When did the realisation that House was a hit show kick in?
When I wrote the script I knew I liked this character and I felt there was an audience for it, but I literally never imagined [the success] because it wasn't that important to me. What was important was getting a show on the air and being able to tell my stories. But of course there's no point telling stories unless you are reaching an audience and this sort of massive audience is a little intimidating on the one hand, but very exciting.

The ratings weren't great at first were they?
It wasn't doing great but Fox had nothing else going on at that time. We were the last of the new shows to premiere, all of the other new shows had been cancelled so I felt like 'hey we're going to get to stay on the air'. It's still a slow burn in the sense that in season three we did better than in season two and season two did better than season one.

Was it a risk for the network, the show doesn't seem to target the typical Fox demo?
I think that's right. I mean we had a forty-something male lead on a network that is known for scantily clad girls and boys. We're doing very well now and Fox is very happy with us - now it's the definitive Fox show.

And reaching a younger audience than you expected?
We're doing great with teenagers. I can explain that now although I couldn't have predicted it. It's because House is a 15-year-old. He's not 15, but he does have the rebellious, stick-it-to-the-man attitude that teenagers aspire to and he does stupid things, childish things, on occasion. I think teenagers look at him and think that's who I am, but older than I am. But that is me back-filling an explanation.

Has the show had an effect on the genre, the network?
We were saying this is such a better fit on NBC and we were owned by NBC at that point. But Fox has been really good to us and I think we've changed Fox a little bit maybe, if you look at the shows they are launching now I think they're a little bit better.

House is an unusual lead for a mainstream show isn't he?
Yes, he's dislikeable, in TV parlance, because TV defines likable as nice. There's plenty of curmudgeonly characters on TV, but it's unusual to build a show around that and not have him as the funny sidekick or whatever. We never sold it as a character-driven piece. We were worried about showing the network an outline and them saying 'what's going on, this is a character drama not a procedural, we don't do that' because they were looking for a CSI type of show.

We were lucky to be on Fox. I think [when we launched] Fox was bolder because it was newer and was trying to break ground. I expected them to soften [House] up, to smooth out the rough edges, but I never got that phone call.

What genre is the show?
I think every showrunner thinks their show crosses different lines. But I think one of the jobs of this show is that it does cross all genres. It's a procedural show, that's what you can hang everything else on, that's why people tune in, but it's also got comedy and character elements.

Will there be any House spin offs?
We've been talking about that. Those conversations are about to start now so it's very early. I don't know [which characters] and if I did I wouldn't say. But this show's doing well enough that that's inevitable. It's a business.

Did you ever consider an international audience with the show?
Apologies to the international audience, but I didn't think of them. I barely think of the domestic market. A nicer way of putting that is I write what I find interesting and hope there's an audience. If there's an audience great, but you can't be too focused on what you think your audience want to hear or it ends up bland.

What can we expect from the show?    
The danger is giving people what they think they want, which is not necessarily what they really want. The audience wants House to fall in love. They want him to be nice. But they don't, they watch it because he is who he is and to a certain extent because he's miserable. If that changes, everything changes. We do ask have we gone too far, has he been too nasty, but I think there's a greater risk in making the character too likeable.

What else have you been working on?
I developed a show for NBC this year called Alibi. I had a pilot. It was really cool. I'm still not sure if it's alive or dead. It was not on the upfronts but they're still talking about doing it as a midseason.

You've signed up for two more seasons of House, when will you talk about signing up for more?
I assume those conversations will start relatively soon. I'm committed, I like the show and the character. To a certain extent part of my role is grooming other people to step in eventually so that the show can continue to have a life.

Thanks to TBI who first published this article in their June/July edition.  More info: tbi@informa.com