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House: So You Think Hugh Can Dance?

With a bum leg and a skulking aversion to just about everything, House (Hugh Laurie) doesn't seem a likely candidate to trip the light fantastic with girlfriend Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). Thank the ghosts of Fred and Ginger for dream sequences. In tonight's "Bombshells" episode, Cuddy's anxiety about her relationship with House plays out in a series of fantasies — including a Hollywood Western scene — capped by the Huddsters hitting the floor to an updated version of "Come On Get Happy." The job of turning doctors into dancers was a snap — or at least half the job was. "For Lisa, this was a dream come true," says exec producer Greg Yaitanes. "She has experience as a dancer and singer and was willing and wonderful." Laurie? "Let's just say he had to surrender to the idea," Yaitanes says, laughing.Fortunately, they had an inspiring coach. Mia Michaels, Emmy-winning choreographer extraordinaire of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, worked for days ...

David Hochman

With a bum leg and a skulking aversion to just about everything, House (Hugh Laurie) doesn't seem a likely candidate to trip the light fantastic with girlfriend Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). Thank the ghosts of Fred and Ginger for dream sequences. In tonight's "Bombshells" episode, Cuddy's anxiety about her relationship with House plays out in a series of fantasies — including a Hollywood Western scene — capped by the Huddsters hitting the floor to an updated version of "Come On Get Happy." 
The job of turning doctors into dancers was a snap — or at least half the job was. "For Lisa, this was a dream come true," says exec producer Greg Yaitanes. "She has experience as a dancer and singer and was willing and wonderful." Laurie? "Let's just say he had to surrender to the idea," Yaitanes says, laughing.
Fortunately, they had an inspiring coach. Mia Michaels, Emmy-winning choreographer extraordinaire of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, worked for days with Laurie and Edelstein for a sequence that runs roughly two and a half minutes. "The challenge was creating a movie-musical moment that stayed true to the dark, quirky, sarcastic nature of House's character, but we did it," Michaels says. 
Yaitanes, who directed the episode, contacted Michaels out of the blue — "So You Think You Can Dance is my dirty TV-watching secret," he says — after getting the idea for a fantasy dance number. "Mia's our generation's Bob Fosse and I knew we had to have her. I just said, 'Here's the amount of time we have, so create a vision and a world.' She totally ran with it."
With a fog machine and several former SYTYCD dancers on set, Michaels soon had Laurie and Edelstein waltzing like pros. "It took Hugh a little while to feel comfortable," Michaels says. "He's a perfectionist like I am. At one point, after hours of me telling him to do this and not that, he said, 'You know, a human brain can only process three directions at a time.' Then we did another take and he completely nailed it."
House airs Monday at 8/7c on Fox.
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