What will it take to get celebrities addicted to drugs and alcohol back on track?
“A lot of you are not going to be here when this ends. Either because I kick you out or you decide to leave.” That’s Dr. Drew Pinsky’s initial statement to the group of celebrities he’s counseling for addiction.
In this week’s episode we learn that rehab is scary even if you’re a celebrity. Dr. Drew of Loveline fame really puts it all out for the audience in the one hour episode that shows just how badly Jeff Conway is doing.
“My career could have gone to a much better place, but I’m an addict and an alcoholic,” says Conway at the beginning of the show.
Even Brigitte Nielsen cops up to her issues when she says, “I’m an alcoholic and I ended up abusing and just taking care of myself with a bottle.”
While all the eight celebrities on the show introduce what their specific addiction problem is, there is one person in particular that the show really focuses on. And that’s troubled actor Jeff Conway.
For starters he can’t even contain his anger and says a lot of pretty crazy things. This show goes to a place where no other celebrity reality show has gone before, by showing just how harsh reality can be for those coming off drugs.
It is quite jarring when Conway has a seizure and is rushed to the hospital.
The shocking part is that he doesn’t seem to want to really get help fro his problems. He keeps complaining and during most of the show it sounds as though his speech is slurred. What’s wrong with him and why is he so stubborn? According to Dr. Drew this is the ugly side of addiction, when people aren’t able to use substances, and are starting to go through the stages of withdrawal.
Jeff Conway is definitely the scariest part of the show this week, and Daniel Baldwin is no saint either. He tries to provoke Conway at one of the group meetings and goes as far as to accuse Conway of sneaking drugs into the rehab facility. Of course because Conway is so dramatic and because he seems to be reeling from his lack of crack, he takes the bait and freaks out on Baldwin.
Highlights for next week’s show include more aggressive behavior from Conway, including his accusations towards his girlfriend that she’s teaming up with Dr. Drew against him.
It appears that Dr. Drew believes Conway’s girlfriend has been enabling him to take drugs, and she’s had a hard time refusing. But when you see the way Conway reacts to refusal, you can kind of sympathize with his girlfriend. He turns into a crazy old man.
This show is definitely worth watching, and hopefully audiences will come away with an understanding that no one is invincible.
