What to Do During the Writer's Strike, Vol. 18: Get In Treatment

HBO's ambitious new series, In Treatment, starring Gabriel Byrne, requires viewers to tune in Monday through Friday for a 30-minute session for a large chunk of 2008. Not surprisingly, viewers have shown fatigue. This has turned out to be a positive development for cheapskates like myself who don't have HBO or cable, and rely on the Internet that's not a Seinfeld re-run.

The Home Box Office is offering the first three weeks of the series online for free. That's 12 episodes of Paul (Byrne) counseling patients, and three episodes in which he's on the other end of the couch.

I checked out the first episode last night, and, although I probably wouldn't normally let this show slip into my life, I'm intrigued by the format -- a recurring patient for each day of the week -- and am willing to checking out at least the first three weeks, even if it's only during the commute.

Oh, yeah, please, don't give me that guff.