The Biggest Loser (American TV series): Difference between revisions

*The Biggest Loser*
The Biggest Loser
Created by	Dave Broome
Starring	Jillian Michaels; (2004–2005, 2007–present); Alison Sweeney; (2007–present); Bob Harper; (2004–present); Caroline Rhea; (2004–2006); Kim Lyons; (2006–present)
Narrated by	J. D. Roth
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	64
Production
Running time	60 minutes (approx 44 min)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	October 19, 2004 –; present

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The Biggest Loser is an American reality television show that began broadcasting on the NBC network on October 19, 2004. The fifth season began January 1, 2008. As of April 2008, NBC is casting for a sixth season.^[1]

Premise

The basic premise of the show is that overweight contestants are competing to win $250,000 by losing the highest percentage of their starting body weight. The first season began with 12 contestants, while the second season began with 14. The third season began with 50 contestants, one from each state. The fourth season began with 18 contestants, while the fifth began with ten teams of two people each.

In the first three seasons, contestants were housed on a large ranch that offered plenty of indoor and outdoor space, a pool and a fully equipped gym. In the fourth season, the ranch was replaced with a revamped college campus, known on the show as the Biggest Loser Campus.

At the start of each season, contestants are grouped into teams and each team is assigned a personal trainer. For the first 3 seasons, there were two teams and two trainers, while the fourth season featured three teams and three trainers. The trainers are responsible for designing and teaching to the contestants comprehensive workout plans and nutrition plans. It is up to the contestants, however, how much or how little of the nutrition plan to implement, and how much of the workout plan they follow when the trainer is not present.

The season starts with a weigh-in to determine the contestants' starting weights. Each week culminates in another weigh-in to determine which team has lost the most weight for that week, in percentage of total weight lost. The team that has lost the lowest percentage during that week must vote off one member of the team.

When the number of contestants has shrunk to a predetermined smaller number (unknown to the contestants), the teams are dissolved. The contestants are now competing one-on-one against each other, although they continue to work with their original trainers. Each week still culminates with a weigh-in, now with the two people who have lost the least percentage of weight being the ones who can be voted on for elimination.

The trainers are motivated to 'push' their individual contestants by a predetermined bonus structure, with the winning contestant's trainer taking home $100,000+.

The general episode structure is as follows:

Temptation. Contestants prepare for the first day of the week only to find a situation that involves temptation. The temptation usually requires contestants to gamble by eating or drinking delicious but high-calorie foods in exchange for what may seem to be a beneficial trade-off. The benefits may or may not be known to the contestants in advance. Examples include eating sweet foods for a chance to call their loved ones, eating a big slice of cake to win an unknown prize (which, in one episode, turned out to be an exercise bike) or giving up time with trainer for a chance to win thousands of dollars. Contestants are given a set amount of time before the offer passes.
Reward challenge. Contestants compete to win a prize, first as teams and then as individuals after the teams are dissolved. After the challenge, viewers are shown the winning team savoring their reward while the losing team bitterly accepts their loss. Prizes range from immunity to exercise equipment to phone calls home to "Pound Passes", that allow the holder to have a greater weight loss at the Weigh-In (eg. a 6lb weight loss would result in a 7lb weight loss if a contestant were to win a "1 Pound Pass").
Weigh-in. All contestants are weighed to determine the amount they have lost relative to their total body weight. During team-based competition, the team that loses the highest percentage wins and the losing team must send one person home. When the teams are dissolved and the show becomes an individual competition, the two contestants who lose the lowest percentage of weight are eligible for elimination. A similar setup to individual-based weigh-ins happens when the two initial teams are broken up into four teams of two, as happened in the second season.
The vote. The losing team meets in a dining room that has refrigerators labeled with each contestant's name, and filled with that contestant's favorite tempting foods. The name of each contestant is illuminated, and as people are voted out, the light for their name is extinguished. During the team-based competition, losing members each carry a covered plate containing the name of the person they wish to vote out. The team members who lost the highest percentage of weight that week are considered immune and may not be sent home. In the event of a tie, the winning team decides which member of the losing team shall be voted out. During the individual-based competition, the fate of the two contestants on the chopping block will be determined by the other players. In the event of a tie, the contestant who lost the least percentage of weight is eliminated.

