VH1 Celebrity Rehab with Jeff Conaway

[ZenoParadoxus]

The premiere of Celebrity Rehab is on VH1 tonight, and one of the "guests" is our very own Jeff Conaway, who has had a difficult time with drug addiction over the years. I'm not sure if it would be supporting his effort to get clean to watch the show or just exploiting his personal tragedy.

Discuss...

Zeno

[Jan]

Exploiting--no ifs, ands or buts about it. I *despise* that other people's pain is paraded for so-called entertainment purposes. There's no 'educational' or redeeming aspect to this.

I refuse to watch even a commercial for this piece of trash. This takes even my dim view of so-called 'reality' shows to a new low.

Jan

[rallytbk]

Exploiting--no ifs, ands or buts about it. I *despise* that other people's pain is paraded for so-called entertainment purposes. There's no 'educational' or redeeming aspect to this.

I refuse to watch even a commercial for this piece of trash. This takes even my dim view of so-called 'reality' shows to a new low.

Jan

Same here, I saw the previews from my local newspaper and decided to just skip it.
Jeff Conaway is doing real bad... Do they really see redeeming value in show that shows contestants suffering?

[glindros]

I echo your sentiments. I feel similarly about those biggest loser shows as well. Enjoying someone parading out their problems and difficulties dealing with them is a little twisted.

[Talwyn]

Part of me can not believe that "entertainment" has sunk so low that it is now permissable to show human beings who are in desperate need of help, as a freak show for the audience to watch with whatever vicarious pleasures viewing such rubbish would give them. However, I'm older, more cynical and realise that this sort of excrement is what some of those soul dead suits in TV la-la land want to serve up as entertainment to the world as those evil bastards know that enough people WILL watch this drivel, just as much as they watched the damaged human wreckage that crawled & gibbered like demented apes on the Jerry Springer show.
I am sad that Jeff has sunk so low and has to go on this freakshow in order to earn some money as he has probably not had a decent pay check in a while due to his addictions.
What people like Jeff Conway need is care & support. They do not need to be paraded on television like sick demented mutants for the hideous & ignorant braindead masses to gawk & laugh at.
Just thinking about the concept makes me think that Dante had left out a circle of hell from The Inferno as this "show" would certainly be pure hell for anyone appearing on it. Talk about selling your soul & not to mention your dignity as a human being for the equivilant of 30 pieces of silver!
[shakes his head]

[Harrdy]

People like to see their "gods" suffer... because deep inside of them they feel inferior... because they made those actors their "gods". Any well-balanced person would despise to see those shows, I guess...

PeAcE

[glindros]

I saw a snipet of Jeff from the show on the TV guide channel last night while checking listings. It was horrible for him and me.

[vakie]

Now I've heard everything..

[Nutter]

That's a very sad state of affairs, he was a good actor and always seemed to play lovable rouge, for me he was one of the most endearing character from B5 for his believability as a run-of-the-mill average joe.

To think he once worked alongside John Travolta in such a classic as Greese, show's how in this world there is no such thing as permenant tenure.

[glindros]

It just shows that everyone, even stars can have problems.

[TurkishZath]

There could be educational value in such a program.

Educative programs about the effects of detox/rehab etc. are not entertaining in the slightest. If done well, using people with whom viewers have some sort of connection can indeed create an entertainment value which will get people to watch. It's not as directly educational, but it is something.

I'm not saying that this is the case with the aforementioned program. I haven't seen it and actually haven't regularly watched anything other than (occasional) sporting events on television since The West Wing went off the air.

My thought on seeing an ad for this show featuring Jeff was something along the lines of "wow, I guess it takes a lot less to constitute a 'celebrity' these days."

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Absolutely ... in the UK these days, you only need to be an obnoxious member of the general public who happens to have appeared on a reality TV show to become a celebrity.

[*Starstuff*]

Could someone please explain to me what this VH1 show is about? I have never heared of it (though it may air here in Germany as well, just with famous Germans), but it doesn't sound very nice.

We do have shows here where B- or C-stars appear and I don't watch them at all, because they are either embarrassing (for the audience as well as for the actor/singer/whatever) and because it makes me sad that someone I might like has to resort to something like this to earn a living.

On the thought of the educational value: It might work. But I don't really think so. Most people will be just derisive and like it was mentioned before: People love to see their "Gods" fall. Makes them feel better about being "stuck" in their own lives. (There actually is a psychological term for it, I just don't remember it; don't tell my professor *wink*).

G'Kar said you should never give up hope because then everything is lost, but I actually have given up hope that people will stop watching shows like that. Maybe humanity really has sunk so low. It's not enough that people suffer, but others enjoy watching them do so.

How sad.

[Jan]

Could someone please explain to me what this VH1 show is about? I have never heared of it (though it may air here in Germany as well, just with famous Germans), but it doesn't sound very nice.

The name of the show really is Celebrity Rehab (or Celeb. Rehab with Dr. Somebody) and it features some people who I vaguely recognized. Last year, while appearing on another 'reality' show, something like 'The Biggest Loser: Celebrity Version', Jeff Conaway reportedly had a major meltdown and ended up leaving the show. Now we've got Celeb Rehab which is following these semi-recognizable people through detox and counseling. Jeff is in bad shape. He's been taken to the hospital with a siezure, he (or his 'girlfriend'?) smuggled drugs into the rehab facility and he's completely out of control emotionally.

I noticed part of a rerun of the show a few days ago and forced myself to watch because I didn't like that I'd judged the show unseen. I didn't change my opinion. IF there's any educational value to it, it's to warn the people who care for the addicts what happens when their loved one detoxes. It's certainly not anything the addict is going to want to endure.

How sad.

Very sad.

Jan

[*Starstuff*]

Jan, thanks for the explanation. It sounds terrible (the show itself and what has happened to Jeff).