Alas, therapy can be really boring. Unless it’s on TV, and then it can be crazy, funny, scary and dramatic.
Tonight at 7, HBO wraps up “In Treatment,” the most honest and searing portrait of therapy ever to hit TV. The nine-week nightly series rarely leaves the office of Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) or that of his therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest), and yet it takes us far into the vivid worlds of each of its troubled characters.
Here’s a countdown of some TV therapists worth remembering:
Twisted: Dr. Faith Wolper on “Nip/Tuck,” played by Brooke Shields. How sick can you get? That’s the modus operandi of “Nip/Tuck,” which flies happily into transgression on a weekly basis. So naturally, any therapist on the series is going to be corrupt, and Dr. Faith did not disappoint.
Foiled: Dr. Alfred Bellows on “I Dream of Jeannie.” Played by Hayden Rorke, the NASA psychiatrist was as calm and cool as Larry Hagman’s Tony Nelson was jumpy and anxious. Dr. Bellows always had his suspicious eye trained on Nelson’s bizarre activities, but he could never quite figure out what the Jeannie- owning astronaut and his buddy Roger were up to.
Compassionate: Dr. Sidney Freedman on “M*A*S*H,” played by Allan Arbus. With Dr. Freedman came some of the deepest themes on “M*A*S*H,” as he helped Hawkeye and others deal with the horrors of war.
Priggish: Drs. Frasier and Niles Crane on “Frasier,” played by Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce. It’s a tie. These brothers were a great team, a pair of neurotic therapists with sibling-rivalry issues. Niles was persnickety, Frasier was stuffy, both were pretentious snobs.
Dry: Dr. Katz on “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,” voiced by Jonathan Katz. The Squigglevision therapist saw all kinds of famous comics and actors, and he listened patiently to their shtick. But Katz was always the star of his show, with his stammer, his round eyes, and his very dry style.
Conflicted: Dr. Jennifer Melfi on “The Sopranos,” played by Lorraine Bracco. Her struggle with Tony Soprano was our struggle. She was disgusted and repulsed by him and what she knew of his lifestyle, and yet she was fascinated. In the unforgettable episode in which she was raped, she was even quite tempted to take advantage of Tony’s violent vengeance.
Subdued: Dr. Bob Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show,” played by Bob Newhart. Endless kudos ought go to the person who thought it might be a good idea to make Bob Newhart, the king of comic reaction, into a sitcom therapist. His Bob Hartley was a great straight man — and what more can you ask of your psychologist?
Human: Dr. Paul Weston on “In Treatment,” played by Gabriel Byrne. At first he seemed cold. But the more time we’ve spent with Paul, the more we’ve been able to warm up to him.
