A&E show: HEAVY
 

Ok, so i confess, i watch hoarders, but now they have been advertising a new show called "heavy". All i know is what i have gathered from commercials. It seems really interesting-the one i saw had a man about 400 pounds talking about how complicated weight loss is-that it is not just physical, but very much mental (of course they showed him eating while he was talking about it)... so i am very curious-it doesn't seem "biggest losery" and i am interested in their take on it. Has anyone else seen anything about it? Do you think you may watch it (i know this is very limited information)?

i did find this thru google:
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
4/1/10 - 5/5/10
STATUS:
currently in development (2010-2011 season)
DEVELOPMENT STAGE:
ordered to series
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
10 one-hour episodes
DESCRIPTION:
(from A&E's press release, May 2010) "I'm Heavy" is an intimate look at the remarkable journeys of individuals whose daily struggle with their weight has overtaken their lives. Viewers will get unprecedented access into the lives of participants - who come from all walks of life but share the inability to manage their escalating weight - as they go through a six month program. The process will begin with an intensive in-patient treatment and therapy program where participants will learn the knowledge and techniques necessary to inspire dramatic results and we'll continue to follow them as they transition back to their daily lives. Two individual transformations will be told in each episode, from the points of view of both individuals, and their friends and family affected. Will these overweight individuals be able to overcome behavioral problems and food addictions to achieve true life change?

So THAT'S what the commercial was! I was watching Hoarders too the other night and I caught about 10 seconds of this commercial - just enough to be interested but not enough to really get an idea of what the show was about. Might be interesting.

Thank you for posting this. I love A&E and I also get engrossed watching Hoarders. Any shows to do with the human psyche and all of the different oddities that we share just fascinates me. I actually must have missed this commercial, but now I will be on the lookout. If you find any other info, would you mind posting it for us?
Thanks!

me too
 

i enjoy the human psyche type shows as well, very much. i tried to go to A&e's website and find the date/time of the first episode, but i couldn't. If i do find when the first episode is coming on, i will post, please do the same for me. i'd really like to watch it. Thanks!

-fm

I find these types of shows very depressing (Intervention, Hoarders, etc.) and choose not to watch them. I realize these people have signed up and are willing to air their issues, but it is too much for me.

I love Hoarders! Yes, it's depressing but I find it fascinating. I am very anti-clutter but always feel like I am one twig snap away from becoming a hoarder. I don't know why. There's very little I keep.

Yes, I'll watch this show. I love reality shows that are actually based on reality. LOL! These feel more like documentaries to me.

Those of you who like documentary style reality tv, will truley appreciate this show.
If youre more into the Biggest Loser type schpeel, where everything looks like rainbows and lollipops, then it isnt for you. lol
Heavy will showcase 10 people working hard, suffering, hurting and baring it all on camera for the world to see how it REALLY works in life when youre battling your own body and mind.

wow that sounds sooo interesting, i will most likely watch it when i have the time. i love the biggest loser, i love seeing the changes their bodies go through and how different they look after the weight loss!

QuailingQuazer, just curious, have you seen episodes in advance, or were you involved in some way with the making of this show?

I trust that A&E will take a more serious look at this issue than an NBC prime-time show, if only because that's part of A&E's image & its brand.

Yes maam, I am in fact, a participant in the show. Im hoping people will get a better idea of what it is really like for those of us who have struggled with our weight for years. I wanted to make sure my episode was as real, and true as possible...so basically that means youll see alot of tears and puke from me...lol
OH, and loads of cursing. Thank heavens for the *bleep*:p

Any news about when it's on? I'm definitely a lot more interested in this than in something like The Biggest Loser (I have an extremely low opinion of TBL and consider it pretty much a circus freak-show for the modern era, so I admit my outlook is biased).

Something that actually looked at people on real weight-loss plans would be fascinating to me.

I'm looking forward to this too! It will be so great to have a show that shows a realistic way to lose weight. Being locked up on a ranch and spending 6 hours a day exercising your *** off is not reality for the general population.

