Hugh Laurie's 'Chance' & 'House' Are So Different

Within just a few minutes, it's obvious that Hulu's Chance has almost no similarities to House, Hugh Laurie's previous huge TV role. While both shows have a central doctor character played by Laurie whose last name is the single word title of the series, they otherwise are pretty different. There are some basic differences, of course, in how the shows were produced. House was a network series that produced two dozen episodes every season, and Chance is a limited series being released via a streaming service. Chance has more freedom to use language that would be bleeped on FOX, and isn't beholden to make every episode fit into the same formula. instead, it's telling a longer story about how one woman, Jaclyn Blackstone, who's not even really his patient, changes Dr. Elden Chance's life. Instead of a new patient every week, there's some kind of mystery here, and Chance will be thrown into the middle of it. House occasionally had multiple-episode arcs, but the heart of the show was in the weekly churn of new patients with diseases that needed to be diagnosed.

But, the biggest difference between the two series has got to be the two protagonists. Laurie is doing his best to completely change his performance so, no matter how much you'd like to imagine that this as an unconventional House sequel, it won't work. What makes Chance totally different from the FOX series all boils down to how Dr. Elden Chance doesn't resemble Gregory House whatsoever. Here are a few of their key dissimilarities.

He's Burned Out On His Job

While he may have been grumpy and combative at nearly every turn, House was always ready to tackle a new medical mystery. It's what kept the show's engine churning: House wants to work on patients, the hospital administration wants him to change his methods, and then his genius makes him invaluable.

He Works Alone

He'd never admit it, but House was influenced by the eager young doctors he worked alongside, and he was just one part of a team. This doctor seems completely isolated from everyone but his receptionist in his day to day life.

He Has A Family

House struggled to make any meaningful connections with people outside of his work, and frequently belittled those he did care about. Dr. Chance may be going through a divorce, but he does seem to care about his daughter and is attempting to have a positive relationship with his ex-wife, despite their money issues.

He's Mild Mannered

Dr. House literally always spoke his mind and you could tell what he was thinking even before he loudly proclaimed it, yet Dr. Chance is guarded, and frequently gets put into situations where he'd want to speak out, but doesn't. He seems to admire the people around him who can stand up for themselves, but at least as of the beginning of the season, he can't.

He's Not The Smartest Man In The Room

As a noir-inspired series, Chance can't make its central a genius who outthinks every problem. He needs to be vulnerable to the machinations of the other characters, not someone who can tell instantly if Jaclyn Blackstone is lying to him or not.

But, even though it's not House, it is an intriguing show — so check it out if you want to see Laurie take on a whole new kind of doctor.

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