Full House

Columbo was a detective series from the 70s, and had the same basic premise, week after week. Within five minutes, you, the audience, were told who the guilty party was. Columbo wasn't so lucky. He'd spend the rest of the show trying to figure out who did it. What mattered was how he found out. As the devoted viewer, you'd see if Columbo looked like he was going off track.

Perhaps in the end, the reason the show survived is that people liked Peter Falk.

House is a series that has the same basic plot week after week. Patient comes down with a mysterious ailment. House and his assistants must try to figure out what's going on. Usually, their first or second attempt is wrong, and nearly kills the patient. Eventually, they figure out what's going on, and the patient is saved.

But why does it work beyond that? Is it possible that you, gasp, like the guy, or his assistants? I mean, you only learn a little bit each time, but maybe as time goes by, you like the characters. Of course, cast members are typically chosen because they are good looking, and sure, it helps if they can act some so you can feel good that you like the person for who they are, rather than because they happen to be hot.

Anyway, they were showing an episode where House is picking new assistants out of a cast of many, and he imagines he sees his former assistants, making you think he cares, underneath that irascible personality is someone that cares. Maybe it's that brief shining moment that people look for, that this impatient, smug, gruff individual who doesn't care, does indeed care.