Summary
- Nurse Jeffrey was a short spin-off from House M.D. featuring a male nurse poking fun at Dr. House’s antics in humorous vlog-style episodes.
- With only 13 episodes, Nurse Jeffrey was exclusively on the ‘inHouse’ app, making it a hidden gem for tech-savvy House M.D. fans.
- Although Nurse Jeffrey is now hard to find online, it remains a unique addition to the House M.D. universe, providing a behind-the-scenes look.
The American medical drama House M.D. ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012, garnering a large fan base, with a reported global viewership of 81.8 million in 2009, spread over 66 different countries. The show followed a medical genius, Dr. Gregory House, who led a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the PPTH, in New Jersey.
The show never saw any significant spin-offs from the main series. One was planned that focused on private eye Lucas Douglas, played by Michael Weston, introduced in the show’s fifth season, but it never came to fruition. However, there was a mini-segment show that lasted a single season that not many had heard of, not even fans of the show, Nurse Jeffrey.
House
- Release Date
- November 16, 2004
What is Nurse Jeffrey?
Nurse Jeffrey revolved around the character Jeffrey Sparkman, played by Patrick Price, a male nurse at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. While being a spin-off from the House M.D. Price’s nurse Jeffrey did not have a prominent role in the series, appearing only in two episodes, “Ignorance is Bliss” and “The Choice.” The character marked a humorous addition to the hospital staff and one who was comfortable speaking out against the confident Dr. Gregory House, which was the direction the mini-series took in further indulging his antagonistic nature.
The Nurse Jeffrey episodes were a couple of minutes in length each, and there were a total of 13 produced. Each episode, which had the full title of Nurse Jeffrey: B**ch Tape, was presented as a video log (vlog) where Jeffrey attempted to expose Dr. House’s potential illicit activities by interviewing hospital staff members and his own observations. These short episodes also acted as a means to give lore to other minor characters that had appeared throughout the show.
Following a similar formula, each vlog offered up a mini-story in itself, with the inaugural episode showing Jeffrey trying to coach one of the cafeteria workers to say “House stole” and “he used false pretenses to acquire hospital assets” to paint him as a habitual thief. Other schemes explored playfully include Jeffrey speaking to pharmacist Oscar Silva to try to get him to admit Dr. House was stealing drugs and approaching House’s masseuse, Ingrid, to see if he solicited her for more than massages.
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Each episode was quick yet humorous and gave a unique behind-the-scenes look into the show. It also gave the overall perspective that most of the doctors were not as opposed to House and his methods. Essentially, it felt authentic given the scale of the hospital, and not everyone is in a place to make the charismatic doctor the center of their daily lives. Given its interesting addition to the show, many may wonder why they have never heard of it or seen it.
Why No One Saw Nurse Jeffrey
There was a very slim window as to when one could have seen the Nurse Jeffrey episodes. It was a feature of the app “inHouse,” which was exclusively available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The “apppisodes” were released weekly over the course of 13 weeks. The show was then later ported to both Fox TV and Hulu before sinking further into obscurity.
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Given that one would have to be aware of the App and have an iPhone, the audience was obviously expected to be limited, reflected in the budget, which used the vlog format to deliver a rather simple yet engaging short story at the PPTH. To give a perspective on the show’s popularity, it stands at 7.0 on IMDB, but that is with only 30 votes. Essentially, it was presented as a nice bonus for those in the know and die-hard House M.D. fans who were tech-conscious enough to follow up and grab the app and had an Apple product to watch it on.
Where to Watch Nurse Jeffrey
The Nurse Jeffrey: B**ch Tapes were once available on both the Fox website in the US and Hulu, but now, unfortunately, only exist in lower quality rips online. They have been archived, along with the other InHouse videos featured on the app, on the German fan club YouTube Channel, which you can find here. The show will unlikely get broader distribution, but it remains a neat gem for House M.D. fans that only a few have seen.
You can still catch Jeffrey in his two-episode appearances in House M.D., and keep an eye out for him in the final episode of the main series. You can stream House M.D. on Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, or The Roku Channel, you can also purchase the entire series on Apple TV+.
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