Gabriel Byrne is Dr. Paul Weston on HBO’s “In Treatment”

“In Treatment”

When: Monday through Friday at 9:30 p.m., starting today.

Where: HBO

In a move made to piss off Tom Cruise and his Scientology buddies off, HBO has adapted hit Israeli television show “Be’tipul” into a new 45-part series entitled “In Treatment” which will air for the first time tonight at 9:30PM.

The series is the brainchild of Hagai Levi, the creator of the first Israeli drama series adapted for US television. Despite the daily drama of Israeli life (suicide bombings, war, sex scandals and problems with the Palestinians) there is not a single gun, bomb or suicide bombing in the Israeli version of “In Treatment” instead the series involves a single set and two chairs with actors simply talking to each other.

HBO will air 45 episodes of their version of the show five nights a week starring Gabriel Byrne as psychotherapist ‘Paul Weston’ and Dianne Weist as his therapist guide. “In Treatment” became a television and social phenomenon in Israel, sweeping the Israeli television awards for best drama series, best director, best screenplay, best actor , and best actress, and attracting huge audiences in Israel.

Critics at Israel’s three largest newspapers competed for superlatives to describe the show. Haaretz called it “the most important achievement in a drama series ever accomplished in Israel,” and said it “proved that minimalism in television can generate maximum quality.” Yedioth Ahronoth said it contained “the most sublime, refined dialogue ever to be seen on an Israeli screen.”

The format is simple – each day in the week is dedicated to one patient’s therapy session with Weston (Byrne’s character)

Here’s the shrink’s schedule for “In Treatment“

Mondays

‘Laura’ (Melissa George) Laura is a gorgeous anesthesiologist with serious relationship issues. George is best known for her role on TV’s “Alias” and the Australian hit soap opera “Home and Away” where she made her debut

Tuesdays

‘Alex’ (Blair Underwood) is a cocky Navy pilot with his own brand of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Golden Globe nominated 41-year-old Underwood is best known for his role on TV’s “LA Law“

Wednesdays

‘Sophie’ (Mia Wasikowska) is a 16-year-old gymnast who may or may not have a death wish.

Thursdays

‘Jake’ and ‘Amy’ (Josh Charles, Embeth Davidtz) are a married couple struggling with a problematic pregnancy. The 36-year old Charles is best known for his work on ABC’s “Sports Night” and Davidtz is a 42-year old former model from South Africa who was wonderful in 2005’s “Junebug“

Fridays

‘Paul Weston’ and ‘Dr. Gina Toll’ (Gabriel Byrne, Dianne Weist) Here we presume the Weston shrink character checks in with his own therapist and relays a re-cap to the week’s sessions with the other characters.

So how did “In Treatment” get to HBO from Israel? Well, the show came to HBO producer and creator of “Entourage” Mark Wahlberg and his company Leverage through Israeli actress Noa Tishby who saw the show in Israel and returned to LA with a disk with the first 5 episodes on it. Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Entertainment saw the show and says “We felt ‘In Treatment’ was unique on several levels, its format, its content, and its execution. For all of those reasons and more we felt it was a excellent fit for our original programming schedule.”

Then writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (HBO’s “Carnivale,” “Big Love“) came on-board. The reviews for the series thus far have been cautious as the format is revolutionary for the small screen. Should be interesting to see how the series is received. We’ll be watching….

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