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The Biggest Loser - Couples: Game On!
Well, well, well. No more Mr. or Ms. Nice on campus! This week's Biggest Loser episode created more tension in the house than a Domino's delivery. In a stunning turn of events, the teams that were left after last week's elimination had to immediately choose a team to eliminate again.
Reminder: early on the black team made clear they were there to win the prize money as much as they were there to lose weight. This set a tone that is unusual on The Biggest Loser and the rest of the teams were not happy about it. The black team is also fairly aggressive, and the others have been looking for a way to give them the boot.
Conversely, the yellow team (ex-husband and wife) were nearly eliminated one week which fueled them to focus and work harder, the results being a turn-around in the results. Last week they were number one. This put them in a position of being admired, but also feared.
Back to this week. After deliberating strategies, reviewing alliances, and considering real feelings, the yellow team of Kelly and Paul were singled out as the greatest threat.
They began to weep and say their goodbyes, when Alison (our genial host) delivered the good news/bad news. The yellow team was not leaving the campus (good news); but they were going to spend the next week working as an island unto themselves (bad news). Every other team would be working together against the yellow team. At the next weigh-in, if yellow's percentage of weight loss exceeded that of the average of all the other teams put together, they would be safe (good news) and they alone would chose which team to send home. If they lost, they'd go home immediately (bad news).
One last piece of good news for the yellow team - they got to choose which of the trainers they would work with exclusively, leaving the other trainer for the other teams. They chose Jillian - SHOCKER! (Remember our prediction from last week...Jillian on her own reality show...you heard it here!)
To make a VERY LONG STORY short, the yellow team triumphed, both in weight loss and humanity, but the show itself took a nasty turn. The focus was on game-playing, not weight loss, and the resulting behavior was strange indeed. Like when most of the teams, unified in their dislike of the black team, ganged up and decided to "throw the weigh-in" just so the yellow team would have the power to toss out a team of their choosing, which they agreed would be the dreaded black team. So of course, in yet another reality-show moment, Alison announced that the team with the highest percentage of weight loss for the week would receive immunity. So who won immunity? The black team of course, thus rendering the grand scheme moot.
So it was so long to Bette-Sue and Ali. The black team was more smug than ever and the previews for next week show that contestants will no longer play as teams. Oh the fun never ends.
If you follow this show, like we have for the years it's been on, you may remember a simpler time, when contestants faced their issues about food, regained control of their eating, worked out with the tough love of their effective trainers, and cheered for each other as the pounds melted off.
It was a positive, life-affirming, inspiring show. And at its core was a supportive atmosphere that generated heart-warming results. So what happened?
Who decided that The Biggest Loser did not have enough drama? If baring your soul (and your considerable girth) in front of millions of viewers each week, sweating and crying and living with strangers, leaving behind the support of family and friends, and putting your trust - and literally your life - in the hands of a personal trainer does not equal televised drama, we're not really sure what does? Eating live bugs? Is The Biggest Loser headed down that slippery slope toward Survivor? Are alliances and strategies...well...outweighing (sorry) the whole point of this show?!
If this week is any indication, then the answer is a resounding "Yes!"
Alas, we live in a world of reality television. As writers wither by the wayside awaiting their just rewards, networks are scrambling more and more to create shows that depend less and less on writing. And it shows. The Biggest Loser has always been different from the other mainstream reality shows. But this week they officially entered that television sinkhole, where the producers "trump up" (there's an old phrase with new meaning!) twists and turns and pit one person or team against another until the result is exactly this kind of nasty, mean-spirited, back-stabbing behavior, thinly veiled as "strategy."
And in the end, who's really the biggest loser? The audience.
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: NBC, Biggest Loser, weight loss, emotional eating, reality TV, diet, nutrition
Reminder: early on the black team made clear they were there to win the prize money as much as they were there to lose weight. This set a tone that is unusual on The Biggest Loser and the rest of the teams were not happy about it. The black team is also fairly aggressive, and the others have been looking for a way to give them the boot.
Conversely, the yellow team (ex-husband and wife) were nearly eliminated one week which fueled them to focus and work harder, the results being a turn-around in the results. Last week they were number one. This put them in a position of being admired, but also feared.
Back to this week. After deliberating strategies, reviewing alliances, and considering real feelings, the yellow team of Kelly and Paul were singled out as the greatest threat.
They began to weep and say their goodbyes, when Alison (our genial host) delivered the good news/bad news. The yellow team was not leaving the campus (good news); but they were going to spend the next week working as an island unto themselves (bad news). Every other team would be working together against the yellow team. At the next weigh-in, if yellow's percentage of weight loss exceeded that of the average of all the other teams put together, they would be safe (good news) and they alone would chose which team to send home. If they lost, they'd go home immediately (bad news).
One last piece of good news for the yellow team - they got to choose which of the trainers they would work with exclusively, leaving the other trainer for the other teams. They chose Jillian - SHOCKER! (Remember our prediction from last week...Jillian on her own reality show...you heard it here!)
So it was so long to Bette-Sue and Ali. The black team was more smug than ever and the previews for next week show that contestants will no longer play as teams. Oh the fun never ends.
If you follow this show, like we have for the years it's been on, you may remember a simpler time, when contestants faced their issues about food, regained control of their eating, worked out with the tough love of their effective trainers, and cheered for each other as the pounds melted off.
It was a positive, life-affirming, inspiring show. And at its core was a supportive atmosphere that generated heart-warming results. So what happened?
Who decided that The Biggest Loser did not have enough drama? If baring your soul (and your considerable girth) in front of millions of viewers each week, sweating and crying and living with strangers, leaving behind the support of family and friends, and putting your trust - and literally your life - in the hands of a personal trainer does not equal televised drama, we're not really sure what does? Eating live bugs? Is The Biggest Loser headed down that slippery slope toward Survivor? Are alliances and strategies...well...outweighing (sorry) the whole point of this show?!
If this week is any indication, then the answer is a resounding "Yes!"
Alas, we live in a world of reality television. As writers wither by the wayside awaiting their just rewards, networks are scrambling more and more to create shows that depend less and less on writing. And it shows. The Biggest Loser has always been different from the other mainstream reality shows. But this week they officially entered that television sinkhole, where the producers "trump up" (there's an old phrase with new meaning!) twists and turns and pit one person or team against another until the result is exactly this kind of nasty, mean-spirited, back-stabbing behavior, thinly veiled as "strategy."
And in the end, who's really the biggest loser? The audience.
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: NBC, Biggest Loser, weight loss, emotional eating, reality TV, diet, nutrition
