Review: Shaq's Big Challenge
Three word review: It was ok. Even shorter review? Meh.
To be fair, I think it is a highly commendable thing Shaq wants to do. Childhood obesity is a tragedy and I'm happy someone of his profile and means is making an attempt to change the course. Does it work as a summer long reality TV series? I'm not quite sure.
For one, it's hard to snark on kids. It's easier to roll eyes and ridicule the adults of Biggest Loser, yet these kids didn’t come off as completely likeable either, in the Discovery Channel, feel good sorta way.
Then there was a scene where the kids were working out and checking in with Shaq, proudly boasting about their accomplishments. Except they were lying. Turns out, they weren't hitting the gym as hard as they proclaimed and left to their own accords, they turned into a modern day Lord of the Flies.
My question was, why on earth were they working out alone? They don't even trust grown people to go it alone on Biggest Loser or Celebrity Fit Club till the last week. The overly dramatic, I'm gonna kick their butts, was disingenuous.
I did like that Shaq involved all aspects of weight loss, bringing in a nutritionist to show them what all the food they ate on a weekly basis looks like in one sitting and they weight they'd surely gain by eating all that food made the 5lbs of fat prop hit home even more. The stress tests and motivational quotes warmed the cockles of my cold snarky heart, yet I still wasn't sucked in.
I haven't decided if I'd continue to watch it. Perhaps if I had my own kids and that was an issue for me the answer would be a yes. If nothing else, I'll be sure to tune into the final show to see what they look like now because I have no doubt, they'll all achieve their goals.
Next entry: Half Year's Eve
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4 Comments
06.28.07 | renee commented: I agree. There are two audience types for reality shows, the trainwreck watchers and the feel good watchers. Discovery Health has a pretty good series that's feel good, but the train wreck shows tend to get the most viewers. Being kids...it's hard to make them into a trainwreck. There is one kid they are trying to set up as the "villian" or @ least paint him to be difficult...but he's a kid!!
It'd be much easier to get a feel for the show if they showed Shaq fighting the good fight, the challenges of working with kids (cut out the faux drama a la Biggest Loser) and kept them all sympathetic.
If I'm home next week and nothing else is on and I have no Netflix DVDs...I *may* watch it again...
06.29.07 | olive commented: Great information. Thanks
07.03.07 | Richard Caron commented: This show is horrible. Shaq and his gang are cruel and sadistic. I was one of those kids, well into adulthood. Shame and intimidation will never work. The kids issues are complicated. And I think that this show should be deemed inappropriate for public viewing.
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I think the value of this really depends on what the kids are going to get out of it in the long run. If they are just used as a ratings/publicity stunt, then it seems wrong. However, if at the end, this helps these kids make lifestyle adjustments and really change, then more power to Shaq! But often these shows are more about the drama than about helping people--Celebrity Fit Club being the worst example.