The golden age of HBO is over. Gone are the days of high-profile, pop culture-defining shows like The Sopranos and Sex in the City, mixed in with critically-acclaimed smaller successes like Six Feet Under, Deadwood, Oz, and Rome. As those series completed, HBO has struggled to find the next big series to anchor the network, releasing a series of tepidly received shows like The Comeback, Lucky Louie, John from Cincinnati, and Tell Me You Love Me, with all but the latter being cancelled after one season.

Unfortunately for HBO, In Treatment is not going to be the series that puts the channel back on top of the television zeitgeist. It lacks the immediacy and impact of those earlier shows to make a significant inroads into the general viewing public, or even to achieve significant buzz in the critical community. Fortunately, even if it never becomes the type of series that encourages people to subscribe to HBO, those who do check it out should find it to be a high-quality, addictive drama unlike anything else on television.

Adapted from the Israeli series Betipul, In Treatment stars Gabriel Byrne as psychotherapist Dr. Paul Weston, following his weekly sessions with patients five nights a week for a total of nine weeks. From Monday through Friday, HBO aired one half-hour episode of the series, with each day dedicated to a specific patient (with the exception of the ninth and final week, which didn't feature sessions for two of the characters, making the first season a total of 43 episodes).

On Monday, Paul sees Laura (Melissa George), an attractive young anesthesiologist who’s been Paul’s patient for a year dealing with relationship and intimacy issues. On Tuesday, he sees new patient Alex (Blair Underwood), a Navy pilot dealing with a recent mission in Iraq with tragic circumstances. Wednesdays are spent with another new patient, Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), an Olympic hopeful gymnast who goes to Paul in order to get medical clearance following a car accident. Thursdays feature couples therapy with Jake (Josh Charles) and Amy (Embeth Davidtz), and on Friday, Paul is the patient when he goes to see his former mentor Gina (Dianne Wiest) to help deal with issues in his own life brought up by his work in the previous four days.

It's certainly ambitious, producing 2.5 hours of television for over two months straight. It definitely asks more from viewers than other shows, which is one of the reasons why I can't imagine it ever being a cultural touchstone along the lines of The Sopranos (although, if you're not tied down to the daily format of the series, and are able to follow it through DVRs, downloads, or DVD, it doesn't require that much more time than a traditional network drama, with the 43 half-hour episodes adding up to a little over 22 hours).