Cast

For the first 3 seasons, the show was hosted by Canadian comedienne Caroline Rhea. Beginning with the series' fourth season, Rhea was replaced with actress Alison Sweeney from the soap opera, Days of our Lives. Creator/executive director J. D. Roth is the narrator of the series.

Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels and Kim Lyons are personal trainers assigned to help the competitors. Michaels was a personal trainer for the first two seasons and the special editions, but was replaced with Lyons in season 3. The reason for her departure, according to an interview in WHO magazine,^[2] was she was unhappy with the way she was portrayed. Both Michaels and Lyons returned to the show in the fourth season, with Michaels training a third Black team.

For the Fifth season, Michaels became the lone female trainer. According to Rene Lynch of the Los Angeles Times, Lyons stepped back from the program to finish personal projects that she had already started before signing on, including a video series. She is currently not sure whether she will be a part of the show in the future.^[3]

US Seasons

Terminology

The term "the biggest loser" is normally intended to be an insult; in this case, however, the term actually refers to the person that loses the most weight.

Spinoffs

A spin-off of The Biggest Loser, The Biggest Loser: Special Edition features a team of people competing against another team, with each competition airing in two one-hour episodes. They spend 11 days on the ranch working with Bob and Jillian and then return home to continue to lose weight. The announced groups included "family vs. family", where two families with restaurants of different cultures competed to lose weight, "engaged couple vs. engaged couple", and "Marines vs. Navy". Each episode featured one of the mini-competitions from start to finish.

International versions

The franchise has since been exported to various International versions such as Australia (3 seasons), UK (2 seasons), South Africa (1 season), Netherlands (4 seasons), Brazil (2 seasons), Hungary, India, the Middle East, Israel and most recently, Mexico.^[4] Internationally, there have been a combined total of over 300 Biggest Loser contestants with starting weights ranging from 167 pounds (75.8kg) to 477 pounds (216.3kg).

United Kingdom

In addition to showing the US version, Living TV also produced their own version, which aired in 2005. Bob and Jillian were not involved but they had their own trainers with similar styles. Angie Dowds ^[5](counterpart to Jillian) uses a hard no-nonsense approach in training the red team, while Mark Bailey (counterpart to Bob) trains the blue team with a supportive caring approach. The show was hosted by Vicki Butler-Henderson, a motoring journalist turned television presenter who races cars and has hosted shows such as Fifth Gear. The person who wins the competition receives £25,000 (US$49,000) in cash.

Season 1

The first season aired on 6 October, 2005 on Living TV in the UK, and also in September 2007 in New Zealand on Prime Television New Zealand. The contestants in order of elimination were:

Tracey Barcoe (Lost 4lb when eliminated, and 2st 2lb (30 LBS) at the reunion).
Katie Wareing (Lost 1st 1lb (15 LBS) when eliminated, and 2st 12b (40 LBS) at the reunion).
Paul Tabram (Lost 1st 1lb (15 LBS) when eliminated, and 3st 5lb (47LBS) at the reunion.
Tamara Joseph (Lost 1st 1lb (15 LBS) when eliminated, and 2st 9lb (37 LBS) at the reunion).
Dr Shane Lee (Lost 2st 5lb when eliminated, and did not appear at the reunion)
Martin Langmaid (Lost 3 st 2lb (44 LBS) when eventually eliminated (for the 2nd time at week 9), and 4st 8lb (64 LBS) at the reunion)
Nat Curtis (Lost 1st 11lb when eliminated, and 4st 4lb at the reunion)
Barney Gibson (Lost 2st 10lb when he left through illness, and 6st at the reunion)
Nadine Lautman (Lost 1st 11lb when eliminated, and 3st 12lb at the reunion)
Allyson Clayton (Lost 6st 3lb by the reunion)
Mark Whittaker (Lost 5st 8lb when eliminated, and 8st 9lb at the reunion)
WINNER: Aaron Howlett (Total 9st 12lb at the Final)

Total weight lost for Season 1 was 54st 6lb (762lb or 345.6kg)

One stone (st) - 14 LBS.

