Celebrity Rehab - When the Party’s Over

I’ve been hearing people talk about it for weeks now, but for some reason I could just never remember to set the TiVo for Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew. The show, hosted by Loveline’s Dr. Drew Pinsky, gives us an inside look at a group of celebrities whose battles staying clean and sober are already public knowledge for the most part. I finally just decided to buy the first episode from iTunes, and immediately as I got done watching it, I was downloading episode two.

We all learned of Taxi’s Jeff Conaway’s struggles when he appeared on a different celebrity reality show, Celebrity Fit Club. He had actually met Dr. Drew back then, as he was called in to consult with Jeff and ended up immediately putting him in rehab at that point. A few years later, Conaway needs it again. The images of him on the first episode are so shocking that showing it to my son who only knows of him lately from seeing him on Taxi and Grease, that he just could not believe it was even the same guy.

Conway’s girlfriend has “enabler” practically written across her forehead. She helps him do his drugs, as he’s so far gone, he can’t even do it on his own anymore. We see a clip of her holding the rolled up dollar to his nose even, as Conaway explains this is his “pablum.” He hurt his back during the filming of Grease, and was prescribed painkillers, too many at that. He worked up an addiction to them, and the doctors only prescribed more. He now needs the coke to counter the effects of the painkillers. He can no longer walk on his own, and spent most of the time in a wheelchair, occasionally being well enough to use a cane. By the end of the episode, he was so incoherent that Dr. Drew believed he had a stroke and sent him to the hospital.Another of the celebrities came to Dr. Drew by way of the Fit Club. Daniel Baldwin’s behavior on that show was so erratic, blowing up in fits of anger. He didn’t show up for the final weigh-in, and later taped a spot explaining that he was a drug addict and was attempting to get clean. On the current show he admits to nine previous attempts at rehab.

The other celebrity reality show that is borrowed from for cast members is Surreal Life, as both Brigitte Nielsen and Chyna are here to clean up their lives. Nielsenn fully admits to being an alcoholic and says her kids have begged her to quit. Chyna is definitely in denial, telling Dr. Drew she does not believe she has a problem with alcohol or dugs, prompting him to ask why she’s there.

Even American Idol sends us a celebrity in need of rehab, Jessica Sierra, finalist from season 4. She admits to only being a drug addict for the past eight months, but is making up for lost time having been arrested twice, this past time after her stint in Rehab, with the judge demanding she go into rehab again … with no celebrity attached. Her mom had been a drug addict and O.D.’d, similar to that of Mary Carey’s mom who had jumped to her death out a window. Mary, some people recognize from porno films, and she also ran for office. She wants to restart her life more or less, wanting to get away from booze and porn, yet shows up for rehab trashed with sex toys and tapes. She isn’t allowed in the guys’ rooms.

The resident rock star on the show, Seth “Shifty” Binzer from Crazy Town admits to the wild lifestyle. He gets mad at the cameras following him around before entering rehab, as with the cameras around, he can’t buy any drugs. I had never heard of him or his band before, but I had heard of Jaime Foxworth, the daughter on Family Matters. I hadn’t heard she was an addict. She shares with us that she started smoking pot when she was 16, and now is a full blown addict. She, too, has done some porn. She admits that she barely goes without pot for even an hour. The problem is it makes her lazy, and she lays around and doesn’t do anything.

The images of all these people getting high and drunk are surprising, but the levels to which Jeff Conaway have sunk is just absolutely shocking. I think Dr. Drew definitely has his hands full with him, as it looks to the lay person that he’s too far gone. He can’t walk unassisted, but I can’t even tell whether it’s because he’s so drugged up or whether it’s because of his chronic pain.

Certainly you have to look at Britney Spears and think there’s a girl that could use some time with Dr. Drew. Her family would have been better served calling him instead of Dr. Phil. If there’s a season two for this show, I certainly hop Dr. Drew makes every attempt to get her on, otherwise as I see her life spiraling as bad as Conaway’s.

The whole thing really makes you wonder, as you think about all these other celebrities that are public addicts as well. What kind of lives do they lead to make them turn successful careers into this. Is life really so painful for them that they need to self-medicate like this? Or is it simply just a life that got caught up in the good life and spun out of control? It seems we have both kinds here on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew.

For more information on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, see SirLinksalot: Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew.