DVD Review: The Best of Dr. Katz
Paramount Home Video Presents Jonathan Katz's Comedy Central Show
Dec 1, 2008
Nothing more than a group of comedians performing their standup routines in Squigglevision alongside star Jonathan Katz, The Best of Dr. Katz Professional Therapist is driven by the guest stars, not the actual stars. There are some wonderful moments, but they're outweighed by plenty that are strictly mediocre.
David Duchovny, Sarah Silverman, Denis Leary On The Best of Dr. Katz
The Best of Dr. Katz Professional Therapist gets rid of all the annoying plot and vignettes that characterized the show (which ran from 1995 to 1999), and puts the guest stars front and center. Essentially, the DVD features the various standup comedians or actors who guested on the show riffing on whatever they feel like, occasionally punctuated with animated montages that illustrate their monologues.
So, if you're thinking this is a cheap excuse to get a bunch of comics doing their routines in animated form, you're essentially correct.
Animation-wise, this show didn't have a lot to write home about. The show was rendered in Squigglevision, which allowed the animators to quickly render the animation to the guest stars' monologues, and occasional banter with the host. Compared to Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues (which was animated on her laptop computer), Dr. Katz suffers from too many stone-faced characters and a serious lack of expression.
It also means that how successful the show is very much depends on the aforementioned guest star. Denis Leary, Susie Essman, Margaret Cho or Patton Oswalt's monologues are a lot of fun, and Kevin Nealon, Janeane Garofalo and Dave Chappelle get a couple of good riffs going. But the less said about Conan O'Brien, David Duchovny, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Louis C.K.'s routines, the better.
DVD Extras with More from Jonathan Katz, H. John Benjamin, Laura Silverman
Other than the inevitable trailers for other Comedy Central shows, Dr. Katz takes the viewer on a tour of his favourite Ben (H. John Benjamin) and Laura (Laura Silverman) moments. If you're thinking that it's just another excuse to rerun bits from the original show, you win a virtual cookie.
There are some funny bits in these snippets, but Katz's low-key delivery can sometimes kill the momentum that the episodes need to deliver sustained laughs.
Final Analysis
Your appreciation for The Best of Dr. Katz Professional Therapist depends largely on whether or not comedians like Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin or Richard Lewis make you roll on the floor, or run screaming from the room. That said, there are also plenty of moments that just make the view say, "Meh" and they're enough to place it into the "ain't half bad but ain't half good" category.
Overall, The Best of Dr. Katz Professional Therapist is good for some chuckles, but not enough to push this DVD into the "must own" category. It gets a 5/10.
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