perhaps we’ll see even more from the God of Thunder. Because if he wants to beat Hugh Jackman’s record for playing Wolverine, Hemsworth is going to have to stick around for another six years. Although this time frame could allow him to appear in another Avengers movie, if Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel are even planning one.

Chris Hemsworth’s comments are mostly joking, but Marvel fans would no doubt be thrilled to have his fan favorite hero Thor around for another six years. By that time he’ll be in his mid-forties, which might be a good time to get out of the action business. Although considering that his tenure as Tyler Rake in Extraction is just beginning, maybe Hemsworth will continue leading two separate franchises for the foreseeable future.

Later in the same interview, the journalist joked that Chris Hemsworth would have to make sure Hugh Jackman doesn’t appear as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, otherwise there’s no chance of beating this superhero record. Hemsworth further ignited his new “feud” saying:

Talk about a win-win. While fans would love to see Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds on the big screen together in Deadpool 3, they’d also definitely settle for seeing the Merc with the Mouth opposite the God of Thunder. Especially now that Deadpool can finally join the MCU and crossover with other Marvel heroes.

The conversations around Hugh Jackman returning to Wolverine will likely continue until another actor is cast to play the MCU’s version of the clawed hero. Fans are eager for mutants to finally play a part in the shared universe, with Doctor Strange 2 including a tie-in in the form of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X.

Chris Hemsworth is returning to the MCU as the title character of Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

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Do you remember House? It was a medical drama starring Hugh Laurie about a brilliant doctor with an addiction to Vicodin who solved medical mysteries. I ask that question because your answer is likely either, “Of course I remember House!” or, “I never got to watch it, but I saw that it’s currently on Peacock.” And for that reason, I’m going to be both detailed and vague with this article, just in case you’re in the latter category, but also for those in the former category as well.

House aired on Fox from 2004 to 2012 for eight glorious seasons. It was unlike any other medical drama at the time, and mostly because it centered on a misanthropic, pill-popping narcissist who cared more about solving a medical mystery than the patient. It may not have been as long-running as Grey’s Anatomy, or comical like Scrubs, but it was so unique that it’s still my favorite medical drama of all time. House is in the, er, house!

Most Episodes Are Like Medical Mysteries

I love the characters on House. All of them. But do you know what I love even more? The mysteries. On almost every episode of the show, it started with somebody collapsing for some unknown reason. They would then be brought to the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where House would come up with a possible solution (typically Lupus), that usually fails. Then later, something would just hit him and he would rush off and, most of the time anyway, save the patient.

And that’s because House was really a medical version of Sherlock Holmes. This was intentional, as House creator, David Shore has said in the past that he is a big fan of Sherlock Holmes. In this way, I always loved tuning in each week for the characters, yes, but also to see what disease a patient might have, and how House would ultimately diagnose it (sometimes, even after the patients perished from their ailments). It made all the medical jargon worth it in the end as you’d be following the mystery more than the medicine.

I Also Like The Sherlock And Watson Vibe That You Get From House And Wilson

As mentioned earlier, House is really just Sherlock Holmes with an M.D. after his title. But I also love that his best friend, Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard), was pretty much his Watson. House would often saunter into Wilson’s office (which had that bad ass Orson Welles Touch of Evil poster), and just talk shop.

A lot of times, Wilson would say something that didn’t seem all that relevant, and then House’s eyes would pop wide, and he’d head out of the office without even saying bye, and Wilson would just be left sitting there bewildered. This friendship between the characters was always a highlight of the show, and it made the medical mysteries always seem like more of a team effort than anything else, which was always appreciated.

The Show Was Always More About the Medicine Than The Romance

Now, I’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy. I've watched a little of ER. Heck, I’ve even watched some St. Elsewhere in my day. And the one thing that I’m really not fond of is the romantic angle of those shows. Now, it’s not that I have anything against romance as a genre, as I actually have a soft spot for romantic comedies. But if there’s one thing that I don’t want in my medical dramas, it’s subplots where doctors and nurses are hooking up left and right. Get that out of my medical drama, PLEASE!

And while there was certainly romance on House, as there was the will-they-won’t-they “relationship” between House and Dr. Cuddy (played by Lisa Edelstein), the show never focused on that. In fact, it was always more in the background and a nice reprieve from the mystery of the week formula that sometimes got stale throughout the series. In that way, House stayed laser focused on the medicine, which is what I always tuned in for anyway. If only other medical shows could actually stick to the medicine!

Every Team House Worked With Felt Meaningful

House actually had a number of constants on his diagnostic team, as Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), and Dr. Eric Foreman (played by Omar Epps)), were series regulars for the first three seasons. But later on, House got some more help from Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley (played by Olivia Wilde), Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson), and my personal favorite, Dr. Lawrence Kutner (played by Kal Penn).

And here’s the thing. All of the members of his team felt vital. Yes, House would treat them all like interns, but a lot of the medical jargon was parsed through their characters and somewhat simplified by them. And while we never really got too deep into their lives (thankfully), we got deep enough that we cared about any little side stories they had, which would always feed into the main mystery. This created a sort of synergy that always made every line of dialogue seem vital, even if I didn’t understand half of what they were even talking about. It was a rather small cast, but a potent one.

It Regularly Wrestled With The Issue of Science Vs. Faith, Which Many Medical Dramas Don't Even Touch

And lastly, I just love that House is an atheist. Now, personally, I’m not an atheist, but that’s why I found the show so fascinating, as House would constantly discuss how illogical faith is, which totally fit his character. Meanwhile, other characters who were of faith, would often be ridiculed by House, making him a bit of a “Byronic hero”, as he’s a broody, nihilistic antihero of sorts, which you don’t often see on primetime television.

And this made House a challenging show to watch, which is something I always appreciated. I never just went into episodes just for the mysteries. I also watched it to feel attacked. Now, this might not seem like a good thing, but it was. It definitely was. You see, I would always feel something whenever I’d watch House. It wouldn’t just be me looking at my phone. No. I’d always be emotionally, and sometimes even spiritually invested, which always made for riveting TV. This is just another reason why House is my favorite medical drama since this aspect of science vs. faith has always set it apart from other medical shows.

And that’s the list. But what are your thoughts on House? Is it also your favorite medical drama? Sound off in the poll below. And if you’ve never seen House or want to watch the whole series over again and get reintroduced to the House cast, then you can find it on Peacock as well as many other great shows.

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The last six months have been an incredibly tough ride for most of humanity. A deadly pandemic has deeply affected all of the ways we live our lives and interact with other people, and it has caused both great sadness and death as well as economic chaos. Of course, one of the blessings of entertainment is that it can provide an escape from reality – a distraction we can live in to experience something different than the everyday – and it’s for that reason that director Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield is, in its own way, arriving at a perfect time.

Following its world premiere last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and being released in the U.K. and Ireland at the start of the year, Iannucci’s adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens tale is getting a limited theatrical release this weekend, and during a depressing time it makes for a delightful emotional antidote. It’s a movie that is bursting with refreshing optimism that comes in contrast to the world’s darkness, and earlier this month I had the pleasure of discussing its potential effect with the director and two of its principal stars:

I had the pleasure of participating in the virtual press day for The Personal History Of David Copperfield last week, given the opportunity for a brief conversation with Armando Iannucci, Dev Patel, and Hugh Laurie, and my first question for the group was in regard to the emotional impact they feel the film may have being released now given everything that is going on in the world. The movie is no stranger to praise for its positivity, as reviews at TIFF last year remarked on its buoyancy, however, Iannucci agrees that the core message and values of the feature will have a special impact.

Said the filmmaker,

Based on the book David Copperfield by Charlies Dickens, the film is an epic that traces the life of its titular character (Dev Patel), a young man in 18th century England who experiences a great deal of trial and tribulation as he matures from being the single child of a widowed mother to become an acclaimed writer. There are those who try to demean him and crush his spirit, but with unending faith in those he cares about and endless enthusiasm he powers through and succeeds.

The Personal History Of David Copperfield paints a beautiful, funny, and uplifting tale, and while Hugh Laurie was reticent to provide any kind of firm prediction of how audiences are going to respond to the material, he certainly recognizes its potential. Said the actor,

Also starring Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, Peter Capaldi, Bendict Wong, Gwendoline Christie, and more, The Personal History Of David Copperfield is in limited theaters this weekend, and you can head over to the CinemaBlend YouTube page to watch my full interview with Armando Iannucci, Dev Patel, and Hugh Laurie.

Running for 235 episodes over the course of a full decade, Friends was a hugely popular and beloved sitcom in its day, and while there were many perks that came along with that status (including a total lack of fret during renewal season), the most rewarding for the fans was that the show managed to attract some major guest appearances. While binge watching the series on HBO Max, you can’t go more than a few episodes without seeing a major star show up – some of them just being part of a quick bit, and others getting their own minor arc to play out.

Naturally, some of the guest appearances/roles are better than others – and that’s what we’re here to sort out today. After having gone back through all nine seasons of Friends and weighed all candidates against one another, we’ve come up with this Top 10 ranking for your enjoyment. Read on for our selections and reasoning, and then hit the comments section with your own picks.

