Gregory House, M.D., is a fictional character an protagonist of the Fox medical drama House. Portrayed by Hugh Laurie, the character is a maverick medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. House's character has been described as a "misanthrope", a "cynic" and a "curmudgeon", the last of which was named one of the top television words of 2006 in honor of the character.