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The Biggest Loser (Looser?)

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by WriteThinking, Sep 16, 2009.

  1. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    With all the reality-show enthusiasts on this site, I'm wondering if anybody but me ever watches this one? I know I am practically addicted to it.

    The first episode of Season 8 was tonight, and, as usual, I found the show kind of inspiring and poignant.

    I do have a suggestion for NBC, though, because I really hate to see people eliminated in this case. Their health issues and what they can learn, and the changes they can make, are too important, and all deserve to be addressed more adequately than can probably really occur, especially for participants who are sent home early on.

    Why couldn't the show just keep everybody on, have the weigh-ins each week, and calculate an overall winner (how ever they decided to do that) at the end, without actually sending people home?

    That way, more time could be spent on the pretty compelling human stories and better getting to know the contestants in a real way.
     
  2. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I'm sorry, but I have to say the concept is cynical: exploit the fatty in the guise of uplifting the fatty. And I'm speaking as someone who lost a lot of weight.
     
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I agree 1000% with Dooley.

    Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, but I find the show exploitative.

    I also am strangely attracted to Jillian Michaels, though I am fairly certain she would snap me in half. Shit. Out loud voice again?
     
  4. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    A friend nominated me for the show once, but they said I was too young at the time.

    A guy in my area went on the show and lost a crap load of weight. I love hearing success stories like his, but I absolutely loathe this show.
     
  5. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    A guy in my area went on the show last year and lost so much weight, he had to start eating more after the show to gain some back. He was the young guy from the last season, and the kid looked like a twig.
     
  6. KG

    KG Active Member

    I don't watch the show. Do they still go about their daily lives and work, or do they take a leave of absence and go 24/7 diet and exercise?
     
  7. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    It is 24/7 of diet, exercise and learning about nutrition, health and lifestyle choices, for a span of about three to four months, I think.

    I suppose it can be considered exploitive. But it is with a goal of positive, potentially life-altering change, so, in that sense, I'm not sure "exploitive" is really the right word.

    As hard as these trainers are on the participants during workouts, they are knowledgeable, and want better for these people, so they are sensitive to the issues involved and do seem to build up real relationships with them.

    Heck, newspapers "exploit" good stories all the time, for the sake of an angle/story line, and that is really what a lot of these people are, too. You realize that the more you follow the show and get to know them.

    That's why I'd like to see the show concentrate on that even more. It's more important and interesting than relying on it being a "competition" and turning the process into something it really should not be when it comes to weight loss.

    The other concept I believe the TV station should try is a realistic season-long follow-up type show comprised of former participants who have struggled/dealt with various issues that have come up after being on previously.

    Undoubtedly, there are some who have not been able to keep the weight off once they've left that totally focused environment and gone back to their real lives, or have dealt with obsessive compulsiveness about it, who weren't comfortable/healthy at a too-low weight and intentionally gained back because of that, etc.

    You could have a season of shows dealing with this type stuff, and people who are trying/doing it again, and see what happens and how that is handled.

    You might think the show wouldn't/shouldn't do that, but it certainly would be a realistic and relatable premise. Wouldn't it?

    And, the positive parts of this show really are amazing, compelling and inspiring -- much more so than "Survivor," "Top Chef," "Project Runway" or even "The Amazing Race."
     
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