The first episode of House M.D. is titled “Pilot.”
Broadcast on November 16, 2004, “Pilot” introduces Dr. Gregory House, Dr. James Wilson, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, and the original diagnostic fellows Robert Chase, Allison Cameron, and Eric Foreman. The case follows a kindergarten teacher whose unexplained illness requires House’s team to reconsider several possible diagnoses.
The episode establishes the show’s recurring format: an apparently unsolvable medical problem, competing hypotheses, tests that change the team’s understanding, and House’s willingness to challenge standard procedure. It also introduces House’s leg pain, cane, dependence on Vicodin, and strained relationship with hospital authority.
“Pilot” is sometimes called “Everybody Lies,” after the show’s famous maxim, but “Everybody Lies” is not the broadcast title of the first episode. Other prominent episode titles include “Three Stories,” “House’s Head,” and “Everybody Dies,” each belonging to a different point in the series.