10. Danny DeVito

Thanks to Danny DeVito’s role on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, fans have the opportunity to regularly laugh at the actor’s antics as a repellant mess – but the truth is that he’s been playing that bit for decades, and a prime example can be found in the Friends Season 10 episode “The One Where the Stripper Cries.” DeVito plays said stripper, and he gets big laughs as he goes from confident dancer to blubbering mess during Phoebe’s bachelorette party. This kind of part has definitely become a trope in modern sitcoms, but this remains a particularly fantastic example of the joke.

9. Dakota Fanning

In the early aughts, no child star had the sparkle that Dakota Fanning did, which goes a long way in explaining why she was landing prominent roles opposite stars like Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington. One of her best early performances, however, is in Season 10 of Friends when she essentially serves as a therapist for Joey in the episode "The One with Princess Consuela." The dumbest member of the main cast is upset by the fact that everything in his life is changing, and Dakota Fanning’s Mackenzie proves to be quite the excellent sounding board and helps him get past his issues.

8. Dan Castellaneta

Pop culture history will forever remember Dan Castellaneta as the voice of Homer Simpson, but not to be totally overshadowed are his super funny live-action performances – including his part as The Zoo Keeper in the Friends episode “The One After the Super Bowl: Part 1.” It’s only a bit part, with the character surreptitiously meeting with Ross to discover the whereabouts of Marcel The Monkey, but it’s fantastic material built on Castellaneta’s work. As proven by his many, many years playing Homer, the guy knows how to play dumb perfectly, and his negotiations with Ross is a prime example.

7. Bruce Willis

Meeting a significant other’s father is always a nerve-racking situation, but it’s definitely made more nerve-racking when said significant other is your former college student, and said father is a guy that looks like Bruce Willis. None of us would want to be in that situation, which makes Ross’ late Season 6 arc quite relatable – and it helps that there are some great laughs injected into the three episodes where the Die Hard star appears. Not only is it great to see Ross butt heads with Willis’ Paul Stevens (ultimately earning the upper hand when he witnesses what we’ll call Paul’s mirror exorcises), but it’s also funny to see Willis turn into an emotional mess when his character’s relationship with Rachel opens him up a bit and creates a flood of tears and pain.

6. Hugh Laurie

Of the guest stars mentioned on this list, Hugh Laurie’s is probably the briefest, but it’s so brilliant that it not only demands inclusion on this list, but gets placement in the middle of the pack. His character doesn’t even have a name (he’s credited simply as “The Gentleman on the Plane”), but he stands out because he’s one of the few characters on Friends to call out a member of the main cast on their awfulness. 

In “The One with Ross's Wedding: Part 2,” Rachel finds herself sitting near him on a plane to England ready to stop the wedding of the man she loves – but after hearing her recount her story to other passengers, The Gentleman explains why she is in actuality a bad person who should feel bad about what she’s doing. His last line is also a perfect kicker: “And by the way, it seems to be perfectly clear that you were on a break.”

5. Jason Alexander

Phoebe’s unyielding optimism is one of her most important and best traits, but what happens when she is confronted with a person who has a claim at the title for Most Depressed Man On Earth? That’s the basic set-up in Season 7’s “The One Where Rosita Dies,” which finds the ray of sunshine taking a sales job hocking toner and winding up on the phone with Jason Alexander’s Earl.

It never feels good to laugh at a person’s pain, but you can’t help it when you watch Alexander’s performance as Earl is a man eternally lost in a gray void who can’t even get the attention of his co-workers when he loudly announces his plans to kill himself. Plus, while he’s life hasn’t changed much by the end of the episode, he does find a new lease on life because Phoebe convinces him via fate that “the universe cares” about him, even if nobody else does.

4. Reese Witherspoon

With films like Cruel Intentions, Election, and Pleasantville on her resume, Reese Witherspoon was already very much a proven talent before her two-parter on Friends as Rachel’s sister Jill, but her work on the sitcom practically created a perfect runway to her time as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Jill is basically proto-Rachel, which is to say that she still has all of the terrible qualities of which Rachel worked so hard to rid herself – and it works for some chuckles as she works to seduce Ross to get revenge on her sibling, while also exercising prime spoiled brat material.

3. Julia Roberts

Being part of Friends’ big two-episode post-Super Bowl event in 1996, Julia Roberts’ guest spot got a big spotlight, but it also proved to earn every bit of the hype, as her revenge-seeking role in "The One After the Super Bowl: Part 2" ultimately makes for one of the best moments on the entire show. While she doesn’t hint at it early on, Roberts’ Susie Moss is a character eager for payback against Chandler for pantsing her in elementary school – and she successfully capitalizes by leaving the jokester in a restaurant bathroom naked with the exception of a pair of woman’s underpants. It’s super funny and memorable… not to mention an impressive get for a series in only its second season.

2. Christina Applegate

Sitcoms usually give their main stars one celebrity sibling at most, but Friends took a different route with Rachel, and it clearly worked as both of her sisters make this list. Admittedly Christina Applegate’s Amy Green isn’t a whole lot different than Reese Witherspoon’s Jill, in that they are both immensely vapid and spoiled twits, but we give the edge to Amy (and not just because she has the good sense not to date Ross). 

In “The One With Rachel's Other Sister” she proves to be a pitch-perfect instigator, riling everyone up about who will take care of Emma if anything were to happen to Ross or Rachel, and that’s then followed up by the awesome babysitting adventure in "The One Where Rachel's Sister Baby-Sits"… where she proves exactly why she definitely should never have custody of a child.

1. Brad Pitt

Obviously you all knew that Brad Pitt was going to be featured on this list, but how many of you guessed that he would be featured in the top spot? His appearance is a one-off, playing Ross’ old, formerly obese high school friend Will Colbert, but the role is special for a few reasons: 1) It’s one of the show’s famous Thanksgiving episodes; 2) he was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time; 3) the part gets huge laughs primarily because of how much Will hates Rachel and how much venom he spits at her. Pitt has always been primarily recognized for his dramatic work, but his time on Friends perfectly demonstrates how super funny he can be too.

Friends is now available for subscribers to stream in its entirety on HBO Max, and the series is also available for purchase on digital platforms, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Centered around a misanthropic medical genius who led a team of diagnostics at a New Jersey hospital, despite his dependence for pain medication, House proved to be a successful new spin on the medical drama format — particularly with its celebrated lead turn from Hugh Laurie's award-winning performance. Created by David Shore, the Emmy-winning series ran for eight seasons on Fox and it was one of the highest-rated shows on television during its peak. It also notably elevated Kal Penn and Olivia Wilde's careers, who joined the acclaimed series during its second half. Having concluded its run in 2012, it's been eight years since House aired on TV. Here's what the cast of House has been working on since the program came to a close.

Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House)

As Dr. Gregory House, the troubled title character of House and Head of Diagnostic Medicine, Hugh Laurie gave an award-winning performance at the center of this show, and the only actor to appear in every episode of its nearly 200-episode run. A celebrated English comedian who was previously best known for A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Sense and Sensibility, 101 Dalmatians, and Stuart Little 1 & 2, House gave Laurie a great deal of acclaim as a dramatic actor, furthering his career in the U.S.

Since House concluded, Laurie has notably appeared in the mini-series The Night Manager, as well as HBO's acclaimed satire, Veep, for which he earned his 10th Emmy nomination. He also starred in the short-lived series, Chance, and he appeared in Catch-22, Tomorrowland and Holmes & Watson. He's currently seen on the HBO space comedy, Avenue 5, from the creator of Veep. Next, Hugh Laurie stars in The Personal History of David Copperfield, which should come out later this year. He's also a celebrated author and blues musician.

Lisa Edelstein (Dr. Lisa Cuddy)

As Dr. Lisa Cuddy, an endocrinologist and Dean of Medicine who had a passionate working/personal relationship with Dr. House, Lisa Edelstein had a primary role in House until its seventh season finale. The character resigns from her position, and she wasn't seen in the show's final season. After her time on this drama series, Edelstein played the lead role in Bravo's dramedy series, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, which concluded in 2018. Edelstein had recurring roles in Castle, American Dad, The Legend of Korra, The Good Doctor, The Kominsky Method, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild ensemble nomination, and House of Lies — a different House altogether. The actress also played a role in the indie dramedy, Joshy, and she recently starred in Phoenix, Oregon, which was released earlier this year. Up next, Edelstein will be seen in Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets.

Omar Epps (Dr. Eric Foreman)

Playing the part of Dr. Eric Foreman, a neurology specialist in Dr. House's diagnostic team, Omar Epps was seen prominently throughout House's eight season run. Previously seen in Juice, Higher Learning, The Wood, Love and Basketball, ER, Scream 2, Major League II, Against the Ropes, and Dracula 2000, among other movies and shows, prior to his work in this acclaimed Fox series, House wasn't Epps' claim to fame, but it was quite easily among his most prominent roles. When House came to an end in 2012, the actor played a role in ABC's short-lived Resurrection and became a lead in USA's Shooter, which ran from 2016-2018. He also starred in Almost Christmas, Traffik, 3022, and played a reoccurring role in NBC's This Is Us. Next, he'll be seen in Fatal Affair. Outside of acting, Epps published an autobiographical book, From Fatherless to Fatherhood, in 2018.

