Here’s hoping the premise and evolution of Lisa Kudrow’s new TV series aren’t ultimately more intriguing than the show itself.
The fact that Kudrow is taking a cult Internet-only series into a broadcast format is intriguing. And some people may tune in to “Web Therapy” on Showtime tonight just to see how the novel idea translates. But if the series is good enough, the techno angle is not what people will remember about it.
The idea is very clever, the execution even more so. The first few episodes are quite funny, but can the whole enterprise be sustained, over a long run?
Kudrow is betting it can and that soon people won’t even think about the origin of the show, once more of us have TVs hooked to the Internet. No matter the format or geneaology, shows will be measured for entertainment value.
“Web Therapy” began life as a series of short streaming videos. The premise was simple: Dr. Fiona Wallice (Kudrow), a woman whose background is finance, not psychology, gets the idea of a “new modality” for offering therapy: specifically, three-minute sessions via the Internet. That way, she explains, patients won’t get bogged down in things like “feelings and dreams” and all that extraneous stuff that takes up so much time in conventional 50-minute therapy sessions. This new modality suits her short attention span and her impatience — she’s sick of hearing people yammer about their problems with no resolution.
Suffice to say Fiona is a very bad therapist.
She’s self-involved, unethical and generally clueless when it comes to dealing with other people’s psyches.
Further, she has a plan to tape every session in hopes of selling the idea of Web therapy to investors as a global franchise.
Kudrow has a grand plan, too.
As an Internet venture, the webisodes were only a few minutes in length, compiled out of mostly improvised material. Now she’s sold the series to Showtime as a half- hour, complete with guest stars and loose character arcs, with much of the ad libbed material from the Internet recycled for TV.
The series has its premiere at 9 tonight on Showtime with an episode titled “Click to Start.”
Kudrow, who won an Emmy for Phoebe of “Friends,” has invited a number of her friends to participate. Victor Garber (“Alias”) portrays Fiona’s long-suffering husband, who is also her lawyer. Lily Tomlin portrays her elitist and apparently very rich mother, Putsy Hodge, who claims to be having money troubles. Putsy thinks Fiona’s Web therapy idea is ridiculous and refuses to invest in the venture.
Rashida Jones (“The Office”) plays a patient with relationship problems. Jane Lynch (“Glee”) is a patient with anger issues. Alan Cumming (“The Good Wife”) and Kudrow’s “Friends” castmate Courteney Cox (“Cougartown”) will show up later.
The series could be among the least expensive in TV history: The sets are minimal, and every scene is a one-person shot or a two-shot, presented as if on a computer screen (via Apple’s iChat). And the improvisational nature means much of the splicing/writing goes on in the edit bay.
It’s a hoot. But is it the kind of show that could become appointment television for the Showtime audience?
Let’s see whether, at the end of this batch of six episodes, we’re talking about the funny characters and storylines or the technology involved in the project. For now, keep the appointment.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
