His prescription: lots of time spent with the family

You’ve got to hand it to Dr. Drew Pinsky: He’s managed to turn sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll from a ‘60s rallying cry into a career marketing strategy that’s transformed him (with apologies to Howard Stern) into the new king of all media.

Pinsky, who lives in Pasadena with wife Susan and 16-year-old triplets Douglas, Jordan and Paulina, co-hosts the long-running radio show “Loveline” from Sundays through Thursdays on KROQ-FM (106.7). He also has “Sober House” airing all over VH1, and “Sex . . . With Mom and Dad” just began its second season on MTV. And on March 17, he’s releasing his latest book, “The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America.”

“The biggest take-home from the book is that the reason celebrities behave as they do is not because of being a celebrity, it’s that people who need to be a celebrity have a certain degree of pathology that they bring to their celebrity status,” Pinsky said. “And their celebrity allows them to act that out a bit. . . . But we elevate them to a sort of deity status and then insist on breaking them down. I believe it’s our modern version of human sacrifice. And now our entire news industry is being built around celebrity rather than news.”

Ouch. OK, doc, don’t mean to change the subject, but let’s hear about your weekend.

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A frisky Friday

My weekends are all about time with my family. The first order of business is for me and my wife to have time alone, and there’s a restaurant in Pasadena called Bistro 45 that we really love. It’s almost a culinary education when you go there. Robert Simon is the owner, and he matches everything up with the wines and things, and he’ll tell you why he’s done what he’s done. And the environment is great, very romantic. He has a halibut that he occasionally brings on the menu that is just sensational, and he has a collection of Pinots that are just out of this world.

After dinner, we’d get in the car and drive down to the Montage in Laguna. I used to be a lifeguard at the next cove up when I was a kid, and now to go back as an adult (with not quite so much energy), I take it all in, but in a different way.

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Sun and fun

On Saturday, we’d have breakfast out on the balcony of our room and then I’d go for a run up in the hills and work out in the gym at the Montage, which is sort of suspended over the ocean. My wife likes to hang out at the adult pool right next to that. In the late afternoon, we’d go back to Pasadena and grab our kids and their friends and go to one of their favorite places, the Yard House. It’s loud and open and fun. We can all watch sports on the TVs. And the kids all like it equally, and it’s hard to find a place like that with triplets. I like the French onion soup and the hearts of romaine wedge with blue cheese. Afterward, we’ll see a movie. The last one we all enjoyed was “Iron Man.”

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Fit mind, fit body

On Sunday I’ll get up early and run in the Arroyo. Then I’ll come back home and lift weights in my garage as I listen to medical lectures. Or maybe we’ll all go to a new place we just joined as a family called Breakthrough Fitness in Pasadena.

For brunch maybe we’d go with all our extended family to the Langham, which used to be the Ritz-Carlton. The pastries are great; that’s my one indulgence. My kids like the made-to-order omelets.

In the afternoon, I’d take the kids to the Norton Simon Museum. I love that place -- a major work from every major period of art history, right here in little ol’ Pasadena. I used to walk the kids through it when they were little, but now they’re starting to see how really special it is.

I have to wind down Sunday night quickly because I have “Loveline” from 10 to midnight. So we’d just sit in front of the fire and watch some mindless television. And I do mean mindless.

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mark.sachs@latimes.com