Intervention (2005– ) User Reviews (18)

Sometimes uplifting, but the format needs work

[scs0 · 7/10 · 20 June 2007]

I find I enjoy this show, but the format needs some work. First off, the good attributes. I like how this show will take us through the day-to-day life of an addict because the producers have a knack at getting the addict to show us how bad they've allowed their lives to become. This is followed by an intervention which is then followed by an outcome. Intervention doesn't candy-coat things and sometimes the outcome (often short term due to the constraints of time between filming and airing) is a negative outcome. This makes the positive outcomes all the better.

Another thing I like about the show is the quality of the camera work. Given the reality that these cameramen have to squeeze anywhere and don't have the benefit of re shooting scenes the photography is surprisingly good and stable. It's actually superior to scripted shows like "The Shield" where the photography is so bad it can induce nausea.

Now for the bad. An episode will sometimes contain two completely different and unrelated cases that will be mixed together during the show. You'll get caught up in the story of one addict then suddenly you're thrown into the story of another. Get caught up in that story then suddenly you're back to the first addict...or are you? By now you may have forgotten which case the individual currently on screen belong to. This constant flip-flopping between addicts really gets disruptive during the intervention scenes because the show will even mix together the two completely unrelated interventions! I once heard the marketing B.S. reason for this poor design: "The show can get so intense that switching to another addict allows the viewer time to absorb what they're watching." Oh please. Clearly the reason this is done is because they have two cases that aren't big enough for an hour show so they mix two together. By mixing them instead of giving each a half hour block, like they should, it forces the viewer to watch the entire thing (and the commercials) if they are interested in one case but not the other.

I used to find these "blender" episodes so annoying that I'd only tell my TiVo to record episodes containing one addict, but then it became easier just to record all of them.

Very addicting show

[timspeakman · 9/10 · 18 January 2017]

Whenever I watch this show, which is one of my favorites besides Forensic Files, 48 Hours and Seinfeld, I wonder how these people are still breathing. The episode I watched last night featured a woman who drank twenty (20) beers per day (8% alcohol by volume) and lived with her parents. She lost six (6) jobs due to drinking on the job! She started drinking at an early age and was even hammered at her wedding - two years into her marriage, her husband got tired of her guzzling beer so he divorced her. Then she started drinking like crazy, like that would solve the problem, and when she had to take drug/alcohol tests for probation, she would start huffing paint since it wouldn't show up on a test. Wow. She even got so hammered one time that she pulled down her pants and took a crap on a stranger's vehicle while people were laughing at her and filming her. Why do parents keep enabling people like this by giving them money? She was admitted to the hospital on more than one occasion and had a BAC of 0.49!! Good Lord. On the way to the hospital, she called her mom a "*itch" and her mom just kept driving...if I said that to my mom, I would have been slapped into the year 2049. I used to drink but stopped after realizing that there's no point - these people think it solves problems but it does the opposite by creating problems.

Really a Scared Straight Show!

[ShelbyTMItchell · 9/10 · 10 April 2013]

This is really a scared straight show. As it shows people that are addicted to their addictions. Like food, drugs, alcohol, you name it as they are addicted to it.

It shows a family that wants to help that person. That is addicted. In reality it is just a facade to help show that person tough love aka the intervention with a tough love psychologist. As they read notes on why that person is hurting them with their addictions. And to get help at a rehab usually out of state.

It works sometimes and then other times, it does not. Sad but true. As the show is a learning process after the cameras have stopped rolling. Really sad when they don't get over their addictions. Which happens it seems most of the time.

For their vices will be there as a reminder for them to stop due to a lot of things but two things come to mind. Their families and their lives hanging in the balance.

Really a scared straight show!

Amazing reality show

[joebenaiah · 24 April 2005]

I don't know how I could spoil a documentary, but at any rate: This show is proof positive of cable's superiority to network television. This show is amazingly real and extreme compared to ultra tame network soap opera's like the Amazing Race and Survivor. You are never sure whether an episode will end with you smiling and wiping away tears (like the story of the beautiful and talented masochist who tearfully accepted the treatment)with you squirming in your chair horrified at the tragic reality (the child prodigy turned gambling addict who is 200,000 in debt and yet verbally abuses his friends and family at the intervention). I get chills every time I watch this show, one of many great A&E reality shows (Dog the Bounty Hunter, Airline and Caesar's 24/7).

