Loveline

Loveline is a long-running sex and relationship advice show originating from radio station KROQ and Westwood One in Los Angeles. The one constant (since 1984, anyway) is Dr. Drew Pinsky, a board-certified physician and addiction-medicine specialist who might be better known these days for his television show Celebrity Rehab. For most of his tenure with the show, he has been joined by a comic co-host (occasionally more than one):

  • Jim "Poorman" Trenton (1983-1993)
  • "Swedish" Egil Aalvik (1983-1990)
  • "Spacin'" Scott Mason (1983-1987)
  • Lee Alpert (1986-1989)
  • Riki Rachtman (1993-1996)
  • Adam Carolla (1995-2005)
  • Stryker (2006-2009)
  • Psycho Mike (2010-2016)
  • Simone Bienne (2011–2012)
  • Amber Rose (2016–2018)
  • Chris Donaghue (2016–present)

By far, the most popular and well-known co-host is Carolla, though Your Mileage May Vary. Loveline was also an MTV show from 1996 to 2000.

Tropes used in Loveline include:
  • Acting for Two: Psycho Mike's various celebrity voice impressions.
  • Anyone Remember Pogs?: Much of Adam Carolla's humor was built around pop-cultural fads from the 1970s and '80s.
  • Berserk Button: Dr. Drew, when callers with depraved impulses swear up and down that their childhood was "normal," only to reveal some horrific trauma happened later in the call.

Caller: Well my sister used to like, molest me when I was five...
Dr. Drew: (screaming) Oh other than that everything's fine! God! (stomps out of booth)

    • During the "Stinky Pinky" word game segments, Psycho Mike will get borderline homicidal if a caller gives an invalid word pair or clue, especially since he explains the childishly-simple rules immediately before each game.

Mike: That doesn't RHYME!!! You are dead! Do you hear me?! I will come over to your house and make you stop breathing!

  • Biting the Hand Humor: The hosts' frequent complains about "Westwood None" or "Westwood Two".
  • Catch Phrase: The show's engineers have a habit of dropping soundbites of the hosts and some guests into the conversation; these are usually used humorously out-of-context.
    • Dr. Drew: "You're fat"; "You're gay"; "You're a lesbian"; "When I was 18, I ate six boiled peyote buttons and stayed up all night but felt no effect."
    • Adam Carolla: "The world is your oyster. I mean, because that's all the world is"; "MOM, I'M SO MAD AT YOU! I'M SO MAD AT YOU, MOM!"
    • Stryker: "I masturbate about 10 to 12 times a day"; "I insist you stick it in my ass!"; "Drew, I'm very into you."
  • Crossover: Carolla's later morning show often featured a Loveline-esque segment in which callers would call in for relationship advice; Dr. Drew often was a guest on these segments.
    • There was also an episode of Dawson's Creek in which the characters attended a live Loveline broadcast.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: The infamous "Holocaust Call". Watch it on YouTube.
  • Executive Meddling: Frequently Lampshaded by the hosts.
  • Evil Laugh: Psycho Mike might have earned his nickname due to his deranged-sounding chuckle.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Combined with Fridge Horror: Why do callers tend to act surprised when the hosts ask about their childhoods, asking if there's any abuse or molestation? Because they've so ignored their past that they have to be directly asked about their lifestyles in order to even think about them.
  • Granola Girl: Carolla frequently complained about his "hippie" mother.
  • Ho Yay: Carolla and Dr. Drew often joked about being lovers. Continued with Psycho Mike to an even greater extent, as both of them are fitness enthusiasts who like to talk about diet and weight lifting (much to engineer Anderson Cowan's disgust). Mike has commented that new billboards for Loveline look like AIDS awareness posters targeted at gay men.
  • Insistent Terminology: It's junior college, not community college.
  • Live but Delayed: The show was on a several-second delay, to eliminate certain profanities and "shout-outs". Ironically, the show airs after 10 PM Pacific Time, making them immune to FCC regulations on profane language under the "Safe Harbor" rule.
  • Mistaken for Profound: Adam Carolla's style of observational humor, which often involves gross, sweeping generalizations that sound plausible on the surface. Delivered with such ferocity and timing, they come across as "funny because it's true" until you're on the receiving end or you think about them for more than 60 seconds.
    • This little comedy gem was so profound it ended up getting the show dropped from the Hawaiian affiliate.

Adam: Yeah, [Hawaiians] handle big words, but it's got to be the name of a fat chick or some drink. They don't do science. Close your eyes and picture all the great Hawaiian scientists over the years. (Laughs) They're retarded people. They stay on the island. They're in-bred, obviously. They're the dumbest people we have.

  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Some think Adam/Drew fit this dynamic.
  • Running Gag: Many, especially in the Carolla years.
  • Self-Deprecation: A staple Psycho Mike's humor, which frequently involves mentioning such things as being less-than-gifted in the pants area, his lack of success with courting the opposite sex, and his deranged behavior in the past while doing illegal drugs (e.g. the oft-repeated tale of waking up face-down in the hallway of an unfamiliar Paris hotel, wearing only his boxer shorts that, at some point during the night, he had soiled).
  • Too Much Information: Psycho Mike, a recovering drug addict, has a tendency to go seriously Squick when taking about events in his life and his personal habits.
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