The television medical drama House is a curious critter. The show has received numerous awards and a ridiculous amount of nominations for a pill-popping, regulation-defying, pain-in-the-ass cripple. And it is one of the most watched shows in America.

There are a number of reasons to explain why House is so popular, including the fact that it is well written (if you don’t discredit it due to its formulaic nature), but I would propose that the show is a masterful creation of populism.

Okay, before confusion sets in, being popular is not correlated to populism. They are two different ideas, and “popular” is a relative term and “populism” isn’t.

Back in 1946, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life came out to lack-luster attendance, but has since achieved high critical status.  For instance, It’s a Wonderful Life was placed number on as the American Film Institutes most inspiring film of all time, and is ranked #31 best movie as rated on IMBD.com by users.  The movie should have faded from existence, given it’s box-office short comings, but the movie has become a classic and seen as a pillar in populist film making.

The protagonist George Bailey is seen as an everyman.  He’s is a polite, all-around all-American.  His conflicts in the film do not come from personal faults (although he does have some), but come from two very important antagonists.  In populism, big government and big business is the foe of the everyman, since these two modes of authority do not idealize the individual.  In It’s a Wonderful Life, big business is personified in the character of Mr. Potter, who is slowly destroying the town Bailey lives in through the workings of his big business.  Big government can be seen as the Bank Commissioner having to inspect and nearly close the bank Bailey runs.  Personifying big business and government as antagonistic individuals is a powerful tool of populism, and here works great.

In the first season of House, big business is personified in the character of Edward Volger.  He brings 100 millions dollars to the hospital, yet instead of this money proving helpful to House and his colleagues, Volger’s money and his presence in the hospital occupies the rest of the season’s finale.  Volger’s very presence is seen as antagonistic to everything House represents in the series.  House himself ends up defying Volger’s authority, almost to the point of dismissal of House and everyone that supports him.  In one electrifying moment, House gives a speech about a new medication Volger’s company has developed.  House, at the cusp of possibly bending to Volger’s desires, acts in the spirit of George Bailey.  House rebels against big business, speaking out against Volger and how his money has produced no cures, only greed.

House also defies government, or specifically the idea of government and its laws controlling individuals.  Repeatedly throughout the show House orders his underlings to break into patients houses.  House absolutely believes that nothing matters as much as curing the ailment.  In his mind, laws should not prevent the fulfillment of an individual’s desires.  House is even in a constant state of rebellion with the hospital, when it acts as an authority figure. The longest running gag in the show is that House does not perform regular clinic hours.  Regulations have no say in House’s practice.  He has absolute say in his world, and the series easily sways viewers into believing the same ideas.  Hell, it’s entertaining to watch House defy everyone.  Sure, he is the protagonist, but these ideas stretch past that.  The individual is the highest authority in the populist land, and House and It’s A Wonderful Life exemplify that.

Sure, it’s strange to think that George Bailey and Gregory House have any resemblance, but both characters  idealize the individual, and both shows pit the same antagonists against the characters.  Because of that, I believe years from now House is going to be seen as a classic, just as It’s a Wonderful Life is seen now.