‘Dream Team’ fumbles the concept

Here is an idea that Sigmund Freud would have loved: More than a century after publication of his groundbreaking “The Interpretation of Dreams,” the Sci Fi Channel has developed a new series based on analysis of the mysterious and puzzling images that visit our sleep.

Ordinary people who have had extraordinary dreams are interviewed by co-host Michael Lennox -- the show’s dream expert -- who provides analysis of the imagery and symbolism in these dreams and the meanings they might hold in the context of the dreamers’ lives.

The problem with “The Dream Team With Annabelle and Michael,” which premiered Monday and continues weeknights at 11, is that what begins as an interesting concept for intelligent programming gets weighed down with some of the most stale and atrocious conventions of modern television, leaving the point of the show lost in its desperate effort to build ratings and attract quality demographics.

Co-host Annabelle Gurwitch provides an airy and upbeat stream of chatter, which may have been appropriate in her previous gig as co-host of TBS’ “Dinner & a Movie,” but here seems totally superfluous. As does the studio audience, sort of a drowsier version of a typical “Jerry Springer” crowd, who muster halfhearted wooOOoo’s whenever vivid descriptions of a dream become erotic, as they often do.

It is disappointing that the producers had such little faith in the strength of the concept that they had to prop it up with forced humor and artificial contrivances. But the biggest disappointment will come to those who tune in hoping to gain deeper psychological insights or greater understanding of the meaning of dreams.