37 replies to this topic

[braggtastic]

Showtime is now airing Lisa Kudrow's web series Web Therapy. The series can be viewed online, but Showtime is showing 4 mini eps as a single episode starting this week. Even though I've seen most of them online, I'll still tune into Showtime to watch this darkly funny show.

I really think Phoebe is the only nice person Kudrow has ever played.

[themadman]

Goodness, I had to stop watching after 10 minutes. It got annoying that fast!

[Merve]

Don't get me wrong - I like Lisa Kudrow - but that was possibly one of the worst things I've ever seen. It was even more boring than The Comeback.

[Scrb]

How did they finance this on the web before Showtime picked it up?

Looks like the guy who wrote and directed The Opposite of Sex is involved.

[Blaze Domingo]

How did they finance this on the web before Showtime picked it up?

If I remember correctly, it was sponsored by Lexus. I think they hosted it, as well. Accessing the videos on the site was a pain in the ass. I thought the episodes themselves weren't that bad, it was just annoying trying to get to them.

[zelmia]

Goodness, I had to stop watching after 10 minutes. It got annoying that fast!

That's funny because I think the episodes are only about that long, but I can see that. I think that's kind of the risk you take with pure improv. And also with making your protagonist wholly unlikable, which Kudrow's character Fiona Wallace definitely is. Also her voice is just kind of grating.

Having said that, I do like this show. I think the concept is great and I think it's genius to make the web cam the function of a story in a totally believable way.
And a lot happens in that really condensed amount of time - other more traditional comedies should take note. I also think they do a great job of building the story and character arcs from just what they say to and about each other without it coming across as nothing but exposition.

And they get some truly great actors to appear. Victor Garber, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jane Lynch, Bob Balaban, Alan Cumming... Those are just the ones I remember.

By the way, you can see these on HULU - or at least you could. That's where I watched them all.

Edited by zelmia, Jul 21, 2011 @ 2:28 PM.

[braggtastic]

I think they are showing 4 of the eps in a 30 minute slot on Showtime.

[Bunny LaJoya]

I did an entire post and it got eaten by a server glitch. So frustrating.

Okay, what I said was that the online show was absolutely fantastic, and I loved it, but I found this pilot/adaptation hard to sit through. If a fan of the original show finds this one off putting, then I'd say that seems like a bad sign.

Edited by Bunny LaJoya, Jul 21, 2011 @ 8:09 PM.

[Milburn Stone]

I'm liking it, but I don't feel an addiction growing for it. Maybe that will develop. In the meantime, I'm continuing to DVR it, and when I get around to watching it, I'm amused.

[Bunny LaJoya]

The second episode was put together much better. I was much more amused, even though I've seen most of these subplots. Victor Garber is the sore spot for me. I never got into him (never saw Alias) and his character is mucho boringo.

[Gloworm]

Milburn Stone

I'm liking it, but I don't feel an addiction growing for it. Maybe that will develop. In the meantime, I'm continuing to DVR it, and when I get around to watching it, I'm amused.

That's how I feel about this show. It's mildly amusing but doesn't really have me looking forward to the next show. The web cam gets old to me about 15 minutes in. I never saw the webshow so maybe it works better via that platform that on TV. I'll still keep it on the DVR and watch whenever I get to it.

[Pligschool]

I first had it on while I was doing other work, I couldn't see only hear, and believe the writing is SHARP. And I totally agree with this 3minute method, cut the bullshit and get to the bottom line. I used to do phone customer service and recognised myself in Fiona's character, I was a bit of an ice princess whose main objective was to end. the. call. Love the show!

[dcsassychica]

Robin: We're gonna have sex.
Fiona: Well that'll be a neat trick because for the past three and a half years Kip has been impotent.

Oh My, the delivery was GREAT!

[Clara2020]

So is Kip history? Why did they write him out?

Before they reveled his ... his ... credit card bill, I thought the character added a lot to the show. It made Fiona, something more than just the therapist.

