Why is Fox waiting to renew 'House,' its top-rated drama? Well, the show needs to cut its budget by 20 percent.

According to Deadline, Fox is trying to cut the license fee with Universal Media Studios, attempting to bring each episode around the $5 million mark to produce.

However, UMS reportedly cannot produce 'House' in its current incarnation on just $5 million. The network and studio are not budging. 'House' brings in more than $1 billion in syndication, Fox license fees and international rights.

Cast members Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard and Omar Epps are in talks to return for the eighth and possible final season. The trio make around $175,000 per episode and could see that and their episode order reduced. Hugh Laurie's $400,000 per episode salary will not be touched.

In other TV news ...

• 'The Wire' star Seth Gilliam will stop by 'The Good Wife.' Gilliam will appear in the season 2 finale as a man on trial for murdering a judge. [TVLine]

• Mark Burnett will produce the Emmy Award ceremony on Fox. Burnett, who is an Emmy winner himself, has produced the MTV Movie Awards and People's Choice Awards. The ceremony will air on Sept. 18. [LA Times]

• Former 'Doctor Who' star Christopher Eccleston will not return for a 50th anniversary special. Graham Norton asked Eccleston if he'd take part in any special, to which he responded "No. Never bathe in the same river twice." [Blastr]

The medical drama 'House' (Mon., 8PM ET on Fox) can be a fairly tense show. So occasionally, it's just nice to sit back, relax, and listen to the characters sing really badly.

Which is pretty much what happens on the latest episode.

Yes, there's a plot. But there's also bad singing, which is even more important.

(S06E16) "I'm going to be dead in a few hours. Your secrets couldn't be safer, unless you're keeping them from yourself." - Nash to House

'House' entered into one of television's most overused cliches last night: the "randomly stuck together somewhere plot line." It's happened so many times that attempting to count all of them would require a NASA scientist, a team of fact checkers and one of those slick-looking slide rules that only a handful of people left in the universe know how to use.

This time, the team gets separated into different parts of the hospital during a lock down. Each has their own interesting stories to tell as they whittle away the hours, and each have varying degrees of success.

(S06E14) "You can do it." - Cuddy

I get the reason for making an episode like '5 to 9.' Long running show that's popular. Established characters and story structure. The desire for David Shore, Katie Jacobs, and the rest of the 'House' crew to try something different is to be expected. However, that doesn't mean they should have done it. '5 to 9' wasn't a bad episode (in many ways, it felt like a back-door pilot for Cuddy), but it was, in a word, pointless. At the end of the day, '5 to 9' doesn't really add anything to the world of 'House,' and its outside-the-box attempt at being different just ended up being forgettable.

(S06E13) "Hey, I don't care where an idea comes from as long as it makes sense and embarrasses someone." - House

I've long wondered if Foreman's brother Marcus was someone we'd eventually meet on 'House.' That being said, it's been six and a half seasons and even though we'd heard bits and pieces about him, I had reconciled that he just wasn't going to show up. If anything, the timing felt a little odd.

But if you think about it, the entire plot featuring Marcus (Orlando Jones) was just about as generically evergreen as plots on 'House' get -- this could've fit into any previous season had the writers felt like telling this story sooner. I wish they had, especially if you consider the fact that after all the cast shake-ups this show has been through, Foreman has been one of the few constants. It's about time we found out more about the guy.

(S06E12) "Yes, it's hilarious! Great to see what a success your therapy was!" - Wilson

Ever since the season six premiere way back in September, one of the biggest complaints that I've heard or read House fans make is how the show's creative team seemed to abandon any of House's lessons from therapy. He no longer seemed to be getting better and for the most part, House was back to his old crotchety self, thus negating his stay at Mayfield.

That quote up above from Wilson felt like a little bit of an inside joke -- the writers get it, too. So with "Remorse," not only did we get the best patient-of-the-week case we've seen this season, but we also got to see House trying ... a little. But, to make a pun, if it ain't "broken," don't fix it, and crotchety House still works.

(S06E11) "You're OK with that right? You're not gonna put a pillow over his face?" - House

After a short hiatus, House was back last night with one of the better episodes this season that still followed the old "mystery patient" formula. However, it expanded upon just the patient du jour with three very entertaining storylines and the hour made a good argument for why Thirteen and Taub deserved to come back.

