# Necessary Roughness (2011)

> A divorced Long Island therapist takes a job counseling a professional football team and juggles her new career with raising two teenagers.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/32514

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 38
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Network: USA Network
- Cast: Callie Thorne, Scott Cohen, Mehcad Brooks, Marc Blucas, John Stamos, Hannah Marks, Karissa Lee Staples, Patrick Johnson
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657505/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: witty, candid, warm, brisk, sardonic

## Synopsis

Necessary Roughness (2011-2013) is an American dramedy created for USA Network that spans three seasons and thirty-eight episodes before its cancellation. Dr. Danielle Santino, played by Callie Thorne, is a tough, sharp-tongued divorced Long Island mother of two teenagers who takes a job as a therapist for a professional football team to make ends meet. Underestimated at every turn by coaches, players, and front-office men, she gradually builds a reputation as the sought-after counselor for high-profile clients. Scott Cohen plays Nico Careles, Mehcad Brooks plays Terrence King, and John Stamos appears as Connor McClane, all wrestling with pressure, image, and private failings that surface in her office. Each episode is built from sessions with players whose careers are on the line, interwoven with the chaotic demands of her household and her children's adolescence. The series balances brisk comedy with candid emotional stakes, giving its sports-world setting an intimate, character-driven warmth. Fans of Ballers, In Treatment, and Friday Night Lights will find familiar pleasures in its mix of locker-room banter, therapy-room honesty, and family grit.

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