A local publication called the new Fox drama House an "interesting, unconventional drama." It may be interesting and occasionally clever, but based only on Tuesday's pilot, it does not appear to be free from convention.

House is set in a special hospital where a staff consisting only of the nation's best doctors treats patients with only the most unusual medical cases.

Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is a brilliant, but brashly cynical resident who admits to being more interested in the disease than in the patient.

I have no idea whether the biology chatter between the doctors is genuine or not. But, I do know that their relationships to one another are forged in cliché.

Take, for instance, the artificially contentious relationship between House and his boss (Lisa Edelstein). They argue about procedure so much to get their way as to exchange witty repartee and allow Edelstein to eventually say things like "He may be a sonafab----, but he's the best doctor we've got."

The whole show revolves around this one character.

The other characters loft him to the mythic status of an anti-hero. Think Dr. Dirty Harry.

The rest of the staff doesn't seem to have a raison d'être outside of its specific relationship to House.

The narrative of the pilot strives to define not who the other doctors are, but what reasons House had for handpicking them to work with him in the hospital.

This show might turn out to be a hit if audiences enjoy Laurie's hard-boiled wit as much as I did at certain moments.

But, it can't sustain very long unless the talented creative team behind expands on the characters and experiments a little bit with the drama series template they've inherited.

-- By Nicholas Norcia