Olivia Wilde (Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley)

When Olivia Wilde joined House in 2007 as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, the actress was still a relative newcomer, having appeared in several small film and TV roles. But as her work on the show continued, Wilde's profile grew, she starred in movies like Alpha Dog, TRON: Legacy, The Change-Up and Cowboys & Aliens. When House concluded, Wilde continued expanding her movie career with Drinking Buddies, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Rush, The Lazarus Effect, and Love the Coopers. She also starred in HBO's short-lived Vinyl, and made her Broadway debut with 2017's 1984. Most notably, Wilde made her directorial debut with last year's acclaimed coming-of-age comedy, Booksmart. This paved the way for a promising new career behind-the-camera. She also starred in December's Richard Jewell in a controversial role. Next, Wilde's slated to direct and star in Don't Worry, Darling. She's also attached to direct Perfect.

Jesse Spencer (Dr. Robert Chase)

As Dr. Robert Chase, the diagnostic team's surgeon and intensive care specialist, Jesse Spencer played a prominent role throughout House's tenure. The Australian actor was previously known for Neighbours and Uptown Girl, though House is arguably considered his most famous role. Nevertheless, once the Fox medical show concluded, Spencer joined another long-running series. Specifically, Spencer can be seen as Lieutenant/Captain Matthew Casey on the NBC drama series, Chicago Fire. He got the gig in 2012 and still remains on the popular series. Additionally, the actor played Casey in Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, respectively, and he also appeared in 2015's action/crime-thriller, The Girl Is in Trouble. Furthermore, Spencer lent his voice to a brief role in Phineas and Ferb. Outside of acting, Spencer keeps in touch with Hugh Laurie through their charity cover group, Band from TV. He plays the violin in this ensemble.

Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Allison Cameron)

Playing Dr. Allison Cameron, an immunologist in Dr. House's diagnostic team, Jennifer Morrison played a primary role in House until Season 6, when she was written out of the series. Morrison returned briefly in 2010 and made an appearance in the series finale, but her tenure on House was over shortly before House's own conclusion. Since House, Morrison has prominently starred in ABC's Once Upon A Time, but she also appeared in Warrior, Star Trek (2009), and How I Met Your Mother. Morrison also starred in Amityville: The Awakening, The Report, Assassination Nation, and, recently, Bombshell. She also acted in an Off-Broadway production of The End of Longing, in 2017 and joined her former House co-star Omar Epps in This Is Us. Additionally, Morrison made her directorial debut with Netflix's Sun Dogs, which she also starred in. She also directed an episode of HBO's Euphoria.

Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. James Wilson)

Playing Dr. James Wilson, the Head of Department of Oncology and a close friend/colleague of Dr. House, Robert Sean Leonard played a persistent role in House. Best known for his role in Dead Poets Society, and a Tony-winning actor for his performance in The Invention of Love, Leonard appears on the stage and screen, though House gave the actor a sizable role on the popular series. Once House concluded, Leonard played a reoccurring role in Falling Skies. The award-winning actor also returned to the stage in To Kill a Mockingbird, Prodigal Son, Camelot, Broadway's revival of Sunday in the Park with George, and, recently, Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo in 2018. He also had a reoccurring role in Law & Order: SVU, as well as parts in The Good Wife, The Blacklist, Battle Creek, Blue Bloods, and the mini-series The Hot Zone.

Kal Penn (Dr. Lawrence Kutner)

As Dr. Lawrence Kutner, a sports medicine and rehabilitation specialist, Kal Penn joined House in the middle of its fourth season, i.e. its own midpoint. Best known for playing Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar series and Taj in the Van Wilder movies, Penn's appearance in this medical drama was a notable departure from his comedies, though Penn previously received praise for 2007's underrated drama, The Namesake. In 2009, Penn left House to join the White House in President Barack Obama's administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, though he stepped away for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. He returned to the position afterward, but left again after accepting a part in How I Met Your Mother. Penn has since appeared in Designated Survivor and hosted Superhuman. He also co-created and lead the NBC series, Sunnyside.

Amber Tamblyn (Dr. Martha Masters)

As Dr. Martha Masters, a reserved, socially awkward medical student based on one of the actress' real-life best friends, Amber Tamblyn was a late-in-the-game addition to House, serving a multi-episode arc in the seventh, second-to-last season and making a brief appearance in the series finale. While Dr. Masters didn't have an extensive stay in the series, it was a personal character for Tamblyn to play. Though she's best known for Joan of Arcadia and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films, as well as The Ring, Two and a Half Men, and 127 Hours, Tamblyn is also an accomplished author and a filmmaker. She wrote several poetry books, and she recently published both a novel and a memoir since House ended. Additionally, Tamblyn directed and co-wrote 2016's Paint It Black, and she's expected to star in an upcoming TV adaptation of Y: The Last Man.

Peter Jacobson (Dr. Chris Taub)

As Dr. Chris Taub, a plastic surgeon who joins Dr. House's diagnostic team in Season 4, Peter Jacobson is another actor who gained a prominent role in House during its midway point. But, unlike Kal Penn and Olivia Wilde, Jacobson kept a consistent presence throughout the remainder of the series. A character actor who made appearances in NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Good Night And Good Luck, As Good As It Gets, Private Parts, ER, Entourage, and more before his time on this medical drama, House was undeniably the actor's biggest, most prominent work. Following its conclusion, Jacobson starred in Colony from 2016-2018. He also starred in Ray Donovan and Law & Order: SVU, and made appearances in Chicago P.D., It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Madam Secretary, and Fear the Walking Dead. Jacobson also recently starred in The Goldfinch. He'll be seen in Violet next.

Odette Annable (Dr. Jessica Adams)

As Dr. Jessica Adams, a prison clinic physician who met Dr. House in prison and later joined his diagnostic team, Odette Annable was a considerably late addition to House. She was only seen in the show's final season, though she was already an established star when she joined the series. Notably, Annable (formally Yustman) starred in 2008's Cloverfield, as well as The Unborn, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and October Road. Her prominent role in House's final season continued to establish her television presence. 

Once the show wrapped, Annable had a main role in Pure Genius and later Supergirl, while she had multi-episode narratives in Banshee, The Astronaut Wives Club, Two and a Half Men, and more. Most recently, Annable starred in Tell Me A Story's second season. She also briefly returned to Supergirl. Next, Annable's set to appear in the ABC series, Thirtysomething(else).

Charlyne Yi (Dr. Chi Park)

Playing Dr. Chi Park, a neurologist with anger management issues, Charlyne Yi was another late-in-the-game addition to House's main cast. Also, the dramatic series was a departure from the comedian's typically light-hearted work, which could include music, magic, and other quirky elements. While it never gained wide commercial success, Yi was notably best known for producing, co-writing, and starring in the 2009 romantic comedy Paper Heart, which also starred Michael Cera. She was also seen in Knocked Up. Nowadays, Yi primarily works as a voice actress, notably playing regular roles in We Bare Bears and Steven Universe. She was also seen in The Disaster Artist, Always Be My Maybe, Jexi, and heard in Trolls World Tour. She also had a guest role in Good Girls. Yi is also an accomplished musician and author; she recently published a book of poetry. She'll next appear in Happily.

Who is your favorite House cast member? Do you miss this show? Let us know in the comments below!

The full trailer for the star-studded Hulu miniseries Catch-22 is here. No, there is no catch to watching it or the show itself. If you enjoyed the previous peek of George Clooney not looking very happy in the first look, prepare yourself. You are about to see a lot more of him and Kyle Chandler. Check out the trailer below:

Did you catch all of that? There was a lot to see. George Clooney is working a mode that's in between his work in Men Who Stare at Goats and Leatherheads. And, it is working for him. Plus, goats even make an appearance. Full circle, anyone? In the trailer, the Oscar-winning actor is giving it his all as Scheisskopf.

Armed with a marvelous mustache, George Clooney is ready for awards season action. Based on this trailer alone, it seems evident that he will be in the conversation, in my opinion.

Highly likely to join him is none other than Coach Taylor, aka Kyler Chandler, who looks to be doing magnificent work here too. Do not expect the actor to give the motivational locker room speeches he did on Friday Night Lights. Instead, Chandler is dishing out beyond deflating news in the Catch-22 trailer.

On a side note, George Clooney was initially set to play the role that Kyle Chandler portrays in Catch-22, that of Colonel Cathcart. In the trailer, the character has a defining and record-scratching moment wherein he lets the men know some deeply upsetting news, and announces that he has decided their mission count will go from 25 to 30.

Now to another star of the series. That would be Christopher Abbot, who plays U.S. Air Force bombardier John Yossarian. He is the lead character at the fore of Catch-22. As seen in the trailer, Yossarian wants to get out of his WWII military service by getting declared insane.

The thing is, that is sort of impossible and for a counterintuitive reason. According to the rules, John Yossarian’s very desire to be removed from duty serves as an indication that he is sane. Thus, he does not qualify to be dismissed from service. Hence, the “Catch-22.”

If Christopher Abbott looks familiar, there is a possible reason. Did you watch The Sinner? Abbott starred in the first season of the USA series opposite Jessica Biel. Abbott played the crestfallen and devoted husband of Biel’s character. Considering the darkness of that drama, Catch-22 is undoubtedly a departure for the actor. The Hulu mini is described as a satirical dark comedy.

The series is an adaptation of Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22. It will be comprised of six episodes. Kyle Chandler and George Clooney are joined by Hugh Laurie as Major de Coverley. Lots of stars in one place. “May” you need anything more?

Catch-22 premieres May 17 on Hulu.

