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| Web Therapy - 2011 |
Coming up next on TV Tuesday is the very first episode of "Web Therapy", a hysterical show about a very sketchy psychiatrist who schedules her sessions online over the course of three minute periods. The focus is not with what she can do for them, but rather what they can do for her.
The episode's cast includes Lisa Kudrow, Victor Garber, Dan Bucatinsky, Tim Bagley, and Jennifer Elise Cox.
Meet Dr. Fiona Wallice. She's a psychiatrist who is trying out a new "modality". She has come up with a three-minute video chat session, which she claims will get right to the heart of the issue. She is definitely not interested in "dreams and feelings and memories and past experiences that add up to a whole lot of nothin'". She's much more interested in what her clients can do for her.
She tries to involve her husband, Kip, in what she's doing. However, he is much more focused on her choice of decorations, specifically an award he was given. "I like that sculpture a lot," says Fiona. Kip counters with, "It was in my office." Fiona gives a note of finality by saying, "Yes, I removed it from your office and brought it here. It looks good."
We quickly find out that Kip and Fiona have a less than ideal marriage. As she tries to explain how everything works, Kip says, "I get it. I'm not an idiot." Fiona tries to stifle a laugh and says, "Well, you do a good impression of one."
Next, we see Fiona in a session with her first client. Richard is a man who works at Fiona's former place of employment, Lachman Brothers. She left after a questionable series of events. Richard fills Fiona in on all the office gossip, and who was talking at the water cooler. "Russell, wasn't there. He's, uh..." starts Richard. Fiona quickly interjects. "His opinion never counted as far as I am concerned."
Richard dives right into the reason for his session. It seems that he and Fiona had some sort of flirtatious relationship at the office which Fiona is quick to deny. "You literally told me that you wanted me to kiss you," he says. Fiona replies, "I guess, 'Please lock the door behind you' can be interpreted in a myriad of ways."
Then, there's Gina, a receptionist at Lachman Brothers, who is quick to spill any little tidbit of information to Fiona. Gina is a highly sexualized young lady, and this is very evident early on, especially when she uses nonsense words like "volumptuous".
She is extremely superficial as well. "Your hair is so pretty. It's like a wig," says Gina. Fiona has to fight really hard to stay in control of the conversation.
Gina probes into some of Fiona's clients, especially Richard. "Are you treating Richard for his, like, weirdo mommy issues?" Fiona quickly says yes, much to Gina's shock. Nothing is sacred to Fiona.
In the midst of setting up a new business, Fiona is trying to get her former employers to invest in Web Therapy. Kip, who is a lawyer, advises her on her proposal. "If you want the Lachman brothers to invest in this proposal, you should take out the whole insinuation of blackmail, because I don't think they're gonna go for that. I don't think that's gonna fly," he says. Fiona is quick to respond. "Well, I don't think it's as much blackmail as it is incentive," she says.
Our final client of the day is Jerome, who has a complicated treatment history with Fiona. When he shows concern that he's boring her with his story, Fiona says, "I'm not bored. I mean, I have enough of an inner
intellectual life to keep interested in anything that even you could be saying."
Her notes, however, speak otherwise. When he tries to bring up something they've talked about before, Fiona scrambles to find it in her "files".
It comes out during the session that Jerome has been dating his sister Hayley. They did not know they were related when they started going out. Fiona is ecstatic. Jerome now has her full focus. "Well, that's fascinating. Oh, Jerome, this is very important. At long last, we have what I think is a real
issue."
When Jerome brings up the possibility of taking the case to an "incest expert", Fiona immediately puts her foot down. "This is a piece of intellectual property that I own," she says. All she can see is the dollar signs that handling such a case would create. Jerome agrees to bring Hayley to the next session.
Cast rundown:
Lisa Kudrow.......................................Dr. Fiona Wallice
Victor Garber......................................Kip Wallice
Dan Bucatinsky...................................Jerome Sokoloff
Tim Bagley.........................................Richard Pratt
Jennifer Elise Cox................................Gina Spinks
And that's it for Web Therapy. One of the brilliant things about this show is that there is no script. A very detailed plot outline was produced with each episode, but all of the acting is done using the improv method. And it works, fantastically.
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