In this particular instance, the cliché is one of the charming and misguided beliefs that some Americans hold about Canada — that probably we all know each other. The way some Americans think, they meet a Canadian in Los Angeles and he or she will probably know some other Canadian they met a few years ago.

But now in fact I'm wondering if there isn't some truth in the notion that Canadians are all connected. Back in January, on the TV critics' mid-season press tour in L.A., I spoke briefly to David Shore on the set of House. Shore is a native of London, Ont., (and yes, he is friends with fellow London native and Oscar-winner Paul Haggis and collaborated with the Crash director on Due South.) And he created House. We spoke for only a couple of minutes, as happens in these situations. About a month later, when I mentioned the brief chat in a column, I received an e-mail from a reader who suggested that Shore was worthy of more extensive coverage.

I explained that it's difficult for a writer at a Canadian newspaper to gain access to somebody running a hit network show, for a substantial interview, even if the person in L.A. is Canadian. The reader wrote back, said she knew Shore, and that she'd put us in touch with each other if I liked. Curious but skeptical, I agreed.

A few weeks later I heard from Shore's assistant and was told that he'd be pleased to have an e-mail exchange. Righty. It turns out that in Canada, we are all connected.

David Shore is 46. He's a lawyer and is now at the very top of the TV game in Hollywood. The credits on House read “Created by David Shore” and he runs the show. The series has won Emmy Awards and, recently, a prestigious Peabody. It is one of the most-watched shows on TV. In Canada, the first part of this week's two-part episode drew 2.3 million viewers, according to Global.

Shore, who began his career in TV on the Canadian series Due South (while still working as a lawyer in Toronto) has a lot to be proud of. Yet when I asked him for his official bio during our e-mail exchange, I got one brief paragraph.

Usually, top creative types in TV compile a bio, with every single achievement noted, and sometimes subtly exaggerated.

This is what I got from Shore: “Since his first staff writing position on cult favourite Due South, David Shore has quickly made his way up the ladder on many of television's most respected shows. He wrote episodes of NYPD Blue and EZ Streets, served as head writer and supervising producer on Traders, which he developed for Canadian television, and was part of the writing team of the Emmy Award-winning first season of The Practice. From there, Shore was twice nominated for an Emmy as a producer on Law & Order. He executive-produced both F amily Law and Hack before creating House. Shore recently won an Emmy in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category for his House episode Three Stories.”

That's pithy and plain and, obviously, there's more to his story. But Shore doesn't give everything away. Our e-mail correspondence, which follows, included some questions that brought no answer at all. Still, one can certainly hear the pithy, scornful and joking tone of Dr. House in some of Shore's responses.

Q. Could you just tell me the story of switching from lawyer to TV writer?
A. I didn't simply hang up my robes and start working on Due South. I did, but it wasn't simple. Actually, that's not right either. It was simple, but it took a long time.

When I was working as a lawyer, I started thinking that I should move to Hollywood and be funny (turned out I was more dramatic than funny). So I quit law, got in my car, drove to L.A. and then started writing. Which is really a stupid order to do things (at least the “start writing” part).

Aside from semi-amusing pieces for the law-school paper, I'd never written anything, and had no reason to think I had any skill at this. But I figured if I fell on my face, I'd go back to law, and five years later, my time in L.A. would just be an amusing anecdote to tell clients. Three years later, I got a job on Due South (my first full-time writing job) and ironically had to move back to Toronto.

Q. So, you left a job as a lawyer to write for TV, a much less reliable racket. And what was wrong with the legal profession?
A. I don't have any great anti-law diatribe. I actually kind of liked being a lawyer. But one of the inspirations for the character of Dr. House is that I think I'd still be practising law today if I didn't have to deal with clients. For most people, in most jobs, about 90 per cent of the frustration comes from dealing with the idiots who get in the way of you actually doing the part of the job you like. I'm sure a number of my former clients will be reading this, and to them I say: “Not you guys; I'm talking about the guys who aren't reading this.”

Q. Do you nurture your Canadian roots, or see them as largely irrelevant to your work in U.S. network TV?
A. I know it's not all that cool to say right now (if ever) but I love the United States. But at the same time, I still cheer for the Maple Leafs, I send my kids to camp in Canada, and I manage to slip into almost every conversation that I'm Canadian. And I do think there's something about a quality of otherness that gives someone a slightly different perspective, which is hugely helpful as a writer.

Q. You've been quoted as saying that House was first pitched to TV networks as more of a medical procedural, a medical equivalent of Law & Order, with a team of doctors working on puzzling medical cases. So what came first, the dyspeptic Dr. House character or the actor Hugh Laurie?
A. The character came first. If you buy the Season 1 DVD (please buy the Season 1 DVD), one of the bonus features is a recording of Hugh's audition. The words he spoke in that audition are almost identical to the words he spoke in the pilot. What Hugh brought to the role was that he made it work. I don't think this show would even be on the air if Hugh hadn't come in and nailed that reading — he let us all know what this character is capable of.

Q. Medical series may employ teams of experts, but are always the target of complaints from professional associations of doctor or nurses. What is the most common complaint about House?
A. Doctors seem to love us. I think House allows them to vent without venting — he calls their idiots “idiots.” Some nurses on the other hand. Their complaint is, Where are they? And I get it. They want their chance to call people “idiots” too. We do take liberties with our team doing things and procedures that a nurse would normally do. There are two reasons for this: House trusts no one except his team, and America doesn't want to watch a guest star insert a catheter. But the biggest complaint we get is the cane. He uses it in the wrong hand. If you think you've brilliantly spotted this and are tempted to write us, way to go, tell your friends. But this was actually a conscious choice made during the pilot because House doesn't like being told what to do.

Q. Who does Dr. House really belong with — Dr. Allison Cameron or with Stacy?
A. (No answer.)

Q. When you have time, what TV shows do you watch for personal pleasure?
A. I love TV. I was the kid who watched way too much TV. I was the only kid who wasn't wasting his time playing; I was actually prepping for my career. And I think television right now is maybe as good as it's ever been. There are a shocking number of smart one-hour television shows. I'd name them all, but the only show your readers should be watching is 24. I mean House. The odd time that I get a chance to catch a movie, I frequently walk out realizing that I could have stayed home and seen a better story, better told by just turning on the TV. Movies have too often become about the event while television is almost always about the story.

Q. Canadian TV, especially drama, seems to be in a permanent state of crisis. You were associated with two successful Canadian dramas, Due South and Traders. Do you have a prescription for reviving Canadian TV drama, or do you have a Dr. House-like skepticism about the problem?
A. I am skeptical. There is obviously a smaller market, and therefore less money and greater limitations, but I think the problems are deeper than that. I left Canada because I knew I had a lot to learn as a writer and I saw very few opportunities to do that without moving. In my opinion, Canadian television so often fails for the same reason American movies so often fail: They're not controlled by writers. Now I'm biased on this one and there are obviously great, smart directors out there and great, smart producers but no one knows the story like the writer. American movies are controlled by directors; Canadian television is controlled by producers; American television is controlled by writers.

Q. You must have your hands full with House, but writers always have a pet project. What else are you working on or would like to bring to fruition?
A. I have my hands full with House.

Fine, then. No more questions. The pith of the last answer suggests that the polite Canadian is channelling his inner Dr. House. And nobody messes with House.