George Clooney's adaptation of Catch-22 is headed to Hulu, and after news that famed actor Hugh Laurie would be joining in, we're getting our first look at the miniseries. To start things off, here's a look at Clooney's Scheisskopf who is rocking a mustache and a perturbed look.

Even with a mustache, George Clooney is looking as magnificent as ever as he suits up as Scheisskopf in Catch-22. For those who never learned the joke behind the character's name after reading the book this series is based on in school, his name is the German language equivalent of calling someone "shit head" in English. Knowing that justifies the look on his face even more, although stereotypical military types on film and television are often more surly than they are friendly, anyway.

George Clooney's mini-series, which he is also executive producing, is based on the iconic novel by Joseph Heller, Catch-22. Set in 1944, it primarily chronicles the experience of Captain John Yossarian and the grim realities of World War II. The book's title has been used to describe tricky situations in which the means of escaping those situations are impossible. This is introduced in the book via a rule that soldiers who are crazy can't fly, but admitting that you're crazy means you're sane enough to recognize it and keep flying dangerous missions.

A second picture, presumably from the same scene, shows us that the people Scheisskopf is directing his anger towards are indeed John Yossarian and Milo, who's a mess officer and shameless war profiteer. George Clooney's character is giving both men the business, while a stenographer appears to be hard at work recording the tongue-lashing in the background.

John Yossarian is the man closest to the camera, and is played by the talented Christopher Abbott (Girls, The Sinner). Next to him is Daniel David Stewart, who is a bit more of a newcomer to Hollywood with only a few character roles in Hollywood to this point. Catch-22 could be a chance for him to really break out in Hollywood, and his role as Milo, in particular, seems to be setting him up for that.

As promised, Hugh Laurie is along for the ride in Catch-22 as well, and we have a photo of him in character as Major de Coverley. Laurie can be seen below, giving a stern look to a soldier as he holds what appears to be a wilted flower in his hand.

Hugh Laurie's character looks a bit menacing in this photo, or at the very least, displeased with that tray of flowers. His character is seen as a peculiar fellow in Catch 22, as he's admired by many of the men for his laid-back duties like playing horseshoes and renting apartments for soldiers on leave. There's also a bit of mystery behind his Major de Coverley, but I'll spare the spoilers for those who haven't read the story.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Kyle Chandler in the picture as Colonel Cathcart. Unsurprisingly, he looks every bit the part of a man in charge as he's dressed in full uniform and an expression that feels like he's thinking with "clear eyes" and a "full heart."

George Clooney was originally announced for the role of Colonel Cathcart but ended up giving up the role to play the smaller character of Scheisskopf. Apparently, Kyle Chandler had a quality Clooney liked better in the role, although it isn't hard to imagine that after seeing him in character. Out of all the photos released from Catch-22, Chandler is the one, above all else, who looks like he's straight out of the era.

Catch-22 is coming to Hulu sometime in the spring. For a look at other things happening on television in 2019, be sure to visit our midseason premiere guide. For a look at what's still coming in 2018, hit up our fall premiere guide.

Hugh Laurie has joined the cast of George Clooney's upcoming miniseries adaptation of the classic novel Catch-22. Clooney, who is directing certain episodes of the Hulu series, will also star. Only three actors have been cast for the World War II-set miniseries at this point, but what we know so far is promising.

Deadline broke the story of Hugh Laurie's casting earlier today. There has been no official word on what role Laurie will play in the highly-anticipated series. That said, we can rule out the roles of Colonel Cathcart, who will be played by George Clooney, and central character Yossarian, who will be played by Christopher Abbott of The Sinner. One of the most likely candidates for Laurie to play is Doc Daneeka, a friend of Yossarian's in the novel. Daneeka is the one who explains "Catch-22" to Yossarian and the implications of it on his service.

Catch-22 will be a six-episode adaptation of Joseph Heller's 1961 novel of the same name. This is not the book's first adaptation. There was a film version starring Alan Arkin that was released in 1970. The new miniseries treatment has been adapted by Luke Davies, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated film Lion, and David Michôd, the writer and director of the crime drama Animal Kingdom. Michôd is no stranger to military films. He also directed the Netflix original War Machine starring Brad Pitt.

Catch-22 is set in the similar satirical bent of Michôd's previous feature. The story follows John Yossarian (Christopher Abbot), a B-25 bombardier in the U.S. Army, who is serving off the Italian coast in the midst of World War II. As the number of flights that pilots are assigned and forced to take to complete their service increases, Yossarian finds himself caught in the "Catch-22" of a rule that pushes the bounds of all credulity, honor, and sanity.

If Laurie is playing Doc Daneeka, then the role marks a continuing theme for Hugh Laurie's career. As fans know, he is commonly cast as a doctor. Laurie is fresh off his role as the eponymous neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eldon Chance on the recently-canceled Hulu series Chance. Likewise, the British actor rose to fame on the American side of the pond with the Fox series House, where he played the cantankerous titular character, Dr. Gregory House. House proved to be a longer-running role for Laurie than Chance. The Fox series ran for eight seasons, while the Hulu series only lasted two.

Given his filmography, Hugh Laurie starring opposite George Clooney as Doc Daneeka would be a natural fit. A premiere date has not been given for Catch-22. Filming is set to begin sometime this year. It is probably unlikely that it will premiere on Hulu before the end of the year. In the meantime, there are a lot of other shows to keep you busy on Hulu and elsewhere. For more on what is coming to Hulu and other outlets in 2018, you can check out our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV premiere guide.

Nothing is ever certain on the small screen, and few shows are ever guaranteed to have a future unless they're lucky enough to score multi-season orders. Unfortunately for fans of acclaimed actor Hugh Laurie, we have some bad news about his series on Hulu. The streaming service has cancelled Chance after only two seasons, meaning that it will not return for a third season.

Chance actually was lucky enough to score a multi-season order following a bidding war in 2016 that saw it ultimately end up on Hulu. The series landed an order for two seasons of ten episodes each right off the bat, guaranteeing that viewers would get at least a couple of batches of episodes. News of the cancellation will undoubtedly come as a bummer for fans who were already hoping that a third season would be on the way sooner rather than later. While Chance was one of the best new shows of 2016, it will not live on into 2018. Deadline reports that the cancellation is a result of the current overabundance of scripted television rather than a reflection of the quality of the series.

The series certainly did show viewers a new side of Hugh Laurie. While the actor admittedly did play his fair share of characters with darker sides prior to landing the Hulu series, Chance definitely took him in a grimmer direction than we usually saw from him. He played a forensic neuropsychiatrist by the name of Eldon Chance, based out of San Francisco. Chance found himself sucked into a world filled with violence and danger. He had to deal with everything from mental illness to police corruption to mistaken identity after he made one fateful mistake with a certain woman.

Hulu's decision to cancel Chance comes as a bit of a surprise due to the fact that Hugh Laurie was the leading man, but it's not as though Hulu will be lacking for original series without Chance. The streaming service just ordered a second season for the new Marvel series Runaways, and 90s kids were recently delighted to learn that a reboot of Animaniacs is in the works for Hulu. Throw in Castle Rock (which will be an anthology series based on the works of Stephen King) and the upcoming third season of The Path, and Hulu has plenty going on even without Chance. Hopefully fans of Chance will be able to find something new to their liking.

Not too many shows have gotten the axe in 2018 so far, but you can find all those that were cancelled last year in our 2017 TV cancellation rundown. All 20 episodes of Chance are currently available for watching (or rewatching), and you can find your viewing options for the coming weeks on our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule. For more on streaming TV in 2018, take a listen to the latest episode of The Cord Cutter Podcast.

Sherlock Holmes has been a cherished literary character for 120 years, but right now is one of the peak periods for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. The detective can currently be seen in multiple iterations on the big and small screens through BBC's Sherlock, CBS's Elementary and the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies. Soon the comedy Holmes & Watson will join the bunch, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, respectively, as the eponymous characters. Today it was announced that Ralph Fiennes and Hugh Laurie will also appear in the movie, and we suspect one of them will be playing Holmes' most dangerous enemy, Moriarty.

THR described Ralph Fiennes and Hugh Laurie's Holmes & Watson roles as being "two beloved characters from the Holmes oeuvre." In other words, they'll be people recognizable from the lore rather than new creations for this movie. Fiennes and Laurie join a cast that also includes Rebecca Hall as Dr. Grace Hart, Kelly McDonald as Mrs. Hudson, Lauren Lapkus as Millie and Rob Brydon as Inspector Lestrade. Holmes & Watson will be Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's third movie together as co-leads, previously partnering for Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.

Although Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes canon stretches across 4 novels and 56 short stories, there weren't that many recurring/notable supporting characters. Taking into account how prominent Ralph Fiennes and Hugh Laurie are as actors, that makes it very likely that one of them (I'm guessing Hugh Laurie) will play Professor James Moriarty. Although Moriarty only appeared directly in "The Final Problem," he's commonly known as Holmes' arch-nemesis, and has most recently been played in live action by Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Andrew Scott (Sherlock) and Natalie Dormer (Elementary, as a hybrid of Moriarty and Irene Adler). Even though Holmes & Watson is a comedy, it would be weird if Ferrell's Sherlock wasn't matching wits with his intellectual (albeit malevolent) equal.