This show might change your life, too

[rickmcq · 10/10 · 17 June 2007]

'Intervention' has helped me with my own addictions and recovery. I'm a middle-aged married father of two. I'm quite functional in my personal and professional life. Still, I have pain from my past that I use addictions to soothe, and issues from which I am slowly recovering. When these addicts and their families share their lives with me, they help me to improve my life and my relationship with my family.

The show, unlike many others, digs into the past of the addict and reveals events that probably caused their addiction. Many of us suffer because it's too scary to go back and do, as Alice Miller says, "the discovery and emotional acceptance of the truth in the individual and unique history of our childhood." The show deserves a lot of credit for at least getting this process started. This digging is painful and difficult, but worth it. So much coverage of addiction -- fictional and non-fictional -- seems to ignore the underlying issues. Often it's assumed that the addict just one day started to shoot up or whatever for fun or pleasure or self-interest, and now they can't stop. Not so: addictions are about killing pain. I can relate to the different events and hardships in people's lives. There are common themes, and surprising exceptions. Many addicts have suffered miserable abuse. Some kids simply respond badly to divorce. To those who think that addiction is an over-reaction to a hardship, I would just say that different people respond differently. Although some kids handle divorce well, others, like Cristy in the show, "collapse in a heap on the floor" and have their lives forever changed by the event.

For example, last night's counselor said that pretty young Andrea seeks validation from men. She strips for cash for a 75-year old neighbor and lets men abuse her. Sound familiar to anyone? The series is filled with information that we can use to understand our own motivations and make adjustments to our lives. Often it's those of us with smaller issues who suffer the longest. As they say, even a stopped watch is right twice a day, but a slow watch can go undetected for quite a while, until it's made your life miserable.

To the producers: Thank you for making the show, for digging into the past, for the follow-ups. Also, the graphics, the format, and the theme music are brilliant.

To the addicts: thank you for your courage to share. Whether or not you have helped yourself, you have helped me.

Unsuspecting Addicts Duped Into Interventions

[Parker-Kate · 10/10 · 15 July 2018]

Individual participants of all ages who are addicts are paid to be in what they believe is a show documenting their unique struggle with addiction, which it is. Whey do not know is that it will end in an intervention with friends/family. At the intervention they are offered the chance to attend an upscale in-patient rehab facility in a state other than where they live followed by the option to enter a sober-living facility for further treatment. This show is raw, transparent, gritty, as these people are at rock bottom and desperately in need of help. After all, they are in a position in which they are having to be tricked into an intervention.

I've been watching this show since its inception so it's pretty clear that I'm a fan, but from the scores it would appear that I am in the minority. The show has been on for so long, using the same format ( a.k.a tricks and setup) that it's hard for me to believe at this point that there is anyone who hasn't seen the show to fool anymore. If anyone asked me if I wanted to be in a documentary about addiction I would immediately suspect it was this show. Some episodes are more interesting than others, the deeper into their addiction they are the more interesting it is In my opinion. The episodes consist of interviews with the people who have asked the show for the intervention; family, friends, etc. There's the backstory on the addict and how they grew up, information on their past traumas and contributing factors. These interviews are conducted without the knowledge or consent of the addict. The majority of the episode consists of the film crew following the addict day to day. Obtaining and consuming their drug of choice, stumbling, staggering, fighting, sometimes even overdosing. You see not only how it affects them but also those around them. Their last "interview" is actually the intervention. They show up unaware that they will face a room full of loved ones offering them the opportunity of a lifetime, but that is not always the spirit in which it is received. Sparks generally fly as the participants feel ultimately betrayed. At the intervention they are offered the opportunity to go to an insanely upscale rehab center, followed by sober living free of charge. For those who accept the help the show ends with a 90 day follow-up at their facility. An interview as to how things are going, how they are feeling and what their future plans are.

