Biggest Loser 4 - Episode #1, “There is NO Geriatric in Jerry!”
Author's web site:
So, our good friend Mark, who makes sure “RealityWanted” stays afloat and in tip-top shape suggested I title each blog prior to writing my thoughts about this season’s show. My first idea: “The Weight is Over.” But, in the last half-hour of BL4’s season premiere I had to change it!
Are you kidding me? 31-pounds lost in one week! This 61-year-old grandfather has proven a fierce competitor making Biggest Loser history twice, in seven days. He is the oldest person to ever compete on the show AND lost the most weight of any contestant EVER in the first week. Rock on Jerry! Not only that, the supped-up senior was first to push his 297 pound body across the hot desert to reach Bob Harper (Blue Team Trainer and my personal hero!) and became captain of the Blue Team (more on that later). I’m not a betting girl, but if I were, my money right now would be on the Silver Fox taking home the cool $250,000 grand prize for a comfy, cozy retirement!
This was a two-hour premiere with lots of great sound-bites and moments, too many to list here, but hold on to your waistbands friends, this is gonna be an in-your-face season! And I can’t wait. I’m envious actually. I am one of thousands who took part in the emotionally taxing process of hoping to be picked as one of the contestants this season. I got very close, like many of my comrades on RealityofWeighting.net, a group of BL4 rejects who have refused to let that rejection stop us from becoming our healthiest, best selves. Although I am happy to be tackling this weight issue in the “real” world, I sure would have loved to be part of this show! It looks like it may be the best season yet.New host Alison Sweeney informed the 18 sweaty contestants who just trekked their way through the desert that Bob and Kim Lyons (Red Team Trainer) would be jumping from an airplane and landing quite a distance away from the group. Alison explained the first to make it to each trainer would become team captain and charged with selecting their other five team members. This would mean the six contestants not picked would be going home. This startling news set fear and disappointment in the hearts of those who felt this opportunity was their last shot of getting the weight off.
Jerry showed reservation about his age, since the group was much younger than him. But, after a little struggle, he made it to Bob first, becoming the Blue Team Captain. 27-Year-Old Ex-Football Player Phil reached Kim next, making him the Red Team Captain. The group gathered to plead their cases on why they wanted and needed to be there most. Producers made the right decision, selecting this year’s contestants all of whom have terrific background stories. Leslye is a 34-year-old paralegal and Hurricane Katrina survivor who explained losing everything and being shuffled to seven different states as a refugee and being fat on top of it was “terrible.”
The captains selected their teams and took off on a bus to the Biggest Loser Camp, leaving the six not chosen to deal with “another disappointment, rejected again.” Just when you thought all hope was gone, clever camera work captured an all black leather-clad motorcyclist speeding past the bus in the opposite direction. It was, of course, Trainer Jillian Michaels coming to save the day. She pulls up, dust billowing behind her as one contestant prays for this mysterious biker to be Jillian. At that moment, Jillian whips of her helmet, shakes her hair, smiles and says “you’re not going home.”
And so, the Black Team rises up out of the ashes of despair! A little cornball and heavy I know, but I have to tell you, I actually teared up a bit at this point. I know what it’s like to be obese and put all your hope into this show, thinking it’s your last resort to finally shed the weight, the bad habits and start living life! That hope was obviously lost when that bus rolled away, but Jillian’s arrival brought it back!
The Black Team secretly trained in the desert throughout the show as the Red and Blue teams made their way to the “no frills, no luxury” Biggest Loser Campus. Both teams tackled their first meeting with the scales then started their initial workouts. This week’s challenge had the team’s carry the weight they wanted to lose, in luggage, load it on a 21-ton plane, then pull the plane across the finish line. The Red Team worked together to win the challenge. The prize: letters from home.
I like how this season’s weigh-in includes Bob and Kim, and eventually Jillian. Seasons past, the trainer would come in after the weigh-in and say “how’d ya do?” etc. for an element of surprise. But this way, you can see the trainers sweat a bit themselves, worried the other team has lost more weight. Bob at one point was nervously gnawing on a finger or two. One quick note about Bob and his never-ending care for these people. As the group loaded onto the bus right after team selection, Bob looked back at those left wondering what’s next for them now and said he expected to see them a lot thinner at the finale. That’s class. That’s care. Okay, enough. I’ll stop. Where was I? Oh yes, the all important weigh-in results.
The Red Team lost a total of 87 pounds, from 1,964 to 1,877 as a group. Former U.S. Army Private Kae’s fantastic 20 pound loss coupled with Jerry’s 30 pounds pushed the Blue Team to the final win with an overall 109 pound loss from 1,876 pounds as a team to 1,767. The Red Team now forced to vote off one of its members which ended up being Amber, who struggled with the initial workouts. Giving up, she had asked Kim to send her home, which came back to bite her in the behind come elimination! However, the paramedic by trade has lost 65 pounds since leaving the BL Campus.
Next week, the secret Black Team is revealed. No one knows Jillian is back with her own team to fight for the Biggest Loser title! Not Bob, not Kim, not even Alison Sweeney! One Black Team member exclaimed, “All hope was gone and now it comes back, with a vengeance!” It’s on boys and girls! It’s on!
—-
GET ON REALITY TV, APPLY TOP SHOWS LIKE : American Gladiators - New NBC/Mark Burnett Game Show - Dance Wars - Nothing but The Truth - Parental Control - ALL CASTING CALLS
—
Find additional Biggest Loser links on sirlinkslaot.net
biggest loserLast 5 posts by Jennifer Rumple
- Biggest Loser 4 - FINALE, "Twins Take It All!" - December 19th, 2007
- Biggest Loser - Episode #12 "No More Nicole - Now Only Five" - December 5th, 2007
- Biggest Loser 4 - Episode #11 - “Bye, Bye ‘B’ - R.I.P. Red” - November 28th, 2007
- Biggest Loser 4 - Episode #9, "Gone Amy, Gone! Amy's Gone!" - November 14th, 2007
- Biggest Loser 4 - Episode #8, “Going ‘Green’ Gets Ryan Gone!” - November 7th, 2007
Filed under: Biggest Loser
Can I just tell you how much I loved, loved, loved this episode?
I mean, THIS is why the show has served as such an inspiration for my own personal weight loss journey. The cast is rock solid, the trainers are amazing, and the change of location is going to add a little something different to keep the show fresh. Yay!