With the new show from AppleTV+ Shrinking from Ted Lasso writers Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein dropping on January 27 starring Harrison Ford and Jason Segel, it got us thinking of the idea of how important finding the right doctor can be to achieving positive results. Going to see a therapist is a very personal thing. Finding the right professional to listen and offer advice can lead to months or even years of trial and error process. Unfortunately for some of our favorite television characters, they either got a bad referral or just landed on the couch across from someone who wasn't quite worth the out-of-pocket expense that it cost to receive their counsel.
Whether it be bad advice or intrusive techniques, these therapists ended up being some of the worst professional shrinks in the TV world.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi — The Sopranos (1999-2007)
So how does finding a good shrink work if you're the boss for a prominent New Jersey mafia family who also has a litany of problems with his own family at home? Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) ended up unloading his immense emotional baggage with the unfortunate Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) in the epic crime family drama from HBO, The Sopranos at the turn of the century. Given the difficulty of the short-fused mafia don, we're willing to concede that he may not have been the best patient, but her infatuation with the inner workings of a mafia family ended up skewing her professional relationship with Tony, and it resulted in more problems and crippling panic attacks.
Dr. Paul Weston — In Treatment (2008-2010)
This Paris Barclay directed drama about the patients of Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) had a nice three-year run and can still be seen on a variety of streaming option including HBO Max, Prime Video, and AppleTV+. Despite its fairly warm reception from critics and audiences, the tactics that Dr. Weston used with his patients might be considered a little bit extreme in the real world. After all, are we really supposed to trust a shrink who is seriously weighing whether he wants to have an affair with one of his patients, and inserts himself into the lives of other patients way too prominently? Sounds like more problems, not fewer. Not worth the out-of-pocket for sure.
Dr. Andrea Bayden — Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2019)
Sure, Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) had some unfortunate events happen to her during her childhood years, like living with a cult in an underground bunker with a mother who wasn't going to win any awards as a parent, but Kimmy seemed to turn out okay, right? This is why we're a little concerned with her decision to see Dr. Andrea Bayden (Tina Fey) in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Yes, the show is meant to make light of things and satirize others, so maybe it's a little unfair to judge Dr. Bayden's whimsical and less than clinical techniques like we do with therapists in mob shows or other dramas, but we don't trust our sweet Kimmy to just any headshrinker.
Dr. Ben Harmon — American Horror Story Season 1: Murder House (2011)
No one ever said that you had to be a member of Mensa, or even a college graduate to become a psycho-therapist, but come on, Dr. Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott). Sure it was a plot device and all that, but how could you go for so long before realizing that your patients are actually the ghosts of dead people? A week, okay. A month, understandable, but almost an entire season of Ryan Murphy's phenomenal anthology American Horror Story? The always brilliant Murphy muses, Jessica Lange and Evan Peters have issues that they took with them to the grave in the first season of the ongoing horror phenomenon.
Dr. Jean Holloway — Gypsy (2017)
Ok, Jean, we're going to need you to slow your roll quite a bit with your clientele here. In Gypsy, Jean Holloway (Naomi Watts) goes way above and beyond on behalf of her customers using a protocol that might be best described as stalking. In this psychological thriller, she often uses a technique that involves her actually getting involved in her patient's personal lives and assuming fake names in order to infiltrate several situations. Does it make for a better TV show? You can be the judge of that, but we're not really interested in a therapist that is willing to take such extreme liberties with her clients.
Dr. Arnold Wayne — Mad Men (2007-2015)
Some of the therapists on this list come from highly successful and award-winning programs that redefined the television medium. Such is the case with Dr. Arnold Wayne (Andy Umberger) from Mad Men, who is very much the product of the time in which the series takes place. That does not excuse him, however, from violating all sorts of HIPPA and doctor patient privilege laws when he goes behind Betty Hofstadt's (January Jones) back to share her session information with her husband Don Draper (Jon Hamm) when he comes calling. This an absolute no-no.
Dr. Fiona Wallace — Web Therapy (2011-2015)
So who exactly is the doctor and who's the patient in the Lisa Kudrow led comedy, Web Therapy? Kudos to Dr. Fiona Wallace for wanting to help her patients via FaceTime over the internet, but it is recommended that the issues being examined and evaluated belong to the one who is paying you to unburden themselves, not the other way around. We love her enthusiasm and Pollyanna attitude, but aren't quite sure that we're getting the most bang for our buck in this online therapy relationship.
Dr. Tracey Clark — Ally McBeal (1997-2002)
The hilarious Tracey Ullman only appeared in five episodes and only had to change her last name to become therapist, Dr. Tracey Clark in the hit show, Ally McBeal, but she made quite an impact in her limited time. Unconventional is an understatement when describing, Clark, who offered such sage advice to Ally (Calista Flockhart) as punching Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith) and adopting her own theme song that happens to be called, "Tracy," and is actually the theme song from the show. Ullman always delivers the comic gold, and her role as Dr. Tracey is vintage Ullman.