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Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
Genre	Adult animation Animated sitcom
Created by	Jonathan Katz Tom Snyder
Voices of	Jonathan Katz H. Jon Benjamin Laura Silverman Will LeBow Julianne Shapiro
Theme music composer	Tom Snyder Shapiro Music
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	81 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Tom Snyder Tim Braine Nancy Geller
Producers	Loren Bouchard Julianne Shapiro Jonathan Katz
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production companies	HBO Downtown Productions Popular Arts Entertainment Tom Snyder Productions
Original release
Network	Comedy Central
Release	May 28, 1995 (1995-05-28) – February 13, 2002 (2002-02-13)

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jonathan Katz and Tom Snyder for Comedy Central. It originally ran from May 28, 1995, to February 13, 2002. The series starred the voice talents of Jonathan Katz, H. Jon Benjamin, and Laura Silverman. The show was produced by Popular Arts Entertainment, HBO Downtown Productions, and Tom Snyder Productions. The series won a Peabody Award in 1998.

History

Development

The show was created by Burbank, California, production company Popular Arts Entertainment (executive producers: Tim Braine and David Pritchard), with Jonathan Katz and Tom Snyder, developed and first made by Popular Arts for HBO Downtown Productions. Boston-based Tom Snyder Productions became the hands-on production company, and the episodes were usually produced by Katz and Loren Bouchard.

The show was animated in a crude, easily recognizable style produced with Squigglevision in Autodesk Animator (a technique Snyder had employed in his educational animation business) in which all people and animate objects are in color and have constantly squiggling outlines, while most other inanimate objects are static and usually shades of gray. The original challenge Popular Arts faced was how to repurpose recorded stand-up comedy material. To do so, they based Dr. Katz's patients on stand-up comics for the first several episodes, simply having them recite their stand-up acts. The secondary challenge was how to affordably animate on cable TV at the time. Snyder (a boyhood friend of Braine's) had Squigglevision, an inexpensive means of getting animation on cable, which could not afford traditional animation processes. A partnership between Popular Arts, Tom Snyder Productions and Jonathan Katz was formed, and thus, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was born.

Show run (1995–2002)

The first episode of Dr. Katz aired on May 28, 1995. A total of 81 episodes were produced, with the sixth and final season (of 18 episodes) beginning on June 15, 1999. Only the first six of the final season's episodes were aired on Comedy Central immediately, though they did air in international markets. After a five-month delay, another nine episodes ran during a Christmas Eve marathon. The final three episodes were broadcast for the first time in the United States on February 13, 2002, during an event dubbed "Dr. Katz goes to the Final Three."

A comic strip of the same name was produced by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate from March 1997 to January 2000. One book collection was published, Hey, I've Got My Own Problems. Writers included Bill Braudis and Dave Blazek, with artwork by Dick Truxaw.

Post-show

In 2007, Comedy Central presented An Evening with Dr. Katz: Live from the Comedy Central Stage, a live-action special taped in front of a live audience at the Hudson Theater on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, featuring Jonathan Katz reprising his role as Dr. Katz. Comedians Maria Bamford, Kathy Griffin, Andy Kindler and Paul F. Tompkins appeared in person as celebrity "clients"; Jon Benjamin and Laura Silverman reprised their respective roles from the animated series. This special was included in the "Complete Series" DVD compilation. In January 2008, live performances were presented over two nights as part of SF Sketchfest in San Francisco, California. On the first night, Jonathan Katz's guest list included Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn and Bob Odenkirk. The surprise guest that evening was Robin Williams. At the end of the "session" Katz revealed that he had multiple sclerosis in real life.

The show returned to SF Sketchfest in January 2015. This performance, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the program, featured Katz with Jon Benjamin and Tom Snyder again portraying his son and therapist, respectively. The patients for this production were Ron Funches, Pete Holmes, Morgan Murphy and Emo Philips. Also in 2015, live performances took place at the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival in Austin, Texas, on April 23 and 24. Staged therapy sessions included Andy Kindler, Emo Philips, Maria Bamford, Dom Irrera, Dana Gould, and Eddie Pepitone. The show was again staged at SF Sketchfest in January 2016. The patients who booked "appointments" that night included Janeane Garofalo, Andy Kindler, Maria Bamford, The Sklar Brothers, and Chelsea Peretti. As part of the 16th Annual SF Sketchfest in San Francisco there was a live performance on January 20, 2017. Katz did a short stand-up comedy set Guest "patients" included Kevin Pollak, Natasha Leggero, Tom Papa, Moshe Kasher and Scott Aukerman. Leggero joined Kasher's session midway through for couples therapy. The two are married in real life.

The Audio Files

An audio-only version of the show was produced for Audible. The first three episodes were released in June 2017 and were released Thursdays. It ran for 15 episodes. Guests have included Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, and Ted Danson. A full-length audiobook titled Dr. Katz: The Audiobook was released as an Audible exclusive in 2018 featuring all-new content.

