'huge, queer and tawdry' but 'much admired by the public'

Well, there is that too, yes. And my other objection was that in the first bloody episode our supposedly gittish antihero ends up breaking his own rule and talking to the patient. Look, you have to set up the rule over a few episodes before he breaks it, you fools! Even if you want to make schmaltz further down the line, with a concept like this you should at least give us some balls in the set-up!