Watch Necessary Roughness Online - Full Episodes

Necessary Roughness is a sports based drama commissioned and shown in the U.S. on the USA network. Two seasons of the show have been completed consisting of 23 episodes based on the life of fictional character Dr. Danni Santino, played by Callie Thorne. The idea for the drama was a real life psychotherapist called Dr. Donna Dannenfelser, who became the therapist for the New York Jets football team.

The premise of Necessary Roughness is the new career choices forced on Dr. Santino when she discovers her husband has been cheating on her. Forced to provide for her teenage children, Dr. Santino finds a job with the New York Hawks football team as a psychotherapist treating star wide receiver Terence TK King, played by Mehcad Brooks. Santino also finds a new relationship with the athletic trainer of the Hawks, Matt Donnally played by Marc Blucas. As the series progresses the focus of Santino's work shifts from King to a series of professional athletes and celebrities from the Long Island area.

One of the most interesting characters in the show is the mysterious fixer for the New York Hawks, Nico Charles played by Gilmore Girls actor Scott Cohen. Nico Charles uses his Navy SEAL experience to find information on the employees of the New York Hawks; his intelligence gathering techniques include bugging the team and breaking into the homes of the Hawks employees.

Necessary Roughness's cast is made of actors with a large amount of experience performing on TV and film. Callie Thorne, who plays Dr. Santino is known as a recurring cast member in Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire and Rescue Me. Marc Blucas, who plays Matt Donnally is best known for his role as Riley in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mehcad Brooks, who plays TK King is a former Calvin Klein underwear model who has appeared in network TV shows including Desperate Housewives.