Season 2

A second UK season also aired, the winner was Jodie Prenger who lost 8st 7lb.

Future seasons Season 3 of the US version on Living TV will air the UK in 2007, although it does not appear that a third UK season is planned at this time.

Australia

An Australian version of the program first aired at 7.00pm each weeknight on Network Ten from 13 February, 2006. 3 seasons have now aired in Australia with the third season currently still airing and in production.

Season 1

Airing from from 13 February, 2006 to the finale on 27 April, 2006 was the first Australia's Biggest Loser where winner Adro Sanelli lost 51.3kg (37.58% of his starting weight) and was awarded AUD$200,000 (US$183,000). The program featured the same personal trainers as the US version, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels with Australian host AJ Rochester. Over 6,000 Australians applied to take part, only 12 contestants being chosen to compete, their starting weight ranging from 101kg to 197kg.

Season 2

The second season of the Australian version first went to air on Sunday 4 February, 2007, on the Ten Network. It was introduced with personal trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, who were then taken over by two new Australian trainers, Michelle Bridges and Shannan Ponton, with one extra surprise trainer, Ex-SAS "Commando" Steve Willis. The contestants starting weights range from 108kg to 216kg, the heaviest competitor out of all versions of The Biggest Loser worldwide. The beginning of this series marked some controversy with a contestant quitting and a further two leaving on medical terms. New twists were introduced including "The Walk" which gave individual immunity winners power to change the outcome of the game and a second major twist of introducing 2 new competitors as "The Outsiders" who had trained outside of the game. Their entry caused some upset, especially with Chris entering the competition as the 3rd biggest loser. The final three were Chris, Marty and Pati, Chris won with a 70.1 kg weight loss (46.89% of his starting weight), and Michael won the runners-up prize of AUD$50,000, losing 70kg (42.37% of his starting weight).

Season 3

A third season premiered on February 3, 2008 in a similar format as the previous two Australian seasons. Trainers Harper, Michaels, Ponton, and Bridges all returned. Application opened at the end of season 2 with over 6,000 applicants.^[6]

South Africa

The Biggest Loser South Africa first premiered on January 7, 2008 and finishing on 14 April, 2008. Jasmyn Asvat is the host with trainers Bruce Claasen (blue team) and Lisa Raleigh (red team). The show is made for e.TV by Red Pepper Productions and produced by Gail MacLellan. The premise of the show is similar to other International versions following the format of Temptation, Reward challenge, Weigh-in and Elimination. There is also an additional show called The Biggest Loser Extra which focuses on eliminated contestants.

Arab

The Arab MBC 1 Channel started a version of the Biggest Loser which is called "The Biggest Winner" (الرابح الأكبر). The first season was aired in 2006 with 14 contestants. The contestants are from all the Arab countries and divided into 2 teams: Blue Team and Red Team. The winner was Emirati Walid Ahmed losing about 60kg and won 250,000 Sar.

India

The channel, Sahara One, has also started airing a version of The Biggest Loser. The show is called "Biggest Loser Jeetega" (Biggest Loser Wins). The first season piloted in the month of May 2007 with 16 contestants, finishing in September 2007. It is being hosted by a popular Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty and telecast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. IST. It was won by Sandeep Sachdev who lost 50.7kg in the 16 weeks of filming the show, winning him a cash prize of Rs.50.7 lacs and jewellery.

Germany

ProSieben will air a version, which is also called The Biggest Loser, in July 2008. Hosted by Katarina Witt.

