Celebrity Rehab Shows: Helpful or Harmful?
From watching a group of strangers learn how to live together in a lavish house on MTV’s “The Real World” and chronicling the ups and downs of dog grooming on the Animal Planet’s “Groomer Has It” to seeing two (or three or four) people fall in love on shows like “The Bachelor,” voyeurism has become a way of life for television viewers. These increasingly popular reality series allow viewers to live vicariously through others-either pitying them on shows like “The Surreal Life,” which throws a group of washed-up celebrities into a house together, or admiring them as their unique talents are displayed on shows like Bravo’s “Top Chef.”
Whatever the subject matter, reality shows are almost always instantly popular. The newest string of voyeur shows center around individuals and their troubles with drug and alcohol abuse. VH1′s “Celebrity Rehab” hails itself as “the first television series to chronicle the real-life experiences of a group of celebrities as they make the life-changing decision to enter themselves into a drug, alcohol, and addiction treatment program.” Leading the group is Dr. Drew Pinsky, Medical Director of the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Las Encinas Hospital in southern California, and a celebrity himself due to his involvement in “Love Line” on the L.A. radio station KROQ and other radio programs.
The first season of “Celebrity Rehab” premiered in January 2008 and included the following patients: Daniel Baldwin (actor who departed after four episodes), Mary Carey (adult film star and former candidate for California Governor), Jeff Conaway (actor who played Kenickie in the movie “Grease”), Chyna Doll (former professional wrestler), Brigitte Nielsen (actress and former model), Jaimee Foxworth (former child actress on “Family Matters”), Ricco Rodriguez (Mixed Martial Arts fighter), Seth Binzer (lead singer of “Crazy Town”), and Jessica Sierra (singer and former “American Idol” contestant).
Sierra, Binzer, Foxworth, and Carey relapsed and re-entered treatment, and Conaway (who returned on Season 2) maintained sobriety from alcohol and cocaine but continued to abuse pain medications for his back. Chyna Doll was hospitalized for mixing pills and alcohol and is said to have returned to rehab, and the status of Baldwin is unknown. Brigitte Nielsen has been successful with her recovery, and often appears on Dr. Pinsky’s radio shows to talk about her sobriety. Rodriguez is also said to have had success with rehab.
A&E has a similar show, though it features everyday people rather than celebrities. Each episode of “Intervention” profiles an addict whose habits have estranged them from friends and loved ones, and ends with a surprise intervention where friends and family, in addition to an Intervention Specialist, confront the addict and share their feelings about the situation. According to A&E, “‘Intervention’ raises awareness about the alternatives and treatment options available to those who suffer from an alcohol or drug addiction, and gives hope to families who have nowhere left to turn.”
Many people have criticized these shows for exploiting the tribulations of famous people for entertainment value, but others believe public interventions can be helpful. On “Good Morning America” in January 2008, Michael Welner, an associate professor at New York University School of Medicine, said, “I think it has enormous promise. We have a problem of widespread abuse and addiction. One of the biggest problems is that the people who are abusing and who are addicted have no idea how pathetic they look, how ruinous their abuse is on their lives and people around them.” He continued, “It may be a spark to get them into treatment because that’s so much of a problem to get someone to cross that threshold and actually get help.”
Welner also said it’s imperative that the doctors on these programs are concerned about the patient, not the recognition. “The qualities that really give a therapist a therapeutic presence is that you’re always thinking about your patient or needs of their loved ones,” he said. The physician should act like a physician, “and not like someone who is possibly celebrity-seeking or possibly fluffy because with your most serious and most crucial, most sensitive life issues…you want to put your fate in the hands of someone who is serious, professional, and who you can trust.”
But are these usually very private moments too public? Boston Herald television reviewer Mark A. Perigard said, “Given the nature of recovery, an addict needs to be in a safe place to thrash out the issues underlying their disease…There’s no sugarcoating this pill. ‘Celebrity Rehab’ is heartless, exploitive, and downright toxic.”
It seems time will only tell whether these types of shows are helpful or harmful. But one thing’s for sure: these shows certainly don’t glamorize addiction, at least not in the case of actor Jeff Conaway. His deteriorating condition, complete with uncontrollable shaking and moaning, is too much to watch for some. Addicted to drugs since he was a teenager, most recently including cocaine, alcohol, and pain medications, he now relies on a wheelchair. Though he now no longer uses cocaine and alcohol, he continues to rely on pain killers and was removed from “Celebrity Rehab” after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument.
Unlike watching “Top Chef,” no one will turn off an episode of “Celebrity Rehab” thinking, “I wish I were that guy.”
