“House” finale bittersweet: “Everybody Dies”

(Reuters) – TV medical drama “House” ends on a

bittersweet note this month in a series finale titled “Everybody Dies” that sees cantankerous but

brilliant Dr. Gregory House examining his future and personal demons, show creator David Shore said on

Thursday.

But Shore refused to give details of the final episode, or how

returning characters including doctors Alison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Remy “Thirteen” Hadley

(Olivia Wilde) or the dead Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) will make their mark as “House” ends its run

after eight years.

“It is definitely an ending. I don’t want to say more than that. We never do

happy endings but we also try not to simply do miserable endings. Bittersweet is the most you can hope

for,” Shore told reporters ahead of the two-hour series finale on May 21.

“It’s about House

assessing his future,” Shore said. “We developed the idea for the final episode months and months ago

… It allowed us to explore the nature of House’s character and it also allowed us to naturally bring

back other people.”

The title of the series finale also is a nod to 2004’s first episode of the

Emmy award-winning show called “Everybody Lies” – a phrase that became the mantra for British actor

Hugh Laurie’s misanthropic, rule-breaking diagnostician in his bid to solve medical

puzzles.

“House” was named the most popular current TV show in the world in the 2012 edition of

the Guinness World Records. It has an estimated audience of 81.8 million people in 66

countries.

Shore said he envisioned no endgame in mind when he created the series eight years

ago, calling the idea of a mapped-out finale at that stage “incredibly pompous” in the fickle world of

television.

And he said he had few regrets about key cast changes over the years and storylines

that have seen House in prison, in rehab, and even in love, most controversially with his boss,

hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein.

Edelstein, who left the show

last year as her love affair with House turned sour, won’t be returning for the last

episode.

But Shore on Thursday defended the storyline that finally brought the two characters

together.

“I know a lot of people thought we should have done it better, a lot of people thought

we shouldn’t have done it, a lot of people thought we should have kept them together. It’s been a bit

of a lightning rod. I’m not saying we did everything perfect … But fundamentally we had to (put them

together). You can’t have sexual tension go on and on and on,” he said.

He also declined to

elaborate on how the character of Kutner – who was found shot to death three years ago – and those of

Cameron, Thirteen and Masters (Amber Tamblyn) would re-appear in the final episode.

As to who

will die? Stay tuned for the May 21 finale on Fox television and a one-hour retrospective of clips and

interviews with the show’s stars and producers.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob

Tourtellotte)