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Role Model is the seventeenth episode of the first season of House, which premiered on the FOX network on April 12, 2005.
[edit] Synopsis
Black presidential candidate Senator Gary H. Wright vomits and collapses at a fund raiser. Vogler offers not to force House to fire either Cameron or Foreman - although not Chase, who is feeding Vogler information - if House treats Sen. Wright and gives a speech supporting Vogler's new drug at a conference. Foreman finds a scar on Sen. Wright's tongue from a childhood accident and a lack of reflexes, which indicates a neurological disorder. Tests suggest Sen. Wright has AIDS, although his strength moves House, who runs a second test, which is negative. As the senator's condition worsens, it becomes impossible for House to run further tests for the leukemia he believes the senator has. However, viral tests clue House to the fact that Sen. Wright's problem stems from a childhood epilepsy treatment. Sen. Wright gets better and tells House he is still running for President, although he knows he will not win, because he believes in doing it. At the conference, House attempts to pacify Vogler, but when Vogler is not satisfied, forces House to step it up. Instead, House tells the ugly truth about Vogler's drug. Vogler tells him before he leaves the stage that he will have to pick one to fire. That night, Cameron makes the decision for him, going to House's apartment to quit her job.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Behind the Scenes
- Crew Cameo: Bobbin Bergstrom, who plays the ICU Nurse who attends to Senator Gary H. Wright during his stroke, is the on-set medical advisor on the show.
[edit] Allusions and References
- NASCAR Dads: When Senator Gary H. Wright worries about voter reactions if he has a brain biopsy, House chides him for "worrying about NASCAR dads." NASCAR dads is a voting demographic which was considered important during the 2004 Presidential elections. The term refers to working-class or lower-middle-class rural White males, who were considered a swing vote in the 2004 race of Republican President George W. Bush vs. Senator John Kerry. A cross-section of fans of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) shows the viewership is more heavily female and much more affluent than the demographic name suggests.
- The Great White Hope: House says toxoplasmosis on Sen. Wright's biopsy "means the Great Black Hope has full-blown AIDS." The phrase "The Great Black Hope" is a reference to the 1970 film The Great White Hope and the Howard Sackler play on which it is based. Both are about a Black heavyweight boxer who overcomes racism in 1930s-era America.
- Sick Presidents: Foreman counters House's argument that Sen. Wright cannot become President by saying, "Kennedy had Addison's. FDR had polio. Two of the best Presidents in the last hundred years." House replies, "If they were running today, they wouldn't stand a chance." They are referring to two Presidents of the United States, both elected prior to the post-Watergate Information Age:
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy: The 35th President of the United States, he oversaw national crises during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He is famous for inspiring America to send a man to the Moon and for his guidance in the American Civil Rights Movement. Although he suffered from numerous ailments - including Addison's disease and chronic back pain - which conflicted with his image as a young, handsome, vital man, these were hidden until after his assassination in 1963.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The 32nd President of the United States, he served for an unprecedented 12 years and was thrice re-elected. He both ended the Great Depression and led the nation throughout most of World War II. The fact of Roosevelt's polio was well known throughout his Presidency, but he hid that it had left him paralyzed from the waist down. He often used aides or supported himself with a podium to make it appear as if he was standing on his feet - something he could not actually do.
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