Web Therapy (TV series)

Plot

Cast

• Lisa Kudrow as Fiona Wallice, a self-professed web therapist who offers quick therapy sessions over the internet. At the beginning of the first season, she is focused on building her own franchise, especially after having been involved in a mysterious scandal towards the end of her previous career in finance. The series gradually reveals that Fiona has just as many issues as her patients: she was obese as a child; she was ignored by her parents in favor of her sister; she was nearly thrown out of college for plagiarism and sleeping with her professor; and her husband, Kip, is secretly gay. She refuses to acknowledge any of these problems, however, and is not smart enough to realize that most of the people in her life dislike her, and is too narcissistic to care. She eventually develops a softer side, however, as she learns to care for the people around her.

  Recurring cast

• Dan Bucatinsky as Jerome Sokoloff, an employee services worker at Visa who is Fiona's only holdover from her 50-minute sessions. After a disastrous attempt to use Jerome and Hayley's apparent incest to capitalize on Web Therapy, she uses him to check on her husband's extracurricular activities. This results in Jerome losing his job because of his alarming assertiveness, but to make up for that, she gives him a job as her personal assistant. Along with helping Fiona write her book, Jerome dabbles in side projects without Fiona's consent.
• Victor Garber as Kip Wallice, Fiona's long-suffering, closeted husband of 19 years who is also her attorney. Fiona discovers his sexual proclivities when Robin tells her Kip tried to seduce her because he thought she was a transvestite; she also learns about his secret life after finding receipts for gay pornography and sex toys. When she confronts him on his behavior, he denies that he is gay, claiming there is a conspiracy against him and that he bought the items for a co-worker's bachelor party. He then says that he wants her to be his wife while he runs for Congress. Fiona is forced to play the role of supportive wife for a while, even at the expense of her romance with Austen, but her discovery of Kip's relationship with Ben reconfirms her earlier suspicions, and it does not take her long to let Robin reveal the relationship through taped footage. While Kip and Ben go to New Mexico afterwards, Kip and Fiona begin divorce proceedings in order to move on with their lives.
• Lily Tomlin as Putsy Hodge, Fiona's wealthy, unloving mother. Putsy thinks Web Therapy is a ridiculous waste of time and an embarrassment, and she lets Fiona know it in no uncertain terms. Initially introduced as a woman who seems to favor Kip over her two daughters, Putsy develops a mentally unstable personality as she takes in a son she put up for adoption long before marrying Fiona's father, resulting in Fiona stopping him from stealing from her, starts to exhibit even less motherly behaviour towards her grandchildren, and even starts a Net Therapy business running in competition with Fiona's Web Therapy.
• Jennifer Elise Cox as Gina Spinks, the ditsy receptionist at Fiona's former workplace and her best friend. Gina looks up to Fiona as a role model and follows her advice, and Fiona sees Gina as the only female connection to her former workplace. Gina is there to provide favors for Fiona relating to her investors at Web Therapy, and can dish out important information about her co-workers, including Richard, and in return, Fiona gives relationship advice to Gina, helps her find a job in Alaska during hard times, and helps her and Austen draw up terms for a pre-nup mostly in Gina's favor. Their close friendship is strong that they engage in web-chat mocktails together and engage in "girl-talk" even when other people are in the room.
• Tim Bagley as Richard Pratt, Fiona's former co-worker whose relationship issues Fiona solves. Afterward she inadvertently disorients the relationship causing Richard to develop feelings for her. He stalks her until Fiona threatens to terminate contact between them unless he tones his behaviour down. Fiona later gets him a job with Kip's campaign, during which he starts dating Robin. However, Robin thinks that this is only because he is still in love with Fiona. Fiona discovers Robin is being hurtful toward Richard, and she fires Robin. Richard takes this as a romantic gesture. He nevertheless marries Robin soon afterwards, although he still feels her condescending behaviour is affecting him.
• Julie Claire as Robin Griner, a gossip girl documentarian who tries to begin a relationship with Kip, discovers his gay tendencies first and becomes the primary antagonist of the series. She wants to reunite with Fiona, but after discovering her side of the story, threatens to release her recording of the conversation unless she gets a job in the campaign. The job does not last long as Fiona discovers Robin is dating Richard as a rebound, has tapes exposing Kip and Ben's relationship, and is condescending to Richard; he fires her. After releasing the tapes and putting the campaign in jeopardy, Robin marries Richard, has an affair leaving the paternity of her child uncertain, and is contacted by Fiona to hand over the tapes to prove her innocence, while Fiona also expresses interest in her work and to reunite.
• Alan Cumming as Austen Clarke, a worldwide media mogul who happens to do good deeds to people in poor countries, and Fiona's main love interest. Fiona seems to have much more in common with Austen than with her own husband, and it is by luck that she secures both a book publishing deal and a potential romance with him. Their romance has been put on long-term hold twice, the first time being Kip's campaign, for which Austen becomes a backer, and the second when Fiona discovers Austen may have impregnated Gina during their time apart. While Fiona tries to distance herself from Austen, he manages to gain Fiona's forgiveness by buying her a dream penthouse apartment in New York and shelving Putsy's Web Therapy.
• Rashida Jones as Hayley Feldman-Tate, Jerome's fiancée and later his wife. After some sibling-rivalry sessions that she became uncomfortable with, Hayley has developed a strange personality, as she expects Jerome to handle and pay for her expensive demands for the wedding, is arrested for mysterious scissors in her luggage before her trip, entertains clients at Fiona's New York house, and is mentioned by her surrogate that she hates Fiona. However, on top of that, she helps Jerome help rework Fiona's book, becomes a head writer for the movie adaptation and becomes Fiona's personal assistant while Jerome takes leave, but Fiona thinks that Hayley is less reliable than Jerome.
• Michael McDonald as Ben Tomlund, Kip's campaign manager. He clashes with Fiona on several issues, is the first to actively warn her to suspend her treatment modality to get her accreditation, and is discovered by Fiona to be having an affair with Kip. After the campaign, Fiona becomes suspicious that Ben is trying to set her up during an investigation.

  Guest stars

Episodes

Production

Casting

Reception

Home media

International versions