The first episode of House M.D. is titled “Pilot.”
“Pilot” introduced Gregory House, his diagnostic team, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, and the show's case-of-the-week format. The episode follows a kindergarten teacher who develops severe illness, prompting House and his colleagues to investigate a confusing set of symptoms.
The episode premiered on November 16, 2004, on Fox. It established several features that became trademarks of the series: House's refusal to accept easy explanations, his tension with hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy, and his friendship with oncologist James Wilson.
“Pilot” is a common television term for an episode made to introduce a series and demonstrate its concept to a network. It is not the same as “Three Stories,” the acclaimed first-season episode that won a major writing award, or “Everybody Dies,” the series finale. Those titles belong to different points in House M.D.'s run.