Email a Friend
Print Article
The Biggest Loser - Couples: All for One, One For All
And everyone for that vending machine!
Oh what a night. A boring, boring, boring night. This show is so far off track it's hard to know what to say anymore. Let's just say The Biggest Loser-Couples is having an identity crisis. As we've mentioned in our previous posts, this show is no longer about weight loss, exercise and achieving better health. Not that these things are not important to the contestants; they're just not important to the producers.
Yes, we went with everyone to the doctor and were impressed with the results of their hard work--they've all been "upgraded", medically, from "critical" to "fair". It is genuinely good news and very encouraging. And as we revisited their early medical appointments, we were reminded of their astounding progress. So why isn't that enough? Roger reached a milestone last night of 100 pounds lost. Dan is at 99. Not dramatic enough television?
Instead we watched each contestant face a vending machine filled with snack food, shameless product placement gum, and rewards including cash and "one pound pass" cards to be used at the weigh-in. If they hit the wrong combination of letters and numbers, out dropped a Twinkie and they had to eat it. Honestly, is this appropriate for a show that used to be about weight loss? The lucky ones got the shameless product placement gum and the cash. The unlucky ones ate over a thousand calories worth of trans fats. It was ridiculous.
The challenge had each contestant fly over a canyon on a zip line, pulling off flags along the way. This is where the identity crisis really took hold. Now the show is part Amazing Race, part Survivor, part Queen for a Day. Uh-oh. Showing our age. Google it if it doesn't ring a bell.
The one shining light in all of this was Bernie. Sweet, bandana-clad Bernie. Bernie and Brittany, you may remember (if you are able to stay awake for the full two hours each week), is the lone couple who began this journey as strangers. Early on we suggested that this fact could prove beneficial. And it did. They were the last couple standing intact. And they have been the two people genuinely and consistently cheering for each other and supporting each other through...well...thick and thin. So when Bernie won "Biggest Loser of the Week" last time and claimed his reward, he chose "game play" and was given the opportunity to grant immunity to any contestant on either team, just not himself. And rather than "play the game" and offer this great gift to someone in an effort to improve his own chances, he selflessly awarded the prize to Brittany, because they're partners and friends and he wanted to be sure she would live to play another week. As it turned out, in the words of Elfaba from "Wicked", "no good deed goes unpunished" and so Bernie was eliminated. And the "big twist" at the end was that there are no more teams--it's every one for themselves now. This will likely have the biggest impact on Bob's blue team of macho men, who still high-five and cheer "pride" after every workout.
We're glad this season has passed the halfway mark. We desperately hope that next season will see a return to one hour episodes focused on exercise and healthy eating, support and encouragement. In other words, we're hoping for a miracle. But hey, you gotta believe, right?
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Biggest Loser, weight loss, fitness, exercise, health
Oh what a night. A boring, boring, boring night. This show is so far off track it's hard to know what to say anymore. Let's just say The Biggest Loser-Couples is having an identity crisis. As we've mentioned in our previous posts, this show is no longer about weight loss, exercise and achieving better health. Not that these things are not important to the contestants; they're just not important to the producers.
Yes, we went with everyone to the doctor and were impressed with the results of their hard work--they've all been "upgraded", medically, from "critical" to "fair". It is genuinely good news and very encouraging. And as we revisited their early medical appointments, we were reminded of their astounding progress. So why isn't that enough? Roger reached a milestone last night of 100 pounds lost. Dan is at 99. Not dramatic enough television?
Instead we watched each contestant face a vending machine filled with snack food, shameless product placement gum, and rewards including cash and "one pound pass" cards to be used at the weigh-in. If they hit the wrong combination of letters and numbers, out dropped a Twinkie and they had to eat it. Honestly, is this appropriate for a show that used to be about weight loss? The lucky ones got the shameless product placement gum and the cash. The unlucky ones ate over a thousand calories worth of trans fats. It was ridiculous.The challenge had each contestant fly over a canyon on a zip line, pulling off flags along the way. This is where the identity crisis really took hold. Now the show is part Amazing Race, part Survivor, part Queen for a Day. Uh-oh. Showing our age. Google it if it doesn't ring a bell.
The one shining light in all of this was Bernie. Sweet, bandana-clad Bernie. Bernie and Brittany, you may remember (if you are able to stay awake for the full two hours each week), is the lone couple who began this journey as strangers. Early on we suggested that this fact could prove beneficial. And it did. They were the last couple standing intact. And they have been the two people genuinely and consistently cheering for each other and supporting each other through...well...thick and thin. So when Bernie won "Biggest Loser of the Week" last time and claimed his reward, he chose "game play" and was given the opportunity to grant immunity to any contestant on either team, just not himself. And rather than "play the game" and offer this great gift to someone in an effort to improve his own chances, he selflessly awarded the prize to Brittany, because they're partners and friends and he wanted to be sure she would live to play another week. As it turned out, in the words of Elfaba from "Wicked", "no good deed goes unpunished" and so Bernie was eliminated. And the "big twist" at the end was that there are no more teams--it's every one for themselves now. This will likely have the biggest impact on Bob's blue team of macho men, who still high-five and cheer "pride" after every workout.We're glad this season has passed the halfway mark. We desperately hope that next season will see a return to one hour episodes focused on exercise and healthy eating, support and encouragement. In other words, we're hoping for a miracle. But hey, you gotta believe, right?
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Biggest Loser, weight loss, fitness, exercise, health
