Couples Therapy (2012 TV series)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Couples Therapy
GenreReality
Starring
  • Dr. Jenn Mann
  • Dr. Mike Dow
  • Sarah Michael Novia
  • Gabrielle Moore
  • Keisha Downey
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes60 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Damian Sullivan
  • Jill Holmes
  • Joel Rodgers
  • John Irwin
  • Laurel Stier
  • Rob Buchta
  • Sudi Khosropur
  • Susan Levison
Running time42 minutes
Production companyIrwin Entertainment
Original release
NetworkVH1
ReleaseMarch 21, 2012 (2012-03-21) –
December 9, 2015 (2015-12-09)
Related

Couples Therapy is an American

DMX[1][2] and Linda Hogan (ex-wife of wrestler Hulk Hogan).[3][4] The second season premiered on October 3, 2012,[5] and features Doug Hutchison and his wife, Courtney Stodden.[6]
VH1 renewed the show for a sixth season, which premiered October 7, 2015.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
18March 21, 2012 (2012-03-21)May 9, 2012 (2012-05-09)
210October 3, 2012 (2012-10-03)November 28, 2012 (2012-11-28)
310June 12, 2013 (2013-06-12)August 21, 2013 (2013-08-21)
410January 2, 2014 (2014-01-02)March 6, 2014 (2014-03-06)
510September 10, 2014 (2014-09-10)November 12, 2014 (2014-11-12)
610October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)December 9, 2015 (2015-12-09)

Cast

Main cast

Couples

Season 1

  • The Next Food Network Star. Pivarnick has difficulty trusting men after suffering painful past relationships, which is fueled by Nirschel's self-described history as a womanizer. Together for only two months, they are constantly fighting, and hope that therapy can explain why their relationship soured so quickly.[12]
  • DMX and Tashera Simmons – DMX was a multi-platinum rapper and actor, and Simons was his childhood sweetheart, wife of fourteen years and mother of his four children. Although they still say they are best friends, their marriage has been threatened by DMX's uncontrolled infidelity, which has resulted in more than a half a dozen children out of wedlock. Separated for more than six years, they are seeking couples treatment to see if they can mend their broken marriage or end it.[13]
  • Season 6 of The Bachelorette, respectively. Though the relationship they each began with others on those shows ended, they fell in love upon meeting one another. However, Kahl's fear of betrayal and Girardi's tempestuous relationship history damaged their relationship. They broke up several months prior to appearing on Couples Therapy, though they claim to still be very much in love, and hope that therapy will give their relationship a second chance.[14]
  • Linda Hogan and Charlie Hill – Fifty-two-year-old Hogan is still recovering from her public divorce from professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Although she receives support from 23-year-old Hill, their 29-year age difference is an unresolved issue that continues to adversely affect their relationship.[15] Hogan announced on May 15, 2012 (six days after the airing of the season 1 finale) that she and Hill had broken up.[3]
  • Logo reality TV series The A-List: New York together. They are enrolling in therapy to give their relationship another chance, and as a public gay couple, face having to overcome stereotypes.[16]

Season 2

  • Todd "Too Short" Shaw and Monica Payne – Shaw is a rapper, producer, and actor known for hit songs like 2006's "Blow The Whistle". He met Payne in 2005, and although they dated exclusively for a while, she ended the relationship after he refused to give up his partying lifestyle. They have remained friends over the years, and have wondered what could have been. Shaw asked Payne to come to therapy in hopes of getting a second chance at winning her heart, but she is still very hurt by their breakup, and unsure if she can ever trust him again.[17]
  • K-Ci And JoJo, whose most popular song, "All My Life" topped the charts in 1997. JoJo was living the fast life of a famous R&B singer indulging in money, women, and alcohol, until he met Tiny.[18]
  • Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen – Life for this couple and their two children was transformed when McCord and van Kempen were cast on the reality TV series The Real Housewives of New York City in 2008. Whereas before they lived a normal life, the airing of the formerly private aspects of their personal lives on television had deleterious effects on their marriage. They were not invited back to the show after the fourth season, and resuming their normal lives and careers has proven difficult, and their relationship is marked by constant bickering and verbal cruelty.[19]
  • twelfth season of The Bachelor, and Richie is the creator of the tabloid website TheDirty. They married in Las Vegas eight hours after they met, and each had no idea who the other was until tabloids reported on their wedding in the morning. Lamas was appalled to discover that Richie was the man behind a website she considers offensive to women, which caused tension in their marriage. While the first year of their relationship was "passionate, spontaneous, and adventurous", it worsened when Lamas became pregnant with their daughter a little more than a year after they wed, and issues at the heart of current conflict include Richie's website, Lamas' spending habits and the challenges of parenthood.[20]
  • Courtney Stodden and Doug Hutchison – Hutchison and Stodden hired a publicist to promote that the then-51-year-old actor married the then-16-year-old Stodden in 2011. More publicity to promote Stodden's manner of dress and the Internet videos that she released followed.[21][22] They enrolled in therapy in order to resolve issues that arise in their marriage from their age difference,[21] such as the revealing clothing Stodden tends to wear. In the season premiere, they come into conflict with the others over their age difference, the fact that Stodden still has two weeks before turning 18, and her manner of dress. Lamas in particular criticizes Stodden upon her arrival, while Richie gets into heated exchanges with Hutchison over Richie's characterization of Stodden as "trash".[23]

