Intervention

I watch a lot of television, I admit it. My husband doesn’t watch nearly as much as I do, but he has a few favorites, one of them being “Intervention” on A&E. Sometimes I watch it with him—it’s television, after all, how bad can it be?

Intervention is exactly what the title says it is—an intervention. Each one-hour episode features a person who thinks they’re being filmed for a documentary, but are really being set up for an intervention by their family, led by a professional intervention leader. About 45 minutes of the show details the person’s life—how they grew up, what they’re doing now. The last 15 minutes is the actual intervention. The goal is to get the person into a rehab or treatment facility of some kind. It’s not a “reality” show in terms of sensationalism, but rather a mini-documentary on a person’s life.

I’ve seen episodes where the person has issues with the “usual” stuff you’d expect, like alcohol, heroin, crack and the like, but they also cover other topics such as eating disorders, sexual addictions and I even saw one episode about a video-game addiction.

So, this week’s intervention? Diabetes. Here’s the description from A&E:

“Episode 76 – John C
John has type one diabetes but refuses to be diligent about checking his blood sugar, or taking his insulin. A social misfit and an outcast for many years, John wants to be considered a regular guy, and pretends to be one by eating whatever he wants without regard for his illness. He has been in a near-coma and hospitalized multiple times. His parents want to stop enabling his self-destructive behavior, but won't kick him out of the house because they fear he'll die without their supervision.”

I thought it was an interesting twist on an intervention.

If you’re interested in watching it, they have the episode online. Go to www.aetv.com/intervention and hit the “episode guide” section. Look for Episode 76 – John C.

I’m not a reviewer, so I’ll just let you watch and make up your own mind about what you think about the episode. Let me know.

As always, more to come…