A&E cancels ‘Intervention,’ tallies up those saved

A&E announced on Thursday that its long-running reality show “Intervention” was coming to an end after eight years and 13 seasons on the air.

The show’s final five episodes will begin airing June 13. They are being touted as some of the most intense and gripping of the series.

The series, which followed people with substance abuse issues or other mental or physical problems, documented the eventual family intervention to help them with their recovery.

In a statement, David McKillop, executive vice president of programming for A&E Network and BIO Channel, tallied up the good the show has done for people over the years, saying, “We’re honored to have been a part of the 243 interventions since its premiere in March of 2005, leading to the 156 individuals that are currently sober to this day.”

Among the people filmed for the final episodes is a 29-year-old Chicagoan named Jessica who had been squatting in an abandoned house and injecting heroin, a habit she picked up from her father.

Other subjects include a mother addicted to painkillers and crack cocaine, a 34-year-old woman addicted to heroin to escape her past, a young girl with a potentially fatal eating disorder, a twentysomething man using drugs to cope with his mother’s suicide, and a young man who has gone from a funny and generous son to a hustling and stealing junkie.

The series won an Emmy in 2009 for outstanding reality program, but it hasn’t been without controversy. Some TV critics have accused the series of being exploitative of its subjects.

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