AP Features, January 19th, 2008
On the new comedy "Head Case," Dr. Elizabeth Goode has a thriving practice as therapist-to-the-stars. She's also pushy, neurotic, oblivious and overwhelmed by problems of her own.
Even so, her days are filled with celebrity clients who, within the not-so-safe safe haven of the therapist's office, are clearly gluttons for psychic punishment, at a hefty fee.
For instance, Goode is immediately suspicious of her new client, actor-musician Ahmet Zappa. He's L.A.-born, the son of legendary rocker Frank Zappa, but his first name makes her think he might have ties to foreign terrorists.
"You get stopped a lot in airports?" he asks. "What sort of camps did you go to as a kid? Did you anyone ever talk about cells?"
"I also water ski," he says, exasperated. "Not a lot of water skiing with the Taliban members."
Comedian/talk-show-host Alexandra Wentworth stars as Dr. Goode in this half-hour improvised series which she also co-created and co-produces.
Guest stars booking appointments include Jeff Goldblum, David Alan Grier, Andy Dick, Jennifer Finnegan and James Denton, who's coping with his rage after he pitched "Desperate Plumbers" to ABC and they didn't go for it. Steve Landesberg ("Barney Miller") co-stars as Goode's client-poaching office partner, Dr. Myron Finkelstein.
The very funny "Head Case" heads to the Starz premium channel, starting 10 p.m. EST Wednesday.
Other shows to look out for:
_ Nickelodeon's "mockumentary" series about a world-famous kids' rock band returns for its second season. Starring real-life brothers Nat and Alex Wolff, and inspired by their actual preschool-era musical group, "The Naked Brothers Band" is a blend of "The Monkees," "This is Spinal Tap" and "A Hard Day's Night." Also featured are the Wolff boys' real-life pals and bandmates from preschool days: cellist Thomas (Thomas Batuello) and keyboard player David (David Levi), along with guitarist Qaasim (Qaasim Middleton) and bassist Rosalina (Allie DiMeco). Created by the Wolff lads' mom, Polly Draper ("thirtysomething"), "Naked" this season will welcome guest stars including champ skateboarder Tony Hawk, comedian George Lopez and veteran rocker Phil Collins. It returns with a special one-hour season premiere 8 p.m. Monday. The half-hour series airs regularly Saturday nights at 8:30.
_ What would happen if humans were to suddenly vanish? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of the industrialized world would survive and which would crumble fastest? These are some of the questions explored in a new documentary, "Life After People." The film travels to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for traces of abandoned towns, goes beneath New York streets to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals, plunges into Montana wilderness to imagine the destiny of bears and wolves. The film predicts that, in the absence of humans, most records of their existence would fade quickly — including, presumably, any trace of this film. Better watch it while you can. It premieres 9 p.m. Monday on the History Channel.
_ In the early decades of the past century, Freudian psychoanalysis and "talk" therapy was gaining prominence as potential cures for mental illness. But an ambitious young neurologist named Walter Freeman advocated a more radical approach: brain surgery to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Despite mixed results, by the early 1940s, some 50 state asylums were performing lobotomies. It was hailed as a miracle cure and Freeman as a visionary. But only a decade later, Freeman would be decried as a moral monster, the lobotomy as one of the most barbaric mistakes ever perpetrated by mainstream medicine. "The Lobotomist" examines one of the darkest chapters in psychiatric history, and the man who championed it. This "American Experience" film airs 9 p.m. Monday on PBS (check local listings).
_ There's a sprawling world that kids create online, and it raises questions about just how radically the Internet is transforming the experience of childhood. As more kids begin to grow up with an online alter ego, parents find themselves on the outside looking in, struggling to stay engaged in their children's lives. At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. "Cyberbullying" has become a problem, as is the threat of online predators. How to deal with Facebook Nation? That's what "Frontline" investigates in "Growing Up Online." One expert concludes that the older generation is obliged to "teach ourselves and our children to live in a society" where online social interactions "are fundamentally a way of life. This is public life today." The film airs 9 p.m. Tuesday on PBS (check local listings).
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EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmore(at)ap.org
