Weight-loss reality challenge is off to a boffo start

CUNETA. Not seen enough on “The Biggest Loser.”

The Philippine edition of “The Biggest Loser” has gotten off to a boffo start, but has been weighed down by a number of factors that should be addressed, if the reality weight-loss challenge is to come into its own as nightly viewing fare.

But first, the good news: The show’s format is inherently interesting to viewers, because the sight of all those downright obese contestants is a stunning reminder to similarly overweight viewers of how prevalent and serious the nation’s “fat problem” has become.

Struggle

There’s inherent drama and struggle in the spectacle of all those obese individuals struggling mightily to lose all that excess poundage, which for so many years has prevented them from leading healthy, dynamic lives.

At first, it seems impossible for them to win their individual and collective battle of the bulge—so, when they do manage to lose a lot of weight, the psychic effect on them and on viewers is truly heartening and inspiring.

In addition, some of the contestants are coming across as interesting and involving individuals who give viewers a lot to relate to and root for. Since the intimate medium of television encourages a personal bond between on-cam talents and viewers, some of the tilt’s more charismatic contestants could emerge as stars in their own right—after they lose enough weight!

On the debit side, the weeknight show tends to be too sluggish to come across as truly exciting. A recent telecast focused on only one competitive activity, which required the contestants to tie the laces of their shoes as quickly as possible.

Hard time

This may sound like a weird competition, but to fat people, it’s a real challenge, since they have a hard time “seeing” past their huge and heavy midsections to tie their shoelaces as swiftly as leaner and trimmer people do.

Fine. But, what turned us off was the production’s lazy coverage of the “race”: Instead of briskly fast-forwarding the action, all of the contestants were shown going through their paces. —Naturally, after a few contestants were featured, the repetitive action got boring and, oh, so  dull.

The solution should have been to feature not just one but several different challenges in one telecast, to keep the show’s action and visual level high. We trust that the tempo and variety factors are more dynamically and imaginatively attended to in subsequent telecasts, before the show is perceived to be suffering from a “weight” problem of its own.

Finally, host Sharon Cuneta should make more frequent appearances on the program. The decision to link the overweight star to the show was an inspired one, because viewers could empathetically look forward to seeing Sharon losing weight along with the contestants—but, this isn’t happening often enough.

As a result, the tilt is losing one of its key advantages and attractions in the eyes of viewers—and that definitely isn’t the way for it to go.