As a married person, her flirting takes on a whole different meaning, then it does now that she is no longer with Kip.

[Scrb]

So looking at the schedule, I see Web Therapy is coming back, though no info. about the episode. It's on Monday night next week (July 2nd), after a repeat airing of Weeds and Episodes.

http://www.sho.com/s...eb-therapy/home

Would have missed it because when I watch Showtime shows on the DVR, I've been mostly fast forwarding through the promos before and after the actual shows. Still saw promos for Weeds and Episodes recently and maybe even Homeland but don't think I saw anything about Web Therapy.

May not last beyond this season if Showtime is not promoting it as heavily as its other shows.

[braggtastic]

The show premiered last night in Showtime's Monday night ghetto. I don't know why Showtime & HBO mostly air series on Sundays, but I'm glad they're spreading things around a bit. The premiere featured Meryl Streep, Rosie O'Donnell & Alan Cumming returning. It's great to have this show back.

[Imonrey]

I discovered the first season after the fact on On Demand. I had only been vaguely aware of the original web series, so after watching Season 1 on Showtime, I went and watched (what appeared to be) Season 3 of the web series online. The first two seasons of the web series, which were used to make Season 1 on Showtime, were no longer available, so I never got to see them in their original form. From what I read, they used material from the web series and also filmed addition material.

Having just seen the first episode of Showtime's Season 2, I can say that it's a dramatic departure from the web series. They have completely restructured the story - in the web series, Kip's character doesn't go to the corrective therapy farm until the very end (in fact the Meryl Streep webisodes were the last to be filmed, and aired after the official ending of the web series). Rosie O'Donnell and Alan Cummings did not appear in the Season 3 webisodes either.

I'd be interested to know how different Showtime's Season 1 was from the original webisodes since I never saw the first two seasons of them.

I did like the premier last night though, there were several times I laughed out loud. Fiona just cracks me up and I love how she bosses Jerome around.

It sure doesn't bode well that Showtime is airing this on Monday night at 11:00 pm ET. ?? If they have that little interest in it I'm surprised they decided to do a second season at all. I guess it's probably very cheap for them since most of the material is already filmed. Maybe they figure it's worthwhile just for the DVD sales.

[humdrum]

I had no idea the Showtime episodes were just going to be restructured/chopped up web episodes. The entire web series can be found here, for anyone who's interested. I highly recommend the Camilla Bowner Outtakes and Behind The Scenes; Meryl Streep was the highlight for me last night.

[brothertonbanks]

I've never seen the webisodes. I started watching last season, and enjoyed the format and the casting. I'd like to see more programming like this. Sometimes, people try to do too much in a web based series. This show does it just right. Lily Tomlin was particularly fun last season. I like Fiona's reactions to everything. I enjoyed both Rosie and Meryl Streep this episode, and I've always liked Victor Garber. Dan Bucatinsky is also fun.

[fashionkills]

The second season is leaps and bounds better than the first. It is consistently funny, and makes AMAZING used of its guest stars. Julie Louis Dreyfus just killed it, hit it out of the freaking park in the latest ep!

[ScrubMonkey]

I tried watching this on Showtime, but I just do not understand this show. I wish they would go into closeup once in a while, too. Establish it's a webcam connection, then let us see the people full screen. It's very static to just watch talking heads.

[braggtastic]

JLD was awesome as Kudrow's sister, the one their parents actually loved.

Edited by braggtastic, Jul 25, 2012 @ 10:30 AM.

[brothertonbanks]

JLD was awesome as Kudrow's sister,

I think their interaction made for the best episode yet. I suppose JLD will be in the next episode also, since that was what they did with Meryl Streep and Rosie O'Donnell.

[Imonrey]

No, they used all the Julie Louis Dreyfus footage in the last episode, unless she came back to film extra scenes. It's weird how they sort of re-configured the storyline from the webisodes, because the JLD scenes were from Season3 and the Rosie O'Donnell scenes were from season 4. The Meryl Streep material was filmed as bonus episodes after season 3 was over.

