I could never watched this show for more than 10 minutes, yet -- please don't tell anybody -- I actually liked the program called "The Swan".

It's always bugged me that they don't have a weight loss reality show called "Diet Wars" where people chose one diet and then play the game so to speak. Vegans verses meat eaters, etc.

Now THAT I might watch. At least you might be able to learn something new! LOL

I love that idea! Put me in, coach. I'm ready to show that low-carb and/or Atkins is the way to go!

someone explain to me why i still watch this show. it's degrading, it's depressing, and it just makes me mad.

though i will readily admit, seeing tim gunn on there was nice... i love that guy.

but when it came to the weigh-in for the girls, i don't remember who it was that was on the scale (maybe the girl who got eliminated... more on that later), but the look on that female trainer's face showed nothing but disgust and contempt. her sneer just about screamed "you fat, lazy bitch... maybe if you'd actually worked at it, if you REALLY wanted this, then you'd've lost more than a measley 3lbs (or whatever it was)." as if the girl was somehow at fault for what her body was or wasn't willing to lose.

the other bit that bugs me is the dishonesty of it all. this girl is pleading her case to stay on the ranch, one of the guys hears her out and agrees with her, even says "she's got a really good point" in his little individual interview thingy, and then turns around and votes her off. one of her female teammates did the same thing. it was all so two-faced and devious that i wanted to scream.

I gave up watching this for the reasons Kvon mentions....I can't stand it when they are pretty much chastised for losing "only" 3 pounds instead of 25 in a week. I know it's a game and all that....but sheesh. I think the true meaning of what this show was supposed to be has been lost in the "gamesmanship" aspect of it all. Agree with Kvon, degrading and depressing.

Last two shows have been great!

First they gave the kicked of people a chance to get back on the show. Two contestants who had worked out at home and lost the most weight returned. What a surprise though when most all of the kicked off contestants had done really well at home by themselves! Proving that it can be done at home in the real world!

Next we had the "make over" show. Yes every reality show has to have one. But I think its a great reward for all the hard work and progress they have made so far. Weight goals are one thing but the players get to see the results and I think that this will help motivate them to continue in this healthy lifestyle.

Sure not all players will continue to work out and some may gain some or all of the weight back. But you have to admit they have been given....no they have worked hard and earned this new start.

Yes the show has to have drama and kick people off every week. But most of the kicked off players still do manage to go home and lose weight. So not for nothing but the show has at least got them up and off the couch. Say what you want but about how they got there...but at least they got there!

Yeah, it jumped the shark when that guy loaded on salt and water before the weigh-in. That and the constant product endorsements... "I recommend you chew a stick of sugar-free Brand X, it's great..." The other problem is that it's not a level playing field, like the former collegiate wrestler, Matt; the guy was a hardcore wrestler, recruited to University of Iowa, in the 180-190 weight div. He gained a lot of fat, in a short amount of time, mostly from beer. Underneath it all he's still a fat burning "machine". There's almost no way someone who's been fat all their life and never developed their muscles will be able to catch him in a relatively short time frame like that show.

most of us here have managed to get "up and off the couch" without the help of some ridiculous reality show constantly pressuring us to put our bodies through insane transformations. most of us aren't faced with the idea of "you have to lose X% of your body weight every single week or you'll lose your home, your job, and your family."

i came back to low-carbing 2 years ago this july because i saw the opening episode of "celebrity fit club"... i think it was season 3 or 4. the workouts and challenges they go through are just as intense as "biggest loser", and yet the goals set for them by the hosts are far more reasonable, and they're not kicked off the show for not making goal. it's a cumulative team effort determined at the end as to who lost the most. and in that, it's a far more supportive atmosphere than the fear-mongering going on at that ranch.

Ahhh I see celebrity fit club is OK but the biggest loser isnt. Yepper thats not a "ridiculous reality show" ... I mean anything that has Screech from "Saved by the Bell" has to be a class act show!!!

But hey whatever works for you.

"you have to lose X% of your body weight every single week or you'll lose your home, your job, and your family."

ummmm what show are you watching??



As for all the product indorsment. Well anyone here watch American Idol? Survivor? Amazing Race? All love to use product endorsment. Yeah its ok for them but not for the biggest loser. Hell the whole purpose of TV is to sell you something!!!

i never said it was a "class act". i said it was preferable because the goals set were reasonable. nobody on celebrity fit club expects the contestants to lose double-digit pounds, week after week, and makes them feel like failures for not doing so.

all reality shows are ridiculous... but some put a far nastier spin on events than others.


the one where contestants who failed were kicked out of the house, deprived of their support system, their trainers, and lost the bonds they forged over 12 of the longest weeks of their lives. the one where it boiled down not to personal achievement, but popularity and "threat".

love the show all you want, i really don't care. the contestants may have improved their lives, but as far as i'm concerned, the means don't justify the ends by any stretch of the imagination.

Who said "its ok for them"? I think it's as annoying and laughable on all of them. Though at least the others you mention ,don't present their advertisements in the guise of health advice. Winning brand X as a prize, or seeing someone get handed brand Y shampoo when they win a shower, isn't quite as pathetic and in your face as Bob telling you that "you should buy ACME microwave cooking bags because it's the healthiest way to make chicken and vegetables." At the least it makes them look more like hucksters than the healthcare practitioners they pretend to be.

The whole purpose of television is not to sell you something. A lot of television is paid for by advertisers, it's the financing model used in most of network television - but not "the whole purpose of television" any more than it's other "purposes" like entertainment or informative communications.

Poor Al,

Still trying to put lipstick on the "Biggest Loser" pig.

One came to mind, its called Taking It Off. Various types of eating plans, including Atkins.

http://www.slice.ca/Shows/ShowsPage.aspx?Title_ID=68573
http://www.takingitoffonline.com/Season4/default.asp

Thought the same thing, Womb.

I love that show, especially when the Atkins boys kick butt.

Well looks like I may be the minority here, but the show actually motivates me. To each his own I suppose.

I feel that there are some things that aren't nice or flattering, but the people did sign up to do the show and it is entertainment.

Ah well.