Intervention- I just discovered this show

Great article, R1. I love this:

“The show took intervention mainstream,” says Jeff VanVonderen, a former alcoholic and the most recognizable interventionist from the series. “It’s now everywhere … I think it changed the world. If I didn’t work on the show, and I still worked in the field I worked in, I would be sad and angry that the show went away, because it mattered; and Duck Dynasty does not matter. The trials and tribulations of hillbilly prima donnas does not matter.”

I read an article awhile back that listed all the addicts who had died after being on the show. Only a few died directly from their addictions...there were a couple suicides and I forget what else.

I've only seen one episode of this and I thought it was intriguing. Tried to find the episode again on Netflix but it didn't seem to be posted.

The episode I saw was about a woman, a wife and mother who had a drinking problem. When she couldn't get booze, she'd go and buy mouthwash, the yellow Listerine, and drink that straight.

I remember her R2. I also remember the computer dusting spray huffer

Yes I agree, R1. Funny how that statement is so timely because of all the crap that the patriarch of DD has spewed.

So far, there is one person who broke my heart while watching her. (Her episode was paired with a meth user who was an ultimate fighter and porn star-Dan Delaware.) Her name is Andrea and she was an alcoholic from Milwaukee. She had some unresolved issues (rape, an alcoholic father who abandoned the family and postpartum depression) and she just completely gave up and stayed on her mother's couch. The scene with her interacting with her mother in her mother's living room was so poignant and heartbreaking. Her father reentered her life as an adult and she bonded with him through drinking. He died of alcoholism and it sent her into a deep depression.

On a positive note, Andrea's caseworker stated that she worked very hard in rehab. At the end, she stayed sober and did not relapse.

Okay, it seems like I am a little too invested in this show;-)

I loved Kristy who was often Misty, a totally psychotic meth head who enjoyed doing crypto-calculus while tweaking. Wonder what happened to her?

WHERE ARE MAH BAYBEEZ?

I found this show to be too depressing.

Some viewer favorites:

Gamblin' Gabe - a narrcistic only- child who had toddler like temper tantrums when his parents wouldn't give him money.

Krisy (sometimes Misty) - bipolar, alcoholic meth-head who stripped for the camera and tried to prove that hell existed with a long rambling math equation.

The PTA mom addicted to mouthwash

The tanning bed owner so deep in denial about his alcoholism and cancer that he died soon after filming (heartbreaking)

There were the lovable train wrecks that you really rooted for and then there were some that just plain broke your heart because of the damage that had been done to their kids or spouses.

...and the child prodigy genius addicted to cough syrup. I think his mom gave updates on the A&E forum for a while. Mental illness or autism played a big part in his condition I think.

As fucked up as Kristy was, she wasn't about to give some old guy a kiss just for buying her a bottle of vodka.

Here. Now give me a kiss, baby! Eeewwww, NO, and she runs away..... with vodka in hand, of course!

That's right!

I think the only way Kristy was ever going to get clean and properly medicated was through a correctional facility. She was too much for her family to deal with.

This show touched many lives and those idiots at A&E cancelled it, of course for that trashy Duck Dynasty. The good shows are always cancelled for the garbage, unless of course it's PBS. Like Bravo, they totally gutted the quality reputation of their channel. It seems every station I've enjoyed in the past, A&E, Bravo, History Channel have cheapened to banality. The only interesting channel left is Discovery ID and of course PBS.

I think its time had come r12.

Not many addicts haven't heard of or sen the show. Hard for the production crew to pass itself off as " a documentary focusing on addiction".

The interventionists seemed ready to move on as well. Jeff looked pretty world-weary towards the end there.

Rather than focusing on the addict, the show had begun to focus on the families and tried in earnest to find a reason for the addict's issues. That show 'Drugged', on NatGeo, I think, did a better job of simply dealing with the addict and the addiction- not the possible trauma they may have dealt with in childhood. With Intervention - there always had to be a reason the addict did what they did....abuse, divorce, bullying, bad breakup, etc.

[quote]The trials and tribulations of hillbilly prima donnas does not matter.

Worse, r1, the hillbilly thing is contrived.

Someone should start a new thread on the utter phoniness of the whole Duck Dynasty fake fiasco.

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What about the crazy Asian has-been actress that was addicted to Fentanyl lollipops? The scene with her sitting in her front yard with her legs spread akimbo was hilarious.

R13, how else do you think people develop addictions in the first place?

r16 I found that really troubling. She seemed to want her parents to see her outside on her back making those weird hip rocking motions.

Felt so sorry for her brother who was forced to look after her.

I'm walking on sunshine!

[quote] [R13], how else do you think people develop addictions in the first place?

Lots of different factors create any personality - nicking that of an addict. It's just too easy to always blame your mom.

The Asian actress with the fentanyl addiction was one of those that I had a hard time sympathizing with.

I hope that brother has recovered from being her **shudder** caretaker.

Have you gotten to Allison's episode yet? CLASSIC!

Allison was hilarious!

