Loveline is a syndicated radiocall-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its host through most of its run was Dr. Drew Pinsky who was paired with a radio personality.
Loveline was broadcast live, Sundays through Thursdays from 10p.m.–midnight PT (Mondays through Fridays from 1–3a.m. ET).[1] Its flagship station was KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. Syndication was usually on rock, alternative, and adult talk radio stations. Loveline can also be heard online through the websites of affiliate stations.
The radio show was discontinued in April 2016. After a hiatus, the show was rebooted as a podcast with Amber Rose and clinical psychologist and sex therapist Chris Donaghue as hosts. The renewed podcast ran from September 8, 2016, until March 17, 2018.
On November 1, 2018, Loveline was revived on LGBTQ network Channel Q with Dr. Chris Donaghue as the solo host, heard Monday through Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Channel Q is owned by Audacy, Inc. and heard on the company's namesake streaming service and on the HD Radio subchannels of about 20 FM stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large media markets. Though no cancellation or hiatus was formally announced until the next version of the show launched in 2024, no new episodes of the show were released after December 2022.[2]
A third incarnation of the show debuted on KROQ on December 15, 2024, hosted by KROQ personality Kevan Kenny and Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, who has a doctoral degree in human communication.[3] This show returns to the original Sunday-night-only weekly format, with episodes airing at 10pm Pacific time on KROQ's terrestrial radio station and being posted on the Audacy service and Youtube the following day.
During its peak of popularity, Loveline also doubled as a weekly live audience television program on MTV, also called Loveline. It was presented by Pinsky, Adam Carolla and a third co-host.
In 1984, Trenton added a segment called "Ask a Surgeon," hosted by his friend Drew Pinsky, who at the time, was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Southern California. The medical segment was pre-dated by an occasional legal segment in which a lawyer, known as "Lawyer Lee" would be present to answer legal questions. As Loveline developed and increased its audience, Pinsky became a public figure in his own right, and the show began referring to him informally as "Dr. Drew".
After a traumatic break up, Mason announced that he would no longer be hosting the show. After they stopped doing the "Lawyer Lee" segment and "Swedish" Egil left the show, Trenton continued co-hosting the show with Dr. Drew. In February 1992, the show expanded from Sunday nights to five nights a week, Sunday through Thursday. In August 1993, Trenton was replaced by former MTVVJRiki Rachtman after Trenton was fired by KROQ over actions related to one of his non-Loveline shows on the station.
Pinsky and Rachtman were joined by Adam Carolla in October 1995, as the show was first being syndicated nationally. The trio hosted together for several months, but Carolla and Rachtman often competed for airtime, leading Rachtman to resign in January 1996.[4] Carolla and Pinsky would go on to host the show together until Carolla's departure in November 2005.
The popularity and reach of Loveline increased dramatically in the ten years during which it was hosted by Pinsky and Carolla. The two had a natural chemistry, in which Carolla's jocular tone emphasized Pinsky's reasoned expertise. Together, they refined the format of the show, and capitalized on their growing popularity with speaking tours, a television show on MTV from 1996–2000 (also titled Loveline), a book, and cameo appearances on television series and movies. In November 2005, Carolla left Loveline to prepare for a new morning radio show, The Adam Carolla Show, which began airing in January 2006.
After Carolla's departure, he was substituted on a temporary basis by numerous celebrity guests, some of whom announced their desire to take the job permanently. During his first appearance on Carolla's new morning show, Pinsky revealed that the shortlist of candidates included Carson Daly, Joel McHale, Danny Bonaduce, Steve-O and Daniel Tosh.[5] On July 23, 2006, KROQ-FM disc jockey Stryker was hired as Pinsky's co-host.
On April 22, 2009, Stryker announced that due to financial cutbacks at Westwood One, he would be leaving the show and it would be his last appearance that night. After Stryker's departure, a number of celebrities guest co-hosted opposite Drew. On March 11, 2010, it was announced that Mike "Psycho Mike" Catherwood from The Kevin and Bean Show would co-host Loveline with Dr. Drew.
After a long stint as a guest host, Simone Bienne was formally brought on as a co-host in December 2011. This followed Westwood One's merger with Dial Global. She was introduced to the show by Dr. Drew through Lifechangers, and is the first female co-host of the radio show.[6] As of November 2012 she is no longer a host.
On December 7, 2012, Adam Carolla rejoined Dr. Drew for a Loveline-style "Reunion Tour" of the US to promote their new podcast, The Adam & Dr. Drew Show.[7]
On January 5, 2015, Catherwood and Pinsky launched a new program, Dr. Drew Midday Live with Mike Catherwood on KABC in Los Angeles.[8]
On March 16, 2016, Catherwood announced that he would be leaving the show to focus more on raising his daughter. His final episode was March 31, 2016.[9] A month later, on April 21, Dr. Drew announced Loveline would wrap up the following week, after the April 28 episode.[10] Adam Carolla re-joined him as co-host for the final show.
