'House MD' to End with Eighth Season

The U.S. television series "House MD," about the unorthodox methods of a cantankerous doctor, will call it quits at the end of its eighth and current season, producers said.

"After much deliberation, the producers of 'House MD' have decided that this season of the show, the eighth, should be the last," the production team said in a statement on Wednesday.

"By April this year they will have completed 177 episodes, which is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004."

The final episode of the season is scheduled for May 21, according to the entertainment trade website imdbpro.com.

"The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party. How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air," it said.

The show, starring 52-year-old British actor Hugh Laurie, got off to a slow start in 2004 but soon became a hit, outgunning the CSI crime dramas to become the world's most watched television show in 2008.

Ratings agency Eurodata TV Worldwide said House gathered more than 81.8 million viewers in 66 countries that year, potentially representing some 1.6 billion couch potatoes.

However, in recent years costs for the show -- produced by Universal TV and distributed by Fox -- have risen as viewership has declined.

The end of the show could also mark the end of the acting career of Laurie, who said last November that he hoped to shift to behind-the-scenes roles after the completion of the series.

He has won two Golden Globes for the role but no Emmys, despite being nominated six times.