TVSquad

When I first saw the commercials for ABC's Eli Stone, I didn't recognize Jonny Lee Miller. Then, after watching the first episode and liking him, I decided to find out who he was. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I had seen him, multiple times, in a variety of roles. And he was British! I was duly impressed and intrigued. Jonny Lee Miller was a helluva an actor, a chameleon who could be as convincing as a junkie named Sick Boy in Trainspotting as he was a San Francisco lawyer named Eli.

Maybe it's our culture's litigiousness that inhibits American tabloids. Don't get me wrong. American tabloids, paparazzi and reality shows will definitely be held up by future archaeologists as evidence of the rapid decline of our civilization, but it is the British equivalent of these outlets that get the high marks for tastelessness. Case in point, the producers of the UK's Big Brother have announced plans for another reality outing - Rock Stars in Rehab. (Technically, it's the Dutch company Endemol producing the show, but it's being made for British TV.)

The company has approached high profile heroin addict Pete Doherty, the crack-addicted Dominic Masters of The Others and ex-Celeb Big Brother contestant Donny Tourette to appear in the series. The show would essentially lock all these addicts in a house together and film them 24-7. Critics have chastised Endemol for "using drug problems as entertainment and treating addiction like a joke." Really, if you want to be entertained by a bunch of recovering heroin addicts, rent Trainspotting.