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IT FEELS LIKE I'M WALKIN' ON SUNSHINE

I have seen both Sylvia and Allison. Sylvia's performance is classic Tennesee Williams. I thought she played for the camera but then again, she was once an actress on Broadway and the soaps. Nonetheless, I still liked her and thought she was a good person. I am so glad she got clean.

Could not stand Aerosol Allison- a classic NPD.God forgive me but I could not stop laughing during her huffing episodes, especially when she did it right in front of her mother while they ate pizza.

"MOM! Control yourself."

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Where are mah babies, where are mah babies, where are mah babies?

Allison was featured in a follow up episode and seemed to be doing really well.

"It's all about MEEEEEEEEE!"

[quote]With Intervention - there always had to be a reason the addict did what they did....abuse, divorce, bullying, bad breakup, etc.

Exactly. There are many other factors that lead to addiction, including a brain that just isn't wired right. Genetics are a big factor as well. Certain ethnicities have a much higher incidence (ie. American Indian, Irish).

Hard core alcoholics all have one thing in common--they say they knew from their first drink that they would not be able to control it. It just takes over their brains, which makes you think there must be some physical compulsion at work. Also, lots and lots of people have had trauma in their lives and do not become addicted to drugs or alcohol.

That said, it is true that a lot of people DO use drugs and alcohol to self medicate their problems away. It's an easy fix, as they see it. It sucks when they go to rehab and find out how hard sobriety is. It's a sad fact that there really is no cure for depression. Even the drugs that are prescribed for it take forever to kick in and have limited success. An addict knows they can feel better in a matter of minutes if they just take a drink, snort, shoot up....whatever.

When they aired the final episode, they did brief follow-ups on a few of the more memorable Interventionees, including Allison and Sylvia.

Allison was still sober, and glad not to have a can of duster in her hand.

Sylvia was still sober and looked fantastic. I hope she was able to rebuild her relationship with her children.

How do you know that an addict is sober when they all lie, even to themselves? For many of them, doing less than they did before = sober. They know how to beat the drug tests too. I think a lot of people that profess that they are sober really are not, or at least not entirely.

The deacon of my church once invited a "ex-addict" to come and speak about how he conquered his addictions with the help of his faith. The guy was drunk while he gave his talk. It was obvious.....and really sad.

I LOVE R29!!!!! My friend and I used to shout that all the time. I loved Sylvia-Ann and her disapproving mother.

My other favorite one is Cristy!!! She was balls-out crazy. And then her father wrote a horrible song about her. Egads.

[quote]My other favorite one is Cristy!!! She was balls-out crazy.

Let's do math!

[quote]My favorite was an early episode starring Sylvia, a raging alkie Southern Belle with a mother and an aunt who were straight out of the DAR Handbook.

Loved, loved, loved Sylvia's Aunt Frieda. She was like a Truman Capote character.

[quote] Like Bravo, they totally gutted the quality reputation of their channel. It seems every station I've enjoyed in the past, A&E, Bravo, History Channel have cheapened to banality

The common denominator in all of these instances is that the networks were once more independently owned, and were bought out by media conglomerates (A&E/History Channel is now part owned by ABC/Disney, and Bravo is now owned by Comcast NBC Universal). Once they ooh over the networks, any quality programming was taken off the air for cheaply produced reality crap.

2 recent deaths. Brooke Boulter. She had arthritis and bossy sisters. Od on meth

Nik. Heroin addict with young son died during an operation

Still no word on Cristy

That makes 15 deaths

LMN is now running "new" episodes of Intervention, all based in Canada.

Yes. I don't have LMN. Btw Sylvia is in college becoming an interventionist.

Cristy is alive...and pregnant.

Allison is in grad school at Pepperdine.

The first episode I watched was the computer dusting spray huffer. Every one after that paled in comparison.

[quote]Allison was hilarious!

Sober or wasted, Allison has Michele Bachmann-level crazy eyes.

Are we sure Brooke od on meth? She liked opiates when the intervention occurred.

Her sister left message on some board I read. She said Brooke kept getting arrested because of meth.

I was shocked. Wonder why she turned to that sh*t

I've watched a few of the Canadian Interventions. Decent show, but rather calm. Even their addicts are more polite than ours.

R48, I really want to see the one where the wasted guy takes a swing at nothing and crashes to the ground.

3 recent deaths. Brooke RA sufferer was found od from meth

Nik and Ryan

Here is link with updates

What about the woman who used to be a dancer on Soul Train? Nothing like having your kids going from crack house to crack house looking for you.

Oh yea she was a pip. Looked pretty healthy for doing drugs so long. Lorna I think

Just read through all of the deaths at R51's link. I knew about many of them, but some were quite surprising, like Sebastian. Wasn't his brother also a junkie?

Yes junkie brothers. Their father was strange.

The Polish anorexic twins were creepy. I remember their dad was a total DILF tho.

They're showing that one now, R56. Dad's not a DILF.

The twins have an incest vibe.