Intervention (TV series)

Overview

The show follows one or two participants who are either substance dependent or have severe addiction. They are filmed over a period of time until an intervention conducted with an interventionist, in which they are often captured using drugs, alcohol, or the substance they are abusive of. Relatives, friends and closed ones are interviewed by the producers, with certain parts intercut with the footage of the show. The interventions are often practiced or prepared ahead of the time the addict(s) walks in. Once started, they are given an ultimatum: Either they undergo a 90-day, all-expenses-paid treatment plan at a rehabilitation facility, or risk losing contact, income or privileges from their relatives, friends and close ones.

As in real life, several addicts have walked out although almost all eventually accept treatment. As of 2012, only four addicts have completely refused: Alissa in Season 1, Marquel in Season 8, Adam in Season 9, and Larry in Season 11. A fifth person, Sean in Season 12, agreed to go but bailed during the drive. In addition, Betsy in Season 2 accepted treatment, as long as her boyfriend could go too. During a layover in Chicago, the two decided to go home and try to get sober on their own. However, Betsy did go to treatment after her family held their defenses. A number of addicts who initially agreed have left treatment early due to rule violations, behavioral problems or a desire to not attend. Some addicts who leave early go to prison or enter another facility to continue treatment; others never complete the rehab process, with the majority relapsing and continuing their former habits.

Occasionally, during an episode, the plight of another addict in the addict's circle becomes apparent, and the show often makes additional plans to help the other addict find treatment as well. These secondary interventions, like the primary ones, have a mixed record of success and failure. Additionally, the secondary addict sometimes promises to seek treatment to get the primary to have treatment, only to back out once the primary departs (example: Paul, stepfather of OxyContin addict Ryan from Season 3, tells Ryan that he intends to seek help for his drinking problem, but later backs out of going to rehab himself, though he does quit drinking independently).

In situations where the circle has become codependents, or are otherwise traumatized by the addict's behavior, the interventionist usually recommends that the entire seek counseling to enable them to move on. This has led to some successful family reunions (Coley, a serious meth addict, got clean while his family went through counseling, and his marriage to wife Francine was saved by the intervention) and complete dissolution of relationships (Leslie, a suburban housewife alcoholic, went through court-ordered rehab while her family received counseling at the Betty Ford Clinic; after both treatment programs ended, Leslie and her husband finalized their divorce). Some families will promise to attend counseling to convince the addict to accept treatment, only to bail afterwards (example: Bulimic alcoholic Amber from Season 9 agrees to go to rehab only if her entire family signs a contract to attend the Betty Ford Clinic's family counseling program; though everyone signs the contract in her presence, none of them followed through once she headed off to the treatment center).

Each episode ends with a series of black screens (white in season 13), upon which text discusse the addicts and their progress since the intervention (including a sobriety date, if known), followed by its website link that invites viewers to find out more information on addiction and recovery. The white screens are updated with new information each time the show is re-aired on A&E, and some video updates are made available on the show's website. Occasionally, an update documents an outreach to the addict from fans. The update for siblings Brooks and Ian's follow-up episode that re-aired in early 2008 indicated that Brooks had met and married a fan in 2007. At the end of the original episode featuring alcoholic banker and bar brawler Jacob, he stated that he was planning to enroll in college for the upcoming semester; the black screen update for his episode that re-aired in early 2008 indicated that a fan had contacted the producers after the show's airing and offered to pay for Jacob's college tuition.

Occasionally, the addict becomes suspicious that he/she is being set up for an intervention, having watched the show before, or recognizes one of the featured interventionists on sight upon being brought into the final meeting place.

In conjunction with interventions that involve addicts where sudden withdrawal is dangerous, a nurse accompanies them to the rehab center, providing medical assistance for the addict. Patients with addictions that could cause serious risk to their health upon cessation of the substance abuse usually spend time in a detox facility before entering rehab.

