Help Me Help You

This is a great show. I have only seen 1 episode but that 1 episode is good enough for me to know this show should not have been canceled.

Dave (Charlie Finn) tries to kill himself at work. Michael (Jere Burns) has anger issues. Jonathan (Jim Rash) is avoiding his obvious homosexuality. Darlene (Darlene Hunt) has many, many issues. Inger (Suzy Nakamura) has the social skills of a child. Dr. Bill Hoffman (Ted Danson) has group therapy with these five patients. His personal life is a mess and he's in group therapy with other psychiatrists.

First, I love the theme score. It really gives this an upbeat light comedic tone even with some potentially dark psychological problems. In that sense, I would like to open the show without the suicide attempt. They did it with a joke, but the guy still tried to kill himself. I like all the actors and their characters. The only problem I have is Jim Rash doing gay panic. It is funny for the first couple of times, but it gets annoying and repetitive and a little creepy. It also feels a little dated even for 2006. The show lasted half a season before getting pulled. They aired 9 episodes with 4 unaired ones.

This is the hardest to find TV show, ever. I would compare it to finding the movie "The Jungle", an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's(an American journalist) accounts in real life, which disappeared off the face of the Earth apparently or footage of Steven Seagal getting his arm broke by a Gracie on movie set because he was to cocky. I was on set when Charlie Finn forgot his lines over and over and kept walking away smiling , even when one of the executives said that it was a digital take. This was my first time on set but, being a computer tech, I knew what a digital take meant. SO.. after the third take , I stopped looking at Charlie Finn and started looking at Ted Danson. This man,Ted Danson, was so professional he did not blink an eye, even after 7+ takes. I was a cockroach in movie standards, an Extra, but that day I learned that I wanted nothing to do with movie industry. I knew that day , if I would have pursued a film career, I would have been violent on set due to idiot(s). It takes a lot of time and energy to be as professional as Ted Danson was that day. People think acting is an easy job, WRONG, WRONG.... dealing with idiots on a day to day basis from the brink of dawn till dusk is one of the most psychological and emotional challenges you will ever face. I do not care what your profession is , there is a reason why not many actors are on the A list, TV or not.

I loved this when it originally came out, and am so glad I had TiVo at the time, because I still think it is one of the best television comedies I have ever seen over 10 years later. Ted Danson is superb as an egotistical, self-unaware therapist and the supporting cast are equally believable in their character roles. I still laugh.

I never did find out why it was cancelled so abruptly and the final four episodes never aired.