2008 Comeback Stories: Drug rehab is now cool

This post is part of our series on people, places and things that have found new life in 2008.

If you're a Hollywood has-been, or even a current star like Eva Mendes, it seems as if the best way to resuscitate or boost your career is to go to drug and/or alcohol treatment. In fact, rehab is so popular these days that the latest and greatest reality television show focused on celebrities getting treatment for their addictions.

"Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" on VH1 is wrapping up its first season, and I've watched it out of morbid curiosity. After a couple weeks of inpatient treatment, the celebrities are being released back into society to try to live life without drugs and alcohol. And it doesn't look like most of them are prepared to do this successfully.

What did the show feature? Lots of emotional outbursts and scenes featuring rage and dysfunctional ways of coping. It made for good television. I'll admit that much. But I don't know how much the show represented reality for most drug addicts.