“Three Stories” was the House M.D. episode that explored three patients through one lecture.
The episode is structured around House teaching medical students while he is temporarily unable to run his normal clinic duties. He presents three apparently separate cases, asking the students to reason through symptoms and possible diagnoses.
As the hour develops, the cases connect to House’s own medical history. The unusual structure allows the episode to move between classroom discussion, diagnostic speculation, and flashbacks that reveal more about the injury to House’s leg.
“Three Stories” aired during the first season and became one of the show’s most acclaimed episodes. It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. The title is sometimes remembered as referring simply to three patients, but its narrative also uses the cases to examine House’s character and past.