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With the ending of House, a lot of cast members returned to their roles in order to give some sort of closure either to their story or even just as more character development to House.

However, the sore thumb sticking out of it all is Cuddy, who did not return for this final season. Not even the finale.

Doing some general scanning and research, I keep coming across the same thing of:

"[Lisa's departure] came out of left field in my world, too," Laurie says. "I don't know who was privy to what at what time, but it was a great shock to me and everyone obviously misses her very greatly. Not only was she a great asset to the show as a performer, but we also just miss her company, because she is an absolute hoot to have around. She has been snapped up by another show and damn right, they'd be nuts not to. I hope she is having a great time, and I am sure she is."

Which is also the reaction of the creator, David Shore:

It was not our plan [to lose Lisa]. It is not what we had in our mind. Certain stuff got thrust upon us that I was not pleased with.

So the question is: What really happened for Edelstein that compelled her to leave the show and not even come back for the finale; unlike the other characters that have either been killed off (Kutner & Amber) or just plain left (Thirteen, Cameron, even Masters)?

I highly doubt a role on The Good Wife for 3 episodes, like I've seen in some places, was the sole reason for her departure and refusal to participate in the finale.

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  • Reminds me of when Janet Hubert, who played Vivian Banks on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, was refused more money and they replaced her halfway through the series.
    – stevvve
    Commented Jun 7, 2012 at 23:41
  • @stevvve only difference is fresh prince made it funny :)
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Jun 8, 2012 at 0:29
  • "People don't change" - House ;)
    – user3775
    Commented Jan 3, 2013 at 18:38
  • I always thought the removal of her character made sense in-universe. Like Thirteen, Cameron, and Masters: she just left. The previous season ended with House breaking the last straw with her. She picked up and moved and never dealt with it again. Not showing at the funeral just shows how severely the events of the prior season finale affected her.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Sep 3, 2017 at 21:07

2 Answers 2

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As far as I can remember, there were two reasons for Lisa Edelstein to leave House:

  1. Her contract was ending at the end of Season 7
  2. She was not going to get a pay rise, in fact the possibility of a pay cut

I also remember reading an article at the time stating that she wanted to get a pay rise to be in line with other members of the cast, but was denied the opportunity.

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The studio wanted Fox to foot the production cost, Fox wanted the studio to foot the production costs. They had to trim some of the fat which meant pay cuts. The rest of the cast took the pay cut but Lisa was not having it (I don't blame her).

In my opinion, The studio should have paid up to keep Lisa - what they did not realize was that Cuddy and Wilson were a huge part of the dynamics of House's character, and without her around the show suffered.

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