Welcome back to the Pop Culture Club, where this week we visited one of my pet obsessions, Dr. Drew’s latest “D-listers get the D.T.’s” series: Sex Rehab. I have been down this road with Dr. D for two Celebrity Rehabs and a Sober House, and — to use the most common pun possible for this show — I’m addicted.
The dilemma I always face in watching his shows is that I can never decide whether it’s exploitative or not. Do you remember, from when you were kids, the “That’s good/that’s bad” story? Someone would tell a long shaggy dog tale and it would constantly switch from being good news to bad, e.g., “I fell out of a plane. That’s bad. But I had a parachute! That’s good. But the parachute didn’t open. That’s bad. But I landed on a giant feather bed! That’s good. But it was filled with rocks! That’s bad”…etc. Well, that’s exactly the frequency with which I changed my opinion about whether Sex Rehab was ridiculous or haunting while watching the premiere. One minute I was high-mindedly snickering at a patient who was acting like a typical reality-TV exhibitionist bonehead, and the next I was agape as Dr. Drew pointed out exactly why that behavior could kill them.
Ha, ha, that surfer masturbates to the point of injury! That’s ridiculous!
Wait…he might have contracted a cancer-causing virus because of his promiscuity. That’s haunting.
But hey, that porn star just tried to smuggle in a suitcase full of dildos! That’s ridiculous!
And with one swift question, Dr. Drew has stripped her of her porn persona and reduced her to a weeping mess. That’s haunting.
But wait, here comes the drummer for Skid Row, and it’s not even the original drummer, but the guy who came in ten years after they were popular…
And so on.
On Monday I had a long debate with some of my co-workers about whether this show is a force for good or just as tawdry as Bret Michaels’ Rock of Love, and we circled the argument multiple times, alternately switching our own positions because nobody could land on a staunch conclusion without toppling off. The patients are so easily dismissed, as they fit so perfectly into the typical low-wattage reality-TV archetypes of buffoonery (a stripper married to the winner of Rock Star: Supernova? That’s the full house of celebreality poker hands!). And yet those very traits that would make them stars on any other reality show (drunkenness, promiscuity) are here put under an electron microscope to reveal them as the sad building blocks of an unhappy life that they are.
Not so fast, here I go around again: BUT…can we really trust these people’s revelations? Amber Smith’s hooking revelations and convulsive detox on Celebrity Rehab, and needy relapse on Sober House, were eye-openingly raw. But now she’s back for show number three? She seems no less troubled, but after this many go-rounds, you wonder whether she’s here for the therapy or the attention. If she’s cured of her addiction to men, will she start overeating just so she can get on Celebrity Fit Club? This is not to mock her pain, which seems real, but once you factor in the need for fame, everything starts to seem suspect. This is why a show like Intervention is ultimately more powerful: With everyday addicts, you’re freed of the nagging suspicion of ulterior motives.
But I’ll keep watching Sex Rehab. While I have little patience for the manic surfer James, and Penny the porn star née Jennifer needs to drop her showboating “sex is sexy sex!” façade (which, granted, is the reason she’s there), I’m intrigued by Kari Ann Peniche’s abrupt shutdown under Dr. Drew’s questioning. And I’m still thinking about director Duncan Roy’s quote about his days of surfing Internet porn: “My fingers just dance across that keyboard, and suddenly I’m in this other world.” That’s the most poetic image about Web porn that I’ve ever heard. The man is the Robert Frost of self-abuse.
So what did you think about Sex Rehab? Did your opinion of the show change as you watched it? Do you think it actually does help some people? If you’re someone who always thought that “sex addiction” was the kind of fake ailment that only exists in Hollywood, did you leave the show thinking it had more validity?
As for next week’s assignment…well, I’m sorry to say there will be none. After 12 wonderful years at Entertainment Weekly, I’ll be leaving next week (after one last Amazing Race recap) for another challenge. (It’ll be easy to find me; I’m very easily Google-able.) Thanks for being part of my club for the last six months, and keeping these boards filled with your opinions, insight, and snappy jokes. So for old times’ sake, let’s talk Sex Rehab.
Wow, that closing sentence did not come out as emotionally as I’d hoped it would. Thanks a lot, Dr. Drew.
Comments (1-15) of 46 Add your comment
Dr. Drew shows are GREAT television and there is no way this show will not be always entertaining. It’s bad i knew the porn star before they said her name, huh.
bye bye Josh.
as a long-time EW reader, i’ll miss you!
Say it ain’t so, Gawche! Is it Dalton? Sure, he’s a bully, but it’s not worth leaving over. You can take him, man! Aaargghhhh.
Yes, truth be told, it was Dalton…or as I call him, “Dr. Bastard, DDS.” I can’t take the abuse anymore! Who’ll he kick around now? (I’m sure he’ll take suggestions.)
Best of luck in your new job Josh!
Josh! Say it isn’t so!
your TV Watches and Popwatch Blog pieces are always my favourites.
You leave at least 1 Canadian girl in tears at her keyboard.
hope your new challenge is a bright one.
Make that 2 Canadian girls!!! However will I survive Big Brother and AR without you?????
Three Canadian girls.
And one Canadian boy. And on behalf of our country, I wanted to thank you for a small gesture you made for us. When we started this club, on one if the first assignments we Canucks mentioned that we don’t have access to Hulu. After that, I noticed you never again assigned a Hulu subject for a weekly topic. That was very considerate of you. Thank you.
Fourth girl. Good luck Josh, I’ll be looking out for you in your new role. I really enjoy your work, and hope someone else will pick up the slack for the Pop Culture Club.
NO! You can’t leave! You and Dalton are my reason for coming to this site on a daily basis! Whose going to be Dalton’s comedic foil now?
Josh!! So sorry to hear you’re leaving! My post-TAR Monday mornings won’t be the same without you (unless you choose to post a TV Watch on your personal blog!).
Good luck in whatever new venture you’re taking on. You will be missed terribly.
I just may do that, time permitting. I’m sure my wife would be happy for me to have an outlet for my TAR rantings so she doesn’t have to listen to them.
I have never laughed out loud more frequently while reading than at your TAR recaps, Josh. So I will be frantically Googling after Monday’s penultimate EW entry. Please?? (I will beg if necessary…)
PLEASE do a TAR recap on your blog! There are a group of us who rely on your Monday funnies to get us through the week. Don’t make us face Monday morning alone, Josh!
Goodbye Josh! I still smile thinking about your “Real World” recaps from years ago. They were the best! You’ll be missed!
Like others, I’m sorry to hear you’re leaving. I’ve enjoyed auditing your Pop Culture Club.
Good luck with any and all future endeavors!
I’ll miss you too. TAR definitely won’t be the same without you. Best of luck
)
good luck, josh! i love your writing so much, i even read your book about going back to camp! Could you maybe just keep writing TAR recaps on a special blog, for your loyal readers?!?!
You’ll be missed!
Josh, I have loved you since you asked if Trishelle from “The Real World” had candy hidden in her uterus when one of the male cast said she tricked him into having sex. Just that one sentence, and I was forever your fan.
Best of luck wherever you are going — but please keep writing the funny. We NEED you to help us laugh at absurd TV.
Ahhh, the Trishelle days. I was so young and full of contempt for reality dopes then. Now I am old and full of the same contempt.
We’ll miss you, Josh!
NOOOOO!!! NO! You can’t leave! Who will write the Big Brother recaps this summer? Who I ask you? Who? No one can fill your shoes. Ugh. First Marc M and now you. Damn it.