Anybody watching "Breaking Bonaduce"?

[XanaDUer]

I hate reality shows, but this one is wild. Any thoughts if anyone is watching it?

It's on VH1.

[DawgHouse]

1. Yeah, what a train wreck!

[XanaDUer]

4. Interesting article about it...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9534349/site/newsweek/

Has-been stars have been all the rage in reality TV, and the best of them—Ozzy Osbourne, Nick and Jessica, Paris Hilton—have made for surprisingly amusing television. Bonaduce, typically, is going for something entirely different. Whereas most celeb-reality shows are designed to resemble unscripted sitcoms, “Breaking Bonaduce” is perhaps TV’s first reality drama. And we do mean drama. The show follows Danny and his redheaded wife, Gretchen, in their daily routines at home, at play and, most of all, in the office of Dr. Gary, their psychologist.

At first, it’s hard to know why Dr. Gary’s office has become a major setting for the show, other than perhaps as a gimmick to tease out some tension between the couple. Bonaduce himself seems to think the whole reality-show idea is nothing but a lark—he tells Dr. Gary he’s only doing it to make some money and to get his freckled face back on TV. Besides, doesn’t everyone in LA have a tanned, handsome shrink with studio lights and cameras in his office?

But something amazing happens in Dr. Gary’s office, something that, frankly, is all too rare in any genre of television. We get a glimpse inside a man’s soul, and it’s far more wounded and dark than anyone could have imagined. Bonaduce is an alcoholic, a sex addict, a hothead and an insanely jealous man. He’s like the protagonist of a twisted FX drama...

[Qanisqineq]

2. I've been watching

My god, is he actually that screwed up? I don't know how she's stayed married to him this long.

[XanaDUer]

3. Not sure if he is that bad (I think he is, actually)

or making it worse for the cameras.

[AngryOldDem]

5. Yes. I think it's one of the better reality shows

Why? Because it shows addiction and addictive, self-destructive personalities for what they are. Bonaduce is ill. He did not bring any of this on himself; it's like his life is an out-of-control train heading downhill straight for a brick wall. There is something that has just taken over his personality and neither he, nor his wife, nor his psychiatrist can get a handle on it.

I am currently studying addictions and I think this series should be offered as part of any college curriculum on addictive illness. It brings the scope of this illness into much sharper focus than any textbook on the subject ever could.

I think both Bonaduce and his wife are doing a great service by allowing their lives to be documented like this. I commend them for their courage.

I am very interested to see tonight's episode as he spends his first few days in rehab. Clips indicate it did not go well. As to be expected.

[XanaDUer]

6. It didn't.

DB's hostility is growing towards his wife and the recovery team.

He does not want to stay at the treatment center unless there is, "a payoff."

I came across this show by accident and found myself fascinated by it. Now I'm hooked.

[AngryOldDem]

7. That's pretty typical behavior

Sadly, I think he will not recover. He will go through treatment, and may even show signs of improvement, but I think he is hell-bent on self-destruction. From what I understand his resentment and anger at being at the rehab place is pretty typical of some addicts. Some come around; others don't want to be there and sabotage themselves as well as every effort made to help them.

I think for her own sake Gretchen needs to just take the kids and walk away, because this situation will take them down as well. Something almost demonic takes over him when he goes into his rages, and I really don't know if treatment can even help anymore.

It is a painful show to watch, but as I said, I think it explains the horror of addiction and the tragedy of addictive personalities brilliantly. I also came across this show by accident because in an odd way I've always been a fan of Danny's and thought he was funny as hell (I've seen him on talk shows and other programs). I thought it was another typical "day in the life" show, played for laughs. Couldn't have been more wrong. What a tortured soul.