'House' hits a hundred

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Are you excited about the 100th episode of "House," which Fox has been beating the drum for incessantly?

Because I'm here to tell you that the people at "House" aren't all that excited.

As a matter of fact, the show's creator/executive producer, David Shore, planned absolutely nothing special at all to celebrate this "TV milestone," as Fox keeps calling it.

"It just annoyed me that everybody was getting excited about the 100th episode," Shore said. "I'm glad we are getting the publicity, but I'm kind of going, 'Why is this episode different than No. 90?' 'If we had nine fingers, would Episode 81 be the big one?'"

So, he "refused" to try to up the ante for No. 100, saying it's just "another really good episode." (Which makes him sort of contrary and sort of self-congratulatory all at once.)

Viewers will, of course, have to judge for themselves.

In the episode (7 p.m., Ch. 13), a woman collapses in the middle of a cooking class, and we (and Dr. House's team) soon discover that she's a brilliant doctor who gave up cancer research to pursue her own personal happiness. Which makes each of them consider their own personal happiness.

Elsewhere, Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) is making House's (Hugh Laurie) life miserable, and Thirteen's (Olivia Wilde) condition worsens after she begins taking the experimental drugs Foreman (Omar Epps) gave her for her Huntington's Disease.

In other words, it's pretty much like every other "House" episode — there's a mysterious case; several wrong diagnoses; House and Cuddy spar; the other characters have drama in their lives; House makes a miraculous diagnosis in the last act.

And, according to Shore, there are enough weird medical things out there to keep the show going for many more seasons.

"Luckily for us and unluckily for humanity, there's a shocking amount of ways that things can present themselves," he said. "I'm amazed we've done a hundred of them. I didn't think we'd get through six, but I'm very happy that we've really managed to do it."

Just don't expect the show to last as long as, say, "ER."

"I can't see myself physically going 15 years on this planet, actually, (let alone) doing a television show," Laurie said. "It seems very unlikely to me."

CHUCK (7 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5) returns to the schedule tonight with its big 3-D episodes.

Hurrah for the return of "Chuck"!

Ho-hum for the whole 3-D thing.