Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List Reality Check: 'Time for a Flairathon'

Last night on My Life on the D-List, Kathy Griffin spent time renovating her mansion and helping her assistant Tom deal with off-the-chart stress levels, but did she keep it real? Let's inspect the episode's most and least sincere moments.

REAL: Kathy loses it when discussing her deceased pooch Chance.

I had a flashback to D-List's third season when Kathy burst into tears during a confessional, even if she was bemoaning the loss of her dog Chance instead of her ruined marriage to a computer programmer. When she explained how she took Chance to the vet and had to watch as her tour manager Tom started crying when he got the bad news first, the staginess of D-List subsided for a quick second, even if the ensuing doggy montage was classic reality show treacle.

FAKE: Tom's anxiety is allayed by the TGIFriday's waitering decathlon.

Kathy outed Tom as a trichotillomaniac (he compulsively rips out his own hair), and after a consultation with a psychotherapist who claimed Tom suffered from tremendous workplace anxiety, the D-list doyenne set up a light-hearted event to alleviate his stress levels. With the help of Everybody Loves Raymond vet Brad Garrett, Kathy arranged a series of games centered around TGIFriday's waitering skills, as Tom had worked at the chain restaurant for 18 years. After the game, Tom glanced into the camera -- with damaged eyebrows jolting -- and said the experience did the trick and helped him relax. Please. Kathy Griffin is a workhorse whose demands escalate by the nanosecond. This momentary field day had no lasting effects, and nothing was even calming about it. They bussed plates and ran around, for chrissakes.

It's the diplomatic musings and pandering confessionals of Tom and Kathy's other assistant Tiffany that make me miss D-List's old days most. Once upon a time, we gleaned insight from the supporting players in Kathy's life. Oh, fair-haired Jessica, where did you go?