Spoiler Alert (DVR users should avert their eyes): All of a sudden our website traffic doubled in the span of a couple of hours. What the hell is going on I wondered. House M.D. was on earlier tonight and I guess a lot of people switched over to watch since the NCAA final sucked so much. The Fox network has put up an obituary of Dr. Lawrence Kutner, played by actor Kal Penn, online:
Dr. Kutner was born in Freemont, California. Tragedy marred his early life as he lost his parents, Karamchand and Niki Baidwan, who were shot during an armed robbery. After a couple of years in foster care, Julia and Richard Kutner adopted Lawrence. He showed great promise in high school, winning a Westinghouse Science award for an experiment involving dark matter. His adoptive parents mused that he showed a freethinking, inventive streak from a young age.
Kutner received a full scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Physics. He then attended the University of Tel Aviv Medical School and completed an internship and residency in Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine through the University of Colorado. “He wanted to be a doctor since seeing ‘M.A.S.H.’ as a kid”, said his close friend and colleague Dr. Chris Taub. “I think he modeled himself a little bit after Hawkeye Pierce.”
Kutner’s girlfriend Nicole Brewster remembered that Lawrence, being adopted and of Indian ancestry, always felt like an outsider. But she said he didn’t resent it – instead, he felt the experience gained him added insight and perspective. [Link]
There is the possibility that this is all a dream and that House will wake up tomorrow to find Kutner alive (maybe in the hospital’s shower). Hey, at least he wasn’t killed by a black smoke monster. Let’s see what @kal_penn has to say about his future plans tomorrow.
UPDATE: Penn has announced his plans. Click “Read More” to learn what comes next for him
Ok. Now I am jealous. In the comments section below we learn that Penn got a job with the Obama administration.
I understand it was your decision to leave House. True?
KAL PENN: Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I’m going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They’re basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It’s similar to what I was doing on the campaign.
Will you actually be working in the White House?
PENN: This particular office is in the executive building. The White House has two buildings: the actual White House and an old Navy building called the Old Executive Office. [Link]
Hey, please have some general blogging ethic. It’s ridiculous to put something like that in the title. Even if you want to put up the information in the actual post, you need to put in a spoiler alert for those of us who haven’t watched it yet. Please don’t do this again. Thanks.
Argh! The first time I DVR’d House, they killed him. sigh.
Normally I would agree. However, the show is already over on the West Coast and in the morning this will be all over the radio and probably TV anyways. This is the price that DVR users (including myself) have to pay for convenience.
Long time reader and fan. Delurking to say I googled as soon as I saw the show. Entertainment Weekly reports that he’s off to the Whitehouse. Penn for President y’all!
Did Kal pissed of the producers or Rupert Murdoch or something. They didn’t even show his body. They probably had a body double.
Oh man – I was watching this last night and couldn’t believe it! I thought it was going to turn out to be a dream like when House got shot by his patient’s husband. Dammit!
But at least Kal Penn is following in the footsteps of Shatrughan Sinha. Woop!
Good for him! He is finally devoting himself to his real calling. Kal Penn has been a terrible actor but a fine community organizer. It’s about time he stopped embarrassing himself with his atrocious acting and humor.
I saw this yesterday. I thought it was a great episode, especially, the last scene where House is on the bed looking at Kutner’s photo.
However, I didn;t understand one part. In the funeral scene it looked like a Hindu priest giving a sermon in a church. Looked a bit odd to me. Did I miss something in the story line? I watch House on and off. So I might have missed something in the storyline
Yay.. from House to White House. Harold goes to DC.
Pagla@8: uhm….you mean Kumar goes to DC?
Agree with Manasi…Not cool to give the spoiler alert AFTER you already spill the beans in the title. I haven’t watched it yet, and until now didn’t know what happened.
It’s probably a good move for him. The role on House was a plum role in just one way — it probably paid really, really well.
The role he was playing on House wasn’t very dynamic. The actors keep going through the same motions, week after week: what, is House crazy? (look of astonishment) Then: why isn’t House listening to my theory? (look of frustration) Then, to the patient or his family: Don’t worry about House, he’s crazy. (look of condescension, ability to sympathize, be a normal human being) And then at the end: ah House, you Housed us again. (look of grudging admiration)
I’ve enjoyed the show when I’ve watched it, but I wonder whether anyone really cares about most of the actors in the supporting roles. (By contrast, the show has been great for Hugh Laurie, the British actor who plays “House.” I’m sure he will have some good roles in movies or on TV later. The rest of the cast will disappear.)
Changing careers like this could be risky — Kalpen has signed up for a rather small role in the administration after all. But he’s definitely avoiding stagnancy and invisibility. Best of luck to him!
FOX spelled Fremont wrong in the obit, don’t they have factcheckers?
Sounds like a great move for Penn. Does this mean the end of his acting career?
Very true. It’s a testament to Kal Penn that even playing the least thoroughly written character on the show, a lot of fans are really mad their favorite new character got killed off.
Thanks for the gigantic spoiler right in the title and the giant image for those of us who rely on DVR/Hulu.
Two big celebrities in office…good move.
Is Kal Penn considered good looking? Is he Gujarati? I thought he was OK looking in Namesake, but nothing to write home about. I wonder if women in India would find him attractive? I often say that we in the West are more lenient on looks, that DBDs have higher standards (and no, not talking about the fair skin obsession either, but features).
indeed. fans of british comedy may remember him from ‘black adder’. he is quite robust of health axually, if i remember him right from his skirt wearing days in the roman period, though i believe he shows up with a cane in the american tv show.
p.s. there are strange similarities between kal penn and sean penn – but i’ll let some vella guy draw it out.
What’s the big deal about just a character in a show? At least Karl himself is alive. I don’t see him being the only famous brown face in the USA qualifies him for Washington though
Kal vs Bobby for 2012 ?
18: Who is Karl?
The entire post should have been below the jump with a noncommital title and a warning that there was a huge spoiler. It’s basic courtesy.
John Cho and he may become special advisors to Obama on drug policy. Biden’s daughter is apparently already doing field work and PSA videos in that area
Eh, the spoiler whinings are getting kinda old. It’s been about 18 hours since the episode aired. What do people do when your co-workers are discussing the episode around the water cooler? Stick your fingers in your ears and say, “La la la! I can’t hear you!”?
I meant Kal Penn
say you haven’t seen it and move away if it matters to you. usually you have that opportunity in conversations. that’s what putting only the warning above the jump and the entire post below the jump would’ve done.
Penn in only 31 or 32 and has been a successful actor for years now. He probably has a nice wad of cash saved. Now he has the chance to join a presidential administration as an associate director. Hello? He would be foolish not to take the chance if politics is his dream. What is he losing? He does this job for a few years and works his way up in Democratic circles for a better administration position, runs for office, or goes back to Hollywood with a ton of political connections.
This is an entirely win-win situation for him.
Note that he is also a student at Standford pursuing graduate education in International Security. How does that help to open doors for him???
I think Kal Penn is a solid actor and I think it is amazing this young man is putting his political aspirations ahead of his acting career.Kal is going to take a massive pay cut but he doesn’t care about that he cares about being involved in making the world a better place. I really admire Kal Penn he is just amazing. Also the opportunity for Kal to work at the White House is huge I can see why he decided to take this job.
this is what happens when you don’t go to medschool
You missed the scene with cremation smoke coming out of the mosque? I am just happy to see ONE desi doc per hospital on TV. Actual factchecking and accuracy is for historians.
Look, please stop whining about me revealing the plot. How incredibly self-absorbed you complainers are. I have a DVR also so I know I run the risk of having something spolied for me. That is the risk I take in order to watch something on my own time instead of when it airs. I mean, for the love of God, every single news organization ran this story today. I am not the only one to “spoil” it but you darn well better believe I was going to be one of the first. I waited until the episode finished airing on the west coast before I posted. To all the readers SM in Hawaii, please forgive me. To all the rest…get over it. Oh and by the way, Michigan State lost to North Carolina last night. Sorry if you were waiting to watch on your DVR.
