In Treatment

In college, I spent a lot of time around the theater. My roommate, and several of my close friends, were acting majors and provided me a peek at their world. I particularly enjoyed shows in the Studio Theater, which was an intimate environment. The sets and costumes were usually simple, and the plays performed there tended to have a small scale. Shakespeare and elaborate musicals were better suited to the main theater. The reason that I loved the Studio Theater, however, were the moments that involved just a couple of actors and some dialog.

I recently read that the most dramatic thing that can happen on a stage or a screen is to watch two intelligent humans have an intense conversation. Some of my favorite moments on TV bear this out. Homicide, the best cop show I've ever seen (I don't consider The Wire to be a cop show), had several episodes that still stick in mind a decade later. I've been watching the new HBO show In Treatment and it epitomizes this approach to drama.

The show runs 5 nights a week and it about a psychotherapist, Paul. Each episode is a 30 minute therapy session; Mondays with a doctor who falls in love with Paul, Tuesdays with a fighter pilot who dropped a bomb on an Iraqi school, Wednesdays with a teenage gymnast, Thursdays with a couple for marriage counseling, and on Friday Paul meet with his own therapist. All that happens in each episode is the conversation that Paul has, and that's all we need.

There are some great actors in this show (Michelle Forbes, an alum of Homicide, plays Paul's wife while Dianne Wiest plays his therapist - they both are amazing) which is absolutely necessary since there is nothing but the words for the actor to hide behind. The best description I can think of is that the show is theatrical.

The first three weeks are available for free on iTunes. Just enough to get you hooked!