I'm looking forward to the stuff that was filmed exclusively for the Showtime version, like the upcoming episodes with Conan O'Brien and Minnie Driver - neither of them appeared in the webisodes.

[humdrum]

I'm looking forward to the stuff that was filmed exclusively for the Showtime version, like the upcoming episodes with Conan O'Brien and Minnie Driver - neither of them appeared in the webisodes.

They've both appeared in the S4 webisodes; Conan in a three episode arc, and Minnie in a two episode arc. :)

[Milburn Stone]

Just saw three Showtime episodes last night: the sessions with sister-shrink Julia Louis Dreyfuss, the conflict with blogger Molly Shannon, and the Lifetime movie deal with actress Minnie Driver.

Really liked 'em--got drawn in much more than I had when I last checked in with this show a year ago.

Thought the format would be limiting; was surprised to find how much could be done within it. (But then again not surprised, because Lisa Kudrow is a genius.)

Mostly fast-forwarded through everything Molly Shannon, though. I find her not only unfunny, but unfunny in that special way that people can be when they give off the signal that they think they're smarter than they actually are. I have always got that "I'm really quite brilliant" vibe from Molly Shannon, and I just want to say, "No, no you're not." Now, Kudrow, Dreyfuss, Driver--there's brilliance for you.

Anyway, I'm DVRing all the episodes I can find. Don't know if I'm seeing the latest ones, or seeing them in order, or what. After going on Showtime's site, best I can figure is that I saw Episodes 4, 5 and 6 from TV Season 2, but none of those descriptions feature Julia Louis Dreyfuss as the sister, and none of the descriptions from the other episodes from this or Season 1 do either, so I have no idea about that. (Any assistance appreciated.)

Edited by Milburn Stone, Aug 12, 2012 @ 11:05 AM.

[braggtastic]

Episode 7 started so abruptly, with a title card as soon as my recording began - no previouslies, no credits, no DSV rating grade. I tried using On Demand this morning, but it wasn't working, so I'll try again tonight. I loved Selma Blair - she was a riot!

[brothertonbanks]

Episode 7 started so abruptly,

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure if episode 7 was the current one.

[Imonrey]

It started early, my recording started midway through the opening title sequence as well. There was no preview for the next episode either, and we haven't even gotten to the episodes with Conan O'Brien or Lily Tomlin yet. Given the time they air new episodes (11:00 pm Mondays?!) I'd say this show doesn't get very good ratings, but it's probably so cheap to do they use it as filler. Maybe they get some revenue from the DVD sales or something. The network is basically re-purposing existing material shot for the web with some limited new footage.

What's interesting to me is how they've essentially restructured the storyline for the Showtime version. This isn't a spoiler - we've already seen this material in the Showtime version. But in the web version, the episodes with Selma Blair and Molly Shannon happened in Season 3, whereas the episodes with Rosie O'Donnell and Minnie Driver happened in Season 4. On the Showtime version, they are happening in the reverse order, or simultaneously. Also, the episodes where Kip went to the Gay Rehab center with Meryl Streep were bonus episodes shot after the end of Season 3, at the end of the campaign, not before it.

Mostly fast-forwarded through everything Molly Shannon, though. I find her not only unfunny, but unfunny in that special way that people can be when they give off the signal that they think they're smarter than they actually are.

I liked the Molly Shannon story arc because it follows the same theme as with the other guest stars: it always seems like someone is getting the upper hand on Fiona, and she always manages to turn the tables on them. She did it with Meryl Streep, she did it with Jane Lynch, she did it with Rosie O'Donnell (to a lesser extent), she did it with Steven Weber, she did it with Julia Louis Dreyfus - the list goes on. Someone always thinks they can bring her down or get the upper hand with her, and sometimes they start to, but Fiona always wins.

[braggtastic]

Thanks to Web Therapy starting early this week, I've discovered my on demand is broken. I've also learned that because on demand is a 'free' service that comes with my cable subscription, I don't get any credit on my bill.