Dr Katz, was that show great or what

Yes, Ben.

The most awesome line ever in Dr. Katz was when he was drinking a lot and Ben was all, "You know, you're starting to develop a drinking problem." And Dr. Katz is all, "What you refer to as my drinking problem I refer to as my drinking hobby." That was so fantastic that that alone makes the show a classic, never mind the fact that they apparently based the "bitchy secretary" character on me (even gave her shaggy red hair!)

"I wanted a son called Gregory, but my wife's all, we need two names, I'm having twins. I just want to know what's wrong with the name Schmegory. Gregory and Schmegory, I like it".

or, maybe there isn't.

9/11 changed everything :(

this show sucked.

I liked it. What channel was it on in the UK? Can't remember.

did not age well

I liked the little visual pun cutaways, much subtler and better handled than say... Family Guy.

the family guy is the most annoying show on television.

haven't watched it since it was originally aired, but some random lines still stick with me....

dr katz: you're not going to shave all the hair off your body again, are you?
ben: I need to be clean and smooth.

ANTS! ANTS! can you supersize that?

that's how they get you!

MUCH funnier than Seinfeld,ever.

-- duane zarakov, Saturday, June 9, 2001 12:00 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Link

^^ who the fuck was THIS guy?!

what is with people calling it "the family guy"?

What is the DEAL with that?

Who ARE these people who call it that?

Go back to your Buffy DVDs pal.

Yo but so I get the feeling Ian (and/or Bell) had a Bad Experience with Dr Katz a few months ago and are totally anti- now, which is cool and all, but we had that other thread and all and I appreciated that there were many here with a big love of Dr Katz and I will cling to that feeling, you know? There are few things I find quite as calming as watching this show, the whole preponderance of almost-groany Uncle-style humor and the fairly mellow conversational tone of the whole thing. (This might actually connect to my Cosby Show love, the whole niceness of humor that stems from people very calmly shooting the shit with one another.)

Katz, at the bar, tells a joke: a guy's coming home early from a business trip, so he sends his wife a fax saying he'll be there that night -- but when he gets home, he walks into the house and finds his wife having sex with one of his colleagues. He can't believe it; he walks out and goes straight to his therapist and tells him what happened. Therapist says: "Well, maybe she didn't get the fax." Stanley groans, Julie rolls her eyes, Katz explains the joke by saying "well, really, it's a joke about the limits of technology."

That, in Dr. Katz-voice, is kinda the crux of awesomeness with this

There are few things I find quite as calming as watching this show

Says a lot.

your mom says a lot

hey it's fair, i see how it could be calming. i just thought it was kind of painful to watch, despite really liking it as a kid. people with veronica mars dvds should not throw stones etc etc.

I really miss it. I loved those characters.

..."well, really, it's a joke about the limits of technology."
That, in Dr. Katz-voice, is kinda the crux of awesomeness with this

-- nabisco, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 23:06

Yeah, sometimes the little hesitations and "um"s and "well"s in that voice could crack you up.

i watched a couple of these on youtube after seeing this thread & the written show was pretty great but the comedy guest appearances were mostly painful & just seemed like filler/pandering

Yeah, I think Ian was complaining last time that the comedy bits feel dated and boring, which is generally true -- it's 10-year-old observational comedy, and I doubt anyone making the show had any expectation that it'd be asked to stand any test of time. (I do like seeing mediocre stand-up comedy illustrated, though. Especially the oaf and the manatee. And Wonder Woman.) The original expectation surely wasn't much more than wrapping a bit of story around the kind of standup Comedy Central would have been running 24/7 anyway.

There's a point in the series, though -- maybe this coincides with having a bigger budget? -- where there's more plot/character stuff and less comedy space-filler, and those parts are a whole lot better viewing now.

(Also it's always better with the guests who don't just sit there and do a stand-up routine -- there are some, like Mamet and Al Franken, who just have conversations with Katz, which is much better. I think Franken just spends 10 minutes complaining that he can't get a good appointment.)

calming is what does it for me.... this and mystery science theater were the shit to zone out to at every shitty motel or friends houses since i didnt have cable growing up, i watched like 8 hours of dr katz in charleston once while my mom + cousins went to the beach

its all real low budget and genial and laid back and it just feels like running into an old friend and wandering around town looking at weird stuff

yeah i got that same vibe, esp from the katz/ben dynamic & katzs kinda pathetic romantic efforts; i think comedies that can really pull off that kind of thing deserve a lot more respect than they get (sez biggest seinfeld fan ever)

best guest - dom irrera

doctor? i bought you a figurine.

Why wasn't this in the sitcom tourney?

best guest - dom irrera
otm so reliable. andy kindler had a dud appearance or two that threw off his average

Re: comparisons to Family Guy:

the voice of Ben on Dr. Katz = the voice of Carl on Family Guy (the Mini-Mart gas station attendant)

http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/H._Jon_Benjamin

and Laura = Laura Silverman, Sarah's older sister! WTF!

ugh. do not compare to family guy plz

I know! They did! (points at earlier posts)

So I long held it at an article of faith that Dr Katz was better than Home Movies, but over the past couple years I have faced the truth: in a lot of ways, Home Movies is better. It's still not Dr Katz, though.

Two episodes I need to dig out of the DVD set: the one where Ben's mother visits for Thanksgiving, and the one where Ben thinks Dr Katz is an alcoholic.

i just watched that one. its hilarious.

Science Court, in its initial incarnation, was the best of the bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRA7BuPFJlU

New show from Loren Bouchard. "Bob's Burgers"

Has H. Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, a shitload more alt/UCB-type comics.

I liked it, but found the 2nd ep much better than the first.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/207113/bobs-burgers-crawl-space

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/822/822768/dr-katz-professional-therapist-the-complete-series-20070925012430204_640w.jpg

Anyone get this? Very folks ever seemed to see it in the UK but the whole thing was on Paramount Comedy back in the late 90s. I HAVE to get this.

Very *few* i should say.

This is one of the best shows ever

Returning in podcast form!

http://www.avclub.com/article/dr-katz-back-healing-business-new-audio-series-255104

Only it'll be paywalled

Dr. Katz: The Audiobook, out yesterday

I think it's all new stuff - the first chapter had Kevin Nealon talking about emoji and 23AndMe

https://www.audible.com/pd/Comedy/Dr-Katz-The-Audiobook-Audiobook/B07FM7SY4Q?asin=B07FM7SY4Q&source_code=ASSORAP0511160006

Louie Anderson
Todd Barry
H. John Benjamin
David Cross
Rachel Dratch
Susie Essman
Paul Feig
Gilbert Gottfried
Seth Green
Jon Hamm
Cheryl Hines
Dom Irrera
Jonathan Katz
Laura Kightlinger
Kyle Kinane
Jen Kirkman
Al Madrigal
David Mamet
Marc Maron
Demetri Martin
Kate Micucci
Kevin Nealon
Rick Overton
Paula Poundstone
Greg Proops
Colin Quinn
Erica Rhodes
Andy Richter
Bob Saget
Kristen Schaal
Laura Silverman
Jenny Slate
Wanda Sykes
Scott Thompson
Paul F. Thompkins
Baron Vaughn
Reggie Watts
Fred Willard

i adore this show and jonathan katz.

he has a new (or new to me) podcast called "hey, we're back" that i'm going to check out over the weekend. also going to see if i can track down the dr. katz podcast -- looks like it might be in youtube (which is where you can also find almost all of the original TV show episodes)

nice to see nabisco being otm by repping for home movies upthread, i adore it too