Necessary Roughness

Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness original intertitle
Genre	Drama
Created by	Liz Kruger Craig Shapiro
Starring	Callie Thorne Marc Blucas Scott Cohen Hannah Marks Patrick Johnson Mehcad Brooks
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jeffrey Lieber Liz Kruger Craig Shapiro Kevin Dowling
Producer(s)	Donna Dannenfelser Joe Sabatino
Production company(s)	Sony Pictures Television Universal Cable Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	USA Network
Original run	June 29, 2011 (2011-06-29)[1] – present

Necessary Roughness is a USA Network television series starring Callie Thorne and Marc Blucas. The one-hour drama series was picked up for 12 episodes on January 19, 2011.^[2] The series debuted on June 29, 2011, with a 90-minute premiere episode.^[1][3] The second season is scheduled to premiere on June 6, 2012.^[4]

Overview

The series centers on a tough Long Island divorcee who, in order to make ends meet, gets a job as a therapist for a professional football team. Her career begins to take off when athletes, musicians, politicians and other celebrities start to request her tough love therapy. She must learn to balance her new career with being a single mother.

Cast

Main cast

• Callie Thorne as Dr. Danielle "Dani" Santino: The protagonist. Dani is a tough divorcee who, to make ends meet, becomes the therapist for a professional football team and quickly becomes sought after by other athletes, musicians, politicians and those living in the spotlight.
• Marc Blucas as Matthew Donnally: The New York Hawks' athletic trainer to whom Danielle is attracted.
• Scott Cohen as Nico Careles: A former Navy SEAL from Pittsburgh; employed as the team's head of security and "fixer", he works closely with Danielle.
• Hannah Marks as Lindsay Santino: Dani's rebellious teenage daughter.
• Patrick Johnson as Ray "Ray Jay" Santino Jr.: Dani's teenage son.
• Mehcad Brooks as Terrence "T.K." King: The New York Hawks' star player and Dani's main focus when she was hired by the football team.

Recurring cast

• Craig Bierko as Ray Santino: Dani's ex-husband who had been cheating on her.
• Amanda Detmer as Jeanette: Dani's best friend.
• Concetta Tomei as Angela: Dani's mother.
• Gregory Alan Williams as Coach Patrick Purnell: The head coach of the New York Hawks.
• Andrea Anders as Laura Radcliffe: a high-powered publicist hired by the Hawks to improve T.K.'s public image. She has also had a previous relationship with Matt Donnally.
• Jason Gedrick as Dr. J. D. Aldridge: Dani’s former grad school professor.^[5]
• Orlando Jones as Lazarus Rollins: a rival therapist with extreme techniques.
• Nadia Dajani as Margo Ciccero: another friend of Dani.
• Jaime Lee Kirchner as Vivica: a reporter that T.K. begins dating.

Primary cast of Necessary Roughness (2011). From left to right: Marc Blucas, Callie Thorne, Scott Cohen, and Mehcad Brooks.

Episodes

Development and production

The series is based on the true story of a female psychologist Dr. Donna Dannenfelser who worked for the New York Jets.^[2][7] Initially titled Dr. Donna, the show first appeared on the USA Network's development slate in December 2009.^[8] In May 2010, the network placed a cast-contingent pilot order under the new name Necessary Roughness.^[9] Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro wrote the pilot script, and Kevin Dowling was set to direct the pilot.^[7]

Casting announcements began in mid-September. First to be cast was Callie Thorne, who plays the lead role as Danielle "Dani" Santino.^[10] Next to join the project was Marc Blucas, who was cast as the football team's athletic trainer and a romantic interest for Danielle.^[11] Scott Cohen and Mehcad Brooks came on board in October. Cohen portrays a football team colleague of Dani's,^[12] and Brooks is one of her clients.^[13]

Cast as guest stars^[14] were Amanda Detmer, as Dani's best friend, Jeanette,^[15] and Concetta Tomei, who portrays Dani's mother.^[16] In early November, Craig Bierko was added to the cast as Dani's estranged husband.^[17]

The pilot episode was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia in November and December 2010, with the Georgia Dome being used for exterior and some interior shots of game day scenes.^[18] The network greenlighted the series on January 19, 2011.^[2] The series was renewed for a second season by USA Network on September 15, 2011.^[19]

Reception

DVD releases

^1 The wide release for the season 1 DVD will occur on June 5, 2012.^[21] An early promotional DVD was released at Target stores on April 17, 2012.

International broadcasts

• Germany: sixx (as Dr. Dani Santino - Spiel des Lebens^[22])
• India : Star World
• Belgium : RTBF
• Middle East : OSN First
• In Bangladesh on Star World
• Iceland : SkjárEinn

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Necessary Roughness (TV series)

• Official website
• Necessary Roughness at the Internet Movie Database
• Necessary Roughness at TV.com