Necessary Roughness Information

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. The series debuted on June 29, 2011, with a 90-minute premiere episode. The second season premiered on June 6, 2012. On January 7, 2013, USA Network announced the series was renewed for a 10 episode third season.

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 Doctor Danielle "Dani" Santino (née Romano): The protagonist. Dr. Dani Santino is a tough divorcée 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. Dani has a relationship with the team's athletic trainer, Matt Donnally, but tries to keep it secret from both the team and her children. Throughout the series one of her main patients is Terrence King. He falls into trouble because of his antics, no matter how much Dr. Dani advises him against them. She tries to help him deal with getting shot in the second season, but T.K. goes into a downward spiral and she advises the team to do an intervention for T.K.; he ends going into rehab. Dr. Santino falls in and out of her relationship with Matt, because he wants to have children and she doesn't want to have anymore. Dr. Dani kisses Nico Careles after Marshall Pittman dies in a plane crash.
• Marc Blucas as Matthew "Matt" Donnally: The New York Hawks' athletic trainer, and later general manager, to whom Dani is attracted. Matt has begun a relationship with Dani, who wants to keep it secret. In the middle of season two, Matt tells Dani that he wants to have children of his own with Dani, but she doesn't want to have any more children, which leaves their relationship at a standstill. Matt also tries to look out for T.K.'s best interests, even though T.K. does the opposite. Donnally also recruits two new football players to the team; one named Damon Razor (Gaius Charles) who has a shady past, and another whose agent (Rob Estes) was T.K.'s former agent.
• 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 Dani. In season one and early season two, Nico tries to keep Marshall Pittman's daughter (Danielle Panabaker) out of trouble with boys and drugs. He tells her that he can't do it anymore. Pittman uses Nico to spy on the team to bug the team and Dr. Dani, but instead Nico bugs Pittman and learns that Pittman has serious problems, forcing Pittman to seek treatment in the midst of his divorce from his wife. Nico breaks into T.K.'s home, discovering that T.K. has a serious addiction to pain medication, swiping all of T.K.'s medication, including a "flush" (which pushes medications out of the system, hiding his drug use in a drug test). Eventually it's leaked that Terrence had a drug problem. Nico does what he can to find the source of the leak. Nico later learns that a friend (Mike Pniewski) of his has double crossed him and bugged the team for Marshall Pittman. After Pittman's plane crashed he tries to search for evidence that suggested Pittman was alive, telling Dr. Santino that Pittman saved his life once, after Nico was in love with his ex, Gabrielle. In "All the Kings Horses", he and Dani share a kiss after it's confirmed that Pittman had died in the plane crash.
• Hannah Marks as Lindsay Santino: Dani's rebellious teenage daughter. In season two, Lindsay sees a therapist (Amy Sedaris) about wanting to make her choices without her mother judging her.
• Patrick Johnson as Ray "Ray Jay" Santino Jr.: Dani's teenage son who is an avid fan of T.K., often using him to get things from the Hawk's team that regular fans couldn't. Ray Jr. falls in love with his tutor Olivia and while having sex in his bedroom, Dr. Dani walks in on the both of them. Ray Jay threatens to move out and move in with Olivia instead. Ray Jay was temporarily turned into a vegan by Olivia until she told him she wanted to start college out of state, without him, the two breaking up; coincidentally at the same time as his mother and Matt Donnally. Ray Jay gets into trouble with the law when he tries to raise money for a project by planting and selling illegal drugs.
• 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. Terrence often finds himself doing childish things, mainly spending his money on himself and various women, getting himself into trouble with a rival psychiatrist of Dr. Dani, Laz Rollins (Orlando Jones) who used T.K. for his money, and wasn't helping him with his problems. At the end of the first season, King was shot after celebrating a season win. He is seen trying to deal with it in his own way in the second season opener, T.K. even resorts to buying his own gun, almost pulling it out on stage during a party to open the new football season. Matt calls a Chinese physical therapist to help T.K. deal with the pain. At first, T.K. doesn't wanting her to touch him where he had been shot. After Dr. Dani tells him that he needs to acknowledge he'd been shot, T.K. lets her. T.K. testified against his shooter in his own comical way in the episode "Spell It Out", but after the trial concludes T.K. begins taking prescription pain medications and becomes addicted to them. This causes T.K. to become irritable and reckless, flashing reporter Noelle Saris (Michaela McManus) in the Hawk's locker room. When approached about it by the team, he denies it, yet surveillance video showed otherwise. T.K. who initially hazed Damon Razor (Gaius Charles), helps him with his problems and to see his true potential as a football player with the Hawks, and what was important to him, causing T.K. to see one of his own problems with addiction. T.K. becomes enraged on the set of a sports drink commercial photo shoot and is fired by the director. T.K. then fires his own agent (who wasn't looking out for his best interests) and storms off. He gets behind the wheel of a car, tries to take some of his medication - which he paid a doctor under the table to get - and wrecks his car, almost running over a little girl. Dr. Dani and the team stage an intervention for T.K., getting him off of the field and placing him in rehab. T.K. tries his best to break out, seeking help from an old friend in rehab (Michael Imperioli). After a night of heavy partying and drinking, his friend died in their hotel room. T.K. agreed to go back to rehab after this occurred. T.K. is based partly on NFL receiver Terrell Owens, who went by the nickname T.O., and has often been criticized and complimented for his brashness on and off the field. King, like Owens, is an extremely talented, often publicly maligned wide receiver. Owens himself plays a guest character in the series named Maurice "The Minefield" Manningfield, a defensive rival of King.

