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Wonderful character development!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This movie seemed poorly edited and agonizingly repetitive. But it's kind of funny to imagine your local news anchor as a closet crackhead, and that's what we have here. A view of drug abuse so unvarnished that I was almost hoping this jerk would somehow quickly drop dead so I wouldn't have to continue listening to his drug addled rants. And if it was that bad for me, it was clearly worse for his kids and wife. This should be filed under "Things not to say in front of your children".For some reason I was expecting to see a movie about the entire lifespan of some dude who really liked watching TV. Instead I got 2 years in the life of a crackhead. 2 years, that was 95% of it. What happened to the rest? And did I just see that Dan Rather is listed as one of the actors/stars of the movie? Are you f-ing serious?! He was on screen for maybe 5 seconds total.... not speaking I don't think, just grinning.I know a few things about drug abuse. The best thing about this movie is that it doesn't glorify it for an instant. It shows the ugly and it shows a guy who threw away his family and he threw away his TV career. I don't subscribe to the whole "disease" excuse thing. I don't buy it. I've been there. It's a choice. Most people who fall into it continue to make bad choices until they either wake up dead or they eventually decide to do something different. I don't have much more than a minute amount of sympathy. And of course this exact story could have just as easily been about an ordinary everyday alcoholic who ruins his life and his family's life just like this crackhead did. Happens every day.

TV Junkie was definitely worth watching. It satisfied my curiosity about drug use among people who apparently have it all. I've always wondered how someone with half a brain, with a decent job, and a nice family could allow himself to become addicted to crack cocaine. What is he thinking? What is the feeling that he gets from it that drives him to continue to wreck his life and the lives of those closest to him? This film answers those questions.Frankly, the "reality" TV craze kind of hurts this film. This film is stark reality. Unlike the polished, sometimes scripted and directed "reality" programs we see on television, we see the horrible production of home movies. We see a man who has a very strange obsession of capturing his whole life on video tape. This behavior was almost as disturbing as his drug use. He videotaped constantly. It's almost like he was escaping reality by living through his video camera. I applaud the filmmakers for what must have been a painful time going through the 3000 hours of video tape that they used to make the film.Since this is the third documentary comprised entirely of home video that I've watched in the past 18 months, it appears that there are some odd people out there who are compelled to capture everything on video. Why do they do it? My bet is that these people rarely watch their tapes as the obsession with filming goes far beyond simply wishing to capture life's events for future viewing.Watch this movie if you are curious to see the real life of a drug addict. I would have liked to see more of his recovery, but the movie isn't about recovery. It's about drug addiction. Reviewers who suggest that Kirkham purposely got hooked on drugs as a way to make money off of a movie should have their heads examined. He was making plenty of money on Inside Edition. How much money do you think he made from this documentary? Not as much as he would have made had he stayed sober and kept his job. I also doubt that he would subject his children to experiencing the horrors of drug addiction. The man comes across as anything but a hero, and the ends certainly wouldn't justify the means.

I too was channel surfing and saw the title 'TV Junkie' on HBO. I stopped and watched this man's life unveil itself as a train wreck right before your eyes in photos and pictures he kept as a diary. Here's the thing: I didn't recognize the name of Rick Kirkham, but I saw almost all of his stories on 'Inside Edition' as I was growing up.Rick Kirkham is one of those guys you sit back and think, "I wonder what happened to...". He was the first set of reporters and commentators on "Inside Edition" when it first came on and eventually turned into the tabloid-mess it is today. (FYI - Bill O'Reilly also was a correspondent during Rick Kirkham's time before even he became what he is today. You'll see him quickly here.) Now, I know what happened to the man, and watching this was bittersweet, depressing, sad, relieved and...hopeful.Make no mistake, Rick had it all. He worked his way through the journalism world from the very bottom up - and landed a plumb role on Inside Edition in it's infancy. But as you watch this tale unfold via his own words and real video and photos, you'll see his downward spiral and decent into drugs and alcohol. Hard core. But did I say decent 'around the time' of Inside Edition? No, it isn't. Watch closely from the beginning and you'll get the point of this film.Again, Rick had EVERYTHING. He scored interviews and hung out with folks we only dreamed of. He was also a dare-devil extrodinaire, racing at the Celebrity Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach (drugged out), scaling mountains of the world (drugged out), confronting devastation of hurricanes (drugged out), etc. He had a lovely home in Texas and a Los Angeles and New York apartments. He had a wife whom I think should get the 'tenacity award of the year'. I would have been long gone.He was grounded with his stories ...and he was a hard core narcissistic drug addict, alcoholic, wife abuser and verbal abuser to his sons. This man had the world, and it wasn't enough to stop the behavior, losing his wife, his sons, his home, his JOB! He was even handed a golden-ticket for another chance with all of this and blew it. This will be the most eye-opening, depressing, sad...and hopeful film of a life you may watch this year.The only problem I have with this is the six year gap that went from total destruction to "clean and sober". This is a man that filmed everything and I would venture to guess that he has those six years of film but for some reason the producers weren't allowed access to it (could be part of the divorce settlement, or he felt these were even worse than what we've seen and he's already 'let out' enough for his sons, et al to be concerned about, or maybe Rick was okay in 2004 but what about ...now?) but there should have been more there to fill that six year gap. There is no way in hell this video junkie left 6 years out of his life, unfilmed or photographed.HBO is running a series on Drug and Alcohol abuse and how it effects families, marriages, schools, teens, children, jobs, etc. There are films, doctors, documentaries, etc. to give you the viewer perspectives. I saw this 'TV Junkie' documentary within that project and it is a must see, whether with the HBO project or on its own. Scared the heck outa me, and I never was a substance abuser. But it showed me how even you or I could have been affected by this man's actions (For example, the 1993 Celebrity Grand Prix footage and his Jeep Ride will have you cringing) and that's pretty moving.

I have read a review that said he was doing drugs and ruining his family and career for film. Ha. I don't think so buddy. Nobody would go through that kind of hell just for future profit. I think what makes it "look" that way, is his ease in front of the camera. Someone said it was like he was documenting it, but not really living it. Sort of like a disconnection between reality and reporting.But I will say, Kirkham came off in the film as a totally self-centered addict. People who don't have experience with addiction issues (either themselves or with loved ones) will not understand this kind of behavior. That's what addicts are when they are in active addiction. He didn't like the consequences his drug use brought, and when he felt them, he lashed out at his wife, his father, and whoever else was available to blame. It is a hard movie to watch. At some points, I could not believe he was actually filming what was going on. (The cops coming to arrest him, fights with his wife, and his drunken driving and subsequent car wreck.) There are scenes where his young son Ricky was crying and upset over his father's actions. Rick used the camera at one point to document to his son what his "mommy was doing to his daddy." There are times when you just want to grab the camera out of his hands and say "GET SOME HELP!" I can see why some people would not like this film. I myself, was incensed at his self pitying and blaming. As the consequences build, he becomes depressed and suicidal. And then we once again witness him smoking crack and giving up.(Warning spoilers ahead)While watching it, I had this eery feeling that he was going to commit suicide while on camera and that would be the ending. Fortunately, he does not!What is the ending is a bit anti-climactic. We see a scene of him once again getting high, cut to some explanations of what happened in the next 6 years. (His divorce and his recovery.) Bam. Just like that he is clean. This was a bit disappointing, though I'm sure his downward spiral was much more "interesting" then his fight back, so we don't see that part.All in all, I rate it a 5. It's not excellent film making and it's not horrible. Is it narcissistic? Oh yeah. So just be prepared to watch a very self absorbed account of one man's battle with his demons.