As for this other classic character, that's slightly trickier to pin down. Since Rob Brydon already has Lestrade covered, that leaves two primary options left. The most likely is Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother who is smarter than the detective, but isn't nearly as ambitious, preferring to sit on the side and work out the details rather than do any legwork. (That could be a good fit for Ralph Fiennes.) The other possibility that comes to mind is Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's second-in-command. There's also the chance that Laure or Fiennes are playing another one of the recurring inspectors, like Gregson or Bradstreet, but with Lestrade already involved, another inspector seems unnecessary. We'll just have and see what's in store for Fiennes and Laurie in the Holmesian comedy.

Directed and written by Get Hard's Etan Cohen, Holmes & Watson is currently shooting, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more details on its progress, including when it will be released.

Once, when the hit medical drama House was nearing its end, there was a point when actor Hugh Laurie made the then-startling claim that he would be quitting acting for TV, saying he'd be more focused on movies and behind-the-scenes television work. However, the past year has seen Laurie making multiple jaunts to the small screen, and he'll soon be back at the head of his own show, or at least sort of soon. Hulu announced his new psychological thriller Chance will premiere the first of ten episodes on Wednesday, October 19.

Considering how well know Hugh Laurie is within the comedy genre, having been a part of some of the best British comedies of all time, it's always exciting when the actor takes on more dramatic material. And Chance sounds rather unlike anything he's done before, minus the medical jargon. Laurie will star as forensic neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eldon Chance, who is dragged against his better wishes into an extremely dangerous world of corrupt cops, mistaken identities and mental illness. Not exactly what the show's San Francisco setting automatically brings to mind, but it could make for a nice juxtaposition.

Adhering to the weekly release model that worked well for Hulu's first scripted dramas 11.22.63 and The Path, Chance boasts a strong supporting cast to keep Laurie on his still-limping toes. Gretchen Mol will co-lead as Jaclyn Blackstone, the abused wife of a detective (Paul Adelstein), and her possible dissociative identity disorder causes big problems for the titular doc. Ethan Suplee stars as the street-smart D, who brings his own talents to the story, which threatens to dismantle the very particular life that Eldon Chance has created for himself.

Chance was created by Desperate Housewives and Bates Motel writer/director Alexandra Cunningham and author Kem Nunn, who wrote the novel that the show is based on. Nunn's got some TV experience, too, having written episodes of Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy and John from Cincinnati.

Hugh Laurie made my brain, along with many others, explode by choosing his first post-House TV role to be that of a crowd-pleasing politician on HBO's genius comedy Veep. And then he signed on for another drool-worthy role opposite Tom Hiddleston for the acclaimed AMC miniseries The Night Manager. By the time Chance has wrapped up in time for the new year, Hugh Laurie will be one of TV's biggest MVPs of 2016.

Hulu also announced premiere dates for several other shows, according to Deadline. The Mindy Project will kick off Season 5 on Tuesday, October 4. Jeffrey Donovan and Charlie Haverford's psychic scammer drama Shut Eye will bow on Wednesday, December 7, while the horror series Freakish received an unspecified October debut timeframe.

So, we now know when Chance is coming, but still without any idea of what it will look like or what the tone will be. Here's hoping we get a trailer soon.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! occasionally puts together sort-of reunions for late night, and last night the late night host convinced George Clooney to come on and do an ER reunion special. Unfortunately, most of the former ER cast members weren’t available to do the bit, so the two men got hammy and did the reunion, instead. You can check out the segment—complete with a special guest—below.

After spending some time talking about how Julianna Margulies couldn’t make the “reunion” because she was busy on The Good Wife, how Noah Wylie couldn’t make it because his family was really into Taco Tuesday and how Eric La Salle had jury duty, Jimmy Kimmel did reveal that he had managed to land a special guest for the “reunion.” That guest ended up being none other than Hugh Laurie, who was dressed in a doctor’s coat and ready to reprise his role as Dr. Gregory House from House, M.D..

The goofy bit continued with House and George Clooney’s ER character, Dr. Doug Ross, taking a look at Jimmy Kimmel’s lower half and cracking jokes about how they don’t do “microsurgery.” At one point, both Hugh Laurie and George Clooney started throwing out medical lingo as they bemoaned that they needed ER vet Sherry Stringfield’s help. (Unfortunately, she couldn’t get an Uber.) It was all very, very funny, and we'll go ahead and reveal that there was also a rap component involved, courtesy of Mr. George Clooney.

A while back, Jimmy Kimmel was able to get a few of the gals from Friends on the same stage to do a bit of a reunion sketch, so I’m wondering if that was the original plan and other ER former cast members did all decline. Alternatively, the sketch could have always been conceived as a goofy riff on a reunion segment, especially since that “Friends reunion” got blown out of proportion a few weeks ago. However it happened, we’re pretty glad this one came together.

Jimmy Kimmel is a man who is often more fond of sending crew members out to talk to people on the streets or prank people at home, rather than playing fun games and doing oddball sketches--as is Jimmy Fallon's preferred format. However, the "ER Cast Reunion" sketch really works and we'd be happy to see more of these in the future--especially if Hugh Laurie continues to be involved.

You can catch Jimmy Kimmel Live! on weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET, only on ABC.

It’s been almost four years since Hugh Laurie graced our screens as smart and screwed up Dr. Gregory House on House. And, while Laurie has been pursued for other leading television roles since then, he hasn’t agreed to take any of them, until now, that is.

Chance, from author Kem Nunn, is based on his book of the same name. Deadline reports that the show has already gotten a twenty episode, two season order from streaming giant, Hulu. The channel landed the show by bidding for it against more established, traditional networks, much in the same way that Netflix did when they grabbed House of Cards with a two season order a few years ago. The show will premiere sometime this year.

Kem Nunn’s book is a psychological thriller that concentrates on the life of a forensic neuropsychiatrist in San Francisco, Eldon Chance. He becomes embroiled in a violent underworld after making a bad decision regarding a charming patient who might have a multiple personality disorder. Chance soon finds that he’s a target of the woman’s dangerous spouse, who, as it just so happens, is a hard-nosed police detective. The doctor is also dealing with antagonistic divorce proceedings and his teenage daughter’s growing pains. The dark, twisty story involves fractured identities, psychiatric mystery, sexual obsession, and horribly realistic violence.

Hugh Laurie has, obviously, dealt with a character who has some dark tendencies, but Chance sounds like it will help the actor hit a new level of shadowy seediness. House was certainly filled with dramatic moments, but the drama wasn’t so heightened that you felt like people were going to be killed or have their lives ruined by some unseen force of nature that had it out for them. But, Chance sounds exactly like that’s the kind of tense, amped up, almost-scary, thrill ride of a show we’ll be in for when the series debuts.

As an actor, Hugh Laurie has specialized in smart snark and straight up comedy. Laurie’s impressive list of credits features several raucous comedies, including two iterations of the Black Adder series, Jeeves and Wooster and A Bit of Fry and Laurie. But, his eight seasons on House showed us how gifted he is at both drama and dark comedy. So, it’ll be interesting to see him work with material that is dark in the extreme. It’s almost impossible to believe that he won’t add a hint of comedic sparkle to some of the show, since that seems to be one of the things he’s best at.

So, is playing another eponymous doctor a good idea for Hugh Laurie? Generally, I’d say no. But, because Chance is going to be so different from any leading roles he’s had before, he’s obviously looking forward to the challenge the show will present. And, if nothing else, it’s good for him to surprise us.

Fans of the classic BBC series Blackadder have long clamored for the show’s return. And it seems one of the biggest hurdles preventing the show from returning is – as always – money.

Speaking candidly with The Sun, Blackadder alumni Sir Tony Robinson spoke about the cast’s willingness to return, as well as made some not so subtle jokes about the fame of fellow actor Hugh Laurie.

After finishing his tenure on Blackadder, Laurie would go on to achieve great fame – as well as critical acclaim – as the genius (albeit curmudgeon) Dr. Gregory House on the hit series House from 2004 to 2012. He also became one of TV’s top paid actors, earning almost a half-million dollars per episode, and can currently be seen on HBO's Veep.

Indeed, many of the actors from Blackadder would go on to bigger and better things after the show’s conclusion. Sir Tony Robinson went on to host Time Team, and Rowan Atkinson later created his iconic Mr. Bean persona. However, despite his joking, Robinson seems convinced that a new series will make it to the small screen, and the humorous hurdle of fees will be overcome.

Blackadder was a BBC show whose premise made it unique, as well as popular. Each series focused on a cynical, bumbling character named Edmund Blackadder (Atkinson), and as the show progressed, each consecutive series and special would center on a new Blackadder descendent and take the show to a new era. In each series, Robinson played Blackadder's sidekick and/or servant Baldrick.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Robinson acknowledges the inherent difficulties one faces when reviving a show such as Blackadder. In the 26 years since the show went off the air (not counting the specials), fans have developed a fondness for the show as they remember it, and that fondness creates a certain set of expectations. No matter how high the quality of the new Blackadder series, it will always struggle to meet those grand expectations. But we hope they're willing to take that challenge.

The MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man reboot already has a good creative team in place with director Jon Watts and writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein. As far as casting goes, though, there hasn’t been a lot of revelations. Only Tom Holland as Peter Parker has been confirmed by Marvel, and Marisa Tomei is reportedly playing Aunt May. Now there’s a list making its way around the internet that may hint at actors being looked at, or who are close to signing on for the Web-Slinger’s latest big screen adventure.

