NBC Photo
When “The Biggest Loser” NBC TV series premiered in October 2004, not even celebrity trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels expected it to become a blockbuster hit. Yet what TV.com labeled a “compelling new weight-loss reality drama” has spawned an entire industry and a nation of Tuesday night “Biggest Loser” junkies tuned in, turned on, and torqued up to see the latest results at the scale. What is it about this show that has America in its grip?
In a country with an annual $40 billion diet industry, a fascination with weight loss does not seem unusual; but even that—combined with reality TV as a national pastime—is not quite enough to explain the overwhelming success of this show.
The deepest appeal of “The Biggest Loser” can only be explained by the age-old theme of transformation. Why do millions watch Ebenezer Scrooge every Christmas and never fail to shed a tear at the predictable ending? How can the most hardened among us watch “Rocky” for the eighteenth time and still cheer as loudly as the first time it was on the big screen? Why are the X-Men adored? Transformation. Everyone delights in it. Everyone longs for it.
“The Biggest Loser” offers 18 weeks to watch the gradual un-cocooning of human butterflies. Shape shifters. Literally. Interwoven with every pound lost, the contestants also change the shapes of their characters, their self-beliefs, and their emotional landscapes. And in watching the unfoldment of each personal and very public pilgrimage, every viewer shares a little of that transformation. That is the magic and the allure, and it is irresistible.
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Comments
"the gradual un-cocooning of human butterflies" - I love that phrase because I believe it captures the show perfectly and poeticly. It's a rebirth of those that participate whether they are utlimately "the biggest loser" or not. That's what's kept me hooked from the beginning.
I like the show premise in theory, but can't watch it as it really bothers me to see folks get booted off. Your review helps explain to me how and why a lot of my friends love to watch!
I always wondered why this show was such a big hit with a lot of folks. This explains the attraction very well.
Great review..I think it also offers that perpetual hope, that we can all be something we dream of, if we are willing to work for it. It's a new era Cinderella story. I never watch the show though, too afraid my kids are going to tell me to go on it..lol
I think the show offers people a bit of hope, if that person can do it - so can I type of attitude. Anything that gives one hope is a good thing =)
Your words reconfirmed to me what I like about that show. People willing to strive forward for what they truly desire. TX I enjoyed the composition.
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