The series premiere of House M.D. is titled “Pilot.”
The episode introduces Dr. Gregory House, his diagnostic team, and Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Its central case involves a kindergarten teacher whose symptoms lead House and his colleagues through several possible diagnoses. The episode establishes the show’s core formula: a difficult medical mystery, competing hypotheses, and House’s willingness to challenge ordinary hospital procedures.
“Pilot” also introduces the relationships that shaped the early series. James Wilson is established as House’s closest friend, while Lisa Cuddy is the hospital administrator who tries to manage House’s conduct. Cameron, Chase, and Foreman appear as the original members of House’s diagnostic team.
The title is sometimes confused with “Everybody Lies,” the phrase used in the opening presentation and the title of the show’s first season-one episode after the pilot. “Pilot” aired on November 16, 2004, and helped establish House as a detective-like physician rather than a conventional heroic doctor.