Re: Biggest Loser - Season 7: Couples Discussion (merged)
My wife and I are both really stumped by this season.
It seems like it should be a super enjoyable season because you've got some REALLY BIG people who also happen (for the most part) to be pretty likeable. Exceptions to the likeable part would be (in our opinion) Joelle and the green team (models).
But...instead of having a season driven by dramatic weight loss combined with the interplay between the contestants, the producers seem to be bending over backwards to
create false drama--which just isn't necessary.
If the audience is willing to suffer through poorly-paced weekly two-hour programs to follow the adventures of these overweight individuals as they struggle to gain control over their weight and lives, there really is no need to tinker with the formula. And the ratings for the show seem that they have been pretty healthy.
Instead, we've gotten "surprise after surprise" this season which have included sending home nearly half the contestants at the very beginning of the game, sending away one of the trainers for most of an entire week (really a surprise that two of Bob's team fell below the yellow line, eh?!?), and other "surprises" which, frankly, are just getting in the way of enjoying the familiar formula which creates inspiration in the audience.
Why do I get the feeling that "Surprise!"--the contestants who were sent home will all be brought back in some other contrived twist before the game is over. If not, how completely unfair that Jerry & Damien's partners never got their time at the ranch. As it is, they are getting rooked out of a solid month of opportunity to lose weight and learn healthy habits at the ranch--if not
completely screwed out of having that opportunity.
Having the players at home participate in the temptation challenge is, frankly, lame. We are getting very little insight into what's going on with the players at home. Outside of David's bad choices at that one meal with his family and an apparent aside during one of last night's yelling matches between Joelle & Carla that Carla hit up a McDonald's while at home there has been very little insight into the travails of those who were sent home So, what's the point?
If the point is to add extra pressure onto those contestants who stayed behind at the ranch that they "HAVE to get immunity in order to ensure (fill in the name here) can come back" it is, again, false pressure as the contestants should be motivated enough to keep bringing themselves back. In fact, I'd say the extra pressure of being responsible for the partner's future is not only unfair but potentially harmful to the contestant's own psyche of concentrating on their own goals and weight-loss program.
In fact, I think the over-stretched ambitions of the producers were made crystal clear when at last night's weigh-in Damien commented that he had had "a tough week" which resulted in his losing only 4 pounds.
WHAT tough week? I didn't miss any of last night's episode yet have NO IDEA what he was talking about! Maybe I fell asleep at some point? And then Bob moans--correctly, I might add--about how he should have been with his team this week in order to be able to help his team cope with their difficulties (kinda like how we saw Jillian pull aside the yellow team member for a little therapeutic counseling).
Instead, Bob was shuffled off to Detroit to spend a day or so with his difficult contestant Joelle and her partner Carla--for another round of yelling and "drama." If I subscribed to John's theory about the show being "fixed," I'd swear it was set up for that situation to have happened. There was probably two days of travel and production set-up which yielded a couple of hours of gym time along with time at the dinner table and just enough time to sneak in the product placement for Yoplait yogurt.
While I realize this program is not about to be winning any Pultizer Prizes any time soon, it's still aggravating to this fan for producers to keep tinkering so dramatically with it's simple, yet successful, formula.
