Posted Feb 3rd 2010 3:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S09E05) This was the week the Blue and Yellow teams have been waiting for. After four weeks at home, working out without their trainers, both teams were back on campus to see which would be allowed the chance to return to the show. It came down to which pair had the highest percentage of weight loss.
But before they got on the scales, Bob and Jillian treated them to their first -- and for one of them, their last -- "Last Chance Workout." I couldn't help but feel for the team that was going to be heading home again. Twice they'd come to the Ranch to participate in
'The Biggest Loser,' and twice they'd come up short. At least they still had the chance at that "At Home" prize.
This week also saw Alison handing out immunities like they were going out of style, as well as a two-pound penalty to the team to finish the week's challenge last. I'm a huge proponent of this element being added, as it keeps the incentive on the contestants to give it their all until the finish.
Continue reading Review: 'The Biggest Loser' - 'Week Five'
Posted Jan 27th 2010 8:28AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S09E04) Good lord there was a lot of drama in the Biggest Loser house tonight. After the yell-fest last week between Bob, Jillian and the Red team, I was confident that we'd get the fallout from that as the trainers tried to work with Lance and Melissa -- and we did -- but drama came from another direction as well.
By the end of the episode, I was ready to completely send two teams home just so there could be some damned peace and quiet in the house for once. I got 25% of my wish.
Faced with the challenge of forging ahead on his own, and after getting encouraging, but tough, words from the other contestants, the pressure was on Michael to prove his worth in the house, with the other contestants and most importantly, for himself. His journey of commitment was completely overshadowed.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Four
Posted Jan 20th 2010 3:18AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S09E03) The theme this week at the Biggest Loser Ranch was apparently anger. The first part of the episode focused on the Green team. Migdalia, the daughter, does a great job of bottling her emotions, thinking of tears as weakness. But those defensive walls almost prove her undoing. I thought her anger issues would be all we might get, but by the end of the episode, there was anger, bitterness and resentment flying all around.
Alison lets the contestants know that this week will be Student-Teacher week. One teammate will be the teacher, and will be the only one training with Bob and Jillian. The other teammate will be the Student. The only training they'll receive will be at the hands of the Teacher, and only the Student's weight will determine which team falls below the yellow line.
After that, she threw an Immunity Challenge at them that had more twists and turns in the way it played out than it did in what the contestants were actually doing.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Three
Posted Jan 13th 2010 10:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S09E02) Remember last week when I said that most teams don't go in for the gameplay this early in
The Biggest Loser. I will now stand corrected, as strategy definitely came into play during tonight's episode.
Most of the episode, however, was a showcase for Dr. Huizenga. I'm still haunted by that 3-D MRI image of Shay from last season, and he's at it again, this time showing us the new heaviest-ever-contestant Michael's physique under the computer simulator. He also spotlights the impact of the contestant's weight and health issues in a variety of ways, so that we at home will be sure to get the point.
I applaud
The Biggest Loser for the message that we need to get off the couch and do something before we wind up like many of these contestants. But all these constant reminders are really making it hard for me to enjoy this deep-fried Twinkie.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Two
Posted Jan 6th 2010 1:42AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S09E01) That was fast. It seems like just last month we were crowning Danny "The Biggest Loser," and yet we're back at it already. The series returned to the "Couples" format for this ninth season, but that didn't stop them from finding even bigger contestants to throw at Bob and Jillian.
In fact, that was one of the first things the trainers talked about: how hard they were going to have to work to beat these guys into shape. Five contestants are weighing in at over 400 pounds, with one smashing Shay's record of 476 by coming in at 526 pounds. Two of those contestants are a set of twins weighing in at nearly a thousand pounds combined.
If being the biggest combined group ever wasn't embarrassing enough, the first thing these contestants learned was that their first weigh-in wasn't going to be at the Ranch. It was going to be in their hometowns. Outside and in front of all their friends and families. Welcome to
The Biggest Loser.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week One
Posted Dec 21st 2009 5:06PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, Doctor Who, Game Show, Chuck, Dollhouse, Sons of Anarchy, Cougar Town, Modern Family, Jay Leno
2009 was a good year for television. It offered the resurgence of the comedy on network television, and the continuing growth of original programming on cable. In all honesty, I don't think I could just do a list of what was great and what was horrible on television because I would need pages and pages.
Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that really stood out this year. Sorry,
Mad Men fans, but even though this was a great third season and an amazing finale, I expect it at this point. It's the only way I could come up with to keep my list manageable.
Also, as a point of protest I did not include Jon, Kate or the balloon boy hoax. These events got more attention than they deserved already this year, and I feel bad I even mentioned them.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Jason's List
Posted Dec 9th 2009 1:47AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E13) And then there were four. Well, three. And then one. But another one, too. As promised, Alison quickly revealed which of the ladies would face off against Rudy and Danny for the quarter-of-a-million prize. But the exciting thing about these finales is seeing the amazing transformations all the contestants have gone through.
This season certainly provided plenty of "S/He looks amazing!" moments throughout. It also offered us two awesome surprises, and neither of them have to do with the winner of the show, and the $100,000 "At Home" prize.
The big challenge for Amanda and Liz was if either one of them could really compete with the guys in this finale. Last week, at their last weigh-in on the Ranch, neither of them came anywhere near what the men were able to do. I certainly didn't expect it to matter which one America chose. Rudy and Danny were going to take this.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Live Finale (season finale)
Posted Dec 2nd 2009 9:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E12) As we all learned in the last episode, last week was the contestant's last week on the
Biggest Loser Ranch. Now, it was time to face the real world once again as the final four contestants headed home for 60 days. Then, it would be back to the ranch for one final weigh-in to determine which two contestants were guaranteed spots in the finale next week, and which two would have to plead for America to vote them in as the third finalist.