Latino Review posted a list of actors that they say are either confirmed, in final negotiations, or in talks to appear in the 2017 Spider-Man film. While many of the names are younger actors that will play Peter’s high school classmates, there are several big names also listed as villains and supporting characters. Keep in mind that this list is not confirmed and should be taken with a major grain of salt.

First up, Titanic star Billy Zane is listed as being in final negotiations to play Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, a villain that has yet to be adapted for live-action. Vulture was planned to be the main villain in Sam Raimi’s scrapped Spider-Man 4, where he would have been played by John Malkovich, and the only hint of the character in the movies have been his trademark wings appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Zane typically avoids major blockbusters, although he will be seen next year in Zoolander 2. Honestly though, whether this list is legit or not, they should cast Billy Zane. Aside from knowing he can pull off Vulture’s distinct bald head, he already has experience in the world of superheroes playing the eponymous protagonist in 1996’s The Phantom. Oh, and he’s a cool dude.

Also in final negotiations is Orange is the New Black star Jason Biggs, who could play Mac Gargan, a.k.a. The Scorpion. Like Vulture, Scorpion is another classic Spidey foe that hasn’t been seen on the big screen yet. Unlike Zane, it’s hard to picture Biggs as Spider-Man’s intimidating foe with the robotic stinger tail. Biggs does have some experience playing a superhero from his voice work as Leonardo in the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. 

As far as the supporting cast goes, other big names include Hugh Laurie close to being cast as J. Jonah Jameson, Forest Whittaker is talks to play Robbie Robertson, Miranda Cosgrove is being looked at for Betty Brant, and Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey is being considered for Ned Leeds. Robert Downey Jr. is also listed as reprising his Tony Stark/Iron Man role, which was rumored earlier in the year. Here’s the thing with this list: you could certainly imagine some of these famous actors appearing in the film, but to have all of them is a stretch of the imagination, especially since some of them already being committed to other big projects, like Whitaker in Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.

Marvel and Sony’s joint Spider-Man hits theaters on July 28, 2017, and presumably in the coming months we’ll get more concrete casting info that will either vet or debunk the above names.

Hugh Laurie has had a long and storied acting career, but he’s probably still most famous for House, M.D. a network TV series that ran on Fox for eight seasons. As it turns out, the role of Dr. Gregory House has influenced Laurie, as well. The actor recently admitted on The Graham Norton Show that he has had trouble shaking off a habit he developed during his time on House, M.D.: the limp. Years after his show has ended, the limp still shows up when he is working on other projects.

Recently, Laurie has been appearing on HBO’s Veep, playing Vice President hopeful Tom James, a charismatic politician who frequently outshines Selena Meyer. He doesn’t expressly state that that’s the gig he’s been inexplicably limping during, but it’s hilarious to imagine Laurie dealing with a recurring limp while he plays the American politician on the comedy. I suppose that sometimes when you play a character for long enough, that character gets stuck in your brain.

Dr. Gregory House had a lot of characteristics that were unusual for television when House, M.D. was on the air. He was man of contradictions, a curmudgeon who was also the smartest man in the room. The character dealt with a limp for five years before the show began airing, and routinely walked with a cane thanks to an infarction of his quadriceps muscle. One of the big recurring themes was how House dealt with pain management, routinely taking Vicodin to the point where he was addicted. The limp was a key component to the character, and it’s easy to see why the practice stuck. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a story of this ilk from Gotham’s Robin Lord Taylor, who also limps on his show, down the line.

Limping is not the only thing Hugh Laurie had to accomplish during his years on the Fox drama. He also hails from England, and had to master an American accent on the show, which has led to him playing other American characters on TV and in the movies in the time since House ended in 2012. You can catch more from the limp-free interview with Graham Norton, below, which also features his Tomorrowland co-star George Clooney.

Friends fans may be gearing up for a massive 2015 binge-watch, as the beloved NBC comedy series is about to make its streaming debut on Netflix. Those die-hard Friends fans may already have a mental catalog of talented actors who've crossed the threshold of Central Perk, but if it's been a while since you've watched the show, you may be surprised to spot some familiar faces, who weren't so familiar back during the show's original run. It's with that in mind that we've compiled a list of actors to keep an eye your for as you make your way through ten seasons of Friends greatness.

Just to get this out of the way, this list excludes big guest stars eg. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Christina Applegate, Reese Witherspoon, Noah Wyle, Morgan Fairchild, Teri Garr. etc -- as these are people you likely recognized when the show originally aired. We're also excluding those actors who appeared in more than two episodes, (but be sure to check out the last page for that little cheat sheet!)...

Spoiler alert: This list contains spoilers from the plot of Friends, so if you haven't seen the series yet, skip the text!

Mae Whitman

Long before she was playing Amber Holt in Parenthood and blanding it up as Ann Veal on Arrested Development, Mae Whitman dropped in for an episode of Friends ("The One Where Rachel Quits") to play the adorable Sarah Tuttle, a Brown Bird girl who breaks her leg, resulting in Ross having to help her sell cookies...

While Whitman was just getting her start as an actor during this time in her life, this was hardly her first role. By the time the Friends episode aired, she'd already played the president's daughter in Independence Day and little Michele in the Paul Reiser feature comedy Bye Bye Love.

Hugh Laurie

Remember the one where Rachel sat next to Hugh Laurie on a plane? Possibly not, as he wasn't nearly as well known in the U.S. when "The One with Ross's Wedding" aired in 1998, as he would go on to be thanks to House. See what "Man on Airplane" had to say to Rachel when she was explaining her plans to tell Ross she loves him as he's about to marry Emily...

The best part about the above clip is when he refers to Phoebe as "your friend 'Pheebs'."

Hugh Laurie has a lengthy list of credits in the 1980s and '90s, including Blackadder, so it's not as though he was a complete unknown when he sat next to Rachel on that airplane. Less than a decade later, Laurie would go to win two Golden Globes for his performance as Dr. Gregory House in Fox's House.

Kristin Davis

Kristin Davis dropped by Friends for "The One with Ross's Library Book" in 2000. In the episode, she plays Erin, a woman who dates Joey and hits it off with him pretty well. Of course, the relationship doesn't last...

Davis' inclusion on this list is borderline in terms of her fame. After all, Sex and the City was on the air for two seasons by 2000, and Davis also had Melrose Place and General Hospital under her belt by this time. With that said, Sex and the City was only still beginning to blow up at HBO, so it counts. Plus, Davis can boast appearances in both Friends and Seinfeld, which seems like a notable must-see-TV accomplishment (see also, Christine Taylor, Jennifer Coolidge, Jon Lovitz, Jason Alexander and a handful of other actors.).

Ron Glass

If you know Friends well enough then you know that Ross sometimes gets married. Just as often, he gets divorced. Following his third marriage -- his unplanned nuptials to Rachel in Las Vegas -- Ross went to see his attorney, who's played by Ron Glass. You may know him best for playing the wise preacher Shepherd Book in Firefly, but before that, he dropped in for two episodes of Friends, including "The One Where Ross Hugged Rachel"...

Ron Glass was hardly new to acting when he appeared in Friends. Prior to the 1999 appearances in the NBC sitcom, his credits included Barney Miller, Teen Angel, Mr. Rhodes and Rhythm & Blues, not to mention an appearance in 227, The Twilight Zone and -- Book would approve: -- Amen.

Steve Zahn

A year before Steve Zahn would go on to blow our minds as The Oneders guitarist Lenny Haise in That Thing You Do!, Steve Zahn appeared in Friends as Phoebe's figure-skating "husband." Watch him reveal the awkward truth about his sexuality in this clip...

Steve Zahn's acting career was on the rise when he appeared in Friends "The One with Pheobe's Husband." At this point, he had Reality Bites and Crimson Tide under his belt, and he was on his way to appearing in the mentioned Tom Hanks film, as well as You've Got Mail, Hamlet and the creepy Paul Walker horror-thriller Joy Ride. Much more recently, you may have seen him in Treme, Mind Games or playing the Dunphy's new neighbor in Modern Family.

Dan Bucatinsky

Maybe you know him as Cyrus' husband James Novak from Scandal, or Kevin 2 from Marry Me, but once upon a Friends episode, Dan Bucatinsky was just a "Waiter" in "The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner."

As recognizable as he may be for his on-screen roles, since Friends aired, Dan Bucatinsky has actually teamed up with Lisa Kudrow to produce a number of TV projects, including Web Therapy, Who Do You Think You Are? and most recently, The Comeback, in which he also plays the role; that of Billy Stanton, Kudrow's character's high-strung manager.

TJ Thyne

Blink and you'll miss T.J. Thyne's brief appearance in Friends. But you won't miss it because it's one of the funnier moments in Friends' milestone episode, "The One Hundredth," which has Phoebe going into labor with her brother's triplets. For about two seconds, Thyne plays Phoebe's doctor, Dr. Howser Oberman...

Playing a guy with a lot of education is something Thyne excels at. Just catch his appearances in Erin Brockovich or Angel for evidence of that. These days, Thyne is likely best recognizable as Dr. Jack Hodgins in Fox's Bones.

Dakota Fanning

Around the time that Friends was drawing to a close, Dakota Fanning appeared in the role of Mackenzie in "The One with Princess Consuela." Watch her in all of her adorableness she interacts with Joey...

