Since its debut in September; the WB's Felicity has been the most talked-about new show. But lately, the talk has grown, well, exasperated. It was one thing for TV's most intense teen (Keri Russell) to ditch Stanford to follow her cute classmate Ben (Scott Speedman) to school in New York City. Now her "devotion" to Ben is starting to look more like dementia (the word stalker comes to mind). We asked the experts to give her some advice.

Dr. Judy Kuriansky, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dating; radio host of "LovePhones"
She gave up her own shtick to go follow this guy who showed no interest to begin with. Hello? She needed to go to her shrink's office. If Ben had had sex with her, I would say the guy is a rat, but he's basically being himself. He never promised her a rose garden, and what she got turned out to have lots of thorns, but she's touching the thorns herself.

Christopher Pizzo, coauthor, What Men Want
Ben didn't come over to Felicity's at 2 in the morning and tell her about his dad out of nowhere. He was going through a vulnerable time. But that dissipates quickly, and I don't think Felicity should read too much into it. Women see the littlest sign from a guy as, Wow, there's something there. My advice would be to steer completely clear of him. Women wind up wasting a lot of time and inevitably get hurt in the long run.

Dr. Carol Tosone, assistant professor, New York University School of Social Work
I hate to diagnose her, but she's actually got a certain masochistic proclivity because she tends to be in love with people who aren't in love with her. She's really in love with love and the fantasy of love, so she's built a fantasy around Ben. The trick is, if it's too hurtful to be friends with him, she ought to distance herself and be attentive to guys who like her. In a future episode she could get into therapy, and we could see what the relationships were like with the previous men in her life, like her father.

E. Jean Carroll, author of A Dog in Heat Is a Hot Dog and Other Rules to Live By
I'd tell her: Shut your mouth, wire your teeth together if you have to, but stop talking to this poor guy about your relationship. Why? Does she want to get the guy? Shut up! What she should do is start dating somebody else. And seeing how she's the cutest girl in New York, she can pretty much have her pick.

Dr. Joy Browne, author of Dating for Dummies and The Nine Fantasies That Will Ruin Your Life; also the host of a syndicated radio show
If the roles were reversed and it was Ben that had followed her, we'd view him as a stalker. Now that she's in New York, she needs to establish her own life and stay out of his way because there's nothing that wil scare a man more than a clinging vine. Plus what she really doesn't understand is that when the get together - once it's consummated - the ratings go down. So she's doomed. She'll never get him.

-Annabel Vered

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