Why Lisa Edelstein's Dr. Lisa Cuddy Left House M.D.

Be it a sitcom or an hour-long drama, the will-they-or-won't-they relationship struck up between two wildly appealing characters who seem fated to end up in each other's arms (and, let's face it, in bed) is one of the most reliable, ratings-driving plot devices in television. Like Sam Malone and Diane Chambers on "Cheers" and Maddie Hayes and David Addison on "Moonlighting," the chemistry generated by these characters kept viewers tuning in week after week to see if this was the episode where they finally gave into their carnal desires and, predictably, made an even bigger mess of their already messy lives.

This narrative tradition has extended into the 21st century with such notable examples as Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth on "Bones" (they did), Don Draper and Joan Holloway on "Mad Men" (never happened!) and Tony Dinozzo and Ziva David on "NCIS" (they did it offscreen). One will-they-or-won't-they that proved especially tantalizing for medical procedural fans was the steamy flirtation between Hugh Laurie's Dr. Gregory House and Lisa Edelstein's Dr. Lisa Cuddy. This was especially fraught because Cuddy, as the Dean of Medicine at Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, was House's boss. Workplace relationships of any kind are perilous, but when you're dealing with two dynamically intelligent individuals (one of whom is fighting a Vicodin addiction) who also happen to be vitally important members of the staff, the stakes are emotionally and professionally sky high.

"House" worked the sexual tension between its title character and Cuddy for four whole seasons before getting the duo in a passionate lip-lock during season 5. The writers managed to keep them apart for most of season 6 but brought them together for a tumultuous season 7 that concluded with a Vicodin-addled House smashing his car into Cuddy's living room.

Where do you go from there? To the great disappointment of many fans, "House" decided to go on without Cuddy. Why would they do a crazy thing like that?

For what it's worth, "House" executive producer Katie Jacobs did not want to move forward without Edelstein on board for its eighth and final season. In a 2011 interview with BlogCritics, Jacobs said, "Lisa is such a valuable member [of the cast]. I challenge any other actress on TV to do what she does seemingly effortlessly. She goes between drama, comedy, intelligence, sex appeal ... It's certainly not my plan or [show creator David Shore's] plan or the creative team's plan to not have Lisa in the show."

Unfortunately, Fox, as a network that's all about the bottom line, didn't care about the show's creative plans. As often happens on long-running TV series, the network wanted to curtail spending and avoid pricey contracts for long-time cast members. "For seven seasons, we managed to avoid getting the phone call to make cuts in our budget," lamented Jacobs. "But now we're getting that call."

So Edelstein did not return for the unspectacular Season 8, which, while a difficult pill for fans to swallow, didn't bother the actor a great deal. Edelstein thought it was the right creative decision and candidly defended it to TVLine in 2015. Per the portrayal of Cuddy over seven seasons:

"I don't think that show was about happy endings. And the truth is, if someone drives a car through your living room you should do what I did and get the f*** out of town. [Laughs] I mean come on. It kind of all worked out. Let's tell it like it is. He drove a f***ing car through her living room. With the baby and family inside. That's crazy. You file a police report and you leave — and you don't come back for the f***ing [series] finale. [Laughs]"

She's right. Cuddy fought hard to save House from his inner demons, but he kept losing that battle. At a certain point, even if you believe someone is a fundamentally decent person, you have to look after your own mental health and do what's right for you. Cuddy deserved happiness, and she probably wasn't going to find that with House. This is the rare case when a network's frugality accidentally aligned with what was best for a series.