Necessary Roughness

Want a show that has a little bit of football, family, love, and work in the mix? Well Necessary Roughness, a new drama series on USA Network, has that, and more. The show deals with the trials and tribulations of a divorcee and her life (and work) after. Encompassed in that is a modern family dynamic, a brewing (but somewhat forbidden) romance, and the theme of moving on as well as pushing past your limits to succeed.

Dr. Danielle “Dani” Santino (Callie Thorne) is a recent divorcee in Long Island who struggles to pay her mortgage and bills while supporting two teenage children. Her career as a therapist catering to ordinary clientele lets her barely stay afloat. So to manage her financial difficulties, she takes on a job as a therapist for a professional football team. Eventually she expands her clientele to include athletes, musicians, politicians and various celebrities who all come to her for her successful tough love therapy.

Dani must now juggle work and her role as a single mother for the first time in her life, after she left her cheating husband. She has to struggle with raising her children and accomplishing greater things in her professional life. Coming up with a balance for all the new things in her life prove to be a big challenge, which she nearly gave up on. In the beginning of her new roles as single mother and celebrity/team therapist, she was very close to quitting so she could focus more on raising her children. But she decided to stay and go with the challenge instead of fighting against it.

Dani is a confidant, tough, defiant woman who refuses to deal with anyone’s garbage, as is evident in many scenarios. She kicks her husband to the curb when she finds out about his many infidelities; she levels with her aggressive boss; she doles out a proper punishment for her unruly daughter; and she makes amazing progress with a stubborn and unwilling patient. Moreover, she is able to successfully balance her work life and family life, no matter how difficult it is to do so. She is one tough woman, the kind whose bad side you do not want to get on. More than just being tough, she has many more qualities. Although she can have a wonderful, bitingly sarcastic exterior at times, she is also kind, funny, and can even be very light-hearted.

This show is not like every other relationship-oriented drama out there. Yes, there is a newly single mother. Yes, she is trying to balance her personal and professional lives. And yes, she is independent and self-assured and can kick butt, and all those other themes that resonate with female empowerment. But this show differs in that all of this is blended seamlessly with many other things to provide a relatable show. The concept caters to all the realists out there. Everything that happens on the show seems entirely reachable and relatable, and something that intelligent viewers will certainly appreciate. There are no extravagant fantasies; there is only much-needed hard work and tough love, and that seems like it will resonate with the viewers of this show.