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Oh, boy! Watch celebs slur and spit on VH1’s ‘Celebrity Rehab’
Voyeur TV reaches a new low (and that’s saying a lot) with the arrival of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” (9 tonight).
Dr. Drew Pinsky, a buff psychiatry professor at the University of Southern California, peeks in on his VIP patients at the Pasadena Recovery Center. A major camera hog, Dr. Drew, who also hosts the radio show “Loveline,” casts a semi-worried grin over an assortment of horrors, with scenes of actor Jeff Conaway (“Taxi,” “Grease”) by far the worst.
Slurring and slouched in a wheelchair, Conaway has a seizure and winds up in the emergency room. His speech is so incomprehensible that subtitles are used. Poor Conaway, who bombed out of another VH1 reality show (“Celebrity Fit Club”) to go to rehab, is the “star” of the first episode.
Dr. Drew describes himself as an “addictionologist” but seems more interested in celebrity meltdowns and tantrums and medical treatment of addiction. Detox? It’s there somewhere because promotional scenes depict various famous folk with their heads in toilets.
Other patients include Brigitte Nielsen, B-movie actress and former Mrs. Sly Stallone; Joanie Laurer, the wrestler known as Chyna Doll; and porn star Mary Carey. You get the drift.
“Celebrity Rehab” would be funny if it weren’t so seedy and sad. Not only are these patients struggling with addiction, they’re also struggling to retrieve their celebrity. What could be more depressing than someone so willing to be in the limelight that barfing on TV is a plus?
VH1 is promoting this trainwreck as an informational series about substance abuse and addiction. Shame, shame.
Look quick! New episodes tonight!
Several network shows return with new episodes, but in the case of the wildly popular “Grey’s Anatomy,” it’s the last one — at least until the writers’ strike is over.
“Grey’s Anatomy” (8 p.m. on ABC) deals with a medical emergency involving Dr. Bailey’s young son.
Also tonight, we have new episodes of ABC’s “Ugly Betty” (7 p.m.) and “Big Shots” (9 p.m.), CBS’s “CSI” (8 p.m.) and “Without a Trace” (9 p.m.) and NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” (7 p.m.), “30 Rock” (7:30 p.m.) and “ER” (9 p.m.)
Enjoy ‘em while they last.
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