Smallscreen Reviews
Review: “Head Case” on Starz
By April MacIntyre
Jan 22, 2008, 0:46 GMT

Starz Original series have presented the perfect antidote to the lugubrious, self-absorbed psycho dramas like HBO’s “Tell Me You Love Me and “In Treatment” – all which make me want to jump out a window after watching.

“Head Case” features Dr. Elizabeth Goode, who on paper looks to be a winner with a thriving practice as therapist-to-the-stars.

Reality is, that she hails from a family of alcoholic, sex-crazed nutters and is a self-centered, neurotic soul completely swamped by problems of her own. 

Goode is a vileness who doesn't give a second thought about anybody else, especially her patients.

Alexandra Wentworth stars as Dr. Goode in this half-hour improvised series which she also co-created and co-produces.

The show features real celebrities as themselves who dare to address their problems with Goode, who exacts her judgement, bigotry and preconceived notions along with outrageous hourly fees. 

The episode I was sent for review features Goode counseling the musician, Ahmet Zappa.

He surprises her with a decoupaged death mask on her chair, “You like it, right?”

“It’s crafty!” a horrified Goode replies, jettisoning the giant mask to her assistant, Lola, who dresses like Jo Anne Worley from “Laugh In.”

Hilarious exchanges pit Goode’s anti-Arab biases with Ahmet’s defending of his exotic name.  The fact that he just might have Al-Qaeda ties sticks in Goode’s craw no matter what Ahmet says. 

As he describes his quest for a perfect woman, one with no cats, preferably who is not an alcoholic and has not been raped. Goode can't help herself:

“You set the bar high for Los Angeles, don’t you?”

He struggles to work out some issues, and then takes umbrage spotting his ex wife Selma Blair staring back at him on her celebrity picture wall (think Los Angeles dry cleaner).

"What sort of camps did you go to as a kid? Did you or anyone ever talk about cells?” Goode prods Ahmet. "I went to sleep-away camps in Fresno… I also water ski," Ahmet says, exasperated. "Not a lot of water skiing with the Taliban members."

Along with Zappa, the guest stars sitting in the patient chair of Dr. Goode include Jeff Goldblum, Joel Madden, 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 passed.

Veteran great Steve Landesberg co-stars as Goode's office partner with dubious ethics, Dr. Myron Finkelstein. 

The whole cottage industry of celebrity psychobabble and talk therapy is perfect tuna for the writers of the show.  I look forward to seeing where the talented Wentworth and Landesberg take their characters.

Grade: B+  "Head Case" is a no-miss, hilarious new series - and definitely not family-friendly; on Starz premium channel, Wednesday starting 10 p.m. EST January 23.