Quail - does the show address nutrition plans as well as exercise? How long have you been taping?

The show will air in January, and I think my episode will actually be the first. We began filming in JUne and just wrapped up last month.
So far my weight loss is at 80lbs down, thru just diet and exercise.
I have worked so incredibly hard, but it isnt over...it never will be.

I too have a very haded impression of TBL....particularly since being invovled with a reality show of sorts, I now know what really happens behind the scenes. lol

kewl
 

that is very cool you participated. i am very excited to watch this series. i think it's about time people have a good resource. There is a show about everything else-why not address something that so many people have an issue with-weight.
Best of luck to you!
-fm

I was already looking forward to it but I think it's even cooler now that you've posted about being on it Qualing! I love Hoarders but can't get into Intervention. But I love any show about weight loss so one done in the vein of Hoarders is right up my alley. Be sure to come back and post when it airs, it would be cool to discuss it with you after we've seen the episode.

I watch every tv show about eating behaviors... Lately my favorite one is “What is eating you?”
Now I only have to find out the schedule for “Heavy”. Thank you for posting...

Oh wow Quailing! That's really cool! I'm really glad you felt comfortable sharing that with us. I hope you flit around the forums a bit and find a nitch here. Welcome! ;) My personal favorite hangout is the 100 pound club. You should check it out.

I'm guessing there will be little comparison between this and BL. I like BL but it's set up for drama and it takes place in an artificial environment. You can't NOT lose weight on TBL. With a show like Heavy, it seems to me there will be the ever present possibility that the person documented will not be successful.

My only hope is that this show breaks down stereo types rather than make them stronger. One thing I HATE to see in shows I've seen in the past is the camera in the person's face while they eat, focusing on the breathing, if I described that right. The microphone picks up way more obnoxious sounds than you would ever hear sitting right next to the person at the dinner table. That's a big pet peeve of mine. It's makes the eating disgusting instead of a natural and necessary part of life.

Thank you for this information on the new show. And thanks to Quailing for posting about his/her involvement.

I really try to watch Intervention as often as I can, but Hoarders is just a little too painful for me to watch.

That being said, I did find the Intervention that was focused on an eating addiction to be especially painful. There was a young man who was the subject and his mother was asking him to make cupcakes with her. I had to turn the channel.

Hoping that "Heavy" will be something I can learn from.

please post when this is on, I'd love to see you. I don't watch TBL but I did order their cook book because the recipes in there weren't all the way down my arm. I can't stand a recipe with 20 items in it. I don't want to live in the kitchen. Please email me when it's on in case I don't catch the previews. how about you show us you now so I can know who to look for?

I want to watch this if there is going to be real stories. I love knowing about how people deal with the struggles. I go to a support group that has helped me with the everyday reality struggles.

I only hope that there is no "edutainment" factors like what is on the biggest loser: trainers telling clients that they need to lose more that 2 pounds a week, unrealistic lifestyle changes (living on a ranch, or eating only lettuce or taking a daylong bootcamp exercise session).

You're gorgeous harsdotir. Do you play that Harp? I love Harp music. Had one at my wedding .

Awesome! Congratulations, I wish you nothing but continued success! :)

I too saw the promotion for the new show and I will defintiely be recording it!

A friend of mine that I grew up with is going to be on one of the episodes of the show. I can't wait to see it. We are all so proud of him! :carrot:

when it happens be sure to point him out to us also so we can ogle over him too onamission27.

update on heavy
 

my mom is actually one of the subjects on the show. it will begin to air on Jnauary 12, 2011 at 4:00PM I believe. the show is as real as it can be, and her transformation is amazing. i hope you all watch, you can find them on facebook.com... My moms name is Flor Cox. i hope you all watch!!!!:carrot:

Wow. Now we have three people to look for.

I sure won't remember wh they are by that time :(

What is you name in the show??

facebok fanpage
 

if you have a facebook, look for their fan page! they will offer to email you so you can be tuned in to watch. i think they'll even email a reminder so you can watch the show. i hope everyone will watch!:^:

I just joined FB last night . I will see how to do this fan thing. Is it like a friend request?

