On tonight’s HOUSE, Dr. Lisa Cuddy will ask the question the likes of Ally McBeal, Miranda Hobbes and Christina Yang have grappled with throughout television history: Relationship, family and career, “Can a woman really have it all?”
“Cuddy is trying to do everything and I’m just glad there is an episode that shows how much it is she actually has to do, how much is on her plate,” explained actress Lisa Edelstein on a recent phone interview with theTVaddict.com. “Representing single moms, and single working moms and what they do is always nice because they’re unsung heroines.”
Titled “5 to 9,” tonight’s extra-helping of Cuddy will give fans a rare glimpse of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital through the eyes of someone other than the show’s titular character. You know, the stuff that happens when the Dean of Medicine isn’t busy telling House he’s not allowed to inject a patient with Malaria on a ‘hunch.’
“It was exciting because I’ve been working with these people for a very long time and to be given that kind of opportunity was really special. The writers sent me the script weeks earlier than usual, where I could have notes about dialog, notes about story line; make script suggestions, which is not normal for our process at HOUSE,” explained the actress who relished the opportunity to take center stage for an entire episode. “It is really nice to make the picture more complete — so that you know when House and his team interrupt something in the hallway to have a debate about a case that has nothing to do with what Cuddy’s doing the rest of her day — I just think it is fun to fill in the blanks.”
‘Blanks’ which tonight will include Cuddy breaking up a fistfight between two doctors, negotiating for a fair contract with a giant insurance conglomerate and investigating the mysterious case of the disappearing pharmaceuticals. All the which is cakewalk to defending her characters controversial relationship with Lucas to the show’s legion of ‘Huddy’ fans (Translation for non-shippers: ‘Huddy’ is code for House + Cuddy).
“Lucas shows up. He actually does his best and wants to be there versus the guy that she had this long, deep, fascinating, back-and-forth with that she can’t seem to steer clear of. So, I think there’s a lot of levels to it,” explained the good doctor on Cuddy’s attraction to Lucas. “I think he helps her with her life. He’s uncomplicated, very loyal, and has sex with her. I think that those things mean a lot to somebody who’s got a world like hers, which can be very overwhelming. The question remains, “Is that enough?” 
HOUSE airs Mondays on FOX at 8PM (Global in Canada)