Showtime is developing a 1980’s Rehab drama alongside Robert Downey Jr.
Showtime is currently in development for a new drama from the writer Gary Lennon (Orange is the New Black, Justified). Robert Downey Jr and Susan Downey’s Team have also joined together with Sony Pictures TV.
The untitled drama is set in 1983 and follows a rehab/therapeutic community in Venice Beach where drugs and alcohol have always been part of the culture.
It is likely that this television series will be based on Robert Downey Jr‘s experience in rehab. From 1996 through 2001, Downey was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges including cocaine, heroin and marijuana and went through several drug treatment programs unsuccessfully. In 1999 he explaiend to a judge, “It’s like I’ve got a shotgun in my mouth with my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal.” He explained his relapses by claiming that he was addicted to drugs since the age of eight, and due to the fact that his father, also an addict, had been giving them to him.
Robert Downey Jr‘s experiences will most likely provide a realistic portrayal of drug rehabilitation and the culture behind being a drug addict in California.
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