Of the 177 episodes of House that aired on Fox network from 2004 to 2012, its star Hugh Laurie has only seen about twenty. Five years later, Laurie still seems uncomfortable with the laud surrounding his portrayal of Gregory House, M.D., one of television’s most iconic anti-heroes. But one could argue if he’s turned on a television recently, he’s seen likenesses of himself everywhere. We’ve seen the show that House built a dozen times over; brilliant but damaged protagonists live on in the forms of How to Get Away with Murder's Annalise, 24's Jack Bauer, House of Card's Francis Underwood, Breaking Bad's Walter White, and more. But show creators David Shore and executive producer Katie Jacobs credit House with doing it first and doing it best.

“I am personally tired of smart fuck-ups,” says Jacobs, “but if House premiered today, I still think it would stand out. Hugh, in that role, circled a square as a complete character—one that’s complicated and funny and deep and sexy beyond all get out.”

In some capacity, House was nominated for Emmys, SAG awards, and Golden Globes every year from 2005 to 2011, and it was the most watched television show in the world in 2008. (Laurie mounted the Guinness Book of World Records page on his study wall, but clarifies that somebody framed it for him: “It would be a bit sad if I was going out framing my own world records.”)

Inspired by the “Diagnosis” column in The New York Times magazine and “what doctors really say when you leave the room,” Jacobs pitched a medical mystery with an unusual lead to Fox, called upon David Shore to fulfill the blind writing deal he’d made with her production company, and, as she notes, “The rest is history.”

Why House's Lack of Bedside Manner Was Hot as Hell

“In television, sex is unsexy. I can just see that being a quotation, but you know what I mean.”

Hugh Laurie (Gregory House): It’s strange, but there was very, very little sex in the show—which is why it was sexy. Once people actually start having sex, it rapidly ceases to become interesting. On television, sex is unsexy. I can just see that being a quotation, but you know what I mean. The camera is in a situation the camera would never be. I don’t want to be in the room with two people when they’re having sex. I hardly want to be in the room when I’m having sex. The sex on House was rare and unspoken and often unseen, and I thought that was better. But that makes me sound like a repressed Englishman.

Katie Jacobs (House executive producer): When we were making the show, alongside The O.C. and the like, Fox used this word in casting: “Fox-ilicious.” So when we were bringing Hugh in, he wore this pin that said, “Sexy?” It was funny then, but he actually became a huge sex symbol.

Jennifer Morrison (Allison Cameron): We, the cast and the crew, all loved when people started calling Hugh “sexy” because he really is the sexiest. The thing is, he is obviously an incredibly handsome man, but he’s also truly a Renaissance man, something that they highlighted in the show. He’s an incredible musician. He’s an incredible writer. He’s also a director. He’s smart. He’s charming. We all felt he was rightfully endowed with his sex-symbol title.

Sela Ward (Stacy Warner): My biggest contribution to the journey of House was having the distinction of being Hugh Laurie’s first on-screen kiss. Truly his first. I like to think it set him up nicely seasoned for the cheerleader “ménage a six” in the finale.

Laurie: Oh, Lord. Five years later, you’re asking me to choose a woman for House? I can’t. I’m slightly blushing at the idea of comparing romantic loves. It seems ungallant. I will say I thought the character of Cuddy was absolutely brilliant. Lisa Edelstein was astounding the way that she was able to withstand the appalling way that House treated her somewhere between bullying and teasing and obsessive—like that kid who’s got a crush but doesn’t know how to say it.