Hollywood and DC have always had a curious relationship, typically involving actors or directors spouting unsolicited opinions about the current state of affairs.  On occasion however, some thespians take the next step and actively get involved in the political process.  Hollywood is typically considered left-leaning but surprisingly, the arguably most famous and successful of these actor-turned-politicians are two conservatives, Reagan and Schwarzenegger.

Christina added “House” to our regular rotation of shows awhile back.  It’s pretty entertaining even though it tends to have the same general storyline every episode.   The show from this week was a bit different and seems to have been developed “on-the-fly”.   Kal Penn, aka Kumar, aka Taj, played Dr. Kutner in House up until this week when he unceremoniously shot himself.  No rhyme or reason as far as the plot of House goes but apparently the star of stoner movies has decided to take his talents elsewhere.   More specifically, to his new job as Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison for the Obama administration.  I suppose it’s no weirder a job transition than Schwarzenegger’s path from body-builder to action star to Gubernator but it’s definitely odd.

In my opinion, House has struggled a bit recently.  The suicide episode from this week was almost completely devoid of any humor (fittingly, perhaps) but I don’t watch House for the drama; I watch it to catch House’s latest one-liners.  These have been few and far between recently and the removal of Kutner from House is not going to help.  Kutner was probably the most entertaining character other than House himself.