S16.E01: Opening Day

[Canada]

Jen - looks too much like Jillian and Shania Twain for me.  That, along with her thighs, which just seem too abnormally large to me, is annoying me.  The stupid love/fear thing, which sounded way too rehearsed, made me actively want to punch her.

 

Jessie - meh.  Obviously didn't get the memo where contestants are supposed to lose 427lbs in the first week or they're a failure.  Got stuck with the loser team this season.  And not loser in a good way!

 

Dolvett - I love him, he can do no wrong.

 

Bob - you're still on my screen too much.  Go away.  And the phrase "phoning it in" comes to mind.

 

Contestants - way too much whining and crying.  Seriously, how many of you actually want to be there and understand what hard work is?  The two high school cheerleaders?  Wish they had both gone!  One was way too depressing and the other way too perky, verging on total bimbo territory.  I want to like the baseball player, but she just reminds me way too much of Eeyore.  Too many sob stories, don't want to deal with them.  I don't mind the voting people off method, but I don't want to hear the stupid fake reasons.  Just give me a name and then shut up.

[ari333]

.Jen looked a lot like Jillian, in her hair style and stance, and it seemed like she meant it to.

When I saw her against the poster on the wall, I thought it was Jillian's.

 

THIS. I was going to say the same and you beat me to it. The hair is what I noticed first; then I saw the way she stands is Jillian-esque too, imo.

 

I really hope they don't go to the tragedy well too often. I understand mentioning it on the opening show, but I don't want to cry through a whole season of it.

 

I too am sick of the bullshit reasons they give for voting someone off. It seems to me they'd vote off their biggest competition. There's still a prize for winning this thing, right?

Edited September 14, 2014 by ari333

[Eeksquire]

 

It seems to me they'd vote off their biggest competition. There's still a prize for winning this thing, right?

At this stage of the game, I think the strategy would be to keep the integrity of the team, as much as possible.  For example, I was shocked when there was a vote for the only man on the team - given the history of this show, it would be a bad idea to get rid of him while you're still in teams.  For good or for ill, the men usually pull bigger numbers, at least in the beginning.  Keeping him on the team means that the team has a better chance to be safe each week.  Once they make the switch to individual competition, then definitely, the strategy shifts to voting off your biggest competition. (Of course, you know they'll be unable to resist the "But So-and-so NEEDS TO BE HERE more than me!" horseshit.)

 

Anyone know if there will be an at-home prize this year? They didn't mention it and with the Comeback thing, it seems like they're saying once they wash out of there, they're done.  Which begs the question: what's the incentive for those at home to continue working? (Other than the inherent value of no longer being obese, that is, but that has not seemed to motivate them thus far.)

[4leafclover]

 

Anyone know if there will be an at-home prize this year?

 

I wonder if they're discouraging that because of the amount of weight Rachael lost last season after going home?  Just a thought...............

[bigskygirl]

Rachel won the $250, 000 grand prize. The at home winner is usually someone who was voted off the ranch. I cannot remember who won the at home prize last season.

[auntjess]

I thought she won the big prize.  I remember her with her arms in the air.

[auntjess]

Just checked.  Tumi won the at home prize.

[4leafclover]

Yes, I know Rachel won the big prize, but her appearance became alarming when she went home to wait for the finale.   Even Bob and Jillian were shocked to see her at that time. 

[auntjess]

They all go home before the finale, and if the finale were just a week after the last weigh-in, there wouldn't be as much suspense.
 

[Kromm]

THIS. I was going to say the same and you beat me to it. The hair is what I noticed first; then I saw the way she stands is Jillian-esque too, imo.

I don't know if there's really all that much variety possible with the hair.  They have approximately the same color and length, so short of deliberately changing that, I'm not sure what else Jennifer could have done (I'm supposing going back to short pink hair was not an option, since she wants to distance herself from those days).  

 

The stance thing is interesting, but I doubt there's any intention there.  Not that we see her standing around that much (a key "story' point with Jen seems to be her "works out with them" theme, which mostly Jillian didn't do), but outside of that her stance mostly seems to be hands on hips when resting, which is a fairly standard authority pose, isn't it?

There's a fairly radical height difference between her and Jillian as well. She's around four inches taller according to the compiled stats on the two of them.

[auntjess]

Jill was often working with one person, while keeping an eye on the group.
The first episode is always a jumble, because no one is familiar to me, but it does seem like less people thew up, for which we are truly thankful.

[LeapDayBaby]

Random thoughts and musings:

 

- I didn't miss Jillian one iota, nor did I hate either of the new trainers.

 

- A second tribute to the former greatness of NBC's Thursday night lineups, besides Jen/Ellie Kemper: Mike could be Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec's dad.

 

- Rob screaming at Dr. Death (aka "Dr. Man-Perm") in the "coming up this season" previews: AWESOME.

 

- Back to the voting again? No, no, NO. We have enough drama with Woody's late wife, Lori's miscarriages and Mike's son. Bring the red line back, stat, and get rid of those awful curio cabinets of sinful treats in the voting room.