Format

Dr. Katz is a professional psychotherapist. He is a laid-back, well-intentioned man who enjoys playing the guitar and spending time at the bar with his friend Stanley and bartender Julie. Therapy sessions - normally two per episode, with the patients played by well-known comics and actors - anchor the show. Those that feature comics generally consist of onstage material contributed by the guest, while Dr. Katz offers insights or simply lets them talk. Therapy sessions that feature actors contain more interpersonal dialogue between Dr. Katz and his patient.

Interspersed between therapy sessions are scenes involving Dr. Katz's daily life, which includes his aimless, childish 24-year-old son Ben (Jon Benjamin), his uninterested and unhelpful secretary, Laura (Laura Silverman), and his two friends: Stanley (Will LeBow) and bartender Julie, voiced by one of the show's producers, Julianne Bond (credited as Julianne Shapiro). In later episodes, Todd (Todd Barry), a video store clerk, becomes a regular character.

Most episodes begin with Dr. Katz and Ben at breakfast. The plots include events like Ben attempting to become a radio personality, believing he has ESP, or suffering from a moral conundrum after receiving a chain letter. The development of these plots alternates with the segments of Dr. Katz and his guests in therapy sessions. At the end of many episodes, music would play signaling the close of the episode. Katz would acknowledge this and tell his patient "Well, you know what that music means. Our time is up."

Much of the show's content, particularly dialogue between Dr. Katz and Ben, is improvised through a process called "retroscripting", in which a vague outline is developed but the actual dialogue is ad-libbed. This style, as well as the animation technique Squigglevision, would reappear in Home Movies, another series on which many members of the Dr. Katz cast and crew worked.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1995)

Season 2 (1995–96)

Season 3 (1996–97)

Season 4 (1997)

Season 5 (1998)

Season 6 (1999–2002)

Critical reception

Season 2 has a score of 81 on Metacritic, based on 6 reviews. The show has won 5 awards, including a Peabody Award and a Daytime Emmy. In 2015, PopMatters asserted that the show was "Still Wise and Just As Funny" as it was when it first aired. In 2016 Jonathan Katz noted "Dr. Katz has such a loyal fan base, even now."

Home media

There were also several VHS releases of series episodes.

Books

• Eichler, Glenn. Dr. Katz's Me at a Glance, Pocket, 1996. ISBN 0-671-00318-6.
• Braudis, Bill. Dr. Katz: Hey I've Got My Own Problems, Pocket, 1997. ISBN 0-671-00758-0.

References

1. Brozan, Nadine (June 12, 1997). "CHRONICLE". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 167. ISBN 978-1538103739.
3. 58th Annual Peabody Awards, May 1999.
4. Wertheimer, Ron (April 26, 1999). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Meet the Small Family, A Year After the Divorce". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
5. Maxwell, Leanne. "SF Sketchfest Review: Friday Night's Dr. Jonathan Katz Professional Therapist and Patients". sfsketchfest.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
6. "An Evening with Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, 20th Anniversary Show". sfsketchfest2015. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
7. Moontower Review: Dr. Katz Live, April 25, 2015
8. Ruskin, Zach. "Who to See at Sketchfest". sfweekly.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
9. "SF Sketchfest 2017 schedule". Retrieved 21 January 2017.
10. Milvy, Erika (December 14, 2008). "For Him, Laughter Was the Best Therapy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
11. Johnson, Steve (December 1, 1995). "Laugh Therapy". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
12. "'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' Is Older But Still Wise and Just As Funny, PopMatters". www.popmatters.com. August 12, 2015.
13. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, retrieved 2017-04-23
14. "'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' Is Older But Still Wise and Just As Funny". PopMatters. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
15. "Night After Night to @midnight: An oral history of Comedy Central (Part 1)". 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
16. "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist DVD news: Announcement for Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
17. "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist DVD news: Press Release for The Best of Dr. Katz". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-03-07.

External links

• Dr. Katz official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index) at Comedy Central
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist at IMDb
• Dr. Katz comic strip

• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
• 1995 American television series debuts
• 1995 animated television series debuts
• 2002 American television series endings
• 1990s American adult animated television series
• 1990s American animated comedy television series
• 1990s American sitcoms
• 1990s American workplace comedy television series
• 2000s American adult animated television series
• 2000s American animated comedy television series
• 2000s American sitcoms
• 2000s American workplace comedy television series
• American adult animated comedy television series
• American animated sitcoms
• American English-language television shows
• Comedy Central animated television series
• Comedy Central sitcoms
• Fictional psychologists
• Peabody Award–winning television programs
• Psychotherapy in fiction
• Squigglevision
• Television series about Jews and Judaism
• Television series by HBO Downtown Productions
• Television series by Soup2Nuts
• Television series created by Tom Snyder (animator)