[on writing 'House.M.D.'] The challenge was always, either the patient gets better or the patient dies. We did try to break up the formula now and then, but fundamentally I was comfortable with it. We departed from it on occasion, and those departures worked. The real challenge though was that I didn't want people going, 'I wonder if he will get better'. Rather, I wanted them to think, 'What's House going to do, and how is everybody going to react to that'. The stories were about him figuring out the challenge, discovering what the obstacles were and then finding a way to overcome those obstacles. The fun part for me, for us as writers, was to make that aspect of it a surprise, week in and week out.