TV Show Review: Necessary Roughness - Season 1

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great acting. Mildly entertaining.

Cons: Characters on self-destruct too much of the time

The Bottom Line: 

Mild entertainment

But I was not grabbed by it

Like some other shows

"You Want Me to Write Down My Feelings?"  "Yes I Do."  "White People."

I’m not quite sure who thought that therapy would be an interesting subject for a TV show, but that’s the premise behind Necessary Roughness, one of two new shows that the USA Network debuted in the summer of 2011.  Since I watch all their shows, I’m sure it’s no surprise that I watched it.  I made it through season one, but I’m not sure it will survive season two on my DVR.

The show is based on a true story, but how true it is remains a mystery.  (Usually by the time something goes to TV, it’s got the same names and a somewhat similar idea to the original.)  It focuses on Dr. Dani Santino (Callie Thorne), a therapist whose life is turned upside down when she finds her soon to be ex-husband in bed with another woman.  Now with the job of full time bread winner and single parent to teens Ray Jr. (Patrick Johnson) and Lindsay (Hannah Marks), she needs something to help pay the bills.

And that something comes in the form of Terrence “TK” King (Mahcad Brooks).  He’s the wide receiver for the New York Hawks and their best player.  But he’s recently been dropping every pass sent his way.  Can she get him catching footballs again?  Even if she can, will his wild personal life overwhelm any progress they make in therapy?

Actually, the initial results are so good, she finds herself hired as the on call therapist for the professional Football team, where she now has to cross paths daily with Matt Donnally (Marc Blucas).  Matt is the physical therapist for the team, and Dani quickly develops a crush on him.  There’s also the mysterious Nico (Scott Cohen) who starts sending more clients Dani’s way.  She gets involved when two wives of players on the team start cat fighting.  Outside of football, she helps a professional poker player who has gone a couple years without wins, a news anchor who has started freezing up on screen, and a female boxer who blacks out in the ring.

The episodes of this show quickly fall into the familiar USA Network formula.  While TK is occasionally the main client of the show, usually he’s in a sub-plot that ties into the main client of the episode.  That gives each episode two stories minimum to balance.  Sometimes, there’s even a third that involves Dani’s personal life or the latest shenanigans with her kids.  As a result, the episodes are full with never a dull moment.

And for once the formula just doesn’t interest me.  The episodes are so predictable you can almost set your clocks by them, including when Dani will realize what will help her client of the week make a major breakthrough.  All the complications before then might not really even matter.  So the main stories of the week are diverting but not majorly entertaining.

Let’s face it; many of the shows I love could be described that way, including much on the USA Network.  But it’s the characters that keep me coming back.  Here, I don’t much care of the characters.  Terrence seems determined to self-destruct, and I can’t stand watching characters who act stupidly.  Speaking of which, I know it’s a cliché that dealing with your own problems is much different than dealing with someone else’s, but Dani’s reactions to things in her personal life are the exact opposite of what she’d tell a client to do.  Heck, I can usually figure out what is going on with her kids early on.  It’s almost like she wants her life to self-destruct as well.

Then again, maybe it’s just because this is a show that doesn’t involve mystery and crime every week.  Maybe that’s why I don’t find it as fun as the others.

So why did I keep watching?  As much as the self-destructive behavior of TK and sometimes Dani drove me crazy, I did like seeing how she would wind up helping the client of the week.  That part always made me feel good.  It helped that my roommate last summer really liked it, so I took the path of least resistance and would watch it, too instead of leaving the room.  Finally, I couldn’t help but think about In Plain Sight, which I was ambivalent about initially but grew on me as it went along.

And let’s be clear, despite my complaints, I really am ambivalent about the show.  If I hated it, I wouldn’t have watched it.  But I could easily turn it off and not watch it again.

Another reason I kept watching was the acting.  Everyone is so compelling that I can’t help but care for them even when they are acting stupidly.

The first season consisted of 12 episodes, and those are preserved here in their native wide screen and full surround on 3 discs.  In the way of extras, we get deleted scenes and outtakes.

I’m interested in seeing where Necessary Roughness goes from season one.  I haven’t decided if I will stick with it or not.  It’s not a bad show, but it’s not as addicting as the others on the USA Network.

Season 1 Episodes:

1. Pilot

2. Anchor Management

3. Spinning Out

4. Habit Forming

5. Poker Face

6. Dream On

7. Whose Team are You on?

8. Losing Your Swing

9. Forget Me Not

10. A Wing and a Player

11. Baggage Claim

12. Goal Line