The Best of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. Out Tuesday. (********8/10)
“I am a racism connaisseur.”
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was a bizarrely-animated Comedy Central TV series featuring a type of computer animation dubbed “squigglevision”. It’s a rather disconcerting style, where the inanimate objects look normal, but the outlines of the people are constantly “squiggling” around. It’s too bad that the animation is so obnoxious and distracting from what was otherwise an excellent show. And the best of it is here on this DVD.
When they say “the best of”, they really mean “the biggest stars to appear on the show”. Everyone on the show appears as “themselves”. So when Denis Leary comes on the show, he is really playing Denis Leary, just in a cartoon therapy session. Most of the superstars on this disc are basically doing their standup routines, just in the context of a therapist’s chair. For some of them, this really works. Like Dave Chappelle, whose bit about being the only black guy on an airplane is still one of the funniest bits I’ve ever heard. The extra pictures that add to the routine are fantastic, like the little graph he pulls up that shows the statistics on terrorists taking black hostages, versus white and hispanic and oriental ones.
Patton Oswalt’s bit is hilarious, where he tries to convince Dr. Katz that he functions better if he has someone to hate, and that he would like Dr. Katz to be his nemesis. It’s an inspired bit, where he keeps asking the therapist to be more evil, and maybe tent his fingers some. Also great are Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, and Conan O’Brien. There are a few misses, like the bit with Julia Louis-Dreyfus where she does the whole session over the phone, and keeps having to go to the bathroom.
Overall, this really is a funny DVD, and a great collection of the best Dr. Katz moments. It’s just too bad about that annoying animation. The Best Of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist comes out Tuesday, December 2nd, from Paramount Home Entertainment.