Confessions of a Teen Idol: Kick 'em When They're Down

***Please welcome another newbie to the TVgasm stable with a show that was just too good to ignore! TVannie with...

Confessions of a Teen Idol is the new VH1 show that promises to reunite 7 former teen idols under one roof and help them try to regain their careers. I have to admit, I'm kind of wondering if there is any drama when 7 men live together or if these guys will just be glad to be back on TV.

Annie-1
God help us.

This show premiers with Scott Baio (Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi and Charles in Charge) and Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years) along with 7 former teen idols. During this reality show, they will help the other 7 teen idols figure out how to regain their fame.

They want to help the 7 roomies figure out what is keeping them from regaining their fame and show them how to get their careers back on track. They want to teach them new skills and get them back in the game.

This show seems to have a bit of heart. I mean if they truly focus on helping these guys and coaching them and teaching them new life skills, we could actually have a heartwarming result. I'm usually a bit of a cynic, so part of me is wondering, when does the humiliation start?

The first guy to show up is Jeremy Jackson. I'll be honest, I had no idea who this guy was even after they showed an old picture of him. He was 10 years old when he was hired to portray David Hassehof's son on Baywatch. He was thrust into the adult environment, there were girls everywhere. He partied, went out of control on coke and was arrested 8 years ago for manufacturing meth. He was facing 8 years in jail and ended up with 6 months in rehab. After being in rehab 5 times and in jail, he says it is no problem to live with 6 other guys.

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Jeremy Jackson

Next up is Chris Atkins. This is the guy that was in Blue Lagoon with Brooke Shields in 1980. He was discovered when he was a sailing instructor at a camp.

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Chris Atkins and his 1980 hair disaster.

He was 18 when fame hit. He went to Studio 54 every night, sex, drugs and rock and roll. His drinking and partying eventually caused him to lose out on the lead role in the movie Footloose which was a huge success for Kevin Bacon.

Losing Footloose appears to be a key thing for Chris. Chris lost his house and everything. Now his kids are grown up and he is a pool builder. He does not miss the irony that the "Blue Lagoon" guy is now building lagoons. I feel kind of bad for him. He seems like a nice person.

So far, I feel kind of sorry for these guys. I mean they had some fame, but it was pulled out from under them. Maybe VH1 is really going to have a program for them to help them get back on top of their profession.

Next came Billy Hufsey. He was in the TV version of Fame. He said he retired from show business and went into corporate work. But he misses being on stage and singing. They showed a lot of footage of him dancing. He doesn't look too bad except maybe he is a little too orange from a tanning bed.

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Billy wants "Fame" back. Please cut down on the puns guys. I'm begging.

The fourth roommate is Jamie Walters who was on Beverly Hills 90210. He also had a #1 record with "How Do You Talk to an Angel" He dated Drew Barrymore and his career just slowed down.

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For the past 8 years he concentrated on being a good father and firefighter. I have to say, this guy looks like he has a nice family and a good job. I'm not sure why he wants to put himself back into show business. He says he wants a record deal. I'd stay where I was if I was him, it looks like a nice life. Fame doesn't always look like fun to me.

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Baywatch Alum Hug

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Comments (26)

wintersux:

Nice job TVannie! Thanks for keeping the VH1 recap tradition alive. Most of these teen idols I was not familiar with, like you not a big BayWatch fan... Am I crazy or does Eric look like one of the BeeGees in their heyday - must be the long hair/receding hairline combo. And speaking of teen idols and Grease 2, I'd sure like to see what Maxwell Caulfield is up to these days. Anyone else with me?? Probably not, I am a strange person.

AnneM:

Thank you wintersux(love the name)

I agree with you about Maxwell Caulfield, he was cute.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the next little nugget to fall from Eric N.

Thanks for your support.

AnneM

wintersux:

You're welcome AnneM, any friend of Celebreality is a friend of mine.

As far as Eric's next nugget, all I can think of is my kids calling each other "turd nugget" all the time. Seems appropriate in this situation also!

natural redhead:

Are they in the same house that was used in Real World Hollywood? It seems so familiar.

