| "How About a Friendly Shrink?" | |
|---|---|
| Desperate Housewives episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Lonny Price |
| Written by | Jason Ganzel |
| Production code | 613 |
| Original air date | January 17, 2010 |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"How About a Friendly Shrink?" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy-drama series, Desperate Housewives, and the 124th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on ABC in the United States on January 17, 2010. In the episode, Tom tries to convince Lynette to seek marriage counseling, Gabrielle clashes with Susan about their children's intelligence, and Bree tries to care for an increasingly irritable Orson.
The episode was written by Jason Ganzel and directed by Lonny Price. "How About a Friendly Shrink?" marked the return of Katherine Mayfair, portrayed by Dana Delany, who had been not appeared since the episode "Boom Crunch". It also featured Jane Leeves, who previously starred as Daphne Moon on the American NBC sitcom Frasier, in a guest appearance as Tom and Lynette's therapist, Dr. Graham.
"How About a Friendly Shrink?" received generally mixed reviews. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 11.2 million viewers. It was the lowest rating for an individual Desperate Housewives in the series' history, a distinction it held only two weeks until the subsequent episode, "The Glamorous Life", drew even poorer ratings. The viewership for "How About a Friendly Shrink?" suffered due to competition from the 67th Golden Globe Awards on NBC and the two-hour eighth season premiere of 24 on Fox.
The title of this episode is taken from a line in the song "Country House" which was written for the London premiere of the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Follies".