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Production history

Season 2 saw the casting of actor Doug Hutchison and his wife, Courtney Stodden, whom he married when she was 16, and who was two weeks shy of her 18th birthday upon their arrival at the therapy center. Due to Stodden's age, she was forced to leave the production area every night, due to California child labor laws. This drew surprise from one participant in the series, who commented, "It was totally bizarre. The whole point of the show was to have all these couples living together in the house. Courtney had to leave Doug every night and go to a hotel so that no labor laws were broken."[5] This also caused conflict with other participants,[32] one of whom commented, "It caused a lot of friction in the house and poor Doug was left by himself a lot of the time when everyone else was a couple. How can you shoot a show called 'Couples Therapy' when one couple don’t even share a bedroom together?"[5]

Despite characterizations of Hutchison as a "pedophile"[33][23] and "predator", the series' main therapist, Dr. Mann, stressed that she does not believe that Hutchison is, or was, seeking out young people, saying, "He's not a predator. He’s not someone, who if Courtney left him, would be trolling the Internet or high schools for underage girls. That's not his m.o. This is not a guy who was seeking out teenagers. He was teaching a class, she wanted to be an actress, it was an acting class... And that’s how it started." Though Mann was eventually surprised by the dynamic between the two, she commented on her initial hesitations about working with the couple, saying, "I believe it was the wrong decision to let a 16-year-old marry a man in his 50s. It’s uncomfortable to see... [at first] I said to my producer, ‘I think this [guy] is a pedophile...I don’t know if I can work with these people.’ I don’t condone it, but I do see that this is a married couple that is genuinely married and they have marital issues that needed to be worked on. I came in saying, 'She’s a victim, he’s a predator.' What I found out was that she has a lot more power in this relationship and he is far more powerless than I expected. His family has completely disowned him... He unfortunately has nothing besides her." Hutchison was also defended by Stodden's mother, Krista Keller, who praised Hutchison for the kindness with which he treats Stodden.[6]

Spin-off

References

  1. The Huffington Post
    .
  2. ^ "DMX Holds Nothing Back in 'Couples Therapy': 'It's Not Gonna Be Pretty!'". Vibe. March 8, 2012
  3. ^
    Daily News
    .
  4. ^ Johnson, Zach (May 2, 2012). "Linda Hogan, 52: My 23-Year-Old Boyfriend Charlie Hill Is 'An Old Soul'". Us Weekly.
  5. ^ a b c "Courtney Stodden And Doug Hutchison Slept Apart While Shooting 'Couples Therapy'". The Huffington Post. September 13, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Spero, Jesse (October 9, 2012). "Couples Therapy’s Dr. Jenn Berman: Doug Hutchison Is ‘Not A Predator’". Access Hollywood.
  7. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Dr. Jenn Berman". VH1.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  8. ^ "Exposing the Real Issues". Couples Therapy. Season 2. Episode 4. September 21, 2012. VH1.
  9. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Dr. Mike Dow". VH1.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  10. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Rachel Clark". VH1.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  11. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Tom Carouso". VH1.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  12. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Angelina Pivarnick and Chris Nirschel". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  13. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: DMX and Tashera Simmons". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  14. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Vienna Girardi and Kasey Kahl". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  15. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Linda Hogan and Charlie Hill". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  16. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Reichen Lehmkuhl and Rodiney Santiago". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  17. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Todd "Too Short" Shaw And Monica Payne". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  18. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Joel 'JoJo' And Tashaunda Hailey". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  19. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Alex McCord And Simon van Kempen". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  20. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Nik Richie And Shayne Lamas" Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  21. ^ a b Beard, Lanford (October 3, 2012). "'Couples Therapy': Courtney Stodden teases 'vicious energy' in season 2". Entertainment Weekly.
  22. ^ "Couples Therapy: Cast: Courtney Stodden And Doug Hutchison". VH1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Couples Therapy Begins". Couples Therapy. Season 2. Episode 1. September 16, 2012. VH1.
  24. ^ "Couples Therapy Cast: Joe Francis and Abbey Wilson". VH1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  25. ^ "Couples Therapy Cast: Flavor Flav and Liz Trujillo". VH1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  26. ^ "Couples Therapy Cast: Chingy Bailey and Temple Poteat". VH1. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  27. ^ "Couples Therapy Cast: Heather Marter and Dustin Zito". VH1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  28. ^ "Couples Therapy Cast: Tyler Baltierra and Catelynn Lowell". VH1. Archived from the original on June 10, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  29. ^ a b c d e "VH1 Heads Back to the Therapist Couch with a Fourth Season of "VH1 Couples Therapy"". The Futon Critic (Press release). November 12, 2013.
  30. ^ a b c d e "VH1 Seeks Counseling for a Fifth Season of "VH1 Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn"". VH1 (Press release). The Futon Critic. May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  31. ^ a b c d e "Big Ang, Janice Dickinson, Joe Budden, & More Sign Up For The Upcoming Season Of Couples Therapy". VH1 (Press release). VH1. May 29, 2015. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  32. ^ Remling, Amanda (October 1, 2012). "Courtney Stodden A ‘Fame Whore?’ VH1 ‘Couples Therapy' Co-Stars Slam Doug Hutchison’s Teen Bride". International Business Times.
  33. ^ Nsenduluka, Benge (October 5, 2012). "'Couples Therapy' Doug Hutchison Called 'Pedophile' Over Marriage to Courtney Stodden". The Christian Post.

External links