TRUE BROMANCE

• Oct 07, 2008, 04:11 AM ET
• by David Hochman

Oscar and Felix, Joey and Chandler, SpongeBob and Patrick. Over the years, television has served up some stupendous “bromances." But it wasn't until a woman got between them last season that we realized how big a man crush Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) has on his longtime Princeton-Plainsboro colleague, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). The deeply awkward triangle between House, Wilson and Wilson's girlfriend, Amber (Anne Dudek), unleashed so many sloppy emotions, there was no choice but to kill poor Amber off.

That dying scene, which closed Season 4, was one of House's most poignant moments. But because the brilliant curmudgeon had a tangential role in her death, it also sent ripples into this season. House is wracked with guilt. Wilson, still in mourning, wants nothing to do with him. House seems desperate to get his only real friend back, and he's even been fishing pathetically for replacements in other colleagues and the potential House spin-off private-eye character, Lucas (Michael Weston).

But as Wilson prepared to leave House's side forever in this season's opening episodes, the chemistry between the doctors remained as charged as any two straight guys could allow it to be. So charged, in fact, we needed to stop by the set to let Laurie and Leonard talk out their feelings about their characters and each other—man-to-man-to-magazine, as it were. On October 14, the death of House's father causes him more angst—and we'll learn how our boys first met. We begin with the foremost question on every House fan's mind.

Gentlemen, can this bromance be saved?

Leonard: [Groans loudly] Is everyone obsessed with homosexuality?

Wait, we weren't suggesting...

Laurie: No, no, let's talk about it. Wilson and House have an unusual relationship so you have to explore all angles. It's not simple buddydom. House and Wilson clearly care about each other and even House has joked about it [House once blurted to former girlfriend Stacy (Sela Ward) that being gay would explain a lot about his own behavior: “No girlfriend, always with Wilson, the obsession with sneakers…."]. But, no, I don't think they're....

Leonard: Thank you. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Laurie: I think House and Wilson are closer to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. What was that relationship, after all? Was it a marriage? They weren't just two guys on horses. They couldn't live without each other, that's for sure.

Leonard: I agree. Or look at Cesar Millan and Daddy.

Laurie: I beg your pardon?

Leonard: You know, the Dog Whisperer guy and his pit bull. They have a special bond.

But the question was....

Leonard: Oh, yes, our bromance, can it be saved?

Laurie: To be serious for a moment, I think House is embracing the bromance, actually.

Leonard: Can you be serious and still use the word bromance?

Laurie: Yes, because what we’re seeing this season is how vulnerable House really is. I think it’s fascinating to watch House pursuing Wilson. He needs him, and I suppose he’s revealed himself more than ever this year precisely because he’s so needy. Despite House’s vaunted independence and grumbled disdain for humanity, we’re seeing that he’s a man with real human emotion.

What exactly is the need that Wilson satisfies in House?

Leonard: Why do all your questions sound vaguely dirty?

Laurie: Let me answer the question. One thing House needs Wilson for is vanity. He needs someone to laugh at his jokes. If a tree falls in the forest and Wilson doesn’t hear it, does it make a noise? House needs an audience as much as he needs patients for his clinical skills. And I should point out, the jokes aren’t simple comic relief. They’re quite profound. House’s ability to find humor in the absurd, whether it’s during an influenza outbreak, let’s say, or in the privacy of his own mind, helps House cope with the daily traffic of human misery that runs through the hospital. And he needs Wilson to be the foil for those thoughts.

Leonard: It’s sort of the way Hawkeye and Trapper John used to work on M*A*S*H. Hawkeye was more audacious, but he needed the grounded one, Trapper, to be fully understood....

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