The Biggest Loser, one of my favorite competitive reality shows, gets me every time. There are few better moments than loudly belting out the opening lines of the theme song, "Proud," as you give your daughter's skull a rhythmic squeeze and head to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. The nice thing is that every time you start to feel guilty about watching a reality show (which I rarely do), you're reminded of the fact that these people have each lost upwards of 60 pounds in the first 5 weeks of the season, and it all seems worthwhile. In fact, the best part of the show is at the end of the episode when a contestant is voted out and you get to see a "Where are they now?" segment to find out how much weight they've dropped since leaving. So even if your favorite person has just been voted out, there's still an uplifting montage that lets you know that they're alright! And thin! And eating at Subway! This season focuses on couples, or pairs really, as it's a mix of relationships: newlyweds, brothers, fat camp counselors, former football teammates, ex-husband and wife, etc. As far as reality twists go, this isn't a bad one. It provides the added personal drama of shared history that they're looking for, without watering down the core concept too much. The best part has been the removal of one of the trainers on the show, Kim, an insufferable woman who tried to play the role of the hardass trainer but came off as desperate and oppressively nerdy. She also seemed to always be standing on the shoulders of male contestants while they worked out, which seemed inefficient. Anyway, now we're left with Bob and Jillian, the original trainers, both of whom I love in different ways. Bob, the sensitive yoga-prone trainer (who can be tough!), and Jillian the tough ball-buster trainer (who can be sensitive!). Even with the bloated (slight pun intended) 2-hour length of most of the episodes, you can DVR your way to a healthy dose of laughter, tears, and sworn promises of life changes every single week! It's awesome! Last chance workout!BaeRating : A-
5 comments:
I finally finished watching "Search for the Next Elvira" last night. It has been on our DVR since Halloween. That should tell you something about how compelling it was. In the end, however, the right girl "won". Sadly "winning" was never clearly defined as the real Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) shows no signs of quitting. It ended abruptly with no idea of what the responsibilities, consequences or benefits of being the new Elvira would entail. I give the show overall a D+ (no pun intended). I give April (the aforementioned new Elvira) a B+ and the original Elvira an A-. If I only learned one thing, it was that being Elvira is much harder than it looks. A making a palatable show about it is even harder.
Tamalehawk likes Biggest Loser too, but he finds some of the gameplay elements distracting and unsavory. Revenge votes, throwing weigh-ins, secret strategies and alliances- save that for Survivor. In this context, he prefers the focus be on honest hard work, discipline, and the triumph of the human metabolism. Also, the orange team's behavior is shameful and gets a D-.
Tamalehawk's botched first attempt to post a comment gets an unqualified F. The sad excuse for a dash in his second attempt gets a C-.
(In)Frequency of blog posts gets a C. The weekend can slow things down, but it's Tuesday night and nothing since Friday. That's not necessarily so bad, but if the enthusiasm of a new blog can't carry your through the first week that may be a bad sign. Remember, your score will drop a whole letter grade for each day it's late.
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