Intervention is saving lives....

[clingel · 10/10 · 9 August 2006]

This show is awesome! I have been a fan since it premiered, and it only keeps me watching... I've seen some terrible things here, that I wish I hadn't, BUT, it really shows you how addiction affects all involved, not just the addict. You can see all kinds of different addictions, from drugs and alcohol to the shopping addict, or the eating disorder addict. And actually, it's really sad to see some of the famous faces that have come through also. We've seen accomplished musicians, an NBA player, and even young people, who really need the help. And since they have started showing a few follow-ups, that's been awesome too. Now, you can see how they are a long while after their ep aired. If you haven't checked this one out, please do. It's on A&E, and it's awesome! The new eps are Sunday nights at 10PM EST, if I remember correctly... so set your TiVo!

Okay, but how does this all work?

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 17 June 2008]

I just caught an episode about Brad, the crack cocaine addict who turned to a drug addicted life on the streets after his bicycle racing career went to shambles as fast as it started. I have to say that the story about his biking career was more heart-breaking than his drug addiction. Here's this young guy who is winning bike races left and right and is invited to train with an Olympic training team for two weeks, and immediately upon arriving he insults Lance Armstrong, one of the greatest athletes who ever lived, and is generally callous and unfriendly to everyone in general. Understandably, he is soon asked to leave. Most of the show is about his struggle with addiction and how he got his life back, but what I wanted to know was what was wrong with him in the first place to make his act like such an ass?

At any rate, I was confused about how the show was put together, since it shows Brad at the height of his addiction. We see footage of him pan-handling and sleeping in gutters and ditches and even smoking crack cocaine. I didn't even know that was legal to show, but why would a camera crew just follow him around and film that? Do they do that in hopes that this guy will turn his life around and give them some material for a good TV episode?

At any rate, it is an enlightening show, because it shows the effects of various addictions and the total control that they can take over people's lives. Sometimes it's hard to watch because you really see how badly the families and friends suffer in the face of the addict's indifference, although I have to admit that at the end it all seems a little too clean-cut. There are times during the episodes when terrible things happen and everything seems lost, but still, and maybe I should warn about spoilers here, everything has a little too much of a happily-ever-after feel at the end, and I have a feeling that that is a very uncommon occurrence in real life. But still, it's a show about people trying to help other people, and you can never complain too much about something like that

Intervention for ...

[kfrankie-65722 · 8/10 · 8 October 2023]

A series that has consistently shown in over 20 seasons that every addict has a toxic family that needs an intervention. Unsuspecting family members find out that addicts aren't the only ones who are sick and need treatment. The Canadians are even more ignorant, toxic, and heartless than Americans, so that's a mind blowing twist to watch. The reviews on this show that complain about exploitation are absurd. This is actually an educational show that is necessary for conservative areas filled with morally superior narcissists who abuse their children in the name of jesus, and you'd be an addict too if you experienced some of these traumas or just plain toxicity of those who are supposed to be loving. I know people who have prevented their own addictions from learning from this show, people who have learned to identify the behaviors involved with addiction, future psychology professionals who honed their skills during school, and people who have become less toxic to others because they didn't like what they saw in the show that reflected on them. I have found similar results with the Hoarders series: psychology education helps society and individuals improve.

Exploitative

[lanceshaver · 1/10 · 1 July 2019]

This show is incredibly exploitative of individuals who are suffering from substance use disorders. This show will only further perpetuate the injustices these people face. We need compassion and evidence-informed approaches to substance use disorders, not this crap.

Great Show

[angelalyn14612 · 26 January 2006]

I am not the reality show kind of chick...or at least I wasn't. This show is the best. The people know their are taping a documentary about their addictions but don't know about the intervention. Its actually kind of scary to know that people actually go through different addictions and see how it affects them mentally and physically. I always cry (happy tears) when the intervention comes and they end up going to get help.

They always do follow ups as well letting us know how the treatment went and if they are still doing good. Very inspirational and it shows that even the "strongest" can be even stronger getting help and overcoming their addictions! I love this show!