Look for the Heavy page or A&E?

look for im heavy in the search bar. and a correction to when it will be airing!! January 17, 2011 @9:00 EST

I come to something about TV.Com. That doesn't look right to me :????

I hate the biggest loser, I agree, circus freak fare.

I find hoarding itself to be odd and interesting, but the show is confusion and depressing to me. Bf told me about this one boy who was little and his mom was a hoarder and they wanted to throw away a cotton ball and he was like "NO! It's my favorite cotton ball!"

*enter confusion*

I did see the one with the kid who had dog hair everywhere and was severely depressed. after about 10 mins I had to turn it off.

I tried to start a sentence off here with "it hurts me..." but I couldn't finish it. I don't know why, but to watch, I just feel pain. I'm very empathetic I guess.

This show sounds interesting, but not sure it's something I would be able to watch if it's very sad. I do have hope for the people involved, but I just feel too much of everything to watch things like that. Same with intervention which I find the most interesting, but I dunno, it's just painful to see. I wish we all had it easier I guess.

I don't think they are freaks. Just have an eating disorder. That's why they have that clinic/hospital just for obese people to help them and exercise.

I love Hoarders too, I find it fascinating and I like that there is rarely a "cookie cutter" happy ending - there's no 'easy' fixes! I'm hoping Heavy will be like that, just a real look at what the truly obese go thru, and hopefully some tips and practical advice on how to get on with it. I'm really hoping the psychological component is compelling and not an absolute JOKE like Jillian on Biggest Loser

It isn't that the people on TBL are freaks, it's that they're showcased as if they were by the producers of that show. I absolutely can't abide it; to me (and your mileage may vary), it panders to the lowest common denominator of their potential audience--the desire to see other people's humiliation and suffering.

I dislike a lot of other "reality" TV for the same reason. The "real" housewives shows are a trip through the reptile house at the zoo, "Celebrity Rehab" is nothing but a bunch of poo-flinging monkeys shrieking for an extra fifteen minutes of fame, and "The Biggest Loser" is just the man-faced "bearded lady" leading gawkers through the freak tent to see the fat ladies and chicken-biting geeks.

A&E's more serious reality shows--"Intervention," "Hoarders," and so forth--don't seem to truckle to the base, slack-jawed, snickering yahoos the way most of the network shows do. I really do get the sense that the producers want to effect real changes in people's lives and to shed light on the destructive things that many people do, but keep hidden. They're not just saying, "Hurr hurr, lookit that fat broad RUN when the skinny one yells!" :angry:

Some episodes I can't watch because I find them frustrating and, as lottie63 said, painful to see. But those shows aren't treating the people in them as creatures put on our screens to entertain the masses the way that I feel other, more popular, but far less scrupulous reality television shows do.

Again, other's views may differ and they may get a lot more out of the more typical "reality" shows (I put reality in quotes there because a show publicly shaming a woman who only lost nine pounds in a week is NOWHERE near reality) than I do. If they draw inspiration from it, then it serves a greater good.

But I think I'm going to far prefer "Heavy" when it's on.

Nola ~

OMG!! I couldn't agree more.

I love your what you wrote and HOW you wrote it. You have a way with words.

Thanks, DixC! :hug: I write better when I'm good and hopping mad about stuff, and TBL certainly does that to me. :D

Another thing I'm going to find interesting about "Heavy" is that there are a few connections to these forums. Love that we're going to see a couple of different angles to the show and possibly talk with some of its participants.

My name is Jodi, sorry it took me so long to respond! I was on the show with Flor Cox, and she is also an amazing woman! My episode will premeir the show on the 17th. Hope you guys are all inspired and touched by what we all went thru, and continue to do so!

thank you. WRiting it on my notes now.

Hey everyone, there is a quick peak at the show I am appearing in on the A&E website. Just go to the site and type in Heavy in the search bar, then watch the preview.. I am the first one you hear and see...eating haagen Dasz, of course. That damn ice cream...lol