VH1's Breaking Bonaduce is Reality TV at its Best

If you haven't tuned into Breaking Bonaduce, you don't know what you're missing. The Hollyhood team agrees that this is some of the best reality television since Puck invaded MTV's The Real World years ago.

Danny Bonaduce is a former child television star best known for his role in The Partridge Family. Trust us, his family life is nothing like the Partridge's. Bonaduce is a recovering alcoholic, a steroid user who works out obsessively, an unfaithful and extremely jealous husband, and in need of some serious anger management. Despite all of these things he seems to be a loving and caring father.

We encourage you to tune in to VH1 Sunday nights and let us know what you think about the show. Are we crazy, or is this really good stuff?

And for those of you who haven't tuned in, we thought we'd give you a chance to get to know Danny Bonaduce a little better through this recent interview.

RADAR ONLINE: You say in the beginning of the show, "I'm a car crash, and you have every right to slow down and watch the car crash." Why do Americans love a really good car wreck?
DANNY BONADUCE: It has that Jerry Springer effect, like, "Thank God that didn't happen to me." It isn't necessarily the gore factor of it, but it's something so far out of the normal experience of their daily life, and I think people cherish that.

You were in a softcore porno called HOTS in the '70s. What stalled your budding porn career?
It wasn't real porn. It was just,…you know,…it was a T&A movie. There was no real nudity, so for me it was a legitimate acting job, and I needed the money. I've done a lot worse stuff for money.

Oh, yeah? Like what?
I've stolen. I've sold my plasma. If I were really a tough guy I would have sold somebody else's plasma.

I guess you weren't tough enough?
Not quite. I'm still working on it.

Your therapy sessions with Dr. Gerry are a huge part of the show. Is he the first therapist you've seen?
Oh God, no. I've spent more time on a couch than a Packers fan. I saw this guy in Detroit at my wife's behest. I went to see him, but I didn't really want to see him. Then the bastard tries to prescribe me drugs. I said to him, "It really makes me mad that I'm in your office because I have a tendency to give people money for drugs and you just want to give me more drugs." I finally agreed to take them, and then he said, "By the way, your hair will probably grow back." And I said, "Hell, no!" and I was gone.

Dr. Gerry doesn't seem to be doing such a great job. You seem to get crazier as the show goes on. Was it VH1 that forced you into rehab?
They said that if I didn't go into rehab they would stop shooting, and I said the only way I would go into rehab was if they didn't stop shooting. They said to me, "Listen, we don't want to film you dying" And I said, "Why? What is wrong with you? The death of a B-lister on tape, that's good stuff."
So you would have preferred them to tape your death?
Now I'm glad they didn't, but if I was doing a show on Peter Brady and it looked as though any minute he was going to blow his brains out, you can believe I'd have cameras on that shit. I'm just better at my job than they are.

Do you think the show and the cameras following you around actually made your addictions and psychoses even worse?
I think the problems were there and the show helped expedite them coming to the surface, and that was very difficult for all of us. As you can see, I'm pretty cool until things start to get upsetting with my wife, and then I start to spiral downward.

What did you expect to get out of this show?
I had no interest in getting anything out of it, other than a paycheck.

So you weren't going the altruistic route, helping people realize and conquer their own addictions and such?
My wife has said from the second this started to go bad that we were going to help people with this show. I said, "Christ, I don't care." It's weird I'm so hateful on the show, but people cheer when I walk down the street. Now I have to agree with Gretchen. We recently had a family friend call,who I never even knew drank,and tell us how they couldn't stop drinking and they had bottles hidden all over the house and how the show made them want to go into rehab. I had no interest in helping my fellow man, but once it actually happened it was pretty amazing.

To end this on a pleasant note: Why do so many child stars end up so fucked up?
I don't think a lot of us end up so fucked up. I think I was fucked up. Todd Bridges was fucked up. Dana Plato ended up fucked up and dead. But Ron Howard was fine; Jodie Foster was fine. There have been children in movies and television as long as there have been movies and television. To judge an entire industry because me, Toddy Bridges, and Eddie Munster are fucked up is wrong.