''Loveline'' is a syndicated radio

call-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

program in North America that features medical and relationship advice, often with guest appearances by actors and musicians. For most of its original run until ending in 2016, the show was hosted by Drew Pinsky, who was paired with a radio personality. Several relaunches of the show with new hosts have occurred since that time. As of March 2025, new episodes of the show are no longer being produced. At the height of its popularity, ''Loveline'' was also adapted into a weekly live television program on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, also titled ''

Loveline ''Loveline'' is a radio syndication, syndicated radio Talk show, call-in program in North America that features medical and relationship advice, often with guest appearances by actors and musicians. For most of its original run until ending in ...

''. The television version was hosted by Pinsky,

Adam Carolla Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...

, and a rotating third co-host.

Format

''Loveline'' follows a call-in, question-and-answer format, primarily aimed at helping youth and young adults with issues related to relationships,

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, and

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. The program combines the medical expertise of Pinsky, an

internist Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of th ...

and

addiction medicine Addiction medicine is a medical subspecialty that deals with the diagnosis, prevention, evaluation, treatment, and recovery of persons with addiction, of those with substance-related and addictive disorders, and of people who show unhealthy u ...

specialist, with the perspective and humor of a comedic co-host.

described his role as a "sheep in wolf's clothing". Humor is often used to keep the tone approachable, even when discussing serious topics such as addiction,

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

, and

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. The show occasionally addresses general medical questions, especially during slower segments or when the topics are atypical. Listeners are also invited to participate in various games featured on ''Loveline''.

History

Radio origins

''Loveline'' began in 1983 as a Sunday night dating and relationships segment on

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

radio station

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

, hosted by DJ Jim "Poorman" Trenton, DJ "Swedish" Egil Aalvik, and Scott Mason. The show aired live Sundays through Thursdays from 10 p.m. to midnight PT (Mondays through Fridays from 1 to 3 a.m. ET). Its

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...

was

in Los Angeles. It was syndicated primarily on rock, alternative, and adult talk radio stations, and was also available online through affiliate station websites. In 1984, Trenton introduced a segment called "Ask a Surgeon," hosted by his friend Drew Pinsky, then a fourth-year medical student at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. A prior legal segment had featured a lawyer known as "Lawyer Lee." As the show gained popularity, Pinsky emerged as a regular presence and became known informally as "Dr. Drew." Mason departed following a breakup, and the legal and Swedish Egil segments were discontinued. Trenton continued with Pinsky as co-host. In February 1992, ''Loveline'' expanded to five nights a week. Trenton was replaced in August 1993 by former

VJ Riki Rachtman.

joined the show in October 1995, coinciding with its national syndication. Carolla and Rachtman often competed for airtime, leading to Rachtman's departure in January 1996. Carolla and Pinsky remained co-hosts until Carolla's departure in November 2005. During their decade-long partnership, the show's popularity grew significantly. Carolla's humor and Pinsky's medical expertise created a distinctive dynamic. Together, they refined the format, toured, hosted a television version on MTV from 1996 to 2000, co-wrote a book, and made cameo appearances across various media. Carolla left to launch '' The Adam Carolla Show'' in January 2006. Following Carolla's departure, the show featured a rotation of celebrity guest hosts. Pinsky later revealed that the shortlist for a permanent co-host included

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger, Jeffrey "Jeff" Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community (TV seri ...

Danny Bonaduce Dante Daniel Bonaduce (; born August 13, 1959) is an American retired radio personality, actor, television personality and professional wrestler. Bonaduce is the son of veteran TV writer and producer Joseph Bonaduce ('' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' ...

, Steve-O, and

Daniel Tosh Daniel Dwight Tosh (born May 29, 1975) is an American comedian, writer, and producer. After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a degree in marketing, Tosh moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. His career accelera ...

