"Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist" is — inexplicably — back

How great is it that in these terrible times of civil unrest and mass layoffs and King of Pop deaths, something as sudden and inexplicably wonderful as Comedy Central re-airing "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist" can happen? Sure, it's at 7 in the morning, Monday through Thursday, but for a classic show like this you're OK with readjusting your sleep schedule.

"Dr. Katz" originally aired on Comedy in the mid-90s, when the economy was robust and Michael Jackson was creepy, but alive. It starred comedian Jonathan Katz as a psychoanalyst whose patients were mostly stand-ups. In fact, half of each episode was simply a way for guest comics to perform their shtick in animated form (if you can call the show's trademark Squigglevision style "animation.") The rest of the time was spent on Katz's dealings with his lazy, snarky son Ben (the awesome H. Jon Benjamin) and disinterested receptionist Laura (Laura Silverman, sister of Sarah.)

Why Comedy Central decided to bless us with "Dr. Katz" reruns and not, say, "Shorties Watching Shorties" or "Drawn Together," is I guess one of those things we shouldn't question, else it disappear. Just enjoy one of those gems of a show that was always smart, always funny, and was, until recently, dearly missed.

As a taste for those unfamiliar, here's a clip with the late, great Mitch Hedberg:



— Adam Reinhard, areinhard@greenbaypressgazette.com