Breaking Bonaduce


Breaking Bonaduce is an American reality television series that aired on VH1, focusing on former child-actor Danny Bonaduce, and how his increasingly unstable lifestyle impacted his then-wife, Gretchen, and their two children. The series premiered in September 2005 and ended in December 2006.

Overview

The series focused on the problems and events that had led Bonaduce, speaking retrospectively, to consider his life a "car crash". Over the course of filming, Bonaduce's previously publicized abuse of drugs resumes; an initially successful effort to replace that unhealthy behavior with overzealous exercise/bodybuilding backfires ; and, later attempts suicide. He also makes periodic attempts to save his crumbling marriage by attending couple's counseling with his wife, Gretchen.
In the United Kingdom, the series is known as My Reality TV Breakdown. Throughout Latin America, it is known as Destrozando a Bonaduce which translates as Destroying Bonaduce.
This show was produced by 3Ball Productions, and directed by Mark Jacobs.

Critical response

The series was both celebrated and criticized for making voyeuristic entertainment of a seemingly "no limits"-style documentation of Bonaduce's mounting—and generally self-inflicted—misfortunes. A review in Variety magazine said, "...It's hard to imagine a shower long enough to wash away the experience of simply viewing the show, much less having produced, programmed or participated in it."

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2