Marc Blucas

Series Premieres June 29 at 10/9c starring Callie Thorne, Mehcad Brooks, Marc Blucas and Scott Cohen

NEW YORK, May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Dr. Donna Dannenfelser is a revolutionary woman, breaking through gender barriers and becoming one of the first full-time female psychotherapists to work for a professional sports team. NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is inspired by her story as a psychotherapist, certified hypnotist and dream analyst over the past 20 years. At first solely focusing on women’s issues, Dr. Donna soon found herself the mental health clinician for the New York Jets. She councils high-profile professional athletes as well as their wives and family members. Dr. Donna serves as supervising producer on new USA original series NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, which premieres on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 at 10/9c.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is about Dr. Dani Santino (Callie Thorne), a Long Island psychotherapist who helps to rehabilitate a bad boy professional football player (Mehcad Brooks) whose off-the-field antics threaten his career and the team franchise. Her career thrives and she soon finds herself as the most sought-after therapist for high-profile clients. Although her career is reenergized, it wreaks havoc on her life as a newly minted single mom of two teenagers and strike a balance between two worlds. The series stars Thorne ("Rescue Me," "Californication"), Marc Blucas ("Knight and Day," "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer"), Mehcad Brooks ("True Blood") and Scott Cohen ("Law & Order: Trial By Jury").

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is currently filming in Atlanta, GA.