. On July 23, 2006, KROQ-FM DJ

Stryker The Stryker is a family of Eight-wheel drive, eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in L ...

was named co-host. Stryker left the show on April 22, 2009, citing budget cuts at Westwood One. Another round of guest hosts followed until Mike "Psycho Mike" Catherwood from '' The Kevin and Bean Show'' became permanent co-host on March 11, 2010. Simone Bienne, who had guest-hosted extensively, was introduced as co-host in December 2011. Presented by Pinsky on ''Lifechangers'', she became the show's first female co-host, but departed in November 2012. On December 7, 2012, Carolla and Pinsky launched a "Reunion Tour" to promote their podcast, ''The Adam & Dr. Drew Show''. On January 5, 2015, Catherwood and Pinsky launched ''Dr. Drew Midday Live with Mike Catherwood'' on KABC in Los Angeles. Catherwood announced his departure on March 16, 2016, to focus on family. His final episode aired March 31. On April 21, Dr. Drew confirmed that ''Loveline'' would end after the April 28 broadcast. Carolla returned for the final episode. The radio version concluded in April 2016.

Podcast

After a hiatus, the show returned on September 8, 2016, as a weekly podcast hosted by

Amber Rose Amber Rose Levonchuck (born October 21, 1983) is an American model and television personality. She gained attention after she starred in the music video for Young Jeezy's 2008 single " Put On", which featured Kanye West. She began a romantic re ...

and sex therapist Chris Donaghue, with Ann Ingold as producer. The podcast ended on March 8, 2018.

Channel Q

On November 1, 2018, ''Loveline'' was revived on the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

network

Channel Q Channel Q (stylized as CHANNEL Q) is an LGBT community, LGBT lifestyle talk radio, talk and electronic dance music, EDM top 40 radio network created, owned, and operated by Audacy, Inc. The network airs on the Audacy internet radio service, as ...

, hosted by Dr. Chris Donaghue. It aired Monday through Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

, broadcast via Audacy's streaming service and

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

subchannels in about 20 markets including

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Although no cancellation was officially announced, new episodes ended in December 2022 before the show's next iteration began in 2024.

KROQ reboot

A third version launched on

on December 15, 2024, hosted by Kevan Kenney and Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, who holds a doctorate in human communication. Amid layoffs at parent company

Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio Computing platform, platform developed by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a Recommender system, mus ...

, the show ended in March 2025 after 12 Sunday broadcasts.

Personalities

Regular hosts

* Drew Pinsky (December 1984 – April 28, 2016) * Jim "The Poorman" Trenton (1983 – August 1993) * "Swedish" Egil Aalvik (1983–1990) * Scott Mason (1983–1987) * Attorney Lee "Harvey" Alpert (1986–1989) * Riki Rachtman (August 1993 – January 17, 1996) *

(October 1995 – November 3, 2005) *

(July 23, 2006 – April 22, 2009) * Michael Catherwood (March 21, 2010 – March 31, 2016) * Simone Bienne (December 6, 2011 – November 11, 2012) *

(September 8, 2016 – March 17, 2018) * Chris Donaghue (November 1, 2018 – December 15, 2022) * Kevan Kenney (December 15, 2024 – March 2025) * Tara Suwinyattichaiporn aka "Dr. Tara" (December 15, 2024 – March 2025)

Recurring fill-ins

For Pinsky (in the case of medical physicians) or Psycho Mike (in the case of usual comedic co-host) * Dr. Gary Alter: "Dr. Alter" ("Dr. Whack 'n' Sack, Dr. Alter-men") * Nicole Alvarez: DJ on KROQ-FM *

David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. Known for his roles on stage and screen, Grier gained popularity playing multiple roles in the American sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'' (1990–1994) ...

: a popular and frequent guest, sometimes referred to as the "Third Host" of ''Loveline'' or ''DAG''. * Dr. Ohad Ben-Yehuda: "Dr. Ben" (OB/GYN, Infertility, High Risk Obstetrics) * Dr. Marcel Daniels: "Dr. Marcel" * Dr. Bruce Heischober: "Dr. Bruce" (''Ichabod Bruce, Dr. Spaz'') * Dr. Bruce Hensel: "Dr. Bruce" * Dr. Reef Karim: "Dr. Reef" * Dr. Robert Rey: " Dr. 90210", a plastic surgeon from

