Lisa Kudrow's Online Persona
For Lisa Kudrow, a bad idea has turned into a very entertaining good idea. The actress has developed a series of TV episodes that are currently being aired online about a crazy, self absorbed therapist who has very little patience when it comes to her patients.
Kudrow told co-anchor Julie Chen on "The Early Show" Thursday about her series, "Web Therapy", which is based on loose improvisation.
She said the actors have a lot of freedom to surprise the audience, and each other.
Kudrow said she and her staff outline each episode beforehand in order to give the story some direction, but the rest is up to cast. When it comes to improv-acting, sometimes even the most professional of actors just can't help laughing.
"There's some stuff that was really funny that we just can't use, you know, I get mad at myself because I started laughing," said Kudrow.
Kudrow said the series began with a simple conversation about our world today, and the concept of a character that is just too ridiculous to be true.
"First it was the idea, wouldn't it be funny if someone was offering therapy for three minute at a time, online?" said Kudrow. "While people were at work and they have a session and they feel like, good, I'm in therapy. And then what kind of person would offer it and think it's a really good idea? So, we decided it's a person who's self-serving and thinking there's possibly a lot of money to be made."
Kudrow's character, Fiona Wallace, can be described as a self-indulgent woman who believes three minutes is long enough to listen to others, and is really in the business to make a quick buck.
"And, yeah, she gets clients. But we all see through these I-chat sessions other parts of her life," said Kudrow.
Kudrow's character plays on irony, not only with the incredibly short therapy sessions she conducts, but also because she has no credentials. As she attempts to listen to her patients, she always ends up conducting the conversation back to herself.
When asked what she is poking fun at the most with her show, Kudrow answered, "A bad idea, mostly. But a bad idea that's made possible with the internet. ... Therapy for three-minute sessions, I think, is a really bad idea. And provided by a person who's not credentialed is a bad idea. That she's able to sort of get away with it for a while, I mean, in our world anyway."
The web series is now in its third season featuring guest stars such as Louis Dreyfus, Molly Shannon, and Selma Blair. "Web Therapy" has gotten so much attention that it will likely be coming to Showtime this fall or sometime in 2011.