 

- I'm glad the Cult of Bob is confined to Comeback Canyon (for now), though Top Chef did it better with "Last Chance Kitchen".

 

- While I think Zina was a very nice woman and was sorry to see her go so soon, I'm pleased that TPTB didn't fawn over her (as the most recognizable name in the bunch) a la Rulon Gardner or Ruben Studdard and find some way to keep her on the show.

 

- I'm reserving opinions on the contestants until I can get more of their names straight.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Bring the red line back, stat, and get rid of those awful curio cabinets of sinful treats in the voting room.

 

Definitely agree with this.  Not a big fan of the bullshit voting reasons, who deserves to be here, who has the biggest sob story and cries the most nonsense.  Red line and you're gone.

[Kromm]

Definitely agree with this.  Not a big fan of the bullshit voting reasons, who deserves to be here, who has the biggest sob story and cries the most nonsense.  Red line and you're gone.

If they want some kind of way to alternate, you could have a normal red line some weeks, and a cumulative one (day one to the current weigh-in) version at other times.

 

Or they could just be honest and do measurements and BMI indexes.  I'd have added in physical tests, but lets be honest--that favors the men about 90% of the time unless you get someone who bucks the trend, like Tara Costa.

[Jersey Guy 87]

 

Good point. Hopefully the ratings will do better next week.

 

Actually, I'm hoping the ratings tank.  I only watch this show out of habit, if it goes off the air I won't feel obligated to watch.

 

I did like the pathetic feel of Bob's weigh-in.  Just Bob and the two contestants, nobody else watching, no Allison, etc.  It seemed sad and desperate which fits the current state of the show.

[auntjess]

 

Actually, I'm hoping the ratings tank.  I only watch this show out of habit, if it goes off the air I won't feel obligated to watch.

This is one of several shows I'm like this about, although usually once I start watching I get interested.

And this was one of my favorites.

[beaker73]

Jill was often working with one person, while keeping an eye on the group.

The first episode is always a jumble, because no one is familiar to me, but it does seem like less people thew up, for which we are truly thankful.

And no one fell off a treadmill!

[auntjess]

You're right.  And when they fall, it usually drags them, almost like people who fall on an escalator.
Ah, the good old days.

[Mrsjumbo]

I always find it funny that as I start getting used to the players names & personality, I've totally forgotten about the eliminated players. At the finale I'm saying "who??"

[Brooklynista]

What I need to know is who's doing the cooking at Comeback Canyon and will they be serving Jenny-O turkey?

[Kromm]

What I need to know is who's doing the cooking at Comeback Canyon and will they be serving Jenny-O turkey?

Not if the sponsor has ditched them, they won't.  I mean look what happened with Subway.  Do you see any sign of them on the show now?  No. They just evaporated out of Baub's Book of Selling.  Courtney being shoehorned into their commercials looking like a "before" picture and not an after probably sunk that association.

 

Here's the webpage where the tie-in used to live.  Notice it won't load fully:  http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/FreshBuzz/BiggestLoser/default.aspx?icid=Home:%20Secondary%20Promo:%20Unit%202:%20Biggest%20Loser:%20W1:%202013

Getting back to Jennie-O, if they've... dried up... I know Tyson and Perdue have "health" branded product lines and we could see them jump into the void.  Or not.  BL tie-ins may not be that marketable anymore, especially if the ratings tank.

[auntjess]

You'd think there would have been some out in the contract, when Courtney gained all that weight.

[Eeksquire]

Did she gain weight back? I thought she never really lost as much as they thought she should.

[auntjess]

I don't remember how all it went.
At the end of her season, seems like she still had a good amount to lose, but I don't remember when or how the Subway deal was won.
I just remember that somehow she was to be a spokesman, and wasn't looking like like a good ad for their product.

 

ETA:  Googled it.  Still don't see how she won, but here's the ad.  http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2013/10/14/subway-recruits-chicagos-biggest.html

 

Edited September 16, 2014 by auntjess

[beaker73]

I noticed that Rachel's big picture in the gym was from Makeover Week and not the Finale.  Not surprised or anything.

[Eeksquire]

Thanks auntjess - I think people voted on who they wanted to come back for that commercial and apparently America loved Journey.  Still weird.  Very weird.

[newyawk]

Glad they went back to the longer format. One hour is not enough and it doesn't let the viewers get to know the contestants well. I would have been fine with 90 minutes, tough.

 

I am upset that the single worst element on the show (imo), the elimination table, is back. Cue the faux soul searching indeed.

 

I can tell already that I may actively despise Lori by the time she leaves. I was amused to see her voting off the person that lost five more pounds than she did (14 to Lori's 9), under the guise of "She doesn't take this seriously and isn't grateful for the opportunity." Yes, Andrea might have said she wanted to go home, but she did get it done, so shut up. Now I am rooting for Andrea to come back to the ranch and shock the crap out of Lori.

[msfixit03]

I just wanna say, I love you guys! Went to TWOP for the forums only to discover that it's been shut down! :( So glad I found y'all again here! Keep up the good snarky work! Muaaah