Israel

Channel 10, in Israel, has also aired a version of The Biggest Loser, named there Laredet Begadol (To Lose Hugely).^[7] Two seasons were aired so far, with the third being planned to air in 2008.

Netherlands

There have been 4 seasons of a Netherlands version, which airs on SBS6.^[8]^[9]

Brazil

SBT has also aired a version in Brazil, called O Grande Perdedor. Silvio Santos hosts. In 2007, the network revamped the show, under new name Quem Perde, Ganha (He who loses, wins) and host (Lígia Mendes).

Mexico

Televisa will air a version, which is called ¿Cuánto quieres perder? (How much do you want to lose?), in May 18, 2008.^[10]

Hungary

TV2 aired a hungarian version of The biggest Loser in autumn 2007, called A Nagy Fogyás.

Contestants

There have been over 300 Biggest Loser contestants over 5 USA seasons, 2 USA special editions, 3 Australian seasons and 1 UK season. This figure does not include the addiitonal 2 UK seasons, Israeli, Indian and other variations of the game in other countries.

The heaviest contestant to start in the game was Damien Wicks from the second Australian season, starting at 477 pounds (216.3kg) and the lightest contestant was Lizzeth from the first USA season, starting at 167 pounds (75.8kg). The highest percentage loss achieved from the first time being weighed on the show to the final reunion weigh-in for a male was 52.58% by Erik and by a female was 50.43% by Poppi both from the third USA season. The highest weight lost in one week was 34 pounds (15.5kg) by "Big Wal" on the first Australian season although the highest percentage of weight loss is 10.47% by Jerry in the fourth US season. The highest female weight loss in one week was 25 pounds (11.34kg) by Sarah Eberwein from the Special Edition Engaged Couples show and the highest percentage of weight loss was by Kristie Dignam with a loss of 8.97%. The youngest contestant was Sam from the third Australian season, aged 19, and the oldest is Jerry, age 62 from the fourth American season.

Disclaimer at end of show

"Our contestants were supervised by doctors while participating in the show, and their diet and exercise regimen was tailored to their medical status and specific needs. Consult with your own doctor before embarking on any diet or exercise program."

As the disclaimer above states, it is always advised that one should consult his or her doctor before going ahead with auditioning for this show. In order to qualify, one must check their medical status to see if they are in good enough condition to enter this show.

References

^ NBC.com: "The Biggest Loser Season 6 now casting"
^ Jillian Michaels sounds off! - WHO.com
^ http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-loser1jan01,0,782528.story?coll=cl-tv-features
^ Galilea Montijo Conducirá Reality titulado "¿Cuánto quieres perder?"
^ Angie Dowds - Professional Fitness
^ The Biggest Loser Series 3 - Have you got what it takes? - Application for series 3. URL accessed April 27, 2007
^ נענע 10 - דף ראשי
^ http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Afvallers_%28Algemeen%29
^ http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Afvallers_met_Sterren
^ http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp?nota_id=202373 En escena: Conducirá Galilea Montijo "reality" titulado "Cuanto quieres perder"

Biggest Loser's Dr. Huizenga:[1]

External links

[1] NBC.com: "The Biggest Loser Season 6 now casting"

[2] Jillian Michaels sounds off! - WHO.com

[3] ttp://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-loser1jan01,0,782528.story?coll=cl-tv-features

[4] Galilea Montijo Conducirá Reality titulado "¿Cuánto quieres perder?"

[5] Angie Dowds - Professional Fitness

[6] The Biggest Loser Series 3 - Have you got what it takes? - Application for series 3. URL accessed April 27, 2007

[7] נענע 10 - דף ראשי

[8] ttp://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Afvallers_%28Algemeen%29

[9] ttp://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Afvallers_met_Sterren

[10] ttp://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp?nota_id=202373 En escena: Conducirá Galilea Montijo "reality" titulado "Cuanto quieres perder"

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 ==US Seasons==
-In the first season a fat man became fater because they ate every other fat man who was gay and i ownu
 ==Terminology==