2005

HUGH LAURIE
Dr. Gregory House, Fox's House, M.D.

Diagnosis: Aside from the naked hostility and the Vicodin popping, Dr. House is "an intriguing, smart, funny, damaged character," says Laurie, 46, who is married and the father of three children. "I suppose those are things people sometimes find appealing."

Complications: Leaning on a cane to create House's limp can leave him nursing shoulder aches, but more painful, he says, is masking his British accent: "I feel like we're playing a game of tennis and everyone else has got rackets and I've got a fish."

Second opinion: "Hugh's not your average good-looking guy," says costar Lisa Edelstein. "It's those piercing blue eyes and the intelligence and wit that emanate from him that make him sexy."

Prognosis: Although he rates his own hotness quotient "in the low zeros," he tosses out a theory: "A woman who thinks she is sexy is, and possibly a man who thinks he's sexy, isn't. How about that?"

SEXY TV DOCTORS
Sights for sore eyes

1985
GREGORY HARRISON
(Dr. "Gonzo" Gates)
Trapper John, M.D.

1986
DENZEL WASHINGTON
(Dr. Phillip Chandler)
St. Elsewhere

1987
ALAN THICKE
(Dr. Jason Seaver)
Growing Pains

1988
BRUCE GREENWOOD
(Dr. Seth Griffin)
St. Elsewhere

1989
PETER BERGMAN
(Dr. Cliff Warner)
All My Children

1990
MITCHELL ANDERSON
(Dr. Jack McGuire)
Doogie Howser, M.D.

1991
BRAD MAULE
(Dr. Anthony Jones)
General Hospital

1992
ROB MORROW
(Dr. Joel Fleischman)
Northern Exposure

1993
THOMAS CALABRO
(Dr. Michael Mancini)
Melrose Place

1994
JACK WAGNER
(Dr. Peter Burns)
Melrose Place

1995
GEORGE CLOONEY
(Dr. Douglas Ross)
ER

1996
MARK HARMON
(Dr. Jack McNeil)
Chicago Hope

1997
NOAH WYLE
(Dr. John Carter)
ER

1998
TED DANSON
(Dr. John Becker)
Becker

1999
GORAN VISNJIC
(Dr. Luka Kovak)
ER

2000
ERIQ LASALLE
(Dr. Peter Benton)
ER

2001
MATT LEBLANC
("Dr. Drake Ramoray")
Friends

2002
TREAT WILLIAMS
(Dr. Andrew Brown)
Everwood

2003
ZACH BRAFF
(Dr. "J.D." Dorian)
Scrubs

2004
JULIAN MCMAHON
(Dr. Christian Troy)
Nip/Tuck