Patrick Dempsey and the casting decision that wasn't

It boggles the mind: McDreamy could've been McCranky.

Patrick Dempsey auditioned to play another iconic TV doctor, "House."

"I was one of many people up for that," he told me in a recent interview. (And yeah, like Warren Zevon's werewolf of London, his hair is perfect.)

"It wouldn't have been the right role for me," he conceded. This is a much better fit.

"Otherwise, I would've gotten it, you know, if I was right for that. But I knew when they had me come back, I knew I wasn't going to get it."

Things seem to have worked out well for Dempsey anyway - and, of course, for Hugh Laurie, as well.

More on Dempsey in Sunday's paper or at LA.com, if those guys see fit to post it.