Laugh Therapy? It's back on Showtime

Don't forget your therapy session at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays.

You "Web Therapy" session, that is. For those whose cable menu includes Showtime, "Web Therapy" begins a fifth season on July 23.

Not only is the series a hoot but it is unlike anything else on TV. In a medium where ripping off formats and ideas is the norm, that's saying a lot.

Lias Kudrow, who stars as self-centered therapist Fiona Wallice, is the heart and soul of the show, which  was adapted from its original webisode form. An entire season of 10 episodes is shot over three weekends at a Valley studio.

The show was featured in a special program this week at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. After treating an audience to clips from previous seasons, Kudrow and others involved with the show answered questions from Sara Gilbert, herself a former guest star on "Web Therapy" and currently co-host and creator of the CBS daytime show, "The Talk."

Naturally enough, the first one was how this show, in which people receive analysis over the internet, came into being. Kudrow said she had been asked frequently to make a comedy for the internet "and the answer was always, No."

But the former "Friends" star gave it some thought. She concluded just about everything is being done on the internet. However, performing therapy would be "the worst idea in the world and it's hilarious." Pretty soon, she and fellow creator and exec producer Dan Bucatinsky and creator-director Don Roos were making episodes out of three-minute therapy sessions.

Though guests were paid only $900, the show boasts an impressive lists of performers. In addition to former "Friends" co-stars Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc, guests included Meryl Streep, Meg Ryan, Conan O'Brien, Rosie O'Donnell, Jane Lynch, Victor Garber, Rashida Jones and Selma Blair. Steve Carrell is on tap for the coming season.

"Meryl made the mistake of saying, 'Ooh, I like your show,'" Kudrow said. That, in turn, led to a guest spot. Bucatinsky joked it may be the only time Streep's makeup artist got paid more for her work than the legendary actress.

"It's worth the $900," teased Lily Tomlin, who plays Putsy, Fiona's mother, a therapist who uses hand puppets. "I have a certain integrity about my work and I want you to get your money's worth," she deadpanned.

 Both women get a kick out of their characters. Kudrow said she enjoys playing someone who has "no idea how they come across." As for Tomlin, she said, "I like playing characters who have no idea how intolerable they are."

Kudrow said the two "Friends" co-stars who have yet to appear--Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry--may  do so in the future. "They both have said they want to," she said.

"They could be my puppets," Tomlin interjected.

The dialogue is improvised but the show encourages even greater creativity. Often, guests have their own take on how their characters should be played. It was Tomlin's idea, for example, for her character to use puppets.

Some guests, like Garber, had relatively little experience with improv, Bucatinsky said. "But he fell right into the role."

Carrell, on the other hand, was fine without a script. "He took to it like a fish to water and we knew he would," Kudrow said.

The producers wouldn't divulge any details about Carrell's role, so no spoiler alert is required. Instead, just go watch and spoil yourself.