Fanning was building up the credits at this point in her career, having already starred in the sci-fi TV miniseries Taken, as well as starring opposite Brittany Murphy in Uptown Girls. 2004 was also the year she starred in Man on Fire, so she was very clearly on her way up. In more recent years, she played Jane in some of the Twilight movies, Effie Gray, Every Secret Thing and The Last of Robin Hood.

Ellen Pompeo

Not long before Ellen Pompeo got her big break as Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy, she scored herself the part of Missy Goldberg in Friends. As you'll see in the clip, she plays a woman who knew Ross and Chandler in their college days...

At this point in Pompeo's career, she'd already appeared in Old School, Daredevil and Catch Me if You Can. In the year following her Friends appearance, Pompeo took on the part of Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy, which is where she's been for nearly a decade. The series remains a massive hit for ABC.

Penn Jillette

Penn Jillette may be the only person on this list that can credit himself a magician, juggler, comedian, musician, actor and author, who also happened to appear in Friends as... an encyclopedia salesman...

The great thing about Penn Jillette is that you never really know where he's going to show up. In the 90s, it might be Babylon 5 or Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. More recently it might be Celebrity Apprentice or Alpha House. In Friends, he had volumes of encyclopedias for sale and Joey just so happened to have a lot of time on his hands.

Jim Rash

When he appeared in "The Last One," Jim Rash wasn't the familiar face and Oscar winner that he is today. Back then, he was another plane passenger stuck sitting next to Rachel Green. Except, instead of hearing all about her plans to break up Ross's wedding, this flight had Rachel sharing Phoebe's fake warning about a busted phalange, which set Rash's character off into a full-on panic...

Anyone who knows Friends knows Phoebe loves the word phalange. And anyone who knows Community likely has no trouble recognizing Jim Rash now, as he plays the dean in the once-NBC series. Rash also nabbed himself an Oscar for penning The Descendants, so there's that too...

Remember how we said we were sticking to actors who only appeared in one or two episodes of Friends? Well, let's take a moment to celebrate some of the other very recognizable faces who appeared in longer arcs on the series.... Here are some familiar faces who appeared in bigger arcs in the series. Most are people who dated one of the lead characters on the show, though you'll also find Chandler's crazy roommate Eddie, and the the birth mother to Chandler and Monica's twins, Erica...

Jon Favreau (as Pete Becker)

Michael Rapaport (as Gary)

Hank Azaria (as David)

Paul Rudd (as Mike)

Aisha Tyler (as Charlie Wheeler)

Paget Brewster (as Kathy)

Adam Goldberg (as Eddie)

Christine Taylor (as Bonnie)

Anna Faris (as Erica)

Tate Donovan (as Joshua)

Hugh Laurie kicked his career off by starring in some of the greatest comedy series of all time, with Black Adder, Jeeves and Wooster and A Bit of Fry and Laurie. After many years of toning the chuckles down for the hit drama House M.D., Laurie is headed back to the land of sharp wits for a role on HBO’s standout comedy Veep. There is literally no other series I’d rather see Laurie join.

Of course, it’s entirely possible this excitement is overblown. HBO has confirmed to news outlets that Laurie will appear in the Emmy-friendly series for its upcoming fourth season, but it’s not exactly clear just how big the role will be. Actually, nothing is clear about the role, as Veep’s creative team is staying mum concerning details about his character. There’s a certain amount of frustration in not knowing how long we’ll get to see Laurie gestate in the fractured political world that Armando Iannucci has created. Maybe he’ll be like Kevin Dunn’s chief of staff and just pop in for some damned fine jokes a few times an episode, or maybe he’ll just nail one swift cameo.

There IS a rumor, according to the Baltimore Media Blog, who were one of the first to report Laurie’s presence with images of him filming (though it remained unconfirmed until today). According to the blog, Laurie will be stepping in as the campaign manager for Julia Louis Dreyfuss’ Selina Meyers as she enters her new career as President of the United States. Of course, the more optimistic among us would hope that Laurie would join the cast as Selina’s Vice President, thus becoming the character that the title is referring to. Is there a wishing well full of expletive-heavy vitriol that I can throw a penny into to make that happen?

As evidenced by Dunn and Gary Cole, Veep has done a fine job of developing the roles for its character actors. Sam Richardson, who plays Selina’s temporary campaign aide Richard, is the latest to make the jump from recurring to regular. Check out one of his first scenes below, which is still one of my favorites from Season 3.

This is the second amazing TV project Laurie has signed up for in the past couple of weeks. He’ll be starring opposite Tom Hiddleston for the AMC miniseries thriller The Night Manager. He’s also in Brad Bird’s intriguing sci-fi adventure Tomorrowland and Kim Burdon’s spooky animated flick The Canterville Ghost, so he’s got quality stuff happening on the big screen as well.

What character do you guys want to see Laurie playing in Veep?

One of the most charming aspects of the LittleBigPlanet games has always been the tremendous voice work done by legendary British actor, Stephen Fry. Now another guy with an extremely recognizable voice will be joining the cast of the series' third installment, Hugh Laurie. Is there a doctor in the house?

You see, that last bit was (not at all) funny because we Yanks likely best know Hugh Laurie from his starring role in the long-running medical drama, House, in which the actor played an addicted, yet brilliant physician who had a knack for trailing off mid-sentence at the 45 minute mark of each episode, with some part of the current conversation striking him with a medical breakthrough that miraculously solved the case. It was an interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes mythos, complete with his own Watson/Wilson.

If, however, you come from the UK, chances are pretty good that you know Mr. Laurie from about a dozen other performances as well, and the guy even has a successful music career going, for those of you who don't get around to watching much TV. Appropriately enough, one of his most popular roles was from a comedy program called A bit of Fry and Laurie, in which he co-starred with, you guessed it, Stephen Fry.

So now the dynamic duo are back together, this time to lend their voices to the upcoming do-it-yourself game adventure, LittleBigPlanet 3. I almost called LBP3 a “platformer,” but that felt like a gross understatement. Sure, the game proper typically focuses on platforming levels, but so much insanity has been built within the LBP series at this point, it kind of defies genre. Racers, first-person shooter, arcade games, vertically-scrolling shooters and more; it's all been done.

News about Laurie's new voice role popped up on the PlayStation Blog this morning, announcing that the actor will be taking on the roll of the mischievous Newton.

“We have naturally always been big fans of Stephen Fry, so when it came to deciding upon a voice to act as his dastardly counterpart, we couldn't help but think that bringing Hugh Laurie on as the voice of Newton would be just the perfect double act for LittleBitPlanet 3” said Community Coordinator, Steven Isbell. “We're so excited to bring you Sackboy's biggest adventure yet later this year, and we can't wait to hear what you think of everybody that he and his new friends meet.”

For you creative types out there, or at least those who enjoy a game full of absolute wonder and whimsy, look for LittleBigPlanet 3 to arrive on Nov. 18, just in time for the holiday season. And, hay, now you have the soothing, yet sinister antics of Hugh Laurie's vocals to look forward to, so maybe go ahead and mark those calendars.

For some reason adaptations of beloved children’s books tend to work far better than the generic CGI rehashings of other forms of children’s fiction, like cartoons or toys. (Yes, I’m lumping Yogi Bear and Transformers in the same pile here.) There's always a chance that a book's characters will get exploited and watered down by bringing them into the modern world, but it's hard to grasp how that could happen with a British adaptation of the quintessentially British Paddington Bear series, written by Michael Bond and illustrated initially by Peggy Fortnum.

Keeping the cleverly optimistic bear in check in the upcoming movie version will be none other than familiar patriarch Hugh Bonneville, whom TheWrap reports is in negotiations to play Henry Brown, the kind-but-stern head of the Brown household that takes Paddington into their home. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any lame fart jokes under Mr. Brown’s watchful eye.

Bonneville, who plays the roost ruler Robert Crawley on Downton Abbey, is a great choice for the role, as his comedic chops were recently on display in the BBC America import of the satirical comedy Twenty Twelve. The film is being directed by Paul King - whose wild talents gave us the potent visuals behind the cult British comedy The Mighty Boosh and the film The Bunny and the Bull - and is being written by Hamish McColl, known mostly for the sequels Johnny English Reborn and Mr. Bean’s Holiday. It’s one big gloriously British production, which can only be a good thing when it comes to an icon like Paddington.

The film’s story finds Paddington arriving at London’s Paddington Station from his former home in darkest Peru, and he’s taken in by the Browns, who end up protecting him from the cold-hearted taxidermist who runs the Museum of Natural History. Nobody stuffs Paddington Bear!

David Heyman, whose production company Heyday Films will produce, is interested in getting Hugh Laurie to voice the titular bear, but no negotiations have been made. Production is set to begin this fall.

You’ll be able to catch more of Bonneville’s crossover appeal when George Clooney’s treasure hunt adventure The Monuments Men gets released in December.

As someone at least tangentially associated with the world of J.J. Abrams, having directed Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol with Abrams on board as a producer, Brad Bird is a guy who knows how to keep things a secret. And it's been fascinating and more than a little cool to watch that secrecy stay intact as Bird preps his next directorial effort Tomorrrowland, which he's writing with fellow Abrams collaborator Damon Lindelof (y'know, the guy who made Lost).