AnneM:

Yes Red,

This is the same house from Real World Hollywood. I must admit I only caught that show once or twice. I sopped watching Real Word after Puck came to live in San Fran. It just lost it's magic for me.

Do you suppose this re-use of a home is an economic move on the part of VH1???? probably.

Most folks don't need production room and cameras all over their homes. Unless of course you have some crazy relatives and want to create another show like Tuckerville. I miss that one, a gem in every episode.

AnneM

slutty_whore:

I thought Jeremy was cute, and I'm sure he didn't buy those drugs with money... perhaps with sexual favors? I actually liked Baywatch, for the scripts of course, and I am pulling for these guys. They all seem so earnest, so I'm waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop. I do agree the show would have been more dramatic with former starlets, but we wouldn't have benefit of Scott Baio or Jason Hervey, would we? LOL.

J-Mo:

Great start! This is a very ripe show for picking on! I also want to give a shout-out to my boy Adrian Zmed, who was ALSO the host of "Dance Fever" in the mid-80's. My ex-boyfriend had an extremely turgid reaction to Christopher Atkins (who was also in a really cheesy male-stripper movie with Lesley Anne Warren called "A Night In Heaven" which features an early version of "Obsession" that was later made popular by Animotion, and who also did the awesomely bad "Pirate Movie" with Kristy McNichol)... I must tell him about this show, he will want to see it. Welcome to the family!

love, J-Mo :)

wintersux:

J-Mo, I vaguely remember seeing the network TV version of "A Night in Heaven"...Wasn't there a scene on a rowboat? Anyway, I think Chris Atkins is a lot better looking now that he has aged a few years.

shantigal:

I am so happy this show is being recapped. Great job Annie! I recognized most of these guys, except the one from 90210, and I did watch that show. OMG J-Mo, I would never want to play trivial pursuit with you.

This will be great entertainment, even if someone get's pissed and tries to leave every week. And I thought that house looked familiar, thx redhead.

wintersux:

OK, you can tell it's a slow day at work for me by the way I am just hovering here all day, but I just had the thought, the guy on Dance Fever, I thought that was Denny Terrio, was Adrian Zmed on it also?

J-Mo:

wintersux... I only remember the scenes of "A Night In Heaven" with naked men in them. If they were naked in a rowboat, then it's possible you are correct about that. Also, Denney Terrio was the initial host of Dance Fever, but was eventually replaced later on by Adrian Zmed... :)

love, J-Mo :)

wintersux:

Thanks J-Mo...I must have been too busy watching that lame-ass Solid Gold at that time. :)

featherhead:

Great job TVannie! Welcome!
Shantigal: Jamie Walters played "Donna's" abusive boyfriend Ray. He had the trailer trash Mom and had played some clubs (this was on 91210, not in real life I hope) and had thrown Donna down the stairs and she kept covering for him. Jamie actually sings really well from what I remember on the show. Is is ringing any bells now? I want to say it was around the time that Dylan owned the club. Now I feel like a nerd remembering all this, LOL!!

waffleboy09:

Am I the only who is bothered by the fact that the two guys who are taking everyone back to the big time are Scott Baio (Star of Scott Baio is 45...and single) and Jason Hervey (a producer on Scott Baio is 45...and single)? Oh and the fact that their therapist looks kind of looks like Kathy Griffin?
Still they did get Eric N and his teflon coated colon to make the scene. This show might have potential.
Great job Tvannie, keep them coming.

AnneM:

Thank you all so much for the support!! I love all the TVGasm fans and recappers.

Waffleboy-I agree the therapist looks like Kathy Griffin. Actually I though with her mouth closed she looked a little like a redhead version of Lily Tomlin's Ernestine character.

Featherhead- I just have to own up. I never watched 90210!! I'm so glad you did so you could fill the gap.

JMo, Wintersux, Featherhead,Waffleboy, Shantigal and Slutty I'll work very hard to keep you laughing all season long.

And thanks for giving me the bonus info about these guys. The more info I have, the better my next post will be.

My best beauty pagent air kiss, wipe the tear, touch the heart to all of you.