Deaths of participants

As of January 12, 2017, the following 23 addicts profiled on the show are deceased:

Interventionists

The "cast" for each episode is primarily the addict and their family members, circle of friends and others. The only regular cast member in each episode is the interventionist, whose job it is to conduct the intervention. The show originally featured three regular specialists:

Later additions to the cast:

Occasionally, other therapists have made appearances to offset the workload among the regulars:

Jeff VanVonderen took an extended leave of absence in Season 5 after admitting during the special episode "Intervention: After-Treatment Special" that he relapsed with alcohol. He returned in Season 6 and has remained with the series since then.

Ken Seeley left the series after completing the intervention for Linda in Season 8 to focus on his personal intervention service, Intervention-911. He returned to conduct the intervention for Al, a crystal meth/painkiller/marijuana addict, in Season 13, and returned to the series in Season 14.

Celebrity subjects

Most episodes feature "everyday" people struggling with their addictions, but entertainment professionals have also been featured.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 4

Season 5

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 15

Addictions

Addictions covered by the show have included:

Episodes

Another session starts March 6, 2016 at 10pm on A & E

Awards

Criticism

Matthew Gilbert (The Boston Globe), a critic of the show, argues that the program is exploitative and showcases individuals as they self-destruct. He also argues that the confrontation within the intervention is milked to show only the most dramatic moments and that the final results of the intervention and subsequent rehabilitation is glossed-over.

Melanie McFarland, another television critic, also laments that the show does little to educate on successful intervention and instead deceives the subjects of each episode in order to film them at their lowest point.

Spinoffs

During the spring of 2011, A&E aired the series Relapse, which ran for five episodes. Each episode focused on sober coaches' work with long-time addicts who have been unable to get clean despite repeated attempts at treatment. Seth Jaffe, one of the coaches, later became an interventionist on the main series.

On September 9, 2011, Intervention Canada debuted on Slice Network.

On December 28, 2012, Teen Trouble debuted on Lifetime which is executive produced by Bryn Freedman, a former Intervention producer.

On March 8, 2016, Intervention: Codependent premiered on LMN.

In popular culture

As of 2012, Funny or Die has featured two parodies of Intervention. One of the first Intervention parodies to appear anywhere, Kristin Chenoweth's short "Intervention with Kristin Chenoweth", was released August 27, 2008. The video features Chenoweth giving a gay crystal meth addict a cheerful Broadway-style singing intervention. More recently, in April 2011, another Intervention satire debuted on the site, this one entitled "Intervention Intervention", featuring Fred Armisen playing a man addicted to the television show Intervention.

Toronto-based television station CFTO-TV created a series of spoofs in early 2009 starring local weather personality Dave Devall. Devall would act as an "assistant" to families needing "winterventions" for family members ill-dressed for Canadian winters as part of advertising for that station's news shows. These commercials aired almost a year before the first A&E-produced episodes of Intervention that were shot in Canada and featured Canadian addicts debuted on Canadian Television.

On April 16, 2010, a video entitled "Best Cry Ever" was posted on the popular video-sharing site YouTube, featuring a clip from Season 7 episode "Rocky", which told the story of former professional boxer Rocky Lockridge, who lost everything, including contact with his sons, to drugs. The clip centers around a dramatic scene in which Rocky is seen crying amongst his relatives. As of January 2013, the original video has attained over 48 million views and has become an Internet phenomenon. A Saturday Night Live sketch featured an Intervention parody with guest host Jon Hamm crying in a similar fashion. The season 3 premiere episode of The Cleveland Show also parodies "Best Cry Ever", when Cleveland breaks down after his old friend Peter confesses that he still cares for him; this gets the attention of Cleveland's friends and the Evil Monkey.

