Help Me Help You
Y
SepT 25, 2006
9:30-10 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 26
ABC
Titles can say a lot about a series. Take this one, for example. The obvious meaning of "Help Me Help You" is that this is a show about a group therapy session, the leader of which also needs counseling. Kind of like a comedic version of the fireman who needs help on "Rescue Me."
More subtly, however, the title might be a plea from creators and writers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield to anyone watching to come up with suggestions on how to make this show more than sporadically funny and to give it some focus. For now, it remains more like a group of shuffled skits than a cohesive series.
Ted Danson, the lothario bartender of "Cheers" and the cranky doctor of "Becker," plays Dr. Bill Hoffman, a well-meaning, fairly competent therapist. Outside his office, though, he's as much a bundle of neuroses as any of the five group therapy patients who, apparently, comprise his entire practice.
The idea of a therapist needing a therapist is not at all far-fetched and even contains seeds of comic irony. The idea of a therapist being so screwed up that he inadvertently goes to sleep with his estranged wife (Jane Kaczmarek) while she is in bed with her boyfriend, well, that's stretching comedy to absurdity. What's more, Hoffman is equally apoplectic over his daughter, Sasha (Lindsay Sloane), dating her college professor, who is, for reasons not obvious, an enormous fan of Hoffman's work.
Despite his frequent rants, everyone tries hard to be tolerant of Hoffman, as if he's some batty uncle you play along with so as to avoid getting him overly excited.
Danson bears the weight of the series, but the best moments were created for a few of the supporting players, who invariably rise to the occasion. Each is given a bit of business to show off their social deficits. Most unforgettable of these are Jonathan (Jim Rash), a 24-karat gay guy in denial who pretends his interest in a hunky bartender is collegial, and Inger (Suzy Nakamura), who tells her date that she goes out with Jewish men because their lack of appeal makes them less threatening.
So, yes, there are some good ideas and characters here, but they remain in search of a vision that encompasses both a direction for the show and boundaries. Just because something is funny doesn't necessarily make it right for the show. It's a distinction surely understood by Danson and Kaczmarek, both of whom were regulars on comedy classics.
Viewer awareness won't be a problem -- the series follows "Dancing With the Stars" -- and Danson's appeal is still solid. Sampling and retention? That could be another story.
HELP ME HELP YOU
ABC
Regency Television
Credits:
Executive producers: Jennifer Konner, Alexandra Rushfield
Co-executive producers: Linda Wallem, Rodney Rothman
Co-producer: Janice Carr
Supervising producer: Ron Weiner
Consulting producers: Joel Madison, Tracy Katsky
Director: Brian Dannelly
Teleplay: Jennifer Konner, Alexandra Rushfield
Director of photography: Bobby Bukowski
Production designer: Paula Kramer
Editor: Steve Welch
Casting: Collin Daniel, Brett Greenstein
Cast:
Dr. Bill Hoffman: Ted Danson
Dave: Charlie Finn
Jonathan: Jim Rash
Inger: Suzy Nakamura
Darlene: Darlene Hunt
Michael: Jere Burns
Anne: Jane Kaczmarek
Sasha: Lindsay Sloane
ABC
Titles can say a lot about a series. Take this one, for example. The obvious meaning of "Help Me Help You" is that this is a show about a group therapy session, the leader of which also needs counseling. Kind of like a comedic version of the fireman who needs help on "Rescue Me."
More subtly, however, the title might be a plea from creators and writers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield to anyone watching to come up with suggestions on how to make this show more than sporadically funny and to give it some focus. For now, it remains more like a group of shuffled skits than a cohesive series.
Ted Danson, the lothario bartender of "Cheers" and the cranky doctor of "Becker," plays Dr. Bill Hoffman, a well-meaning, fairly competent therapist. Outside his office, though, he's as much a bundle of neuroses as any of the five group therapy patients who, apparently, comprise his entire practice.
The idea of a therapist needing a therapist is not at all far-fetched and even contains seeds of comic irony. The idea of a therapist being so screwed up that he inadvertently goes to sleep with his estranged wife (Jane Kaczmarek) while she is in bed with her boyfriend, well, that's stretching comedy to absurdity. What's more, Hoffman is equally apoplectic over his daughter, Sasha (Lindsay Sloane), dating her college professor, who is, for reasons not obvious, an enormous fan of Hoffman's work.
Despite his frequent rants, everyone tries hard to be tolerant of Hoffman, as if he's some batty uncle you play along with so as to avoid getting him overly excited.
Danson bears the weight of the series, but the best moments were created for a few of the supporting players, who invariably rise to the occasion. Each is given a bit of business to show off their social deficits. Most unforgettable of these are Jonathan (Jim Rash), a 24-karat gay guy in denial who pretends his interest in a hunky bartender is collegial, and Inger (Suzy Nakamura), who tells her date that she goes out with Jewish men because their lack of appeal makes them less threatening.
So, yes, there are some good ideas and characters here, but they remain in search of a vision that encompasses both a direction for the show and boundaries. Just because something is funny doesn't necessarily make it right for the show. It's a distinction surely understood by Danson and Kaczmarek, both of whom were regulars on comedy classics.
Viewer awareness won't be a problem -- the series follows "Dancing With the Stars" -- and Danson's appeal is still solid. Sampling and retention? That could be another story.
HELP ME HELP YOU
ABC
Regency Television
Credits:
Executive producers: Jennifer Konner, Alexandra Rushfield
Co-executive producers: Linda Wallem, Rodney Rothman
Co-producer: Janice Carr
Supervising producer: Ron Weiner
Consulting producers: Joel Madison, Tracy Katsky
Director: Brian Dannelly
Teleplay: Jennifer Konner, Alexandra Rushfield
Director of photography: Bobby Bukowski
Production designer: Paula Kramer
Editor: Steve Welch
Casting: Collin Daniel, Brett Greenstein
Cast:
Dr. Bill Hoffman: Ted Danson
Dave: Charlie Finn
Jonathan: Jim Rash
Inger: Suzy Nakamura
Darlene: Darlene Hunt
Michael: Jere Burns
Anne: Jane Kaczmarek
Sasha: Lindsay Sloane
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