In Treatment: HBO Series has Little Action, Lots of Dialogue

This time of the year, it's nearly impossible to find something new and worth watching on television. Usually, most of my favorites have gone into reruns of the current season by this point . With the writers' strike, reality television saturated the major networks. It seems like every day a new reality show is popping up, and honestly, there is only so much "reality" television I can handle before I go crazy.

Recently while checking out one of my favorite websites I heard about a show that would be airing on the HBO network. Having heard nothing about it before it was briefly mentioned in the USA Today Pop Candy Blog I decided to check out this new series. The concept behind In Treatment is different because the show is aired each weeknight for five weeks. Each night deals with a therapist, Paul and his patients. Monday nights are devoted to Laura, Tuesday nights are devoted to Alex, Wednesday nights are all about Sophie, and Thursday nights are centered around Jake and Amy. While Monday through Thursday nights viewers learn more about the patients Paul sees Friday nights are centered around Paul and his therapy sessions with his own therapist Gina.

As I sat down to view this show for the first time I found myself recognizing the actors and actresses who play the main characters. The show stars Melissa George, Blair Underwood, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Charles, and Embeth Davidtz as the patients. From the opening sequence I found myself wondering if the concept of the show would be interesting enough to keep my attention for 30 minutes. While the characters on the show deal with real problems from commitment problems to recovering from missions in Iraq to family issues the, concept of watching two people discuss their issues for 30 minutes straight without any interruptions made watching the show almost unbearable.

While I admit the concept for the show is different and intriguing, 30 minutes of nothing but dialogue was a bit too much for me. Perhaps if the show took place in a different office or maybe with the characters walking around outside it might hold more appeal. As is I doubt I will tune in for the remainder of the series. The one redeeming factor I could find about In Treatment was that it stars Gabriel Byrne who is one of my favorite actors as the therapist Paul.

In Treatment is a 30-minute show airing at 9:30pm Monday through Friday on HBO. Episodes of In Treatment also can be viewed on HBO's web site. If you are looking for a show full of dialogue, this may be your cup of tea. As for me, I will continue to search for something with a bit more action.

Source: HBO's In Treatment www.heslistening.com