ShareThisBy DUSTY SAUNDERS
It's time that Hugh Laurie fans forget about their disappointment that he was not nominated for an Emmy and concentrate on the future _ Tuesday, to be precise _ when "House" returns for its third season.
Fans are in for a surprise regarding Dr. Gregory House, whose bedside manner often has offered all the charm of a Tony Soprano thug.
Viewers will recall last May's cliffhanger, when House was shot in the gut by the husband of a former patient who had died while under House's care.
It was obvious he would survive. Even bewildered Emmy judges know Fox would not kill off the lead character in one of its most popular, critically acclaimed series.
But House has changed, at least temporarily.
Not showing up Tuesday night is the curmudgeonly, often nasty doctor who comes up with the brilliant diagnosis.
Gregory House is _ brace yourself _ humane.
And he doesn't even carry his trademark cane, which he previously needed after he was crippled by a blood clot that keeps him in constant agony.
So how did he ditch the pain and the cane?
Sharp-eared House fans may recall that in the season finale, House, after being shot, requested a painkiller called ketamine.
The drug is used in treatment of such trauma cases, according to producers. People with chronic pain are put in a coma and treated with ketamine.
This causes the brain to "reboot" itself, allowing, on occasion, for the patient to be pain-free and capable of more physical movement.
Wait until you see Gregory House jogging around the park.
The first two episodes deal with how House reacts to living without his accustomed pain.
Such a change, of course, has a jaw-dropping effect on House's co-workers as they team with him to help two patients with life-threatening problems.
While still cantankerous among co-workers, House has a different attitude with patients. And he's literally at a loss for words when a wife, grieving over her unconscious husband, thanks House for his concern.
House's recovery from his injuries, his change in personality and future battle with painkillers will be explored throughout the season.
Later this fall House will clash with a cop (David Morse) who's convinced House is stealing pills from the hospital and is in a dangerous cycle of self-overmedication.
Based on Tuesday's episode, Laurie continues to shine as an actor. I wonder if Emmy folks will be watching.
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PLANNING SEPTEMBER: You've probably noticed Fox is debuting much of its fall schedule before the traditional mid-September start.
Previously aired were the second-season premieres of "Prison Break" and "Bones" and the introductory hours of "Vanished" and "Justice."
In addition to airing "House" on Tuesday, Fox also will premiere "Standoff," a series about two FBI crisis negotiators who work together and sleep together. Predictably, that causes departmental and bedroom problems.
The network hopes to establish series loyalty before the prime-time schedule is interrupted in October by Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series.
_ New on Comedy Central is "Legends," which examines the careers of noted comedians. The late Rodney Dangerfield is featured in the Sept. 15 premiere.
_ Espionage fans should rejoice on Sept. 15 when A&E premieres the third season of "MI-5," the classy British production. The first two weekly episodes deal with the aftermath of a bomb explosion in the middle of a London street market. An international terrorist organization claims responsibility, saying bombs will explode throughout the city every 10 hours until its leader is released.
