Previewing Web Therapy

The transition from internet to television has not gone very well so far. NBC optioned Quarterlife during the writer’s strike and pulled in The CW type ratings. $#*! My Dad Says went from Twitter to CBS to canceled over the course of a year. But my sources tell me the third time is the charm so maybe Web Therapy may buck the trend.

Web Therapy, just like the internet version, stars Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) as an inept therapist who decides instead of the sit in the office for an hour session to do three minute sessions via chat over the internet and the show is shown solely from the vantage point of Kudrow’s monitor. The Showtime version will be a combination of the “sessions” featured on the internet version mixed with new scenes that deal with her personal life including Victor Garber (You Again) as her husband and Lily Tomlin (The Pink Panther 2) as her mother.

The show does boast an impressive list of guest stars including Rashida Jones, Jane Lynch, Steven Weber, Alan Cumming and Kudrow’s good friend Courtrney Cox. But the thing that made Web Therapy the internet show, may be the drawback of Web Therapy the television show. Watching someone’s computer monitor on your monitor makes sense, but seems too contained of an idea when watching it on a big screen HDTV. But some of the patients, most notable Lynch’s character with anger issue, make some episodes worth tuning into.

Web Therapy airs Tuesdays at 11:00 on Showtime.