February 21, 2008
Good news for fans of VH1's Celebrity Rehab. Given the show's popularity, the cable network has decided to add two more episodes to the current season, one of which is a reunion special.
Originally, VH1 ordered only eight one-hour episodes of the series, with the first season supposedly ending on February 28. Because of the additional episodes, the last broadcast of the show has been pushed back to March 13.
(Warning: may contain spoilers.)
February 14, 2008
Former American Idol season 4 contestant Jessica Sierra, who now stars on the reality series Celebrity Rehab, is no longer pregnant, according to TMZ.
Confirmation reportedly came from a source close to Sierra's family, though the source could not disclose what exactly happened with Sierra's pregnancy, which was revealed last December. The baby's father was said to be a rap artist.
February 7, 2008
When you put together a bunch of troubled celebrities in a show that exposes all the horrors of addiction, along with silly celebrity tantrums, bosomy women, and distressing mishaps, at some point, something has got to give. Such is applicable to VH1's new reality series, Celebrity Rehab, which just lost one of its cast members following claims of inappropriate behavior.
Actor Daniel Baldwin, who has been battling cocaine addiction since 1989, has reportedly quit Celebrity Rehab, a reality series on VH1 that features several “has been” celebrities as they undergo treatment to get over their bad habits. Baldwin is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers and is credited for movies like I'll Be There with You, Vampires, and the television series Homicide: Life on the Street, just to name a few.
January 24, 2008
Previously on Celebrity Rehab, eight drug addicted celebrities checked themselves into rehab under the care of Dr. Drew Pinsky and began their difficult battle for sobriety. Brigitte Nielsen, known for her marriage to actor Sylvester Stallone and her relationship with rapper Flavor Flav, former WWF star Joanie "Chyna Doll" Laurer, Jeff Conaway, who starred on Taxi and Babylon 5, Daniel Baldwin of Vegas Vampires, Seth "Shifty" Binzer of Willowbee, porn star Mary Carey, Family Matters' Jaimee Foxworth and former American Idol contestant Jessica Sierra introduced their painful back-stories, while Dr. Drew started to analyze his patients' struggles through a series of one-on-one meetings. But when Conaway lapsed into a seizure and ended up being rushed to the hospital, the rest of the group realized what rehabilitation is really about. While Conoway continued struggle with his withdrawal symptoms in the hospital, emotions flared for the others when it was revealed that Conoway brought drugs into the rehab.
The celebrities continue to undergo medical detox and suffer withdrawals in tonigt's episode of Celebrity Rehab called “New Arrival.” Read on for a preview.
January 10, 2008
The continuing story of Jessica Sierra's court-ordered yearlong-rehab visit has been unfolding today even as the hours count down to the premiere tonight of Celebrity Rehab, which features the American Idol alum as one of the addicts. With such a high profile story about the struggles of at least one Celebrity Rehab participant, the show is already starting off on the defensive.
Of course, even if every single participant had emerged from Celebrity Rehab clean and sober for the rest of their lives, the show would still have its critics who think it's exploitative and prurient voyeurism. But the doctor at the heart of it, Dr. Drew Pinsky, defends what the show is doing.
December 28, 2007
You have to admire VH1's restraint. Certainly they were tempted to create a title for this program that would fit more neatly into their Celebreality brand: Celebrehabality, perhaps? But no, the subject at hand requires some gravitas, so they stuck with the simple and descriptive Celebrity Rehab.
And you also have to, just in general, admire the overall ingenuity of the various networks and their reality programming. It seems like every quarter, there is some new reality concept announced that just fills a big part of the population with horror and gives cultural critics plenty of fodder for another article saying “This new reality program (fill in the blank) proves we are going to hell in a handbasket as a society.”
The list feels endless: Temptation Island, Age of Love, Kid Nation, Rock of Love, anything remotely associated with Flavor Flav…I could go on, but I think the point is there. Yet every time the response is, “That's it, they've gone too far,” the networks manage to pull something one step further like Celebrity Rehab out of their hats.