Dr. Drew Pinsky has nothing to do with “Intervention,” which forms one half of the two-headed monster of A&E’s Misery Night (along with “Hoarders”). But I’m pretty sure that Dr. Drew feeds off of other people’s strung-out misery. When he sees drug-addicted trainwrecks making bongs in their own buttholes, he starts counting the money signs in his head, mapping out all the ways in which he can exploit their misfortune.

So this awesome four-minute supercut of “Intervention’s” most memorable tweaked-out meth heads, drug fiends, and alcoholics must be like the ultimate Dr. Drew Spank Tape.

Unfasten your belt and unleash the Kraken crackheads. What?

(Via Buzzfeed)

This clip is over two years old, but it’s new to me and BuzzFeed, so chances are you probably haven’t seen it either. The poor old guy being interviewed in this video is REALLY upset about the library closing, and this would easily be the best cry ever if Best Cry Ever wasn’t already the best cry ever.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite how hilarious it is with a laugh track, “Intervention” tackles addiction with an unprecedented level of success: of the 161 addicts featured on the show over the last five years, an astounding 130 of them are still sober. In an article for The Daily Beast, the annoyingly talented Natasha Vargas-Cooper (author of The Footnotes of Mad Men and the new book Mad Men Unbuttoned) examines the show’s dedication to recovery:

Take into account the high recidivism of drug offenders going back to jail, the chronic relapsing of people who have passed through state-based rehab programs, and anyone who has dealt with an addict in his or her personal life, the 71 percent recovery rate [sic: it's 81%] is, by any standard, astonishingly high. It is a number the producers of the show tout, not only because it’s impressive, but because they believe it is accurate. After the participants go through the show and complete rehab, Intervention has a dedicated staff member to do check-ins with participants, put them in touch with other support groups, and send out sobriety birthday cards.

Key aspects of the success rate include a 90-day stay at a rehab facility (instead of the standard 28 days) and the interventionists educating the addicts’ family and friends about how to stop their enabling habits. If you like the show, I strongly recommend the entire article.

What I want to know is how addicts are still falling for the “documentary about addiction” premise that gets them on the show. Really, guys? No one’s picked up on the ruse? Frankly, I expected more from people with inhalant addictions that go through ten cans of computer duster a day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I highlighted a GQ article in which Zach Galifianakis said that “if they put a laugh track on Intervention, it would be funny.” And then I stood atop a mountain with wi-fi and blogged, “INTERNET, MAKE IT SO!”

The gods of the Internet responded, selecting a portion of the “Intervention” episode about Corinne, a diabetic heroin addict who shoots up three to six times a day. The video’s creator, clippy2988, even added a slide whistle sound effect to Corinne snorting a line of smack. Delightful.

Things like this and the time I asked for M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” with dogs barking and cats screeching always make me feel so powerful. Part of me wants to press my luck and see just how much the Internet can deliver. “Internet, kill the hobo who asked me for change yesterday!”

Birthday Cat is a notoriously tough crowd.

So apparently GQ’s latest issue is the comedy issue, and they assembled Tracy Morgan, Zach Galifianakis, and Paul Rudd to talk about what they find humorous. And while I like the entire article because it’s a bunch of funny dudes making jokes, I thought I’d share this exchange about which TV shows they think are funny:

GQ: What TV show do you think is funny?
TRACY: Brandy & Ray J.
PAUL: Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, that’s really funny. [especially when Rudd's on it -Ed.]
ZACH: I think if they put a laugh track on Intervention, it would be funny.
PAUL: Have you seen Hoarders?
TRACY: Hoarders is serious stuff, man.
GQ: There’s enough there, enough hoarders in the world, for there to be a whole season on TV about it?
PAUL: You have no idea how many hoarders there are. You could throw a stick and hit a hoarder anywhere.
TRACY: You gotta look at Lockup.
GQ: What’s Lockup?
TRACY: Oh man, this is subculture. Interesting. Guys washing their T-shirts out in toilet bowls.
ZACH: I don’t know if this is being racist or something, but there’re never any Asians on that show.
TRACY: Never! They don’t go to jail.
ZACH: Why? Why?
PAUL: They’re all too busy hoarding.

Oh man, “Intervention” with a laugh track. Internet: make it so.

Read the rest of this entry »