The TV Psych Lesson

MADELEINE BRAND, host:

This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. I'm Madeleine Brand.

ANTHONY BROOKS, host:

And I'm Anthony Brooks. First it was the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." Then came the HBO drama "In Treatment," and the comedy "Head Case" on the Starz Channel. Critic Andrew Wallenstein says every other show on TV these days seems to be about therapy, and it's really getting to him.

ANDREW WALLENSTEIN: Forgive me if I seem a little out of sorts. I can estimate I spend on average about three hours each week in psychotherapy. Never mind that I don't actually see a shrink; it's just that I'm so addicted to these shows, I've been meaning to make an appointment.

They're all very different. One's a comedy, one's a drama, and one's a reality show, but if there's a common thread, they don't just expose the vulnerabilities of the patients. The therapists themselves have their own issues. Here's the only real therapist in the bunch, Dr. Drew Pinsky from VH1.

Dr. DREW PINSKY ("Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew"): I am sort of overcome with feelings of frustration and fear because I don't know what I'm going to say, and I know that they need to hear about my frustration and they're not going to feel good. So I'm just anxious and agitated.

WALLENSTEIN: I've always gravitated to programs that feature shrinks, going back to sitcoms like "The Bob Newhart Show" or "Frasier," and HBO in particular has been down this road more recently, making therapists a fixture on shows like "The Sopranos" and "Tell Me You Love Me."

But the talking cure is just one element of those shows. For this new breed, the narrative is so contained to the therapist's office, you may feel a tad claustrophobic just watching.

HBO's brilliant "In Treatment" never leaves the room, subsisting entirely on the conversation between patient and therapist. Not since Wimbledon has TV offered volleying this riveting. That's due in part to the beleaguered Dr. Paul Weston, played by Gabriel Byrne, and his beautiful young patient, Laura, played by Melissa George. In this scene, she tries to convince him that they are in fact in love with each other.

(Soundbite of TV show, "In Treatment")

Ms. MELISSA GEORGE (Actress): (As Laura) I mean how can something like this happen to you, hmm? It did happen. I know it happened, and you know it happened.

Mr. GABRIEL BYRNE (Actor): (As Paul) What happened, Laura?

Ms. GEORGE: (As Laura) Me and you, Paul. We happened, and all the thoughts that you had before you fall asleep next to your wife happened.

Mr. BYRNE: (As Paul) I think we're out of time for today, Laura. Why don't we talk about this next week when you come back?

WALLENSTEIN: As you might expect, in later episodes we learn more about what's lurking behind Dr. Weston's dispassionate façade. But he's got nothing on Dr. Elizabeth Goode of "Head Case." That show's star, Alexandra Wentworth, is crazier than her patients, but you'd never know it from her demeanor in even the nuttiest conversations.

(Soundbite of TV show, "Head Case")

Ms. ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH (Actress): (As Dr. Elizabeth Goode) So you don't fit the socialized epitome of a black man?

Unidentified Man #1 (Actor): (As character) Right.

Ms. WENTWORTH: (As Goode) And therefore you want to be white?

Unidentified Man #1: (As character) Therefore I think I am white.

Ms. WENTWORTH: (As Goode) Okay.

Unidentified Man #1: (As character) I think I am a white man trapped in a black man's body, basically.

Ms. WENTWORTH: (As Goode) Let's spin the Benetton wheel, and let's try to find an ethnicity that you can really attach yourself to.

WALLENSTEIN: As much as I like all these shows, there is a side effect to all these depictions of shaky shrinks. I doubt I'll ever want to see one in real life.

BROOKS: Andrew Wallenstein is deputy editor of the Hollywood Reporter and a regular contributor to DAY TO DAY. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.