TVannie

AnneM:

Thank you all so much for the support and for all of the great background information. I admit it, I never watched Baywatch or 90210. Thank goodness I have all of you to help me fill in the blanks.

Waffle, you are absolutely right about the therapist. I kind of thought she looked like Laraine Newman when she was on SNL back in the '70's.

I also think that getting career advice from Scott Baio and Jason Hervey is a little dicey. Maybe they will get more "celebrity experts" like Dr. Cooper.

I can't wait to see what happens next week. Maybe Billy will lay down on Eric's vibrating thing and poo poo will show us how he got his name.

Seiously would you want this guy to room with you?


AnneM


AnneM:

I swear to God, I got a server error, turned off my Mac. Took Dino (my dog) to the vet, came back, rebooted my Mac and there was no post from me.

So I wrote another one and hit post and both show up.

Yikes, sorry about that.

At least they're not exactly the same.

TVannie

flipit:

sorry! the sites been screwy all day!

slutty_whore:

Flipit, get it together! LOL. And, Annie, don't worry about the double post.... we've done it ourselves a time or two or three, in my case...

YentaPatrol:

Darling AnneM,

You Rock!! I'm so glad you hooked up with Flipit--OMG, I guess I shouldn't use that term nowadays.

Love, Love, Love, the recap.
You're going to be awesome.
Hugs,
Yenta

AnneM:

My Dearest Yenta:

I would be nowhere without you and Flipit. I can't thank you enough for suggesting that I write.

I now appreciate what a great job you and all the other recappers do. I hope to get better each week.

You are a dear sweet soul. I wish you could see how happy I've been this past week.

Love and luck,

AnneM

clandolt:

Am I the only one who remembers Jamie Walters from the short-lived show "The Heights" on Fox? I had the cassette tape of the soundtrack, no joke...

Thanks Annie I was hoping someone would recap this!!!

Snootchy Bootches:

Congrats on your first recap, Annie! If I could offer some kindly meant constructive criticism though... more snark! :p These guys are aging teen idols. There is so much more material besides "poo poo" boy. Make fun of em! The shows might be before your time though... Hmm. Maybe shop around youtube a little? I'm sure there are some lovely gems sitting out there! ;-)

Wintersux: Yes, Adrian Zmed was on Dance Fever. Denny Terio started it but then Adrian took over. And I couldn't have been happier! When I was in jr high, Adrian was on a tv show called The Lords of Flatbush (based on the movie). His character was nicknamed Socks. The crush I had was monumental! lol I think at that point in my young life, he was the best looking man I had ever seen.

I haven't completely made up my mind about this show yet. I'll give it a couple of more episodes before I'll decide to watch it all the way through or not.

AnneM:

Dear Snootchy:

Thank you for your comments and encouragement. Flipit said I need to increase the snark as well. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going too far. Now I know, just turn it up.

And what a dear sweet young child you are to think these guys are BEFORE MY TIME!!!! LOL

I will be 49 in a few weeks. I am before their time.

Now if David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman and Davey Jones from the Monkees show up---I'm your girl.

Big smooch to you.

AnneM

Snootchy Bootches:

LOL! I had crushes on them too though I am a few years younger than you are (43). I soon moved on from David to his half-brother Shaun though. :P I suppose it is a blessing that he is doing well (behind the camera) so my image of him from my youth won't be spoiled by seeing him at 50.

And don't worry about going too far. I'm not sure there IS a too far. Read some of J-Mo's stuff sometime. He pushes it and is absolutely hilarious as is Flipit, of course. Unfortunately, your show doesn't give you the golden nuggets like one ho drinking a shot from another ho's vajayjay (rock of love 3), but I have faith in you!

cleoiam:

How pleasant to see these guys, most of whom were popular prior to "reality tv" overtaking the airwaves. I appreciate seeing someone described as a celebrity who isn't just turning 16. I think most of them weren't as slick and polished as what we see today and that's refreshing.

Adrian Zmed was on a couple of series in the 80's, I think TJ Hooker with William Shatner and Heather Locklear. I didn't recognize Eric N. either. Is it me, or does he have some serious issues? He's been on this "higher zen" stuff for years and he still seems angry and bitter over whatever happened with his manager.

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