The Philippine Online Chronicles

The US medical drama House will end in May this year, after eight seasons.

“The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature,” creators/executive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs said on Wednesday. “How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

House is a medical drama about an antisocial genius diagnostician (played by Hugh Laurie) loosely based on Sherlock Holmes.

House’s current ratings have declined, coming in at a relatively low 8 million viewers per episode, compared to its peak 20 million viewers per episode in its third season. The Guinness Book of World Records named the Fox show as the most watched in the world, seen by by 81.8 million people in 66 countries.

While these ratings seem comparatively strong, especially compared to fourth-place NBC, it has been reported that Fox wanted to substantially cut House’s budget, making the decision to end the show a mutual one.

Hugh Laurie makes USD 700,000 for each episode of House, making him the highest-paid actor in a drama series.

Fans are hoping that after House, Laurie will once again team up with best friend British comedian Stephen Fry as the double act Fry and Laurie.

Another Fox show, Terra Nova, about timeline-hopping humans in the Cretaceous period, is in danger of being canceled due to poor ratings. Fans are currently engaging in a campaign to save the show, by sending the network plastic dinosaurs.

American Idol, also on Fox, had its some of its lowest ratings ever with its 11th season premiere being seen by 21.6 million people, 18% less than the 26.25 million people who saw last year's premiere.

Former Idol second-stringer David Archuleta’s TV5 show, Nandito Ako, where he plays what the Inquirer describes as ‘yet another’ Fil-Am, will be shown internationally, reports the Manila Bulletin.