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Could TV’s crankiest doctor find love at the Super Bowl? Perhaps. The hit Fox show “House” gets the cushy post-Super Bowl slot tonight on WFXT (Ch. 25). Mira Sorvino guests as ailing psychiatrist Dr. Cate Milton. She is trapped in a South Pole research station and Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) and his team must treat her via a Web cam. “It’s not just a patient/doctor relationship,” Sorvino said in a recent conference call with reporters. “It’s more like a meeting of the minds between two somewhat similar people. I think he feels sympathy for her when she’s really all alone and has to diagnose herself constantly and things go from bad to worse. They understand each other. They’re similar in that they’re both loners and strong-willed, and there’s this nice little subplot of chemistry and sexual tension.” The Oscar winner described herself as a crazy “House” fan. “When I met Hugh at the Golden Globes three years ago, I just started gushing about how much I loved the show and I think I might have frightened him. I was really excited to do (this episode) and enter the world of my favorite show. It’s the equivalent of me as a child getting to go on ‘The Six Million Dollar Man.’ I would love to come back for an extended story arc.” The post-Super Bowl episode also exposes House’s best friend Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), who has been surreptitiously dating. His new love is someone the audience already knows. “That’s the one thing I’ve really been sworn to secrecy about,” Sorvino said. Could it be Thirteen (Olivia Wilde)? Wilde, who joined the cast this season during House’s “Survivor”-like search for new doctors, called the reveal a huge surprise. “It’s a fantastic episode and I think a whole new audience will be introduced to ‘House,’ and I have a feeling they’re really going to like it.” Wilde described Thirteen as a bowl of secrets. Earlier this season, viewers learned that she has a genetic disposition to Huntington’s disease, but her real name remains unknown. It’s not something the show plans on divulging. “It’s established this sort of inside joke between House and Thirteen. He could easily look at her file and see her name, but he chooses to keep it up.” When Wilde landed the guest stint on the series, she had no idea she would make it to House’s final team. “We never took it for granted, which was great,” Wilde said. “And I think it’s why the performances turned out as well as we all feel they did. There was no chance to get lazy, no time for laziness. It was all finding out each week whether we’d be there the next week. And it was pretty exciting and pretty stressful, and what it did was just make us really enjoy every minute of it.” Playing the mysterious doctor has also made Wilde more cautious. “Thirteen is so different from me,” she said. “I will meet someone for five minutes on the street and give them my Social Security number. I’m just so open. . . . I have to stop doing that. I’m learning from Thirteen.” |