BIG – Extreme Makeover

Hey there,

 

In just the last hour I have come to the conclusion of a very BIG dilemma indeed. It’s a decision that may not sit right with some people; but I have left you the option for the right of reply if you do so desire.

So, onto the dilemma at hand; I’ve been wondering what to do about the series BIG- Extreme Makeover currently airing on the Nine Network. For the past week, I have been given the role as the site’s reality TV blogger (or so I assume), and therefore it is my role to blog about all things reality TV.

I respect that many people would believe that although I have been given the job to blog on a specific topic, it should be my choice on what I ultimately blog about in that particular field. I do however feel that as this is a job and I like to write for people’s interests; it should be YOU who decides what is covered in the reality television realm and what is not; therefore deciding what is appropriate for me to blog about and more importantly; what YOU want me to blog about. More on this point later.

As I said, I have been wondering about BIG- Extreme Makeover; and what I have been wondering about is whether or not it is a reality TV program; or just a lifestyle factual.

My personal definition of a reality program is one that features people as contestants set to competitively perform a task; or a series of tasks, sometimes using the implementation of game play and strategy while following strict rules sometimes including abiding by a process of elimination, in order to achieve a common aim and/or outcome with an added monetary or physical incentive (prize money or otherwise) as a reward for completing such aim.

In contrast, my definition of lifestyle factual is a documentary style show that follows a person, group of people, a fad or a system which attempts to relate to the everyday wellbeing and experiences of the viewers by offering an emotional, self-improving or fly-on the wall approach to the topic of interest.

BIG- Extreme Makeover has elements of both of these genres. While it features contestants trying to achieve a common aim with a physical incentive (similar to The Biggest Loser and The Farmer Wants a Wife); their stories have an overall goal of sending viewers on an emotional or self-improving journey and does not include any competitive game play nor does it ask the participating people to use their own resources to complete any given tasks.

In reality TV shows; no matter what background; the contestants are left to their own devices for a good majority of the time. Whether on The Amazing Race, which gives little or no help to contestants, or The Biggest Loser which, although provides trainers and other personnel to help the contestants through their journey, has a strong approach to competitive game play requiring contestants to use their own interpersonal skills to strategise and win tasks, all reality TV shows require contestants to ‘compete’; whether against each other, or against the elements.

Some would argue that The Farmer Wants a Wife would be in the same boat as BIG, as it doesn’t have eliminations; nor is there competition among contestants while at the same time, the two shows do indeed have a common goal for the contestants to reach. The key difference between these two shows is that on BIG, the goal is common for all participants; but the journey is individual. On The Farmer Wants a Wife; there may not be a need for one contestant to succeed over another to achieve a better outcome; but their journey’s are of one entity.

I too would argue that there IS competition on The Farmer Wants a Wife. Each competitor must pull out all stops to find and ultimately woo the person of their choice. The person of their choice may not see the contestant as the person of theirs. In this case; the contestant must compete for the prize that is their person of choice by strategizing within themselves how best to go about wooing them.

There are no winners in this show as there are in BIG, but there can be losers.

I’m bubbling on now;’ but overall, BIG is not like this. There is a common goal; with individual journeys; there is no limit, or no standard in which the participants must achieve; there is no one in their way to stop them from achieving their goal; only people who help.

In conclusion; I have decided that BIG is not a reality television show and I will therefore not cover it.

As you may know; my blogs are long; and I give up time to write these blogs. I love doing this and plan to do it for a very long time and could blog on anything and everything television; but to keep whatever quality you may see in my blogs to the utmost; I want to only blog what I need to blog. As I classify BIG as a factual and not a reality program; I don’t need to blog it; so I wont.

But as I said; I blog for you! If you feel it is a reality and wants it covered; tell me and I’ll do it! Obviously the more who request it, the more in depth I’ll go. Please comment below with your thoughts.

I don’t want anyone arguing with my points, though; I don’t want anyone telling me my points are nonsensical; if you don’t agree with what I’ve said; please don’t attack me; just state that you believe it is a reality television show; and want me to blog it.

I wanted to blog this to show you my thought processes. Some of you may expect me to blog it; so I wanted to clear this up.

Thanks,

Courtney xx

Embarrassing programming changes from GEM.

