NEW YORK, NY.- The Jewish Museum is presenting Television and Beyond: TV Therapy from August 17, 2018 through January 6, 2019, featuring a selection of television clips exploring psychotherapy and therapists from shows ranging from M*A*S*H and Sex and the City to The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Therapy is sometimes presented in earnest and often with humor, the inherent discomfort expected in a therapy session serving as fodder for comedic set-ups. One of seven sections that make up the Jewish Museum’s third floor collection exhibition, Scenes from the Collection, “Television and Beyond” draws inspiration from the Museum’s National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting.

The clip reel includes such iconic television therapists as The Sopranos’ Dr. Melfi and In Treatment’s Paul Weston. Weston is seen both treating a patient and seeking advice from his old mentor. While some excerpts depict therapy sessions, clips from Sex and the City and The Dick Van Dyke Show explore attitudes and assumptions about therapy, therapists, and those who consult them.

A scene from M*A*S*H strikes a serious note through a sincere conversation between Hawkeye Pierce and recurring character Dr. Sidney Freedman, but other shows, notably Curb Your Enthusiasm – with Larry David as the ultimate neurotic Jewish patient - and the animated Dr. Katz Professional Therapist poke fun at the therapeutic situation.

With more than 4,000 holdings, the National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting is the largest and most comprehensive body of broadcast materials on Jewish culture in the United States. Inspired by the archive, Scenes from the Collection includes a selection of television clips rotating twice a year that examine how Jews have been portrayed and portray themselves, and how mass media has addressed issues of religion, ethnicity, and diversity.