The April 28, 2010 episode of the TV series South Park parodied the show by doing an Intervention-style documentary on character Towelie in the episode "Crippled Summer". The episode includes on-screen text blocks to provide subtext or details, and culminates in a scene where the boys confront Towelie about his drug addiction. The counselor insists, as the real-life interventionists often do, that all parties be allowed to "say whatever they need to say" to one another during the course of the actual intervention, which leads to Cartman endlessly harassing Kyle with insults and racial/ethnic/religious slurs.

A season 3 episode of the HBO television show True Blood contains a segment with Hoyt's mother attempting to intervene in Hoyt's relationship with newborn vampire Jessica. Hoyt's mother turns up at his workplace with Summer in tow (whom she believes Hoyt should be dating instead of a newborn vamp), along with the local school's guidance counselor. Hoyt says he has work to do and doesn't have time to talk, but the guidance counselor, acting as the "interventionist", stops Hoyt from leaving, parodying Jeff VanVonderen's traditional intervention opening lines ("I'm here for these folks who really love you like crazy, and want you to hear them out, and then you can say what you want to say"). The characters then read their letters out loud, all of which open with "Dear Hoyt" (similar to letters the families normally write to their loved ones as part of the interventions depicted in Intervention).

In the 30 Rock episode "Queen of Jordan", which subtly parodies several reality TV shows, Jenna tries to get more screen time for herself on Angie's reality show by convincing Pete to stage an intervention for her alcoholism, even though she is not an alcoholic. Pete tries to teach her a lesson by arranging for her to be taken to rehab; knowing she won't be featured on camera if she is away from the show, Jenna knocks her designated escort unconscious and escapes back to Angie's party.

In a skit from an episode of Tosh.0 that first aired October 18, 2011, host Daniel Tosh turns his normal "Web Redemption" segment (where a person or group who appeared in a notorious or embarrassing online video are given a chance to explain themselves via interview/event recreation) into an "intervention" for a Wisconsin man named Tim, whose videotaped trip on shrooms turned into a YouTube sensation. Tosh reveals the redemption segment is really an "intervention" about 2/3 of the way through when he lures Tim into leaving the room with him on the pretense of going to see "a Lady Antebellum laser light show"; when they open the door to leave the interview room, Tim discovers they are in a small hotel conference room, in which Tim's "family and friends" are gathered all around. Tosh uses Jeff VanVonderen's trademark intro ("These people love you like crazy...") and introduces Tim's mom and dad, some other people "who are probably early for the next intervention", and a clown who's "addicted to smiles" that Tosh invited because "these things are always so depressing." Tim's father starts off the family portion of the intervention by reading his own letter; it begins with "we're here because we wanted a free trip to L.A." The interventionist quickly determines that Tim hasn't yet hit rock bottom and rescinds the offer of rehab until he does. Tosh and Tim are shown next attending a drug party, where they re-enact many of the crazy things Tim said and did in his notorious YouTube video, and a black screen with white text reveals that two minutes have passed since they began their drug party. As Tosh decides that Tim has now hit rock bottom (since they find the dead body of the clown from the intervention beside their hotel bed), they head off together to the rehab center. But when "Amy Winehouse" answers the door at the "rehab center", the pair realize they must have overdosed (a subtle satire on one of Ken Seeley's assertions during Pre-Intervention talks, when he stresses that some addicts don't hit rock bottom until they're dead). As they enter Heaven, the screen fades to white, where black text (instead of the usual fade-to-black with white text summarizing the addict's time in treatment) says simply that "Six months later, they are still happily dead."

In Millionaires 2012 single "Drinks On Me", the show is referenced in the line "This ain't no A&E, you won't see me on Intervention."

In 2013, in response to malicious comments about her made on Twitter by Amanda Bynes, singer Rihanna tweeted "Ya see what happens when they cancel Intervention?".

On his 2013 song, "The Monster", featuring singer Rihanna, from The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem raps, "I think you've been wandering off down yonder, and stumbled onto Jeff VanVonderen/Cause I need an interventionist, to intervene between me and this monster." VanVonderen was one of the show's main interventionists.