The last minute changes keep coming out of the Nine network. Not only do they change the entire night on GO!, but they also change GEM as well – replacing Embarrassing Bodies with Embarrassing Teenage Bodies at 9.30pm Thursday – now I know by the time I post this, the change has already happened, but it also applies to next Thursday May 19 as well. At least it is the same kind of show, but still, same day changes are just ridiculous.

GO! throw out your TV guides.

And, while on the subject, as already revealed in the TV Guide for GO!, GO! dumped Vampire Diaries tonight in favour for movies. No word yet what will happen next Thursday, but I seriously suggest the Nine network are in panic mode big time. The new look ONE is pulling good numbers, Masterchef is propping up Ten, and as a result, Nine are dropping to third in the ratings battle on many weeknights. Seriously, Nine, erratic programming won’t help you one bit. Has it ever in the past? Other than a random night here and there? Rant over… back to the subject of the day’s amendments – oh .. And guess who…

Nine still the one for programming changes.

Nine have changed their weekend encores. In Their Footsteps will encore at 2pm Sunday May 15 in NSW and QLD instead of BIG. Between the Lines will have another encore at 3pm Sunday May 15 in all markets.

 

 

 

 

The Amazing Race Australia

Premieres at 8.30pm, Monday May 16. As this is a 90 minute episode, Brothers and Sisters will start at 10pm that night.

In Their Footsteps encore on Nine.

Yet again CSI: New York gets bumped out of Nine’s schedule. An encore of In Their Footsteps will air at 9.30pm Tuesday May 10 in stead of CSI: NY. At this stage, CSI: NY remains at 9.30pm Tue May 17.

GEM – late Tuesday night, May 10.

How Clean Is Your House is on at 10.30 and 11.00pm with new episodes, followed by NEW Without a Trace at 11.30pm.

Another Big encore

BIG and In Their Footsteps will both encore this Sunday afternoon on Nine. BIG at 2pm in Sydney and Brisbane, 3pm Melbourne. In Their Footsteps follows – that is in addition to the Tuesday night encore.

Come Fly with me on GO!

On Monday May 16, at 10pm, GO will replay Come Fly with me, which premieres on Nine at 8pm.

While Airways flies out of Seven’s schedule.

Due to poor ratings, Airways is out of Seven’s schedule this Thursday May 12. Instead, double new episode of How I Met Your Mother airs. The following Thursday, May 19, Mother remains at 8pm with a TBA at 7.30pm.

DWTS encore.

Seven will replay last Sunday’s Dancing with the Stars, from 10am Sunday May 15.

Extended news on Ten Tuesday May 10.

Ten’s late news will air at 10.30pm and run for 45 minutes to cover the Federal Budget. There will be no 6.30 With George Negus encore as a result – so make sure you catch George at 6.30!

 

 

1. No love for Mike & Molly on Nine.

Nine have dropped the new episode of Mike & Molly, scheduled to play at 8pm Monday for a repeat of The Big Bang Theory. This change is effective immediately, so it applies to next Monday, May 9. New Big Bang remains at 7.30pm Mondays on Nine. If Nine do not play out the new episodes of Mike & Molly, they will end up on GO!, which are already playing repeats.

2. White Collar not a repeat.

Sydney only: The scheduled episode of White Collar this Saturday May 7 iBigs no longer a repeat. Instead, a new episode called “Payback” will air.

3. Australia’s Got Talent Encores

An encore of the first episode of Australia’s Got Talent can be seen on Seven at 3.00pm this Saturday, May 7. Another encore with both episodes that aired this week, can be seen on 7TWO from 10.30am this Sunday may 8.

4. Detroit 1-8-7 moves to 10-3-0

Seven have reacted to this weeks’ low ratings for the show, moving its start time back to 10.30pm from next Wednesday May 11. Its 9.30 timeslot will now be taken up with a Criminal Minds repeat episode. Note that the episode of Criminal Minds at 8.30pm remains as is new.

5. I Shouldn’t Be Alive isn’t on air.

As a result to the changes on Wednesday nights, with Detroit 1-8-7 at 10.30pm now, I shouldn’t Be Alive drops out of the schedule.

6. Friday Night movies on 7mate.

After The Event and The Cape failed to attract good ratings on Friday nights on 7mate, the channel will now be airing movies on Friday nights from May 20. The movie on that night is Major Payne, from 1995.

Note that Sydney and Brisbane still remain as TBA for Friday May 13 7.30pm – 10.30pm on 7mate.

