LOS ANGELES — On prominent display in Rodney King's suburban Rialto, Calif., home is a framed photograph — a reminder of his role in one of the most incendiary chapters in Los Angeles history.

The close-up of a bulky, nervous King was taken during a 1992 news conference days after rage and violence swept across the city following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers who were charged with violating King's civil rights. The picture was snapped just as he made his memorable plea for calm amid rioting that ultimately led to 54 deaths, more than 2,300 injuries and 12,000 arrests: "People, I just want to say — Can we all get along? Can we get along?"

In the more than 16 years since, King continues to ask himself that very same, very simple and profound question. His own path since becoming an unwitting symbol of police brutality to some and a habitual petty criminal to others has been filled with tumult.

Now, although he had tried to maintain a low profile, King is again willingly putting himself — and his demons — front and center in VH1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," which launches its second season tonight. The series is billed as television's first examination of the rehabilitation process and features Drew Pinsky, the low-key celebrity physician who is well-known for his nationally syndicated radio call-in show, "Loveline." Pinsky is head of the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Pasadena's Las Encinas Hospital.

King said he appeared on the show to show that he has reformed and that he is not the cowering victim in the grainy videotape. Most of all, he did it to reclaim his name. "Over the years, a lot of rappers — Lil' Wayne, Ice Cube — have used my name in their songs," said the 43-year-old King, who had his first drink when he was 8. "I'm a real touchstone of history.

"But they don't know me as a person. I understand the hurt, and now I'm seeking help for myself. Putting myself out there is a good way for me to overcome the addiction. I want my kids to understand me, and it was easier to show them by being on TV."

LOOKING AT CHANGE

Sitting in his immaculate living room, he gazed at the large photo from 1992, which shares wall space with a blown-up baby picture. In contrast to the image above him, his head is now clean shaven. He is fit with a muscular build underneath his loose- fitting plaid shirt and jeans.

"When I look at that picture, I look at change," said King, who notes with a smile that he's been sober for three months. "No matter how many steps it takes, I'm trying to make my life better."

Unlike the image much of the public holds about him, King, the divorced father of three, is not sullen or particularly shy. He is friendly, polite and upbeat.

"Waking up sober is a good day," said King as he relaxed in the home he shares with his fiancee, Dawn Jean, whom he has been with for six years. "I love being able to wake up and do positive things, to go to the gym."

He also works with teenagers, coaching baseball for the city's recreation and parks department. "It just feels so good to be alive and not sick. I'm blessed."

He blames his alcoholism for much of his legal problems, which have included at least six arrests, including two for drunken driving and two for domestic abuse involving his former wife, his mother and one of his daughters. He has served more than 300 days in jail. In 2001, he was arrested at a park in Pomona for indecent exposure and for being under the influence of PCP — a crime for which he was later ordered to enter a yearlong drug treatment program (not his first stint in rehab).

FILMED 24/7 FOR 21 DAYS

King volunteered to have his more negative side exposed for "Celebrity Rehab," in which the worst nature of addicted personalities is displayed.

Participants are filmed by hidden cameras throughout the facility and camera crews 24 hours a day as they go through a 21-day program at a Pasadena residential treatment facility.

When King is first seen, he is obviously a man on the edge — fidgety, sweaty, inarticulate.

"I love alcohol, that's what I do," he says as he tilts his head back and pours a beer down his throat. At another point, he's shown at a part-time job working for a tow truck company, staggering and drunk. Later, he leans out of the passenger side window of a moving truck and throws up.

An Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor referred him to the show. King, long concerned that his alcoholism would kill him, said the timing was right. "My father died of the disease, and I don't want to be like him," he said.