'In Treatment'

In these strike-plagued days of endless reruns and empty, aching TiVo queues, just about anything new from HBO would be cause for rejoicing. But "In Treatment," a half-hour drama that debuts tonight, is the proverbial manna in the desert. And not just because it's based on a popular Israeli television show. Cleverly conceived, it boasts a star-studded cast (Gabriel Byrne, Dianne Wiest, Blair Underwood) who achieve, at times, theatrical transcendence. And perhaps most important considering these troubled times, it airs five days a week! Yes, that's right, every weeknight for nine weeks.

As God is my witness, your TiVo will never go hungry again. No, nor any of its kin.

Here's the setup: Paul (Byrne) is a therapist who sees patients in his home. Each episode is devoted to one patient's session: Monday, it's Laura (Melissa George), a young doctor with the hots for Paul and some fairly obvious father issues. Tuesday, it's Alex (Underwood), a cocky fighter pilot who completed a mission that left 16 Iraqi boys dead, not that this is a problem for him or anything. Wednesday brings Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), a troubled teenage gymnast who may or may not have attempted suicide. On Thursday, it's Jake and Amy (Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz), a couple fighting over what to do now that their five-year attempt to get pregnant has worked (she wants to abort, he doesn't). Friday is the best, because that's when Paul takes himself, his fraying marriage and various midlife anxieties to the home of his former mentor, retired therapist Gina (Wiest).

If you've ever been in therapy, thought about going into therapy, known anyone in therapy or just really like Gabriel Byrne and/or Dianne Wiest (and I think I have covered the vast majority of Americans here), "In Treatment" is television as controlled substance -- highly addictive. The therapist's office may be in danger of being worn ragged as a dramatic construct -- indeed, between "The Sopranos" and "Tell Me You Love Me," it is tempting to wonder if HBO executives are making some kind subconscious plea for help. But "In Treatment" writer-director Rodrigo Garcia refuses to apologize or equivocate. He just puts troubled people in a (very lovely, evocatively lighted) room and writes the hell out of it.