
At fictional Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, prickly genius Dr. Gregory House tackles health mysteries as would a medical Sherlock Holmes, all the while playing mind games with colleagues that include his best friend, oncologist James Wilson. House, an acerbic infectious disease specialist, solves medical puzzles with the help of a team of young diagnosticians. Flawless instincts and unconventional thinking help earn House great respect, despite his brutal honesty and antisocial tendencies.
A jazz musician checks into the hospital, believing he is dying of ALS and signs a "do not resuscitate" order; House disagrees with the diagnosis and violates the order to save the man's life, landing himself in court.
Dr. Foreman believes an uncooperative homeless woman is faking seizures so she can stay in the hospital, but her worsening symptoms prove to be a complex mystery for Dr. House and his team.
House agrees to stop taking painkillers for a week in exchange for a month without clinic duty, but the team thinks detox is affecting his judgment in the case of a young man's unexplained blood loss.
A severely broken arm reveals underlying problems and ends the comeback plans of a major league pitcher, whom House suspects is taking steroids.