The episode was framed and put together very nicely as a showcase for all the hard work Rudy, Danny, Amanda and Liz have put in during their time on the Ranch, and how much they've each grown and changed from this experience. It served as a retrospective of the season, in part, as well as an affirmation that the work this show is doing can change lives.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week 12
Posted Nov 25th 2009 2:20AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E11) It was a big week, as the remaining five contestants settled in for their final week on the
Biggest Loser campus. With Amanda as a clear outcast in the group, she was feeling the pressure even more to stay above that yellow line. And big weeks aren't something Amanda is known for, despite a valiant nine-pound loss last week. She's never seen double digits and spent most of the season hovering around six pounds a week.
However, as one of the smallest contestants in the game, those numbers can make a difference when it comes to her percentages. Liz, Allen, Rudy and Danny have all developed a tight bond over the past ten weeks, and you just know their dream was for Amanda to slip below so they could send her home and preserve their foursome into the Semi-Finals.
The week was big in a couple of other ways as well. Rudy with the potential to have the biggest on-campus weight loss in
Biggest Loser history, while Danny was in position to break a record of his own.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Eleven
Posted Nov 18th 2009 2:13AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E10) This week, as usual,
The Biggest Loser knew how to manipulate the audience's emotions. They even did it with a live audience, as Tim Gunn and Tabatha Coffey gave the contestants makeovers and then pushed them onto a stage to give a speech about their journey, both before the Ranch and since.
As always, the makeovers are a lot of fun, and a great reminder of all the amazing work these contestants have done in reshaping their lives and physical appearance. The prize for the most dramatic transformation goes to Rudy, though I thought Danny spit-polished up quite nicely. All of the ladies were lovely, but I didn't really think Rebecca's new hairstyle worked, and in fact I thought it framed and hid more of her face than her old 'do.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Ten
Posted Nov 11th 2009 11:44AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E09) Suddenly, it's game on! After this week's double elimination, we're left with our final six competitors. Now they've no choice but to start playing the game. No more of this "who deserves to be here" crap, because there's a quarter of a million dollars on the line and they're starting to smell the finish line.
With Tracey gone, it looks like the producers have found their next "villain," though it could just as easily be a case of the whineys with another contestant -- a contestant with a history of whining.
Both challenges were endurance events, with one having the contestants jump up and grab tennis balls secured to a panel by velcro strips, and the other having them jump off a trampoline and through a hoop a couple of hundred times. When Ali announced that it took 100 jumps through a contestant's hoops to eliminate them, I was flabbergasted. I was also pretty sure we were going to see an injury.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week 9
Posted Nov 4th 2009 1:01PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser
If you haven't watched
last night's Biggest Loser yet, stop reading right now. Ok? Ok.
I've never been a fan of Tracey's. I thought she was mean and stabbed plenty of backs on her journey through the emotional minefields of
The Biggest Loser. And when it came down to whether Tracey or someone else would go home in last night's episode, I was rooting for Tracey.
"Send her home!" I yelled at the TV. "Make her pay for her crimes!" I was practically lighting my torches, hypothetically speaking.
Continue reading I have new respect for The Biggest Loser's Tracey
Posted Nov 4th 2009 2:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E07) As promised, absolutely everything
Biggest Loser was transported to our nation's capitol, Washington DC, for the week. The contestants had to deal with vacation eating, exercising, and even their challenges and the weigh-in happened surrounded by national monuments.
It was a pretty exciting thing for our contestants, and even Bob and Jillian were somewhat in awe of the majesty of where they were. The episode wasn't as emotionally gripping as it's been the last few weeks, but I think a lot of that has to do with the distractions of everything that was going on this week.
It's hard to have an emotional breakthrough when you're away from the comfort of the Ranch and the Biggest Loser Gym, and all the trappings that have come to make these contestants feel at home. So I found myself worried as to what would happen after a week of chaos when these guys got up on that scale.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Eight
Posted Nov 1st 2009 8:01PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Video, The Biggest Loser
This season of
The Biggest Loser has to be one of the most emotional of them all. When Abby went home last week (no spoiler griping - it was last week), it was truly inspiring to see how she's been able to move ahead with her life and let people in again. If someone whose been through one of the worst tragedies you can imagine can do that, it gives you hope that anything is possible.
This week, the remaining contestants head to Washington D.C., for a fun adventure that will take them from the Lincoln Memorial to the inside of the White House kitchen. The players also learn that they'll be competing as individuals rather than teams. Their first challenge: race around the National Mall and try to bring as many people as possible back to the Washington Monument for a public workout with trainers Bob and Jillian.
Continue reading What's Hot on SlashControl: Preview of this week's Biggest Loser
Posted Oct 28th 2009 2:10AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Biggest Loser, Episode Reviews
(S08E07) These eliminations just aren't getting any easier, which is frustrating because there are people there that I wouldn't mind seeing booted off of the ranch. They just keep staying there. You could read that as a spoiler if you want, saying that I just revealed at least that Tracey wasn't eliminated, but not so.
Maybe I've come to respect her competitive spirit. Maybe she showed some real growth as a person this week, or maybe I just enjoy the heavy dose of crazy that she brings to the house. Maybe I don't want Tracey going anywhere. Have we ever had a crazy winner of
The Biggest Loser?
Regardless of who went home, though, this was a huge week for emotional breakthroughs, as well as emotional turmoil for me watching at home. Every time Abby goes into the story of what happened to her family, it just breaks my heart and I want to wrap my arms around my own family to keep them safe.
Continue reading Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Seven
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