I saw last weeks. The show was sad, and you felt for the ppl who has addictions, but you really really felt for their families. The hedonmism of addictions.. and how it gets out of hand, it's tremendously sad..

i didn't see tonights but i saw a lot of commercials for it (i love A and E) and he did sound like a huge whiner, just the tone of his voice was so grating..

I saw the one from last week and it was disgusting how most of these people, highly educated people could be so weak minded I guess because some of them were smart. The one guy became homes used up $200,000 on coke....and the girl she didnt even care about her father's health she always chose her addiction over his life....
but in the end he came through for her and she did for him...
Its insane and defenately sad...

Two adages come to mind.

1) Genius borders on insanity.

2) The HOUSE always wins.

I saw a clip of that show while i was surfing a few days back -- gotta say it looked like a total crapfest starring some degenerate who was fortunate to have people in his life that actually cared for him and yet found a way to piss it all way. Yeah, it's sad...but hardly entartainment. Your review just confirmed my inital reaction which was that i'd be better off watching a infomercial marathon on stainremovers instead.


The house doesn't beat the player. It just gives him the opportunity to beat himself. ~Nick Dandalos

The better the gambler, the worse the man. ~Publius Syrus

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"Hell is full of musical amateurs; music is the brandy of the damned."
~ George Bernard Shaw

I wondered if the show is faith(religion) based or not, but forgot to watch it again tonight.
is it?

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Retired TA.

I loved the fact that Gabe guy believed his parents were responsible for him and his actions until death. He 100% believed it was their duty to bail him out everytime. FFS, they still paid his cell phone bill.

To be honest, I'm not surprised that someone who went to college when they're 12 is socially dysfunctional.

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"Old School In Every Sense"

quote:

Originally posted by j_spot I wondered if the show is faith(religion) based or not, but forgot to watch it again tonight. is it?

No religion. It's basically....go to rehab or everyone you know will disown you.

___________________
"Old School In Every Sense"

I forgot to set my Tivo tonight for this show, but caught it last week....

Actually, having had some 'first hand' experience with some of this stuff, the interventions last week were quite mild...I would be interested to see the girl in a year to a year and a half.

I wish I could have seen the Gambler, I have had some friends lose everything (business, house, car, custody of children) due to gambling, hence my extreme caution in my life regarding casinos (never have been in one).

I also disagree with some of the opinions stated by some folks previously in this thread...

Addiction is something that you cannot comprehend unless you have actually have experienced it in your own life. It has nothing to do with intelligence, willpower, spiritual affiliation or anything related to those....Many alcoholics/addicts drive their lives into the ground so much and still manage to keep it together, sometimes for years. The ability to really rationalize and justify actions that are so detremental to your well being shows much intelligence. It takes much willpower to continue to do the thing that is causing so much grief in your life. The amount of the clergy that have been diagnosed as alcoholic/addicts is astounding. So spiritual affiliation when you are active in your addiction is also irrelavent.

It is a very sinister disease, and that is what it is, a disease (classified as such since the 80's). In all reality, if someone has a shread of life left, whether it is a job, money, family...something...they will refuse help. Alcoholism and addiction is a mental disease, and most alcoholics/addicts think they can fix their fcuked up thinking with their own fcuked up thinking.

Another common misconception is that you can 'outgrow' it. That you can 'lay off' for a while and it is like you reboot your system, you can start at the beginning again. Once someone has crossed that invisible line into alcoholism/addiction, there is no going back. Someone may be able to 'control' it for a short period of time, but eventually (and invariably much quicker) they will be worse than they ever was before the 'went on the wagon'.

Don't get me wrong...I do not believe that everyone that parties is a alcoholic or addict or everyone that goes to the casino is a compulsive gambler. Many people can party for a long time, sometimes all their life, and never get to that point. But many cross that line and continue to rationalize their actions.

The fact of the matter is that less than 5% of alcoholics/addicts are still sober 5yrs after they try to get sober. A very grim statistic indeed.

___________________
The Spankmeister Cometh.....

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

U can catch the tail end now on TV as its being repeated

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"When I die, I want to be buried under the dancefloor"- Frankie Madgenta

What's even better is how this guy threatens suicide if he can't get more money to "pay off debts" (which all he's gonna do with it is gamble more). Considering his debt has cost his parents about $500,000, they should oversee his next attempt (as the others failed) and make sure he does it right. That guy is absolutely irritating and psycho. He screamed and screamed this whole 'how dare you!' routine, when he's the one pulling out $2000 of his parents money a nite to gamble.

quote:

I loved the fact that Gabe guy believed his parents were responsible for him and his actions until death. He 100% believed it was their duty to bail him out everytime. FFS, they still paid his cell phone bill.

His 'version' of a true friend was also one that gives him the money to gamble. That dude is all about 'me me me', but I guess that's typical of addicts. And who the hell did he keep trying to call on his cell during his intervention??

Aside from all that, I thought the intervention was quite weak. Just give D West (from the Maury show) 15 mins with that guy, and I'm sure he'll have his ass turned around!

The other girl with the shopping addiction was easy to send to rehab, purely cuz she has so many other issues and disorders that she recognizes and she wants the help.

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"When I die, I want to be buried under the dancefloor"- Frankie Madgenta

Last edited by tatgirl on Mar-14-2005 at 08:04

Next week's episode:

Airs on Sunday, March 20 at 10:00pm ET

The family calls in interventionist Jeff VanVonderen to help Jerrie, 29, who is addicted to the painkiller Vicodin. She has been forging physician signatures on prescriptions and scouring the waterfront for drug dealers. Friends try to help Tamela, 24, a bright artist who was molested as a child and now cuts herself with razorblades. They call in interventionist Candy Finnigan in hopes that Tamela will recognize her great potential and go to treatment.

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"When I die, I want to be buried under the dancefloor"- Frankie Madgenta

quote:

Originally posted by tatgirl U can catch the tail end now on TV as its being repeated

Yea, I did catch it...

That Gabe guy, totally socially inept, as many people with genius level IQ's are....Really not wanting the help, not seeing that he really has a problem...

___________________
The Spankmeister Cometh.....

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.