While the show can still be nerve-wracking at times, if only because you know it's all building up to House's light bulb moment at the end, it's good to know that the journey to that moment doesn't always have to be the same.

(S06E10) "They're all dying. They're all your friends." - House

Episodes like this are why I've faithfully stuck with House after six and a half seasons. Sure, more often than not, House can get stale -- it's the same thing, week in and out, and even something shocking (like Kutner offing himself last year or Cameron saying good-bye two weeks ago) isn't enough to take away from the fact that it's just another episode with another wacky case. But episodes like "Broken", and now "Wilson," are proof that there are so many more layers that need exploring in the world of Princeton Plainsboro.

(S06E09) "There's no point in putting a band together if we're not going to play any gigs." - House

I'm torn over the best way to tackle this review of "Ignorance is Bliss." I have far more bad things to say about the episode than I do good things, yet I loved it. The outcome I (and presumably most other fans) want to see (House and Cuddy together) is hopefully going to be achieved. This just isn't my ideal path to get there.

We've known for a while that Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps) on 'House' has a brother named Marcus who wound up in prison -- a victim of the troubled early years that plagued Foreman as well. Now, thanks to an upcoming parole hearing, Marcus will finally have a face. Entertainment Weekly reports that Orlando Jones will be appearing on 'House' in the role of Marcus Foreman.

Jones ('Mad TV,' those 7-Up commercials) is a bit of a chameleon when it comes to the acting roles he's taken over the years, so there are a ton of different ways he could take this character. He could go the comedic route and have Marcus be representative of every urban stereotype Foreman despises.

(S06E07) "I'm living my life. For the first time, I'm not going to change that because of how it might affect him -- or you." -- Cuddy to Wilson, who asked her what she sees in Lucas

I just want to shove House and Cuddy into a room together and let them figure out their relationship. It's clear that even though she's trying to be happy in her current relationship, she just can't get House out of her head, no matter how much she declares that she has or is going to.

I feel for her, because once they end up getting together -- if they don't by the time the series ends, I'll be ticked -- she'll have a long road ahead of her. Or not. People change. There's a good heart beating inside House's damaged psyche. It could work.

(S06E07) "Well, I feel bad. I haven't named your testicles." - Cuddy

We're all thinking it, and unlike euthanasia, I see no reason to keep mum -- House is firing on all cylinders right now. Actually, let me clarify that -- House the character, not House the show, is firing on all cylinders right now. Anything going on in Greg's periphery at the moment is sensational, absolutely electrifying drama.

Everything else? Not so much. If anything, "Known Unknowns" did nothing more than highlight something we've seen countless times already. Namely, the paralyzing effect House's absence has on his team. They're inept without him. What did I glean from the case du jour? Some annoying teenager got sick from eating oysters. However, I gleaned plenty from the rest of the hour.

(S06E06) "I've crossed some line and I'm having trouble getting back to the other side." - Chase

Another week, another case that no one cares about... well, almost. Ever since House's visit to the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, it's been tough to get invested in anything other than what he's going through. Each week, the case du jour has been largely disposable (save for Dibala) as nothing really relates to anything else. However, it seems like David Shore and Co. must've realized that too because "Brave Heart" made a good attempt at bringing what's become a very segmented story back together.

(S06E05) "I understand you're a fan. I'll have my guys send over a signed glossy." - House

We're getting deeper into the fall TV season, so it was only a matter of time before even the good shows started to falter a little. Not every episode is going to be an instant classic, and House is no exception. You know it's not a good sign when the only thing you find enjoyable is House comparing himself to Kobe Bryant, which, by the way, is dead on -- especially since he's no longer in charge. Foreman is the Phil Jackson to House's does whatever he wants and still wins #24.

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(S06E04) "I thought I had detected the sickly sweet smell of maple syrup and socialized medicine." - House

Early on in this episode, House exclaimed "It's three years ago!" when he realized that he was working with the old team - Foreman, Chase, and Cameron. It became apparent rather quickly, though, that things at Princeton-Plainsboro are still very far from normal. He may be back, but House isn't back. Right now, he's more like the little kid that your co-worker brought to the office and he just won't leave your cube. That and the little kid is way smarter than you are.