by Well the fourth season of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” is in full swing, and, love it or hate it, it is a fascinating expose of the pitfalls of both fame and notoriety.
While I am not a big fan of the majority of reality shows, many of which I find insult viewer intelligence, the draw of “Celebrity Rehab” for me is the opportunity to see actors and musicians from the 1970s and 1980s that I have not kept up with in many years. The show also reinforces the fact that, to quote Stevie Nicks, “You can be everyone’s darling one year, and absolutely nobody the next.” It is interesting to see the “beautiful people” from days gone by now living in worse conditions than most of us, with dents in their cars, sores on their arms, or warrants for their arrests.
It always makes me wonder what Paris Hilton or Michael Vick will look like in 20 years (not to mention what their bank accounts will look like). Not that I am insinuating those particular celebrities will be addicts, I just think it is interesting how fleeting fame is and yet, at the time, we treat these people like they are, and will always be, some untouchable race far above the rest of us.
This season, the cast of “Celebrity Rehab” includes actor Eric Roberts, model Janice Dickinson, and teen idol Leif Garrett.
Within just the first couple of episodes, we learn that Eric Roberts was addicted to cocaine for 10 years, and has smoked marijuana nearly every day for decades. I remember him from the movies “Raggedy Man” and “Star 80,” two dark films I admired his work in.
Janice Dickinson was one of the first “supermodels” in the 1970s, but it is her recent exploitation of reality television that has helped to make her a household name (and somewhat of a joke). Her aggressive, intimidating behavior on shows like “The Surreal Life” and “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” is significantly toned down on Celebrity Rehab, where viewers are introduced to a scared, broken, and somewhat humble (for Janice) addict.
For me, the most fascinating cast member this season is Leif Garrett. In the 1970s, he was a “teen idol,” scoring a top-10 hit in 1979 with “I Was Made for Dancin'” and gracing the covers of all the magazines 13-year-old girls would run out and buy. I was more into Led Zeppelin than pop from that era, so my first real exposure to Garrett was his role in Francis Ford Coppola’s flawed 1983 masterpiece, “The Outsiders.”
Today, the self-proclaimed heroin addict looks more like a homeless guy than someone on the cover of a teeny bopper magazine. I am curious to see how he progresses.
Some people criticize “Celebrity Rehab” for being too soft on addicts because of their status. I personally would much rather see a reality show that tries to bring attention and awareness to a consistent problem, however flawed. It is much more productive and useful than who can make the best dress or the biggest cake.
Celebrities from past seasons of “Celebrity Rehab” include Jeff Conaway (Kenickie from “Grease”), actress Brigitte Nielson, Steven Adler (drummer for Guns N’Roses), actress Tawny Kitaen (who doesn’t remember her from the Whitesnake video???), and Mackenzie Phillips, who has used her drug and sexual abuse to become an advocate for treatment and counseling.
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