Even as they've cast George Clooney in the lead and Hugh Laurie as the villain, the folks behind Tomorrowland have kept the story under wraps. But now that they have to add some more people, and send descriptions out to casting agencies, some details may have leaked through after all. Over at Hitfix they have the plot description that's currently being sent out to agencies in order to round out the rest of the cast. Here's the two-sentence breakdown, if you dare:

THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR TOMORROWLAND

Here's where the mystery stays intact, though-- Hitfix's Drew McWeeny fully admits this could be a fake log line, something to help them find the right actors but keep the secret of the film intact. They have more details on this version of the story over there, but it's also interesting to consider this as a red herring. Drew writes some interesting stuff about how fake spoilers, or even rumors about a film's plot, can somehow wind up ruining the experience of the actual movie for some people, setting them up to expect something totally different than what the movie has to offer.

Check out the potential plot description over there, and let us know if this is the version of the story you hope Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof, George Clooney and Hugh Laurie are bringing us when Tomorrowland comes to theaters December 19 next year.

After becoming famous for becoming the grouchy and morally complex Dr. House on Fox's House, Hugh Laurie has shed what used to be a career in comedy, and now seems poised to take on his biggest bad guy role yet. He's in talks to join Tomorrowland, the Brad Bird-directed Disney project that already has George Clooney on board in the lead role.

Because we don't know much at all about Tomorrowland-- that Brad Bird loves his secrecy!-- there's no detail on what Laurie's role might be, with THR only willing to call him the antagonist. Bird will be directing from a script by former Lost show runner Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen, an editor at Entertainment Weekly. Lindelof also comes by his love of secrecy honest, having worked on the J.J. Abrams-produced Lost and then put in work on Prometheus, which contained plenty of twists kept secret until it opened-- though how well those twists worked out is up for debate.

All this secrecy hasn't kept a lot of fans from speculating, of course. On Monday we dug into a theory from Disney historian Jim Hill, who thinks the film might be about a supposedly real effort to get Walt Disney to make films helping Americans adjust to the idea of aliens-- since the Disney name might make an alien invasion feel like a spirited adventure rather than a catastrophic nightmare. We can see Laurie as a government official stepping on Disney's toes… but that makes Clooney as Disney, right?

It's hard to know if the actual film can live up to the fun of these wild theories, but we'll there opening day to find out for ourselves either way.

Jose Padilha’s upcoming remake of the classic sci-fi/police drama RoboCop has had its fair share of ups and downs through the pre-production process. Here’s a “down,” followed by a possible “up.”

A Variety has Tweeted that House star Hugh Laurie is “definitely out” as the villain of the piece, suggesting in his Tweet that Laurie never actually was confirmed as “in” for the picture (even though his name has been associated with Padilha’s picture for weeks now). It’s possible that Laurie’s deal hadn’t been finalized yet, and contract negotiations broke down, or maybe the negative buzz swirling around the remake following a public script review scared Laurie off the project. Either way, it seems to have been confirmed that Laurie’s gone.

Now, the good news. In its report of Laurie’s exit, Deadline suggests that Clive Owen is part of a small group of actors who MGM is meeting with immediately in hopes of replacing Laurie to keep the production on track. Even without Laurie, the RoboCop remake has an impressive cast, including The Killing star Joel Kinnaman in the lead role, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earl Haley, Jennifer Ehle and Michael K. Williams. But being able to add an actor, of the caliber of Owen would be a blessing. From what we are hearing about the script, it’s going to need a lot of help from its cast to keep things grounded. Given the fact that RoboCop is supposed to start filming next month in Canada -- aiming for an Aug. 9, 2013 release date – expect to hear about a replacement hire almost immediately.

May-December relationships always seem to make people uncomfortable, particularly when the older party is a man. On some level people feels like someone is being taken advantage of, even when the couple involved genuinely like each other. But do you know what's going to make an age-gap relationship even more awkward? When The man is best friends with the father of the younger woman he's dating. And that's exactly what's going on in the upcoming film The Oranges.

Yahoo! has launched the first trailer for the upcoming comedy, which has a stacked cast that includes Hugh Laurie, Oliver Platt, Leighton Meester, Catherine Keener, Alia Shawkat, Allison Janney and Adam Brody. Check it out below!

I will admit that I have a soft spot for this movie as I actually grew up one town over from West Orange, New Jersey, but even if that weren't the case there's still a lot to like here. It's great to see Laurie doing funny work again after spending so many years on House (not to say that I didn't enjoy the show) and I look forward to seeing the chemistry between him and Platt in the movie.

The Oranges was written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss and directed by Julian Farino. The title made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and will recieve a limited release on October 5th, courtesy of ATO Pictures.

After eight seasons as the cranky, mercurial, endlessly fascinating Dr. Gregory House on House, Hugh Laurie is finally ready for his first big Hollywood starring role, and it's a doozy. According to Variety he's in talks to play the villain in RoboCop, MGM's planned remake of 1987 Paul Verhoeven classic. If the story sticks closely to the original, that would have Laurie playing the head of Omni Corp, that builds the android police force, and eventually revives the dedicated policeman played by Joel Kinnaman in order to become the half-human, half-android crime fighter we know as Robocop.

We all know Laurie is perfectly good at being mean, so that should be no challenge if he puts on his villain face for this film. And based on Variety's description, he'll also be able to employ the excellent sarcasm he showed for so many years on House, which was arguably the best part of the character. MGM had no comment on the casting news, but with production set to start this ummer-- and the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Abbie Cornish recently signing on for roles, they've got to be close to finding at least someone to play the villain part.

Robocop has done a surprisingly good job of attracting a good cast, despite being an 80s remake that no one really asked for and still might not be a good idea. I'd love to see Laurie take a big film role, and as funny as he can be, a villain is probably the way to go. Do you guys think he'll fit in the Robocop world of dystopian future Detroit?

With the House finale only a week away, it looks like Hugh Laurie is looking forward to his next step – while looking back at where he came from. It seems he’ll be teaming back up with former comedy partner Stephen Fry, who leaked the news of a project in the works for the former partners via his Twitter account.

Fry and Laurie are “cooking up a project together”, Fry said in his tweet, going on to add that while he can’t spill any details just yet, he’ll be passing on more information as it’s available. Many House viewers aren’t aware of it, but Hugh Laurie actually is British, and is known in his native country as half of of a sketch comedy duo. Laurie and Fry put their act on together from 1989 – 1995 on the BBC sketch comedy show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. They’ve been working together since they met while attending Cambridge University, and have also appeared together in Peter’s Friends, a 1992 Kenneth Branagh film.

So what are Dr. House and his former colleague planning? It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but apparently Fry’s Twitter account is the place to watch for updates. If you’re interested in what the dup were up to before Laurie spent eight years playing the rudest doctor on television here in the U.S., Netflix has A Bit of Fry and Laurie available to stream. Perhaps it will ease the pain of saying goodbye to House after the season finale airs next week.

Hugh Laurie has been winning fans and assuring us that it isn't lupus for going on eight seasons as the acerbic Dr. Gregory House on Fox's House M.D.. Once that show finally wraps up its run, however, we may not be seeing any more of Laurie on the small screen. In an interview with the U.K.'s Daily Record, Laurie says that he plans to move on from television -- but not from acting -- after the end of House.

Laurie said that he feels, "extremely lucky to have had the one shot that I have had at it and I wouldn't go looking for lightning to strike twice." He is quick to clarify that this doesn't mean he's through acting -- just acting for television. He may still be involved with TV projects in the future, but on the other side of the camera. "I think I will probably be as interested by either writing or producing or directing, or some other aspect," Laurie said. "I find the whole field of it fascinating." He also has no plans to stop appearing in movies, having lent his voice to the upcoming animated film Arthur Christmas, and with a role in next year's war movie Mister Pip, directed by Andrew Adamson (The Chronicles of Narnia).

If Laurie does indeed follow through and bow out of TV, it will be the end of three decades' worth of roles on the small screen. In addition to showing off his spotless American accent on House for nearly a decade, he's appeared in funny and iconic British shows such as Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster, and A Bit of Fry and Laurie. (You can -- and should -- watch two of the three on Netflix Instant Watch.) He'll always be the foppish, dimwitted Price Regent to me.

Fans of Dr. Robert Chase can breathe easy. In spite of a close call and contract negotiations that had everyone wondering, Jesse Spencer signed a deal to return for the eighth season of House last night. Spencer tweeted to news to his fans: “I’m coming back for Season 8 with a tan and a busted board.” The busted board apparently refers to the fact that Spencer had been surfing at Newport Beach in California, but I can’t recall Dr. Chase ever looking all that pasty.

Spencer’s Twitter announcement was a few hours ahead of the official announcement; TV Guide reported the finalization of the deal this morning along with a repeat of the tweet. Earlier speculation that Spencer might not return was rampant, with fears that he might follow co-star Lisa Edelstein out the door. The actress made her departure announcement back in June, and House writers were left with little time to adjust their scripts or figure out exactly who Hugh Laurie will be sexually harassing next season.

Although House has been through its share of cast members in its run, the loss of core characters hasn’t much hurt the show in the past. The absence of Cuddy as Dr. House’s love interest and boss leaves the show not only with a script problem, but also a little short on cleavage; Olivia Wilde is now the only regular female cast member and not one known for the sort of attention grabbing garb Cuddy wiggled around Princeton Plainsboro wearing.

Time will tell if the show can stay alive, but season seven already saw a major slip in the ratings; things aren’t looking good for the television doctor with the worst bedside manner in the history of medicine no matter how much sex appeal Spencer’s Australian accent brings to the screen.