subsequently rekindled). House later pays Douglas to look into the private lives of his team members and Cuddy. If the character had been accepted by the audience, plans existed to feature him as the lead in a spin-off show. In September 2008, Shore spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his vision for the character: "I don't want to do just another medical show. What does excite me in terms of writing is the choices people make and the nature of right and wrong... and a private investigator can approach that question much more readily than a doctor can." There was no show featuring Douglas on the fall 2009 network television schedule. He returns to House in season six as Cuddy's boyfriend. They are briefly engaged until Cuddy breaks it off, realizing that she is in love with House. Episodes Reception Critical reception House received largely positive reviews on its debut; the series was considered a bright spot amid Fox's schedule, which at the time was largely filled with reality shows. Season one holds a Metacritic score of 75 out of 100, based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Matt Roush of TV Guide said that the program was an "uncommon cure for the common medical drama". New York Daily News critic David Bianculli applauded the "high caliber of acting and script". The Onions "A.V. Club" approvingly described it as the "nastiest" black comedy from FOX since 1996's short-lived Profit. New York John Leonard called the series "medical TV at its most satisfying and basic", while The Boston Globes Matthew Gilbert appreciated that the show did not attempt to hide the flaws of the characters to assuage viewers' fears about "HMO factories". Varietys Brian Lowry, less impressed, wrote that the show relied on "by-the-numbers storytelling, albeit in a glossy package". Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "mediocre" and unoriginal. Mikhail Varshavski, a Russian-American Osteopathic Doctor, reviewed the medical content of House on his YouTube channel. According to Varshavski, the medical information presented on the show was usually fundamentally accurate though often highly exaggerated for dramatic effect, but he described Gregory House's tendency to quickly use invasive tests and procedures as outside the medical mainstream. General critical reaction to the character of Gregory House was particularly positive. Tom Shales of The Washington Post called him "the most electrifying new main character to hit television in years". The Pittsburgh