I liked it. Of course, the "surprise" call from Jillian and some things were obviously staged - but how could they NOT be. That part was a little heavy on the cheesiness.
But overall, I thought it was interesting. I like how it's real people in everyday life, not people removed from life, taken to a state-of-the-art workout facility for months and coached to lose weight. Her time is limited and the people will either get it or not get it.
I also enjoyed how they gave an update at the end. I figured we'd have to wait 'til a "recap/reunion" show at the end to see how the families are doing or had done.
Well, I'm not a fan of screaming "But you're going to DIIIIIIEEEEE!" type stuff at fat people, but I was sort of expecting that from Jillian. I also thought it was weird to do the follow up at the wedding - it was like all eyes were on Jillian, the mom, the dad, and the brother rather than on the bride and groom. Just weird.
Otherwise, I think it was interesting. I will probably keep watching.
I just watched the show on Hulu and thought it was pretty good. I just recently started watching Biggest Loser (just this past season) and liked it a lot so looked forward to this new Jillian Michaels show. I'm typically very critical of reality-TV shows, in fact I haven't watched any for several years until swallowing my pride and watching TBL these past few months after some friends recommended it. I know a lot of people are critical of Jillian's methods but I think they are pretty sound. I think a big reason most of are obese is because we have trouble getting out of our comfort zones. We may go to the gym and feel like we are pushing ourselves hard, but Jillian clearly pushes people much further. The results on TBL speak for themselves, granted there are a lot of resources those contestants have that they wouldn't in the real world but the fact that extremely obese people who can barely jog for 30 seconds end up jogging twice as fast for several miles in just a few short weeks is remarkable. I think it is also important how she gets people to communicate their emotions and dig in deep into what's bothering them, she may not be a trained therapist but a lot of contestants on TBL have remarked on how much that has helped them and it seems people on this new show feel the same.
MindiV - while it wouldn't be surprising if those "surprise" calls are staged I'm not so sure they are. I've seen interviews of contestants on TBL about when they received similar calls for that show that were videotaped and they said they were simply told by the camera crew that they were filming for follow up interviews and things like that. So it may really be that those calls are surprises.
eclipse - I agree it was odd that Jillian was such a central figure at their wedding. In fact I thought that whole part was kind of lame, I could understand if she was one of several people they hugged while going down the aisle, but to be the only one was odd. Way too set up for TV. Though it was cool that the show was picking up the tab for the wedding and she gave them that honeymoon vacation package.
I think her confrontational, button-pushing, in your face "therapy" would not work for everyone, especially if somebody suffered from a more complicated and subtle set of issues. But on this first show, the family was not really very dysfunctional. They all loved each other but had some communication blockages. Once those barriers were taken out, they all pulled together and were rock-solid supports for each other. I was not surprised at all to see how successful they were at the end. They just needed some nutrition guidance and help in communicating with each other. Once that was done, they zoomed ahead with the process. It was a good episode to start this series. I am sure the upcoming episodes will not all be this simple to solve.
I loved it as well. It had alot of important lessons in it and a nice emphasis of the physiology of weight loss; such as the negative effects of not communicating or what happens when you do the physical work but not the mental work (daughter).
It really made me step back and really appropriate all of the information that I have now and the mentality that I have now so when I get to my "goal size" I will be able to enjoy it and not nit pick at "flaws"
I really liked her fiance too, they didnt focus on him, but I thought it was cool he was at the gym being supportive.
Yeah the wedding was weird. I think they knew ahead of time that the tab would be covered because why else would you let the wedding turn into a weight loss reveal for the family.
I realize I might get death by stoning for speaking out against Jillian, but I thought the whole show was the most ridiculous thing I have seen on TV in years. Now, granted, I don't watch a lot of reality TV, so I'm sure there are more ridiculous things out there, but this was definitely the worst I have seen.
First of all - it promotes these insane ideas that all that is needed for one to lose weight is for someone to yell at them and give them a proverbial good kick in the butt and that you can fix all emotional issues with a good workout.
Second - it didn't just seem a little staged, it was so staged it made me nauseous.
Third - just like they exploit the contestants on "The Biggest Loser" for the sake of entertainment, they exploited this family dredging out every little bit of their private lives for all the world to see. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they were well compensated, but it doesn't make it right.
Fourth - Jillian didn't tell them anything they didn't already know. It's like: "Deep frying every bit of food you put in to your mouth is bad!" - Duh! Working out is good - Double Duh!
Fifth - The whole concept is built on short term results - "Lose weight by your daughter's wedding!" Ok, then what? The mother had admitted that she had lost and regained the same 100 pounds 7 times. What makes you think she'd not going to do the same thing the second the wedding is over? If they had followed up with the family a year or two later and they were still on the right track, them I would be impressed. Anyone can lose weight temporary. Keeping it off is the big problem. Keeping bad foods out of the house will not work forever. They didn't learn long term skills. Not that I have noticed. Abstinence is a lot easier then temperance.
Anyway, just wanted to throw in my 5 cents in to the discussion, seen how everyone seems to love the show. I thought the opposing side should have a voice even if I'm the only one speaking.
I don't know, Nina. Sure those people knew what they were doing is wrong. They just continued doing it because it was easy. The man had gastric bypass and because he didn't change his habits, it didn't work. I think he and his amily deserved it AND I hope that they can stay healthy and live a long time.
I liked it, it was okay, I'll watch it on the internet again.
I don't think 'fat psychology' is that complicated - 3/4 of us likely weigh what we do because of a period of eating away our stress and problems.
I like that Jillian shakes up peoples lives and gets them out o their comort zone. Being too "comfortable" is unhealthy, especially when that comfort enables us to be unhealthy.
Health has to do with their confidence too. Dealing with Jillian's screamer attitude lets you realise that, yes, you can survive under pressure. You are strong!!!
Re: Fat Burner Pills, I wonder how much of Jillian is "owned" by the industry. Like an author who loses control o their book when it's turned into a movie, I'm willing to consider that Jillian's 'contract' may have her doing things she doesn't necessarily agree with.
Nina, I can see the points of what you're saying but I think, as far as exploitation goes, these families applied to be on the show. I imagine they are all pretty familiar with TBL, plus they know it entails Jillian and camera crew living with them for a week. With those circumstances, people would have to be pretty naive to not know all their baggage is going to be on display, both physically and emotionally.
I've always had a similar reaction to people like Dr. Phil. I mean, people listen and flock to him like he's got a messianic message when he's not really saying anything they don't already know or can't figure out for themselves. Yet some people apparently feel they need either tough love or a kick in the pants or whatever and are willing to go in front of a national/international audience to get it. Reality and talk shows wouldn't exist or be so popular if people weren't willing to put themselves on display.
AND I hope that they can stay healthy and live a long time. 