The Biggest Loser

By Allison Waldman Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from To...

By Jason Hughes Both challenges were endurance events, with one having the contestants jump up and grab tennis balls secured to a panel by velcro strips, and the other having them jump off a trampoline and through a hoop a couple of hundred times. When Ali announced that it took 100 jumps through a contesta...

By Jane Boursaw I've never been a fan of Tracey's. I thought she was mean and stabbed plenty of backs on her journey through the emotional minefields of The Biggest Loser. And when it came down to whether Tracey or someone else would go home in last night's episode, I was rooting for Tracey.

By Jason Hughes It's hard to have an emotional breakthrough when you're away from the comfort of the Ranch and the Biggest Loser Gym, and all the trappings that have come to make these contestants feel at home. So I found myself worried as to what would happen after a week of chaos when these guys got up on that...

By Jane Boursaw This week, the remaining contestants head to Washington D.C., for a fun adventure that will take them from the Lincoln Memorial to the inside of the White House kitchen. The players also learn that they'll be competing as individuals rather than teams. Their first challenge: race around the...

By Jason Hughes Maybe I've come to respect her competitive spirit. Maybe she showed some real growth as a person this week, or maybe I just enjoy the heavy dose of crazy that she brings to the house. Maybe I don't want Tracey going anywhere. Have we ever had a crazy winner of The Biggest Loser?

By Jason Hughes S08E06) What's the most bittersweet prize you can win on The Biggest Loser? A trip home. Oh how great it is to see your family, but all that time at home with your favorite temptations and without Bob and Jillian kicking your ass up one side of the gym and down the other. It can also be the worst rew...

By Jane Boursaw Eliminations on The Biggest Loser are always heart-wrenching. Much as the contestants hate being away from their families, they've made the decision to try out for the show, and once they're there, the last thing they want to do is go home and back to their unhealthy habits.

By Jason Hughes But still ... one big happy family, right? Wrong! This week everything we thought we knew about this season was thrown out the window, and once again a single contestant was given ultimate power in how the new face of The Biggest Loser would play out. At least until they change it again.Continue r...

By Jason Hughes S08E04) Last week's episode of The Biggest Loser was about choices. Tracey made the choice to become the most hated woman in the house. This week, the theme was again choices. More specifically, how do you choose what to eat when you have to eat out? To drive home the point, Alison locked up the k...

By Jason Hughes S08E03) Perhaps as a response to no one going home last week, or maybe it was always in the cards, but tonight saw the elimination of entire teams as opposed to the individual elimination of week one that sent Alexandra home. This meant that the stakes couldn't be higher as everyone was going...

By Jason Hughes Next week is the season finale of this run of The Biggest Loser. But before we can get there, they had to perform the hardest task of their entire lives; a full 26.2 mile marathon. All this while spending 30 days at home. But this isn't the going home before the finale trip. This 30 days culminated in...

By Jason Hughes There weren't a lot of surprises at NBC's "In Front" presentation this morning. As already leaked, Parks & Recreation, Heroes, and Southland have been renewed, joining the already announced 30 Rock, The Office, The Celebrity Apprentice, Friday Night Lights, The Biggest Loser and...

By Bob Sassone However, I probably won't be part of this new reality show, if this report is true. It says that Men's Health editor Dave Zinczenko is creating a new health/exercise-based reality show with the people who do The Biggest Loser. It's described as being a show that will "offer human drama while...

 CA I love NBC for casting this family, knowing that three of the four family members were fat and only two of the three could become contestants. Crossover Award – Bravo – Speaking of The Biggest Loser, the contestants got makeovers with the help of ...

 CA Most Unnecessary Twist – Nicole (The Biggest Loser: Couples) – On paper, having a contestant return after they were screwed by a twist sounds like a good idea. It turns out that even if you lost more than 80 pounds, the stress of the game can make you ...

By Brad Trechak They claim it's an attempt to break the industry assumption that viewers only want to watch highly attractive people. It seems more like another attempt by reality television to use a certain type of people in exchange for some air time on a major network. But that's just me.

By Jason Hughes I was really enjoying this season of The Biggest Loser. The addition of the "Couples" formula created a built-in connection for the contestants and established a bigger one with me as well. There was something special about rooting for these friends and family members to go for it together....