7. Big encores on Nine.

David Attenborough’s Madagascar will encore on Nine at 3pm on Sunday in NSW & QLD, 4pm in VIC (and presumably SA & WA). It’s regular timeslot is Wednesdays 7.30pm.

BIG – Extreme Makeover will encore in all markets at 10.30pm Monday night, May 9. BIG’s regular timeslot is Wednesday’s 9.30pm.

 

 

Madagascar, Nine, 7.30pm.

David Attenborough tells the story of one of the most intriguing wild places on earth: Madagascar, a huge island of dramatic landscapes where the wildlife is strange and unique; some of it filmed for the very first time.

Glee, Ten , 8.30pm.

Glee is back, on a new night. This week, proving that birds of a feather flock together, the Gleeks decide to help out another under-the-radar club at McKinley High but when Sue hears of the harmonious camraderie she quickly moves to strike.

Big: Extreme Makeover, Nine, 9.30pm.

Big is not a weight loss competition – there are no prizes and no challenges – just real life stories giving six morbidly obese people a second chance at life. For 10 months, weight-loss expert and trainer, Lee Campbell will be there 24/7, giving them no escape and no option to back out. This epic transformation will not only totally reshape the physical appearance of the person but will also completely alter their inner perceptions, their relationships and most importantly, their entire outlook on life.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, GO!, 9.30pm.

A younger Batiatus finds himself newly in control of his father’s gladiator school. He uses his most skilled fighter to win favour with a cunning nobleman behind the building of the new arena.

Spicks and Specks, 8.30pm, ABC1.

It’s back for a new season. Hold on to your hats. Australia’s favourite music quiz show returns with a bang with a jam-packed, extended, one-hour comedy special.

BIG – Extreme Makeover, a unique television series about epic journeys and monumental struggles in the battle with obesity, premieres on the Nine Network on Wednesday, May 4, at 9.30pm.

Hosted by Deborah Hutton, BIG gives six morbidly obese people a second chance at life. From day one, a weight-loss expert and trainer will take over their lives and stay with them for 12 months, 24/7. There will be no escape or backing out in the mission to turn around the lives of these people and their families forever.

BIG is the ultimate lifestyle-changing program. It offers no contests, no prizemoney, and no hiding from the temptations of everyday life.

In one-hour episodes trainer Lee Campbell works with someone who weighs 150-250kg and desperately needs help. During each episode their 12-month journey to a healthy body will be revealed step by incredible step. This epic transformation will not only totally reshape their physical appearance but completely alter their inner perceptions, their relationships, and most importantly their outlook on life.

The prevalence of obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years. Staggering figures confirm that today over 60 per cent of adults and one in four children are either obese or significantly overweight. However, there is a huge difference between being overweight and morbidly obese. For morbidly and super-obese people life is a constant battle, from just getting dressed to walking out the door. Everyday activity takes enormous effort and for many, the effort of losing weight is too difficult without constant help and support.

 

MICK – 33, 240kg

Lives with his parents Roseanne and Michael in Sydney’s west.

BACKGROUND: Mick feels that his life is at risk. He lost his older brother Paul four years ago when his heart burst, leaving behind a wife and three small children. Mick vowed to lose weight so the same thing wouldn’t happen to him, but instead he turned to food as support and put on more weight.

Mick’s nieces and nephew are his greatest joy – he takes them on trips but gets frustrated with his limited mobility. At the beach he is distressed by walking in soft sand. He has to stop every four or five steps due to being so obese and physically restricted. His back aches under the pressure of the weight around his stomach and his legs swell up.

 

WAYNE – 27, 196kg (biggest: 227kg)

Lives in Adelaide with his older sister Sandra.

BACKGROUND: Wayne has always been “the fat kid”. Teased and bullied at school, he is a sensitive, introverted soul who doesn’t know what it’s like to be anything but overweight. He is a thoughtful person who possibly hides away in his “protective” fat but is gradually accepting his sensitivity. He appears to have felt or been quite suppressed, and reluctantly tried to be a “man’s man”, a blokey bloke, but this doesn’t seem to be the true Wayne.

His motivation for change came through a near-death experience in 2009 when, after tests, his doctor ordered him to go immediately to a hospital emergency department when it was discovered he had several blood clots in his lungs. His sister Sandra adores him and desperately wants him to lose weight.

 

MONIEK – 35, 170kg and STUART – 36, 135kg

Live in Bayside, Brisbane, with their children Oscar, two, and Jasmine, six months.

