Dr. Drew Treats Celebrities' Demons on New Show

TODAY contributor helps the famous, and not-as-famous, with addictions

(January 8, 2008) -- Jeff Conaway arrived at Dr. Drew Pinsky’s rehab clinic drinking a glass of champagne, a blithe beginning to a brutal re-entry into sobriety that plays out before the cameras of the latest addition to the reality television menu.

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“Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” premieres on VH1 on Thursday night, and, as Pinsky told TODAY’s Natalie Morales on Tuesday, Conaway's arrival was quite typical for the nine famous and semifamous people who check into the clinic at the beginning of the show.

“Most of them were intoxicated when they showed up,” Pinsky said.

A reality show on people going through rehab was probably inevitable. But, Morales asked, why celebrities?

“Celebrities are what people are very focused on these days,” he replied. “People are very focused on celebrities and their addictions, but they don’t know what this means.”

Beyond that, he added, “Celebrities are more likely to have addiction and personality problems and trauma issues than the average person. People seem to focus on that and they’re very confused about what these people are going through when we bring them to treatment.”

They are, he said, going through the same thing that the estimated 22.6 million Americans who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol are going through. “They’re the same as the rest of us,” Pinsky said. “They just have very, very severe mental illness.”

Conaway has been acting for more than 35 years. He starred as “Kenickie” in the movie “Grease,” was Bobby Wheeler in the TV series “Taxi,” and has appeared in scores of television shows and movies.

He’s also appeared on YouTube snorting cocaine, and came to Pinsky’s reality show with addictions to alcohol, painkillers and drugs.

Shortly after entering rehab, he’s shown sobbing and shaking like a washing machine on “spin” with an unbalanced load.

“The reality is, it is very hard work,” Pinsky said as the clip played. “This is not uncommon. This is what treatment is about. This is the tough, miserable work people have to go through.”

Big and not-so-big names Among the nine people who begin the series include former “American Idol” finalist Jessica Sierra, who would fall off the wagon during her stay, go on a cocaine binge and assault a police officer in Tampa. On Monday, Pinsky succeeded in getting her committed to his Pasadena treatment center for a year instead of being sent to prison.

Brigitte Nielsen, another participant, is a former actress who appeared in “Beverly Hills Cop II” and “Rocky IV.” She’s addicted to alcohol and wants to get clean for her children.

Chyna was a professional wrestler who is trying to pursue an acting career while battling addiction. Jaimee Foxworth played the younger daughter in “Family Matters” and has been smoking marijuana all day every day since she was 16.

Seth “Shifty” Binzer is the front man for the musical group Crazy Town and is trying to get free of cocaine and painkillers. Mary Cary is a porn star addicted to alcohol. Ricco Rodriguez is a star fighter in mixed martial arts.

Joining them is actor Daniel Baldwin, who has been sober since 2006 but who joined the group as part of his continuing recovery and to help the others.

“He was actually very helpful in treatment, because he’d been successful in treatment,” Pinsky said of Baldwin. “He came to show the world what recovery was. He was very, very helpful in the process.”

Baldwin doesn’t make it to the end, but Pinsky didn’t tell Morales why, saying only, “He leaves at a certain point in treatment. Things happen with Daniel in treatment that are very intense.”

The show follows the celebrities through a 21-day program, but that doesn’t mean they’re all better.

“People have a misconception about treatment — you go through it like a car wash and then you’re out,” Pinsky said. “It’s something that takes many months. Somebody like Britney Spears needs at least a year of treatment. The longer the treatment, the better the outcome. It takes a long time to get in this shape; it takes a long time to get well.”

Speaking of everybody’s favorite celebrity substance abuser, Morales asked what it would take to get Spears into treatment.

“People must want it,” Pinsky said. “If we could figure out a way to get people to want to get better, we could do a lot better that we do … Britney’s not only in denial about the fact that she has a disease, there also appears to be some mental illness issues that make her ability to perceive what’s going on impaired.”

Source: MSNBC Interactive

Last updated: 01/08

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