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One of the most prevalent -- and most just -- complaints about the glut of teen-targeted one-hour dramas on the WB is that the shows' protagonists are, one and all, inveterate (and, to varying degrees, insufferable), self-involved whiners. Lesser shows -- Dawson's Creek, for instance -- respond to such criticism by loading the ranks of tertiary characters who serve no purpose other than to heap praise on the intelligence/beauty/creativity/uniqueness of the show's protagonist, a tactic long employed on Beverly Hills, 90210 (and one would be hard-pressed to find a lesser "lesser" show than that). However, a better show -- Felicity -- counteracts charges of self-absorption by introducing a tertiary character to give the protagonist a long-overdue kick in the ass. Dr. Toni Pavone, as played by Amy Aquino, has served as Felicity's counselor over the past several episodes. It was with Dr. Pavone that Felicity had a major breakthrough with regard to her feelings about her parents' imminent divorce, her own motivations for choosing to attend the University of New York, and her state of mind over the past year and a half; the scene was surely among the most well-acted, affecting scenes among TV dramas this season. Cute as Keri Russell is, and pivotal as her own performance was, we believe she couldn't have pulled it off were it not for the presence of the subtle, generous, TV veteran Amy Aquino.

Amy Aquino has turned up on the fringes of some of the most acclaimed and most-watched shows on TV: Roseanne, Freaks & Geeks, The Larry Sanders Show, and The West Wing (next week!), to name but a few. Her most showy (and probably most widely seen) recurring role is as Dr. Janet Coburn, the abrasive obstetrician on ER. She first appeared in the infamous "Love's Labor Lost" episode, in which Mark Greene is responsible for the death of a pregnant woman; she arrives on the scene too late to help, or to share her expertise, and instead settles for browbeating Greene and calling him "incompetent," and for that we will always love her.

When Aquino was cast in a leading role -- as no-nonsense mom Phyllis Berger Silver -- it was on a show too good to survive on television: Brooklyn Bridge. It's just as well; we like her better tossing off zingers from the sidelines, in her trademark deadpan tone. If she were still starring on Brooklyn Bridge, she wouldn't have time to take Felicity down a peg or ten, and we'd all be the poorer for it.