Dr. Drew, After-Hours Guru

By Harriet Barovick

Kids aren't supposed to be tuning in to Dr. Drew Pinsky on Loveline, MTV's popular nightly call-in show on relationships. The program is aimed at young adults, and, Pinsky says, younger teens shouldn't watch it without a parent nearby. But they manage to. Sometimes because of a technicality: the show airs at 10 p.m. in the Central time zone instead of 11 p.m., as it does on the East and West coasts. But mainly because the subject is sex. And if sex is on the tube, adolescents are sure to find a way of getting to it--and talking about it.

And what do kids see? This scene, for example: Dr. Drew listening closely to an embarrassed 21-year-old whose girlfriend has been joking to his friends about the size of his penis. Pinsky handles this painful subject with a quick, matter-of-fact suggestion: Take a closer, more informed look at your abusive girlfriend. After a crass joke from Pinsky's partner, comedian Adam Carolla--there to provide levity--Loveline's newest co-host, Diane Farr, affirms that size, despite what the ads for Godzilla say, is not all it's cracked up to be. Pinsky's message, both educational and reassuring, is one that permeates his show: Respect yourself.

"I suppose I'm a healthier role model than, say, Slash of Guns N' Roses," concedes the practicing internist of his idol status among the scores of adolescents and young adults comforted by his gently informative, utterly genuine approach. But what motivates him is his ability to reach a population in desperate need of information--a skill he first discovered 15 years ago as a medical student in California. When two disc-jockey acquaintances were starting a new show on relationships, they asked him to be the medical consultant. Pinsky, now a happily married parent of triplets, had sensed that young people were not receiving much sex education from their parents--a result of what he calls the 1970s "abdication of parenting" ethos. But he was stunned by the response to the first few shows. "It was an epiphany. The most important health issues for younger people were being presented to FM disc jockeys!"

A full-fledged convert, Pinsky signed on as "Dr. Drew" to what quickly became Loveline, the hit Los Angeles-based radio show he still plays host on (and which MTV's version is based on). His growing medical practice confirmed his suspicions about kids: "Behind closed doors, they wouldn't talk at all. In my white coat, I was an authority figure. I was Dad, their worst nightmare." In a medium in which kids were comfortable, he could "demystify" difficult issues surrounding sexuality and "maybe make adolescence less painful."

What may make Loveline a particularly compelling alternative to, say, daytime TV's Jerry Springer, is its underlying "mission." Pinsky is obsessed with changing what he views as a culture of "broken-down interpersonal relationships" that lack intimacy. He calls the show a "sheep in wolf's clothing" that discourages sexual activity and encourages responsibility and connection in a hip, relatable context. Of particular concern to him is the rest of the media, which often portray sex as a simple physical act with no emotional consequences. Is he troubled about young teens having sex? Pinsky says a significant percentage may be reacting to having been sexually abused. He also suggests, though, that as a whole this group tends to be healthier, more inquisitive and "more realistic" than the older generation. That bodes well for Pinsky's aim to change the world. "We're not glamourizing sex; we are confronting behavior," he says emphatically. "The idea is to climb into their culture. I'll take any punch. I'm just grateful I'm welcomed."

--By Harriet Barovick