The House M.D. season-one episode about three patients with leg pain is titled “Three Stories.”
The episode uses a lecture structure in which House presents three apparently separate diagnostic cases to medical students. The cases gradually reveal connections to House's own medical history, including the infarction that damaged the muscles in his right thigh and left him with chronic pain and a limp.
“Three Stories” aired as the 21st episode of the first season in May 2005. Its unusual structure moves between past and present, making the episode both a medical puzzle and a character study. The narrative also examines how doctors interpret evidence and how personal experience can influence clinical judgment.
The title is sometimes mistaken for a description such as “Three Patients,” but “Three Stories” is the official episode title. The episode received major critical recognition and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.