Monday night’s VH1 special, “Charlie Sheen: Winning or Losing It? With Dr. Drew” was a tale of two addicts.
The more high-profile co-dependent, of course, was Charlie Sheen.
But the host of the hour- long program, Dr. Drew Pinsky, may be suffering from his own addiction -- to fame. The condition that first broke out several seasons of "Celebrity Rehab" ago, has become a full-on virus since Sheen began his public fall from grace.
When Pinsky’s high-wire balance of medicine and showmanship works, it leads to a trip to the best-seller list or another season of “Celebrity Rehab,” one of VH1’s top-rated shows.
When if falls flat, the consequences can be bad publicity for the media star and his self-help empire - and real human costs.
"It's a public meltdown like we've never seen before - and America seems addicted to it," Pinsky said on Monday's show.
But that's not the only meltdown in the news. On Tuesday Alice in Chains rocker Mike Starr, who appeared on “Celebrity Rehab Season 3,” and seemed to be on the road to recovery after years of substance problems, died of undetermined causes. The 44-year-old had been arrested on the suspicion of drug possession last month in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Also read: Now Charlie Sheen Lashes Out at Jon Cryer
In Pinksy's defense, his is an affliction that has launched top-rated television shows and several big selling books. Instead of drug pushers and porn stores, Pinsky’s enablers are cable news hosts and journalists eager for a talking head with a stethoscope who will hold forth on the latest movie star train wreck.
For him, Charlie Sheen's meltdown arrives like opportunity knocking. The latest round of Sheen mania could provide the perfect lead-up to his new HLN show “Dr. Drew,” which premieres on April 4.
Also read: Mike Starr, 'Celebrity Rehab' Alum and Alice in Chains Bassist, Dies at 44
“It’s entertainment, not psychiatry,” Dr. Pamela Rutledge, director of the non-profit Media Psychology Research Center, told TheWrap. "It's not about Charlie Sheen."
Monday night's show, “Charlie Sheen: Winning or Losing It,” occupied a shaky middle ground.
Though the evening kicked off with Pinsky expressing “grave concern” about the actor’s troubles, it also lingered on highlights from Sheen’s most outrageous interviews replete with hazy reenactments of snorting cocaine and pouring whiskey.
Pinsky was able to include several plugs for his “Celebrity Rehab” franchise during the show.
“Dr. Drew is a media personality first and a doctor second. They shouldn’t play up the public service aspect so much, because they're being disingenuous about the fact that this is an entertainment business decision,” Alex Weprin, editor of TVNewser, told TheWrap.
As fans of “Celeb Rehab” know, Pinsky has a substantial background in the addiction field, having worked in treatment centers and with addicts for over two decades.
