UPDATE: HBO's 'In Treatment' May Continue In Different Format

UPDATED: It’s the end of the road for HBO’s psychiatry drama series In Treatment. And it isn’t. While there will be no fourth season of the half-hour drama series in its current form, it may continue on the pay cable network in a new incarnation. “It’s true that we have no plans to continue with In Treatment as previously formatted,” HBO said in a statement. “However, we are in continued conversations with the executive producers to find another way to continue telling these rich stories.” What I glean from the carefully worded statement is that Dr. Paul Weston may not have held his last session. Because Gabriel Byrne’s character has been central to the show, it is conceivable that a potential In Treatment 2.0 would keep the series’ therapy theme and its main character, Dr. Paul Weston, while probably abandoning the setup of marathon sessions with a handful of patients each season.

This would not be the first time In Treatment has beat the odds; it did it once after its second 45-episode season. Back then, the series  was almost pronounced dead after it ran out of source material (the Israeli show it was based on ran only for 2 seasons), its showrunner Warren Leight departed and star Byrne was vocal about the grueling demands of the role, which has him virtually in every scene, indicating that he may not be back. In the end, Byrne went back and HBO ordered a third season of the series with new showrunners, Anya Epstein and Dan Futterman.