It's a Mormon in the 'House'

Is the Mormon character on "House" something to celebrate or to scorn?

Pretty much depends on how you look at it.

For those of you who don't keep up with "House," Dr. Gregory House (Hugh

Laurie) is a brilliant but thoroughly obnoxious doctor who mocks everything and

everyone. This season has revolved around his search for new doctors to join his

team, which is dedicated to diagnosing patients in incredibly difficult cases.

One candidate to join the team on the popular and often ludicrous "House" is

a young doctor, Cole (Edi Gathegi), who's smart, sympathetic — and a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Cole is a BYU graduate, a single father and black, which you could easily

argue is a good thing all by itself. It certainly goes against the stereotypes.

Having a Mormon around, of course, offers House plenty of opportunities to be

House. Not surprisingly, he is decidedly anti-religious in general.

"Rational arguments don't usually work on religious people," he says in one

episode. "That's why they're religious people." House calls Cole "Big Love," a

reference to the TV series about polygamists — polygamists who are clearly

identified as not being Mormon on that HBO show.

"House" writers don't seem to have done a lot of research into the LDS Church.

And they think they're a lot more clever than they actually are. (I know I'm

very much in the minority here among critics, but I've never been a big "House"

fan. As I've written before, the characters don't ring true to me. When they're

talking, I hear a room full of writers coming up with the dialogue and then

congratulating each other on how witty they are.)