
"Hoarders" is an often painful look inside a disease that can bury its sufferer -- literally at times -- in its symptoms. Each hourlong episode profiles two people on the verge of a personal crisis, all caused by the fact that they are unable to part with even the tiniest possessions, and the cumulative effect becomes a mountain of junk and garbage overtaking their home or apartment. If they don't respond to professional help, the consequences sometimes involve eviction, kids being taken away, or even jail time.

After losing a cousin on 9/11, a woman's hoard grows; a hoarder puts her husband at risk.

A cancer patient must make her home habitable; a man has hundreds of unfinished projects.

A hoarder must clean up her home after a neighbor reports her to the authorities; a former antiques dealer's home becomes a fire hazard.

Two former punk rockers stuff their home with records, comic books, mannequins and other eclectic items; a concerned niece is the only family member willing to help out a hoarding relative.