Frasier Crane, Jennifer Melfi and more TV shrinks
![Kelsey Grammer, left, as Frasier Crane, and David Hyde Pierce,...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3ANmJiYmQ5NTItYzU4ZC00%3ANTItYzU4ZC00YWJiM2My%2Fimg76h8_web.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Kelsey Grammer, left, as Frasier Crane, and David Hyde Pierce, as his brother Niles Crane, on "Frasier" on Nov. 9, 1999. Credit: NBC
“The Alienist,” which debuts Monday, Jan. 22, focuses on the title character, the late-19th century equivalent of what today we’d call a psychologist. So perhaps we might even consider Daniel Brühl’s Dr. Laszlo Kreizler as TV’s first headshrinker. Here are five more recent examples:
DR. JENNIFER MELFI (Lorraine Bracco, “The Sopranos,” 1999-2007) She bravely guided Tony Soprano through his therapy sessions.
DR. BOB HARTLEY (Bob Newhart, “The Bob Newhart Show,” 1972-78) Newhart brought his button-down humor to Chicago, where he had to deal with his nutty patients, friends and co-workers.
TOBIAS FUNKE (David Cross, “Arrested Development,” 2003-06, 2013) He was the chief resident of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital until he lost his license for giving CPR to a man who was not actually having a heart attack.
FRASIER CRANE (Kelsey Grammer, “Cheers,” 1984-93, and “Frasier,” 1993-2004) Before he became a radio host, Frasier was a Freudian (and his younger brother, Niles, was a Jungian).
DR. KATZ (Voiced by Jonathan Katz, “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist,” 1995-2002) Animated series about a therapist whose patients are famous comedians and actors.
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