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

* Trina Dolenz: former host of VH1's Tool Academy and couples therapist * Emily Morse: "Sex with Emily"

Producers

* Ann Wilkins-Ingold (1988 – April 28, 2016) * Lauren (Junior Producer) (2002 – December 20, 2007) * Jonathan "Beer Mug" Kantrowe (December 2024 to March 2025)

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. * 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") * Damion Stephens (2000–2002) * Chris Perez (2003–2005) * Michelle (2004 – November 2005) (left for '' The Adam Carolla Show'') ;Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:1983 till:03/17/2018 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Co-Host value:red legend:Co-Host id:Expert value:green legend:Expert id:Engineer value:blue legend:Engineer id:Producer value:yellow legend:Producer Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1983 BarData = bar:Trenton text:"Jim Trenton" bar:Aalvik text:"Swedish Egil Aalvik" bar:Mason text:"Scott Mason" bar:Pinsky text:"Dr Drew Pinsky" bar:Alpert text:"Lee Harvey Alpert" bar:Rachtman text:"Rikki Rachtman" bar:Carolla text:"Adam Carolla" bar:Stryker text:"Stryker" bar:Catherwood text:"Michael Catherwood" bar:Bienne text:"Simone Bienne" bar:Rose text:"Amber Rose" bar:Donaghue text:"Dr Chris Donaghue" bar:Ingold text:"Ann Wilkins-Ingold" bar:Dooley text:"Mike Dooley" bar:Cowan text:"Anderson Cowan" bar:Stephens text:"Damion Stephens" bar:Perez text:"Chris Perez" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Trenton from:01/01/1983 till:08/01/1993 color:Co-Host bar:Mason from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1987 color:Co-Host bar:Aalvik from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1990 color:Co-Host bar:Pinsky from:12/01/1984 till:04/28/2016 color:Expert bar:Alpert from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1989 color:Expert bar:Ingold from:01/01/1988 till:04/28/2016 color:Producer bar:Rachtman from:08/01/1993 till:01/17/1996 color:Co-Host bar:Pinsky from:10/01/1995 till:04/28/2016 color:Co-Host bar:Carolla from:10/01/1995 till:11/03/2005 color:Co-Host bar:Dooley from:10/01/1995 till:06/20/1999 color:Engineer bar:Cowan from:06/21/1999 till:04/28/2016 color:Engineer bar:Stephens from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2002 color:Engineer bar:Perez from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2005 color:Engineer bar:Stryker from:07/23/2006 till:04/22/2009 color:Co-Host bar:Catherwood from:03/21/2010 till:03/31/2016 color:Co-Host bar:Bienne from:12/06/2011 till:11/11/2012 color:Expert bar:Rose from:09/08/2016 till:end color:Co-Host bar:Donaghue from:09/08/2016 till:end color:Expert

Media tie-ins and cultural influence

A TV version of ''Loveline'', also titled ''

'', aired on MTV from 1996 to 2000 and was produced by Stone Stanley Entertainment. It followed a similar format to the radio program but featured a live audience and a rotating female co-host alongside Pinsky and Carolla. The co-host role was filled during the show's run by MTV VJ Idalis, actresses Kris McGaha, Catherine McCord,

Diane Farr Diane Farr (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and writer. Her television roles have included FBI agent Megan Reeves in '' Numb3rs'', the firefighter Laura Miles in '' Rescue Me'', and the division chief Sharon Leone in ...

, and comedian Laura Kightlinger. The show was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios. ''The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love'', an advice book written in a tone similar to the radio program, was released in 1998. The series also inspired several games mentioned on the show. A thinly veiled reference to ''Loveline'' appears in the 1988 film '' Heathers'' in a scene featuring a fictional radio call-in show titled ''Hot Probs'', hosted by Jim Trenton, the then-host of ''Loveline''.

References

External links

* {{Westwood One 1980s American radio programs Comedy podcasts Interview podcasts 1983 radio programme debuts English-language radio programs Audio podcasts 2016 podcast debuts 2018 podcast endings KROQ-FM 1990s American radio programs 2000s American radio programs 2010s American radio programs 2020s American radio programs