BACKGROUND: In October, Moniek is marrying Stuart who she has known for 18 years (he was a groomsman at her first wedding). They have been together for three years. Moniek and Stuart are a dynamic duo. The central character is Moniek, a large, short-haired, fun-loving and extroverted Queenslander. She is also a full-time working mother whose biggest challenge is to cook a family meal after getting home from work.

Stuart is even more of an extrovert, and an accomplished performer. He works by day as an engineer (a job he is beginning to hate) and by night as a jazz singer and comedian. Stuart also wants to lose weight and feels he would get more performing work as a thinner person. In a nutshell, he wants to be famous, or at least earning enough as a full-time performer to give up his day job.

Moniek is also funny and smart, but admits to consciously containing the way she expresses herself in the relationship because Stuart is so dominant. This has created an ongoing emotional issue between them because Stuart craves more emotion from her. They are very open and honest about what goes on between them, and Moniek has said that “if they don’t implode” beforehand they will walk down the aisle in October.

The first time she was married caused great distress when her father refused to go to the ceremony. He told her, “You will never look pretty in a white dress.” That cut her to the quick and she resolved never to let other people’s opinions shape her life again. The big question is, will her father come to her second wedding and what will he think of the dress this time?

Moniek hates being restricted, especially with the children who are her greatest motivation. She wants to run around with them and play at the beach. She knows what she’s missing out on. The children are full of character like their parents. Moniek and Stuart want to be healthy for and with them. They also want their children to grow up knowing what and how to eat for their well-being.

 

HELEN – 37, 190kg

Owns a home in the Brisbane suburb of Waterford West and lives with her new partner Phil and nine-year-old son Reece.

BACKGROUND: Helen says she is from a “fat family”. One of her sisters had stomach stapling surgery and lost 65kg. Helen says this is too much and she would prefer to lose weight naturally. Her main motivation is to give her son a better life. With his mother grossly overweight, Reece has been teased and bullied, and this has affected the whole family.

People stare at Helen because she is an unusual shape. She cannot buy clothes off-the-rack and has them made (including undergarments and bras) by a woman who supplies obese women around the country with big clothes. Helen no longer attends school functions or meetings – when she did, Reece would be teased by the other kids about her size.

 

BONNIE – 22, 144kg

Lives in a small cottage in Unley, Adelaide, with her flatmate and best friend Laura and her chihuahuas.

BACKGROUND: Bonnie is a young, single extrovert – a colourful, unabashed character. At university she “drank and ate junk food” and put on a lot of weight. She is taking six months off from nursing training before returning to study mid-year. She is an acknowledged restless spirit (diagnosed as a child with ADHD that is not currently treated with medication) who likes to up and travel at short notice. She has nannied for a family in Sydney and still travels to stay with them from time to time.

Both Laura and Bonnie are unemployed and their parents help with the rent. Bonnie is a big, pretty, dark-haired girl and Laura is a skinny blonde who had stomach-stapling surgery at the age of 10 to treat stomach cancer. They adore each other and appear to be mutually dependent. Laura fears the relationship will change once Bonnie loses weight and is very concerned about this – and that’s exactly what happens with Bonnie eventually moving out. She felt that Laura was not supporting her weight-loss journey.

 

MICHAEL – 41, 235kg

Lives in Sydney with his girlfriend Hannah.

BACKGROUND: For Michael, being morbidly obese has been a lifelong struggle. For as long as he can remember he has lived life on the edge of society – lonely, isolated and trapped in a body he hates.

His primary school years were a living hell, tainted by teasing and bullying, but at a private Sydney high school it got even worse. Michael is not new to dieting. In fact he’s become an expert. During his first marriage he shed a staggering 75 kilos over 16 months. But then he learned that his wife had left him for another woman.

Michael has now found a new love, Hannah, a school teacher and mother of two young boys. They met, after her husband left her for another man, through the Straight Spouse Network. Hannah has also been big and these two lovebirds are in the constant grip of a dieting obsession. Hannah is the main cook but she has had an operation called a sleeve gastrectomy and is only able to eat tiny portions. Yet she is still obsessed with food. With a family history of heart disease, Michael’s enormous weight is putting him at huge risk of an early death. He is also vulnerable to developing type 2 diabetes.

 

Wednesday, May 4, at 9.30pm

BIG – Extreme Makeover. Inspiring, life-affirming television.