Intervention and Hoarders return with new episodes on A&E

November 9, 10:33 PMCable TV ExaminerChristine Nyholm

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Augustine episode on Hoarders
A&E GRB Productions

A&E is presenting all new seasons of Hoarders and Intervention on Monday night, November 30, 2009. A&E’s 2009 Emmy Award-winner for Outstanding Reality Program “Intervention” and critically acclaimed “Hoarders” return for all-new seasons with back-to-back premiere episodes on Monday, November 30th at 9:00 PM ET/PT and 10:00PM ET/PT.

The two series, Intervention and Hoarders, will be broadcast back to back, making an excellent pairing of programs that deal with the subject of various addictions. Both programs show the anguish that addition costs the addict and the people in relationship with the addict. The first step is admitting being powerless and the shows both confront the addict with the need for change. The shows both offer help and support through recovery.

Season 8 premiere of Intervention

The eighth season premiere of “Intervention,” features Linda, who after graduating from college found success working as an extra in Hollywood, achieving the glamorous life she always wanted. Linda’s dreams died when she came down with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by joint dislocations. To deal with her pain, Linda started taking Fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times stronger than morphine. As Linda's painkiller use escalated, she claimed that different sources were causing her pain, including electricity, energy, colors, and even specific people.  Despite Linda’s wild claims, her mother clings to the belief that Linda’s pain is real. Linda's mother does everthing she can to help her, including depleting the family’s savings and sending her son to be Linda’s caretaker. 

“Intervention” is a powerful and gripping series in which people confront their darkest demons and seek a route to redemption.  The Emmy and five-time PRISM Award-winning series profiles people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis and estranged them from their friends and loved ones. Each episode of Intervention ends with a surprise intervention that is staged by the family and friends of the addict, and which is conducted by one of two specialists: Jeff Van Vonderen and Candy Finningan.

Intervention has conducted 143 interventions since premiering in March of 2005, 111 of the individuals helped are currently sober.

“Intervention” is produced for A&E Network by GRB. Executive Producers are Dan Partland and Sam Mettler. A&E Executive Producers are Robert Sharenow and Colleen Conway.

Season 2 premiere of Hoarders

The second season premiere of “Hoarders,” the number one freshman non-fiction series on cable among adults 25-54, will introduce Augustine, whose son Jason was removed from her home by Child Protective Services 14 years ago, because of her hoarding. Augusting was unable to clean up enough to have her son return.  Jason is now an adult living on the other side of the country. He is filled with shame and resentment, but unable to turn his back on his mother.  Augustine’s hoarding has become so severe that she has lived without water, gas, heat or appliances for the last four years -- bathing only once a week at her sister’s house.  Complaints from neighbors have instigated a court ordered clean-up and the city is threatening to condemn her house.  Now, “Hoarders” follows Jason as he tries one last time to rescue his mother from the filth he escaped from years ago.
 
“Hoarders” explores the world of extreme hoarding; a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to collect things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary. The series takes a fascinating look at the lives of people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis.  Whether they’re facing eviction, the loss of their children, jail time, or divorce, they are all desperately in need of help.  The series captures the drama as experts work to put each hoarder on the road to recovery.

“Hoarders” is produced for A&E by Screaming Flea Productions. Executive Producers are Jodi Flynn, Matt Chan and Dave Severson. A&E Executive Producers are Robert Sharenow and Andy Berg.

The Recovery Project

Inspired by the incredible response from viewers, individuals and families in recovery to “Intervention,” A&E Network along with leading federal agencies and non-profit organizations launched The Recovery Project.  The multi-year, multi-platform initiative was designed to help raise awareness that addiction is a treatable disease and recovery is possible. 

In  September, 2009 more than 10,000 people, including individuals and families in recovery, treatment partners and advocates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, gathered in New York City for a historic walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to symbolize unity and hope for recovery.  The walk ended in Cadman Plaza and was followed by a rally featuring public speakers and a performance by Smokey Robinson.

A&E continues to co-host, along with the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA), and leading MSOs such as Time Warner Cable, Cox and Comcast, Intervention Town Hall meetings in cities across the country.  The Town Hall meetings offer opportunities for parents, teens, addicts, government officials, health professionals, substance abuse prevention experts and educators to develop a better understanding about the root causes and consequences of addiction.