Recurring cast

• Gregory Alan Williams as Coach Pat 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 Donnelly.
• Craig Bierko as Ray Santino Sr.: Dani's ex-husband who had been cheating on her.
• Tamara Braun as Ronnie Santino: Dani's sister.
• Nadia Dajani as Margo Ciccero: Dani's friend.
• Amanda Detmer as Jeanette Fiero: Dani's best friend.
• Jason Gedrick as Dr. J. D. Aldridge: Dani's former grad school professor.
• Evan Handler as Marshall Pittman: Owner of the New York Hawks.
• Orlando Jones as Lazarus Rollins: a rival therapist with extreme techniques which land T.K. into serious trouble.
• Jaime Lee Kirchner as Vivica Stevens: a reporter that T.K. begins dating, but later is dumped by T.K. after he is shot.
• Concetta Tomei as Angela: Dani's mother, and a gambler.
• Liz Vassey as Gabrielle Pittman: Marshall Pittman's ex-wife and Nico's one time lover.
• Gaius Charles as Damon Razor/Bryce Abbot: An academic football player with a shady past who comes in as a runner-up for T.K. after he is shot. Razor abruptly quits the team learning from T.K. that he has more responsibilities to his family.
• Rob Estes as Rob Maroney: T.K.'s agent who helped T.K. on his downward spiral after dealing with being shot. Maroney is fired after T.K. gets fired off a sports drink shoot. Maroney blames Matt for being fired by T.K. and moves onto a new client, whom Matt wants to replace T.K. while he is in rehab.
• Michaela McManus as Noelle Saris: A reporter in behind Terrence King and Damon Razor, searching for Razor's past and threatening a sexual harassment suit on the team and T.K.
• Danielle Panabaker as Juliette Pittman: daughter of Marshall Pittman. She is shown to have a father/daughter type relationship with Nico, who helps her with her addiction problems and gets her into rehab. In season 2 she inherits the team after her father's death.
• John Stamos as Connor McClane: the founder of a sports and entertainment management empire named V3, who expresses interest in hiring Dani. (Season 3"present)

Episodes

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Wednesday 10:00 pm	12	June 29, 2011	4.67	September 14, 2011	4.01	2011	5.85
2		16	June 6, 2012	3.01	TBA	N/A	2012"2013	TBA

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. Initially titled Dr. Donna, the show first appeared on the USA Network's development slate in December 2009. In May 2010, the network placed a cast-contingent pilot order under the new name Necessary Roughness. Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro wrote the pilot script, and Kevin Dowling was set to direct the pilot.

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

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

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. The network greenlighted the series on January 19, 2011. The series was renewed for a second season by USA Network on September 15, 2011.

Reception

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
2012
	Golden Globe	Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series"?Drama	Callie Thorne	Nominated

DVD releases

DVD Name	Ep#	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season One	12	June 5, 2012

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

International broadcasts

•  : Star World
•  : RTBF
•  : TV3 Puls (as Terapi på første klasse)
•  : Gulli (as La diva du divan)
•  : sixx (as Dr. Dani Santino - Spiel des Lebens)
•  : Super TV2 (as Doktor D)
•  : SkjárEinn
•  : Star World
•  : HOT3
•  : Fox Life (as "Terapia d'urto")
•  : beTV
• Middle East: OSN First
•  : TV2
•  : TV3
•  : SET
•  : POP TV
•  : Cosmopolitan TV (as "Terapia de Choque")
•  : TV3
•  : RTS (as "La diva du divan")
•  : AXN
•  : Dizimax Drama