Very uncool to put a spoiler as a title. Can’t believe I’m seeing this on such a reputed blog. A spoiler as the TITLE? Come on!!! Thanks for the spoiler alert AFTER the title, though. That helped undo it all. There are many of us who really enjoy these shows and don’t have the time to watch them instantly during the week. The fact that the blogger is still defending this is quite surprising to me … I like SM and don’t want to stop visiting out of fear of having spoilers thrown at me in +size fonts in the titles without any warning.
Please don’t do this to us in future.
thanks for being so self sacrificing and doing it for the public good. this is the same kind of polite and concerned response to feedback that you came up with here.
nobody asked you not to break the news. but you could have done it while still being decent to those who didn’t want it f*cked up for them. but apparently, that is too much to ask.
Let the pity parade continue….
There was no reason they had to kill him off. It was pure racism. I understand if he wanted to leave, they had to figure out an exit for him. But they could have easily had him move to another city or something. I think having him die was vengeful and racist.
whatever…just don’t reveal how the latest Sunny Leone film ends
God I hope you are joking and don’t actually believe that drivel. His death was supposed to be shocking and seemingly pointless. Dr. House likes everything to have a neat explanation and be logical if you study the symptoms. The creators of the show wanted Kutner’s death to be out of the blue and almost unexplainable (as suicide resulting from mental illness often seems to outsiders). That way they could use this pointless death to develop the other characters in how they react to this tragedy. The creators explain all this in an interview you can find online.
Whatever Abhi! After a hard day’s work in the bunker I usually like to unwind with taped shows on my DVR. I was busy fixing bugs for YOU yesterday and couldn’t get to watching House yet. And you do this to me this morning.
NOT COOL!
I’m so glad he’s found something else to do with his time, because he’s a lousy actor. The entire rest of the cast of The Namesake gave him an acting lesson.
WTF?
WTF is wrong with the author? I subscribe to sepia mutiny via rss and I see the title and it spoils the episode for me. Seriously, WTF.
What’s Standford? Is that prestigious?
i’m sure it’s a happy ending old spankju.
i heard it put viewers to sleep
“I’m so glad he’s found something else to do with his time, because he’s a lousy actor. The entire rest of the cast of The Namesake gave him an acting lesson.”
“WTF?”
It’s called “an opinion different from yours.” Sorry if you can’t handle it.
I find it incredibly ironic that before watching the house episode I remarked to a friend that there were two reasons I kept up with a program she didnt really enjoy- Hugh Laurie, and the fact they had one of the few Indian actors on primetime, Kal Penn…one down, how many to go again? I guess I can console myself with the fact Anil Kapoor will be appearing on 24- now thats one that came out of left field for me.
Why to kill the guy?? Couldn’t they just do anything else with him.. Same happens in the soaps/serials here too.. As an actor’s contract expires, so does he/she… 😀
Hoping it will be better than Kal(aka akhkhkhkhmed)’s detractive stint on 24.
I live in the Middle East and we’re in the middle of Season Three of House. I didn’t even know that Kal Pen was supposed to appear next Season, let alone be killed. Thanks for ruining my surprise SM. Talk about irresponsible blogging! I visit your site every day without fail and I’ll have you know that it’s a labour of love. I do not get paid a dime for reading your blog; NOTHING. You owe me a genuine apology for ruining one whole year’s worth of quality television; ingrates.
All (non-joking) comments complaining about me “ruining the show” will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned. If you have a problem then please contact me directly. Thanks
SkepMod wrote “You missed the scene with cremation smoke coming out of the mosque? I am just happy to see ONE desi doc per hospital on TV. Actual factchecking and accuracy is for historians. “
Seriously dude…we missed the scene with a smoke coming out of a MOSQUE?? Hindus don’t pray in Mosques, but temples, and if you meant to write it that way to be funny, that is just plain insulting to both sects. I guess History or general knowledge isn’t your strongest suit.