Reigning Katz

Comedy Central's Dr. Katz and his creator Jonathan Katz.

H

84

is success as a psychiatrist
may not be a doctor, but he knows what it
is mind-boggling: a TV series, means to spend time on the proverbial
videos, cassettes, a book.
couch: Mr. Katz spent 14 years in therapy.
Jonathan Katz must be psy-
How did his own doctor feel about Mr.
ched from all this success.
Katz making a living by supplying the voice
But talk to the mild-mannered mental of a cartoon shrink? "He felt incredibly
maven and discover that it hasn't turned ripped off," says Mr. Katz. "He didn't help
his head.
me much as a therapist, but I was influ-
After all, Mr. Katz is quick to point out, enced by his style."
he isn't a real psychiatrist; he just plays
Jonathan Katz the character has to have
one on TV.
the patience of Job, since so many of his
But what a popular one he plays: "Dr. patients are eager for quick fixes.
Katz: Professional Therapist" is one of
What's especially funny about the Katz
Comedy Central's key hits. The animated clientele is that they are funny — mainly
series airs 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. on Sundays comedians, supplying voices for their own
and 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays angst-laden animated characters. (Guest
on the cable network.
voices have included Garry Shandling,
So, how did a former stand-up comic be- Richard Lewis, Larry Miller and Rita Rud-
come a standout in the TV medical field?
ner, among many others.)
"Actually," the real Jonathan Katz says
There seems to be a special accent on
in that familiar soft-spoken voice with a the characters' sense of humor — namely,
hard edge of irony, "we wanted the char- a sense that it's a Jewish way of looking at
acter to be a dentist originally. But after a life.
couple of episodes, we realized that no one
"Yes, there is a Jewish rhythm," agrees
would understand what the patients were Mr. Katz. But maybe that's because "you're
saying because of the cotton in their responding to a guy who's Jewish (Katz)
mouths."
and a comedian.
So instead, Mr. Katz became the Bob
"And we have a cast of five — four of
Newhart of the Prozac set.
whom are Jewish. And the fifth," who plays
The former comedian who shares his
an African-American bartender, "is an
name and voice with the cartoon character Ethiopian Jew."
Really? No, not really.
Michael Elkin is entertainment editor of
How real is the Jonathan Katz on
the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia.
screen? The interplay between doctor and

patient is distilled from hours of improv
among Mr. Katz and his guest stars. Pos-
sibly more precious are the comically cor-
rect conversations the cartoon doctor has
with his mixed-up mess of a son, Benjamin
(voice of H. John Benjamin), who lives at
home because he has yet to find the ideal
job that will address his talent of unlim-
ited inertia.
While the TV Katz's greatest challenge
is his son, the pill, back home in Newton,
Mass., Jonathan Katz the three-dimen-
sional figure has no such problems. He has
two well-adjusted daughters and is hap-
pily wed, unlike the TV doctor, who is di-
vorced.
Did the real Mrs. Katz ever take it per-
sonally that her husband would create a
single version of himself for TV? "Nah,"
says Mr. Katz. "She's just thrilled I'm work-
ing:
,

Is he ever. Jonathan Katz recently
signed on with the prestigious Dream-
Works company. He and partner Tom Sny-
der, whose software firm provides the-
"Squigglevision" effect of the "Dr. Katz"
characters, will offer DreamWorks a series
of shows.
But "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist"
isn't about to give up his TV practice. That
would mean a lot of anxiety attacks for the
show's many fans.
With all his success — including col-
laboration with screenwriter-friend David

Mamet in film and earning an Emmy
Award for voiceover for "Dr. Katz" — Mr.
Katz can't forget his more humble roots.
"Seventeen years ago," he says, "I played
the front of a group called the Katzenjam-
mer Band. On a good night, we'd make
$300 — divided by six people."
His Jewish background may have
helped enrich his character on TV:
"Both of my parents were involved with
Jewish organizations — my father was a
synagogue administrator; my mother was
national chairwoman for Mizrachi Women
— but neither was religious."
Jonathan Katz, however, got a good dose
of religion when he got married: "I married
into a family of Orthodox Jews. My in-laws
are so religious, they have two sets of satel-
lite dishes."
Perhaps having greater impact on
Jonathan Katz was his dad's paid position
— as executive director of a psychiatric
clinic in New York.
Mr. Katz doesn't shrink from the obvi-
ous parallel. "The only thing," he says, "is
my father never believed in therapy."
Certainly, the Comedy Central series
has been therapeutic financially for the for-
mer stand-up comic. Is Jonathan Katz
playing mind games, possibly acting out a
wish of his own by portraying a doctor? Did
he ever want to be a psychiatrist?
"Oh, no," he says.
"People don't like to confide in me." O