Chris Powell Figures Out Maybe Obese People Need Medical Care

Shocking but true. The website for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition proudly announces the show will now, “FOR THE FIRST TIME,” have DOCTORS—yes, actual medical professionals—check out the seriously obese people that trainer reality show celebrity Chris Powell will humiliate into dropping hundreds of pounds! Assuming we’ll believe it’s about providing some measure of responsible medical care for people who would subject themselves to a weight loss reality TV show, Chris Powell explained, “We’ve totally changed the premise of the show. Before, I used to go actually live with our people. Now we bring them to us.” Powell did used to move into the homes of his victims for a full three months, a format that would limit him to just four episodes per year for the first three seasons. Whoops. With the new format, Powell can humiliate as many fat people as the show producers can sign up! From clips shown on Entertainment Tonight, we can already see how the new format will feature the show’s usual concern for the dignity of its participants, like this man and this woman, both of whom apparently enjoy hanging around their homes without shirts so their fat rolls can breathe free! CP_man CP_woman Now in the fourth season, joining the team will be Dr. Holly Wyatt who says her job is to be sure the participants “lose weight safely.” But that’s not all that’s new. The doctor reports that they’ll be “testing bloodwork almost every single month.” Wow. Despite what’s surely a tight production budget! She also says they’ll be “working on their metabolism.” She didn’t provide any details how they’ll do that but I’m sure Powell’s usual insistence that participants lose 100 lbs in the first three months will have a significant effect. Not to be outdone by Biggest Loser, the new season will exploit a 15-year-old for ratings. Here she is, crying with Chris Powell’s wife, Heidi: CP_teen Slated to appear are fat folks who need nothing more in their lives than hours of daily exercise and a diet of sponsor-provided meals. They’ll include a man who will confront the father who molested him, a grown man who still lives with his mother, a father and daughter who “have a strained relationship,” a young widow whose army vet husband committed suicide, a man with a history of attempted suicide, a chef who feels guilt over the deaths of his siblings (did his food kill them?), a 245 lb midget (I’m not going there), a former beauty queen who “wants to be pretty again,” and the new weight loss reality show stock character—the closeted gay man who has the courage to come out on national television when he loses weight! You can be sure we’ll be hearing all about how these difficulties turned these people into weak and broken emotional wrecks who made themselves fat! The new season starts tomorrow, May 27 on ABC. It will take place at a wellness center affiliated with the University of Colorado. But will they still weigh everybody on the freight scale out on the loading dock?

3 comments

    • JoAnn on May 26, 2014 at 9:28 am

    I hate these shows. I hate how they exploit and humiliate people. I hate how they prey on those who are desperate for success. I wish the participants wanted something more for themselves. I appreciate that I have people helping me who are respectful of me as a human. I also know I wouldn’t have tolerated any less. This just makes me so sad.

    1. I just don’t get why people submit themselves to these sick shows. I can remember seeing message boards for various reality shows including one from way back called “Starting Over,” where people seemed to think there was NOWHERE ELSE they could go to get a certain level of help. It’s true not everyone’s doctor is all that helpful and most of the weight loss “clinics” seem rather shady. There’s one next door to my building that advertises every crazy gimmick you can think of including HCG. They actually have a theme song for it on their website. I’m not going to provide a link!!!

        • JoAnn on May 27, 2014 at 8:31 pm

        I started watching this tonight. It bothered me that they make the guy take off his shirt to weigh in. Although it was public there really wasn’t anyone around. The woman had to perform a dance on a public street with about 20+ people watching. Then she had to take off her shirt and weigh in in front of everyone. This was supposedly about facing fears.That’s when I turned it off. Apparently I haven’t faced my fears because I don’t weigh in front of a crowd or strip to my bra. I don’t weigh in front of my husband for goodness sake and he’d never ask me! It just sickens me. Getting on the scale at all when you are that large takes plenty of courage. It’s plenty devastating to face a hard number after avoiding it for years. I don’t get it.

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