'In Treatment' returns Oct. 25 with new co-stars and new timeslot
Four episodes a week will include Debra Winger and Amy Ryan
Gabriel Byrne as Paul on "In Treatment."
Though I recognize it's an acquired taste, HBO's "In Treatment" was one of my favorite dramas on television when it last aired in May of '09. (You can see my reviews of that season on my old blog.) The wait for a third season is finally over, as HBO has announced that the new season will begin on October 25 at 9 p.m.
Season three will have a slightly new format, new showrunners, new co-stars and will be the first to feature entirely new stories, since the first two seasons were adapted from the Israeli drama "Be'Tipul."
The main constant is the return of Gabriel Byrne as Dr. Paul Weston, who can be a brilliant therapist when he isn't letting his own demons get in the way.
Previous seasons featured five half-hour episodes per week: four of Paul's sessions with his patients, then one of Paul seeing his own shrink, Dr. Gina Toll (Dianne Wiest, who won an Emmy for the first season). In season one, the episodes ran on five consecutive nights. In season two, HBO aired three episodes on Sundays and the other two on Mondays. This year, the number of episodes will be scaled down to four: three patients, played by, in order, Irrfan Khan, Debra Winger and Dane DeHaan; followed by Amy Ryan as Paul's new therapist.
The episodes will air in pairs, with Kahn and Winger on Mondays from 9-10 and DeHaan and Ryan on Tuesdays from 9-10.
The husband-and-wife team of Dan Futterman (actor-turned-Oscar-nominated-writer of "Capote") and Anya Epstein will be the new showrunners, taking over for Warren Leight, who himself took over for season one's Rodrigo Garcia.
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September 9, 2010 at 4:00PM EST Reply to CommentIt's actually Irrfan Khan, he's actually a pretty good Bollywood actor, one of the very few
Will
September 9, 2010 at 4:09PM EST Reply to CommentDo you know how many episodes will be in the season?
J.
September 9, 2010 at 4:16PM EST Reply to CommentFinally! So excited. Sad we'll be getting one less episode per week, though.
James Kang
September 9, 2010 at 4:22PM EST Reply to CommentSounds great. Strong cast, promising new showrunners the four episodes a week schedule is less of a strain to keep up with and watching episodes based on brand new scripts will be interesting. I'm excited.
Siegmund Freud
September 9, 2010 at 5:37PM EST Reply to CommentSo, how many episodes does season 3 have? 28?
LionelHutz
September 9, 2010 at 7:40PM EST Reply to CommentWhat's the reason for doing four episodes instead of five? To reduce the work load on Gabriel Byrne? HBO didn't want to pay for five?
sepinwall Given the low ratings, and the fact that HBO will have to pay more for all-original scripts than they had to pay the season 1 & 2 writers to adapt Be'Tipul, my guess is it's a budget thing.
September 9, 2010 at 9:08PM ESTSad
September 9, 2010 at 7:51PM EST Reply to CommentHBO desperately trying to reclaim its glory days...
JanieJones
September 9, 2010 at 8:18PM EST Reply to CommentI'm happy to have the show back at the end of October. I'll be interested to see, without the Be'Tipul template, how it is different.
I think Byrne does a magnificent job and if a shorter schedule allows for more personal time, so be. Also, my understanding is that (I could be very wrong) Byrne embraces, studies and embodies this character. It must be quite exhausting.
Scheer_Power
September 9, 2010 at 8:48PM EST Reply to CommentSo Holly's not transferring back to Scranton I guess.
sepinwall Schedules aren't the same, and even if they were, In Treatment shoots in such a way that all the actors but Byrne are free to do other stuff at the same time. John Mahoney was appearing in a play in Chicago at the same time he was filming his s2 performance, for instance.
September 9, 2010 at 9:06PM ESTnita
September 9, 2010 at 9:36PM EST Reply to CommentYeah! I am so excited to hear it will be on the air soon, and even happier to hear that Amy Ryan has been cast. Thanks Alan for letting us know.
Kelli Oliver George
September 9, 2010 at 10:16PM EST Reply to CommentI am really excited to see this show coming back. A little sad to see that Dianne Weist is not returning. However! I love Amy Ryan and am thrilled she gets a chance to show her acting chops in a drama. So, everyone wins, right?
Nick
September 9, 2010 at 10:40PM EST Reply to CommentCannot wait. This is always such fascinating television. It'll be very interesting to see Paul's dynamic with Ryan as this new therapist. And Winger's barely done anything in the past decade so this must have been pretty meaty material for her to take it.
lztouchthedream
September 10, 2010 at 11:23AM EST Reply to CommentHere's to hoping this isn't where In Treatment goes off the rails. It doesn't seem like this kind of wholesale cleaning house has ever been good for a show, but on the other hand In Treatment has already dealt with changing show runners, and I really liked the second season.
Also, Amy Ryan is pretty much infallible as far as I'm concerned.
Rachel
September 11, 2010 at 7:38PM EST Reply to CommentFor those who saw this here and wondered -- the season 2 DVDs will be released on October 12th, giving two weeks for people to update themselves.
Stella
September 21, 2010 at 5:59PM EST Reply to CommentLove your reviews of each week of In Treatment, Alan. Byrneholics will be sending folks over here to see what you have to say once Season 3 starts up. Thanks for this heads up on the new season. We can't wait!