Ever since 2001 Anything became entertainment

[ThunderKing6 · 4/10 · 24 March 2021]

A show about confronting family members about a problem or addiction.

Some segments look fake, others look overly dramatized and people just look dumb because they lack self-regulation and need a camera to overcome their problems.

I don't get reality TV. I'm not sure why people care for things like these that could be solved independently. Iunno.

What can be learned? It does have a positive element to it like overcoming addiction because your problem affects everyone around you.

Verdict: Do I have an imdb addiction?

It's fake

[youngkaren-25330 · 9 December 2020]

The drug addicts (alcoholics) are real it's just the interventions are fake

Hateful, exploitative, fake

[terrycowan-45764 · 1/10 · 26 April 2021]

In the real world, it is ILLEGAL to threaten someone's life, yet here the "interventionists" (not an actual profession, by the way) do it regularly as life or death manipulation. I have known multiple individuals who have substance abused themselves to death as an alternative to the very real pain and or mental illnesses they were self-medicating, I also know how futile it is to intervene in the behavior of any adult who is in the actual throes of physical addiction (my Mom could never quit nicotine, even when she had to sit up @ night trying to breath during her dying days). Look @ the counselors on this show, many are unrecovered addicts themselves who, rather than resolve their own issues, intervene in the personal lives of others (for profit, I should add, recovery is as big an industry as religion, diet, cosmetics & munitions, with just as positive outcomes). I have had dozens of decades long friendships end because people would sooner take the "tough love" approach than acknowledge their own failings (or, rather than being a hopeless suicidal addict, I was actually mourning the loss of loved ones). Watching a marathon now, @ least one "success story" has died, but that is ignored in the years old closing credits. Apparently the producers consider an episode a "success" if the afflicted are delivered to the door of "recovery", I wish life were that simple. As the adage goes, never let the crazy person write the prescription for your meds, or, in this case? Physician, heal thyself (esp. Self-proclaimed who are not actually licensed to diagnose). How much has America's mortality rate continued to plunge for the 1st time in history during the course of this show's run during the course of the opiate epidemic? Even Russia is doing better with Putin & vodka.

Unlike good reality TV it starts out very interesting and goes downhill.

[Lollipop4598 · 2 January 2006]

The first episode I saw I found endearing in a black and white kind of way. I never felt the addicts were in any real danger, probably because it was being stated in such an over the top way that I couldn't relate. The statements like all addicted people will end up dead unless they get treatment. Well yes, we will all die, and there is no treatment for it, sadly. But what does that statement mean? No one has a directory of all addicts. The only ones we notice are the ones that are in desperate need of help, likely. I agree that an addict can die, depending on circumstances and should receive treatment. Most people already do; So no need to treat us all like we are in the middle school gym being lectured on the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Surely a human being in psychological peril is more intricate then a few pat phrases.

I would be very interested if they showed cases of different nature, not just ones where the poor addict is tearfully begging everyones forgiveness when they are told that they don't shine anymore, and are mysteriously ruining the entire economy of the nation by purchasing a relatively cheap substance.

I don't think this show's concept is bad at all. But I want something that is more realistic and less predictable. At least in the fellow reality show "Dog the bounty hunter" where you can tell who the bounty is because they wear black leather and gloves with no fingers even if they are just convicted of traffic violation, you have a charismatic host. No such luck here.

Fake

[youngkaren-25330 · 9 December 2020]

The addicts and the addiction's are real but the intervention's are obviously fake

Titles....

[beckyjohnston · 14 June 2013]

there has been 17 seasons and nobody thought to add the addiction to the title. How are people supposed to use this show for further references? We can't exactly say what the addiction is from a person's 1st name. Would it have been so hard to put something like "Mary - drug addiction" or whatever the addiction is. I'm on a health site with people all over the planet. I'd love to tell them this was a great resource. Truth is it sucks for the certain educational values. One guy is in India and I'd love to be able to give him episode #'s to watch for sex addiction. Nope..a a great idea to help the individuals. Just not if you don't know which is which.

This show is obviously fake

[youngkaren-25330 · 9 December 2020]

The families of the Drug or alcoholic addicts are forced to go to a Dr Phil type intervention