Group Therapy for Help Me, Help You Cast

October 15, 2006

This report is either a true tale of Hollywood gone awry. (No wonder so many
turn to Scientology.) Or it's a beg for publicity for a show that's dying.

Check it's DeathWatch status HERE.

The Associated Press is reporting that at 8 a.m. on Monday mornings the cast of ''Help Me Help You'' is already in group therapy.

At least one day a week, the stars of the new ABC comedy gather to spend many hours sitting in a circle, spilling out their characters' fears and foibles (Note: characters, not their "real" neurosis.) to Dr. Bill Hoffman, the therapist played by Ted Danson in this new ABC sitcom.

Oh, wait. Fake problems. Fake doctor. Who is this helping!?

And they videotape it.

''We are usually in that configuration, in that circle, for 14 hours, so we end up doing a lot of conversing,'' says Jere Burns, whose character, Michael, is in court-ordered therapy because of anger problems

Darlene Hunt, who plays the very sexually needy Darlene, says it was clear on the pilot episode that the cast was going to open up to each other more than might be customary on first working together.

''Because it's about therapy everyone instinctively started to share very personal stories ... and we have continued to do that. We goof around a lot ... but we also know the deepest, darkest secrets of each others' lives,'' Hunt says.

''It's comfortable. It feels safe in there, like a group-therapy type environment, so maybe we give up a little too much about ourselves. At least I do. I wear my feelings on my sleeve,'' deadpans Charlie Finn, who plays Dave, a determined nonentity with suicidal tendencies.

The series, which airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET, also features Jim Rash, who plays the metrosexual Jonathan, clearly in denial about his real sexual orientation, and Suzy Nakamura as Inger, professionally successful but
lacking basic social skills. Jane Kaczmarek regularly guest stars as Anne, Hoffman's ex-wife.

Clever but self-deluded, Hoffman has as many -- if not more -- problems, as his patients, which appealed to Danson, veteran star of the sitcoms ''Cheers'' and ''Becker.''

''I liked the kind of aren't-I-so-wonderful and yet tripping over himself (character), so bad at everything in life, so full of himself, yet so unexamined. That's fun,'' Danson says. ''His therapy was real, yet he was a mess.''

Danson says he also was attracted to the writing on the series because it wasn't necessarily ''four jokes to a page'' -- a sitcom standard.

Because Danson and every member of the ensemble say they've been in therapy at some time or another, they remain respectful of the process. Most also acknowledge that perhaps it's natural for actors to identify with
self-exploration and are happy to be able to use their firsthand experiences on camera.

''Well, as soon as I read the therapy part, I said, 'I can do this,' because I had plenty of experience, so I don't have to bring much extra. I'm neurotic,'' says Finn, who tried group therapy for a while.

''Well you are required to go to therapy as soon as you move to Los Angeles, so I've spent some time there,'' Hunt laughs. ''I think we are having fun with it, but showing some of the truth to it, too, because when you are in
that situation, it does allow you to go to your really emotional places or your nutty inner thoughts, and I think that it's a fun area to play with.''

''I think we (actors) are probably always sort of investigating our inner life and we are very self-absorbed, so we are always very interested in exploring what makes us tick,'' Burns reveals.

Grinning gently, Rash says, ''I think anyone who has been in therapy -- myself included -- you want that time to be yours, your time in that room is so precious.'' He believes the series accurately captures ''that feeling of people chomping on the bit to just say what is on their minds.''

Having guest-starred on many traditional multi-camera, live-audience sitcoms, Rash, like his co-stars, is enjoying the experience of shooting a TV comedy movie-style -- with one camera, which means no studio audience, lots of breaks as the camera is reset for each new shot, and retakes galore.

''It lets scenes breathe a little bit. It's sort of nice to play some of those awkward silences,'' he says, during -- you guessed it -- a pause in shooting.

''For an actor, timing wise, the single camera allows you to be a little more free, a little more real,'' adds Nakamura. ''It allows you the luxury of having moments ... and I think a lot of the humor comes from the awkwardness and the universality of those awkward moments.''

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