Hoarders: Documentary TV Series on A&E
Hoarders is an American documentary series that airs on A&E. The series depicts the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding. The first episode aired August 17, 2009, and has since aired three full seasons. The fourth season debuted June 20, 2011.
Each 60-minute episode profiles one or two interventions. During most of the first season, the hoarder worked with either a psychiatrist/psychologist, a professional organizer, or an "extreme cleaning specialist", each of whom specialized in some aspect involving the treatment of obsessive/compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, and/or hoarding. The actual cleanups were done by a crew of professional cleaners (usually a local franchise of the series' major corporate sponsor). Two episodes in the first season featured a cleanup with both a psychologist and an organizer: Jill (episode "Jennifer and Ron/Jill") and Patty (episode "Patty/Bill"). The final episode of the first season, "Paul; Missy and Alex", featured a professional organizer working with Missy, while a child psychologist worked with Missy's nine-year-old son Alex. Beginning in the second season, each hoarder had a psychologist-plus-organizer/cleaning specialist team assisting them in their clean-out. The psychologist-plus-organizer/cleaning specialist combination leads a group of cleaning professionals, family, friends, and relatives of the hoarder in conducting a two- to three-day decluttering session to attempt to get as much of the hoarder's mess under control as possible. In most instances, the intervention is prompted by a crisis, such as the threat of eviction or the removal of minor children from the home. Most of the segments are filmed in the United States, although in the third season, a couple of Canadian segments were filmed in Edmonton and Toronto.
At the end of each episode, on-screen text indicates the short-term outcome of the cleanup effort, including the subjects' decisions on whether to seek further assistance from organizers or therapists. Funds to help pay for these services are offered by the show.
Hoarders Season 4 Episode 3 (Season 2 Follow Up: Augustine, Judi, Dennis & Nadine) airs: Monday, July 4, 2011 at 9:00pm EDT on A & E Network. Synopsis of the episode: Catching up on the progress of people featured in previous episodes.