By Bob Sassone Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-FreeHere are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow. Oh, I've been waiting for The Biggest Loser: Work Out - Boot Camp DVD for weeks! Now I know what to get my family for Christmas! Can I use anymore exclamations in a sarcastic way?! Yes I can!

By Jonathan Toomey The fourth season of NBC's hit reality show The Biggest Loser took a bow last night and during the finale, viewers saw some of the most amazing weight loss success stories the program has ever featured. I'm not huge on reality shows and don't often stick with them, but even I'll admit it -- thi...

By Anna Johns Caroline Rhea hosted the reality contest for three seasons but has moved on to other projects, so I'm assuming her departure was amicable. The next season of The Biggest Loser begins this fall. And Days fans shouldn't worry, Sami isn't going anywhere.

By Michael Canfield Right off the bat , Caroline Rhea leads with the information that one of the final four will not be "making it to the final scale." That's a first for the show, though the circumstances will turn out to be reasonable. The intro is followed by some recapping just in case anyone missed all the reca...

By Michael Canfield Trainer Bob Harper shows up wearing a suit at the school gym that looks like something Paul or Ringo gave away to a thrift store in 1965. Thankfully he soon switches to his usual workout clothes. And was it just me, or is Matt regained a lot of weight since his win last year?

By Bob Sassone I'm happy that people go on the show and lose weight and that some of them even have "life changing results," as NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly says. But I have no interest in watching it. First, it's a reality show, and I'm very choosy now in what reality shows I watch. And I also don't...

By Michael Canfield Filed under: Reality, NBC, OpEd(S03E09) Teams are gone and individual game play begins. The two remaining (former) Blue Team members still hang out with their trainer Bob though. Bob redeclares his eternal commitment to his "boys," while Kim readily shed's her team colors and is initial...

By Michael Canfield We will see next week whether this outcome is acceptable to Bob Harper. Will he continue to resent Jaron or will he ... In the Bobby's at home segment, he credits Bob Harper's support and belief in him for his weight-loss success. ...

By Michael Canfield So Brian and Pam are eliminated. It's a rough departure, with the players recognizing that Brian and Pam don't really deserve to go home. Lots of tears are shed, making Erik look even more crummy. There's no way he is going to win anyway, and he'll probably still be up around 300 lbs on the reunio...

By Michael Canfield Hey, judging from the previews for next week, the value of being at the ranch and having either Bob OR Kim as a weight-loss trainer might be called into question. This might even explain why Blue did so well partially without Bob and ordering some of their food out this week, hmm ...Permalink | ...

By Michael Canfield The weigh-in: no one on the either team loses double digits, but Red come up with a total of 25 lbs lost (2.14%) to win the weigh-in a second week in a row. They slightly edge out the Blue Team which fails by a mere 3 lbs. Overall, I'd say weight loss has been steady and consistent this year. Good for th...

By Michael Canfield Filed under: Reality, NBC, OpEd(S03E04) Going in, Red has lost 198 lbs, and Blue has lost 240 lbs. Red had to say goodbye to Nelson after screwing themselves with a tie vote last time. Ties get broken by the rival team -- which means rule number one for Biggest Loser should be: make sure your tea...

By Michael Canfield The Elimination: It's always better when there's a split like this, with one team winning the reward challenge, and the other winning the weigh-in. That way neither team's completely humiliated. Still, losing the weigh-in is worse. But somebody has to go, as Bob told his team after their lo...

By Michael Canfield The next phase of The Biggest Loser (which didn't happen in the premiere this year for some reason) is the "temptation." The teams are confronted with foods they shouldn't eat. But if they do eat them, they can possibly get rewards like immunity. These usually fall flat, as most players simpl...

season premiere)  CA - Sep 21, 2006 the parade of fifty hopeful contestants marching down the hill to the Biggest Loser Ranch is an ... Jillian's replacement as Red Team trainer is Kim Lyons. ...

By Michael Canfield Jillian's replacement as Red Team trainer is Kim Lyons. She keeps saying she's not a Barbie. Bob Harper is back as a the trainer for the Blue Team. Caroline Rhea returns as host. Bob and Kim glide in on zip wires, then there's some taped segments introducing them. The absence of Jillian, though ne...