2008 Winter TV Preview: Head Case

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Head Case - Season 2

Premieres: Wednesday, January 23rd at 10:00 p.m. EST

Network:Starz

Creator(s):Robert Bauer, Alexandra Wentworth

Starring:: Alexandra Wentworth, Steve Landesberg, Michelle Arthur and various cameo appearances by celebrities

Website: Starz.com

Head Case is a fictional 30-minute comedy series that centers on Dr. Elizabeth Goode, a psychiatrist who works exclusively with famous people. Similar to a show like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Head Case features actual celebrities who, playing themselves, get some couch-time with Dr. Goode. As it’s a comedy series and not “reality,” the celebs’ problems are made up but the unscripted nature of the show makes it all seem real.

Goode is blunt to the point of rude when she’s working with her patients but that only serves to make the show even funnier. I had the opportunity to view one of the upcoming episodes, which features Ahmet Zappa and Greg Grunberg. While Dr. Goode spends the bulk of Zappa’s sessions making off-color remarks about his potential to be a terrorist, her sessions with Grunberg involve him confessing to her that he’s had some rather sexual dreams about her after which he proceeds to describe them in detail (it's pretty disturbing but thanks to Grunberg's ability to keep a straight face, it's also extremely entertaining).

The other two people working in Goode’s office are Lola, Goode’s celebrity-obsessed assistant and Dr. Finkelstein, another therapist who’s always trying to poach Goode’s clients because he barely has any of his own.

Head Case is one of those quirky shows that is only going to appeal to people with a certain type of sense of humor. There’s a fair amount of rawness to the series due to it being unscripted but to me, that makes the show all the more refreshing.

My only problem is that I don’t have Starz and I’m not sure this 30-minute comedy is great enough for me to subscribe to the network (certainly not when my cable bill is as high as it is already). But if you already have Starz, check out Head Case when the new season begins. It’s goofy in a very Larry-David awkward-but-funny sort of way, plus it’s always fun to see celebrities poke fun at themselves.

For the full 2008 Winter TV Premiere Schedule: CLICK HERE

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.