Drugs

it wasn't the church choir, it was just singing in general. in the entertainment industry there are a lot of drugs and alcohol (as if we didn't know) and debra just got caught up. brian didn't want his DAUGHTER singing in the church choir, b/c she would uitimately be...singing, which was the outlet that initially got his wife all messed up.

Sadly Tyler nvr decided to touch on that subject regarding the wife (which I wish they did). It was glossed over by Brian when he talked to Helen and she felt it was due to her not being around much (via Charles moving her away and not allowing her to be around the family/friends). Not sure if you watch 'House of Payne' but same question goes into why the wife on that show became a drug addict. For Tyler it was just something he wanted to put out there but never considered that ppl would question the background behind it.

This is on another note regarding the daughter and why Brian was worried her singing would lead her into becoming a drug addict like her mom.

The theme was to showcase a father worries about how most kids follow into their parents footsteps. Such as most ppl (men and women) who grow up around abusive parents some how end up doing the same thing once they are older.

So Brian's worries were more in line to if Tiff was to follow in the footsteps of what her mother done (i.e. sing or other) then she would perhaps follow within doing drugs.