What is the title of House M.D.’s episode known for its three-patient diagnostic lecture?

The House M.D. episode known for its three-patient diagnostic lecture is titled “Three Stories.” It is the twenty-first episode of the first season and uses a lecture by House to reveal three different medical cases.

The episode shifts between the lecture setting and flashbacks, asking viewers to compare symptoms and diagnostic reasoning across the cases. Its structure differs from the series’ usual single-patient mystery, making it one of the show’s most distinctive early episodes. The story also deepens the background of House’s chronic leg pain and explains why he walks with a cane.

“Three Stories” was written by David Shore and directed by Paris Barclay. It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, helping establish House M.D. as more than a conventional hospital procedural. The title is sometimes confused with episode names containing other numbers, but “Three Stories” specifically identifies the first-season lecture episode.