On September 8, 2016, the show was rebooted as a weekly podcast, with Amber Rose and Dr. Chris Donaghue serving as hosts. Ann Ingold was named producer.[11] The final episode of the podcast was released on March 8, 2018. This coincided with Ingold's departure from KROQ/CBS.
On November 1, 2018, Loveline was once again rebooted, this time on LGBTQ+ formatted talk radio network Channel Q. It is hosted by Dr. Chris Donaghue, and airs Monday through Thursday from 7 to 9PM (Pacific).[12] The Channel Q version of the show ceased releasing new episodes in December 2022 with no fanfare.
A third incarnation of the show debuted on December 15, 2024, hosted by KROQ personality Kevan Kenny and Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, who is not a medical doctor but has a PhD in human communication. The announcement of the new show confirmed that the Channel Q show had "ended" in 2022. The show's producer and engineer is Jonathan "Beer Mug" Kantrowe, who was rehired at KROQ after previously working on Kevin and Bean until 2020.
Format
Loveline follows the call-in question-and-answer model with the primary goal of helping youth and young adults with relationship, sexuality, and drug addiction problems through the expertise of Pinsky, an internist and addiction medicine specialist, and the humorous context and insight provided by a comedic host. Adam Carolla explained his role as a "sheep in wolf's clothing".[13] Furthermore, the comedy is often necessary to keep spirits high, as the show frequently handles callers who are dealing with serious issues such as drug addiction, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.
The show will occasionally answer calls of a general medical nature, especially on slow nights or if they seem peculiar. Also, listeners are encouraged to participate in Loveline's many games.
Personalities
Regular hosts
Drew Pinsky (December 1984 – April 28, 2016) [Appears on approximately 6000 episodes including the weekly show from 1983-1992 and the five-nights-a-week show from Feb 1992 to Apr 2016]
Jim "The Poorman" Trenton (1983 – August 1993) [Approximately 800 episodes including the weekly show from 1983-1992 and the five-nights-a-week show from Feb 1992 to Aug 1993]
Lauren (Junior Producer) (2002 – December 20, 2007)
Jonathan "Beer Mug" Kantrowe (December 15, 2024 - )
Radio engineers
The show has had many engineers throughout the years who have developed their own on-air presence. Whether it be conversations with hosts and guests or specific "radio drops" that they have produced usually from clips of previous shows.
Engineer Scott (prior to October 1995) - Mike Dooley's predecessor, credited by Drew with coming up with the idea for "drops" and recording some of the oldest drops in the library, which were still used throughout the show's run. May or may not be the same person as Scott Mason.
Mike Dooley (October 1995 – June 20, 1999) ("Dooley," "The One-Nut Wonder," produced "The Drew Shuffle" and "The Drew Boogie")
Anderson Cowan (June 21, 1999 – April 28, 2016) ("The Magic Fingered One," "The Liberace of the Potentiometers," produced "Millionaire", PAB, Co-Host of "The After Disaster")
Jonathan "Beer Mug" Kantrowe (December 15, 2024 - )
Timeline
Media tie-ins and cultural influence
A TV version of Loveline, also called Loveline, ran on MTV from 1996 to 2000; it was produced by Stone Stanley Entertainment. It followed the same general format as the radio program but featured a live audience and a female co-host alongside Pinsky and Carolla. The female co-host role was filled over the course of the series by MTV VJ Idalis, actresses Kris McGaha, Catherine McCord, Diane Farr and comedian Laura Kightlinger. Loveline TV was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios.[14]
The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love, an advice book written in a tone similar to the radio show, was released in 1998.
The series has also spawned a number of Loveline-inspired games that have been mentioned on the show.[15][16][17][18]
A thinly-veiled reference to Loveline can be seen in the 1988 film Heathers in a scene featuring a radio call-in advice program called Hot Probs hosted by Jim Trenton, the then-host of Loveline.[19]
Preservation
168 of the approximately 1000 episodes broadcast during the Jim Trenton and Riki Rachtman hosting eras exist as full or partial recordings, copied from cassettes made by fans from the radio broadcasts, and held on sites such as Loveline Tapes.
About 95% of the 1100 episodes hosted by Adam Carolla from 1995-1999 are publicly available, as are 100% of episodes hosted by Carolla and his successors from 2000 onward. KROQ and Westwood One kept their own recordings of episodes from at least early 1995 onward, through both audio recorded from the engineering panel and VHS tapes in the studio security system. The legal rights around these official recordings are disputed and they are not currently available to the public.
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↑ Legally, the name "Loveline" and other copyrighted aspects of the show are fully owned by KROQ. Neither Trenton, Pinsky, nor any of the other early hosts are officially credited with creating or owning the show. Trenton has disputed this in the past and claims that KROQ and Pinsky illegitimately took the show's revenue stream from him when he was fired.
1 = Distribution only; produced by another company.
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