February | 2009 | Groundlings Review 2009 February | Movie, Television and book reviews for common folk, by common folk.

February, 2009

TV Review: The Biggest Loser

February 25, 2009 by Dennis West

My Biggest Loser Story

NBC’s The Biggest Loser is one of the most inspiring shows on TV. It’s also one of the most discouraging. I believe that whether or not this show works for you depends on where you are in your own weight loss journey.

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t stand this show. I was offended by the name when it first came out because it made me think that they were saying that ALL fat people were losers and that they were just looking for the biggest one. Of course, back then I was about 440 pounds and would usually watch the show while balancing a bowl of chocolate ice cream on my belly, so you can probably guess where my negative feelings were coming from.

Now when I watch this show I have nothing but compassion and awe over the accomplishments of the contestants. What created this change in me? Well, it wasn’t in a method that NBC’s The Biggest Loser trainers Bob Harper and Jilian Michaels would approve of—I had Gastric Bypass Surgery.

The decision to have the surgery came after many years of struggling with my weight, losing it only to find myself gaining more not too long after that. What finally tipped the scales (so to speak) was when I saw the following picture of myself that was taken at my daughter’s baptism.

This was what was a special day for my daughter and was definitely something for the family albums, but when I saw this picture, my heart just sank. It really hit me hard how far I had let myself go. Not only did I come to a realization of how bad I looked, but I was also realizing that I was missing many opportunities to spend quality time with my daughters because I was too tired or weak.

So I had the surgery, the Roux-En-Y version, and had very good results. One of the keys to making it a successful experience is to make sure to have a doctor with a great support system—you need to be a part of support groups and there also needs to be a great diet system. The surgery doesn’t magically make everything in your life better, there is a lot you need to do before and after to be successful and it is possible to gain a considerable amount of weight back. It’s more of a great jump-start to get you on a path to losing your weight and it gives you a tool to curb your appetite.

Two years after my oldest daughter’s baptism, my younger daughter had hers and the following picture was taken.

Needless to say, we’re all much happier now. It’s amazing how kids can forget negative things. When my daughters see my “before” picture, they have no memory of me looking like that. But what they do know is how much more we do together. We ride bikes, go on hikes and just spend more time together. We’re all so much happier now.

So, back to the The Biggest Loser, the people on that show have an advantage that I’d say is every bit as “unfair” of an advantage given to someone who wants to lose the weight surgically. How many other times in their lives are they going to be able to have their diets closely monitored and be able to work out for 8 hours or more a day?

Although their methods of weight loss differ from the path that I took, I am very inspired by this show even though my path to weight loss was quite different from theirs. I know what a change losing a significant amount of weight can create in someone’s life. It’s like a whole new world opens up and people start seeing you for who you are and not as some random fat person. For anyone else who struggles with your weight, I’d say just do what it takes and what works for you. Your future is depending on it.

I’m sorry if this “review” hasn’t been as much of a review as a personal testimonial, but I’ve never known my enjoyment of a show to be as affected by my own personal situation as this show has made me feel. I hope that more and more people will continue to be motivated by it to make changes in their lives for the better.

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TV Review: Chuck

February 24, 2009 by Bryan Osborn

“Chuck Versus the Best Friend”

Don’t get me wrong, Chuck on NBC is one my favorite shows, but I never know when to take it seriously or to just laugh something off. There was a little bit of that going on last night. Do we take the spy game seriously or do we take it as a comedy and laugh off the inconsistencies?

The show opens with a flashback to young Morgan (sporting an Alf t-shirt, awesome) getting beat up by a girl he likes. Chuck comes to his rescue even back then. That sets up the pattern for the entire show: Chuck has always rescued Morgan, who has never grown up.

Back in the present, we find Morgan still troubled by his breakup with Anna Wu, where he and the boys are planning a little spy mission of their own. The real spies, Casey and Sarah must then engage in a little spy vs. spy action; scratch that, make that spy vs. nerd action. Two of the best lines of the whole episode come during this scene, the first when Jeff informs us that 80% of his female encounters have been without the nerd herd’s knowledge (Chuck is more worried about the other 20% . . . rightly so). The second, Casey’s line, comes during the surveillance mission:

Morgan: “We have visual acquisition of the target.”
Lester: “The subject is on the move.”
Casey: “The idiots are on the move.”

During their spy mission, Chuck flashes on Anna’s new boyfriend, who is a major smuggler, so much so, that he is on the CIA’s radar and in the Intersect. Ok, is Chuck just a major magnet for trouble, or is LA just that dangerous that everyone routinely rubs shoulders with smugglers, spies, and other assorted terrorists. This is one of the areas that I am willing to suspend belief, as it is the premise for the show. I do think the writers mix up this formula enough that it doesn’t get too monotonous. Either way, the mission parameters are great; Chuck must “befriend his best friend’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.”

This episode also has the return of Captain Awesome. I love his mix of confidence, laid back attitude, braininess, and naivety. I laughed so hard when they first introduced him in the Pilot. BTW, did you know that Captain Awesome has a blog?

Here come the little nitpicky comments. Chuck always blows the “covert ops” sections. Why would Sarah ever task Chuck with planting a bug? A little too formulaic to me. Next, after Morgan is discovered as the spy/stalker, a Triad member walks right up to the bug. How did he even know that he should look for a bug? Are all smugglers that sophisticated? Speaking of the Triad members, I for one didn’t buy that Morgan was ever in any real jeopardy. The 2 male Triad members just didn’t come off as very threatening in their actions.

As for being in jeopardy, did anyone ever believe that Chuck was in danger of being blown up? Ok, I was surprised that he was driving the remote, but why wouldn’t he have just stayed in plain view to drive the car away? Obviously it was just to set up the whole cheesy hand-holding scene between Chuck and Sarah (formulaic). Don’t get me wrong, I want to see them together as much as anyone else, but it just came off as a little too easy.

Speaking of easy, why did the Chinese ambassador’s guards focus on Casey and just let Chuck by to uncover the bomb? And why did they believe Sarah was CIA when moments before they didn’t believe Casey’s credentials? It didn’t add up . . . too easy, too neat, but hey, you have to tie up the loose ends quickly in a 1 hour show. That’s why I don’t know when to take the series seriously. I am willing to overlook things in the name of comedy, but other things seem to be glaring holes.

To wind up the show, I liked the idea of the continuing bromance between Morgan and Chuck. It was mostly believable and a nice relationship. Chuck seems to be dependant on Morgan as his only “family,” but Chuck has a sister. What about her? If there is a family relationship between Morgan and Chuck, it would be one with Chuck as the older brother who always has to rescue his younger brother from his own stupidity. Not much of a two way street.

As always though, an entertaining show with plenty of action and comedy to keep me coming back for more.

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TV Review: Medium, “…About Last Night”

by Dennis West

>Medium on NBC is a show that doesn’t get a lot of fanfare. It’s a show that doesn’t have the most glamorous of actors and doesn’t do many stunts to produce a lot of hype. Sometimes I find that it’s even easy to forget that Medium is on and I miss it. It’s interesting, then, how just about every time I watch Medium I come away from it thinking that it’s one of the best shows on television.

Now in it’s fifth season, Medium is about an average family living in Phoenix, Arizona. The dad, Joe Dubois (played by Jake Weber), is an inventor. The mom, Allison Dubois (played by Patricia Arquette), is a consultant for the District Attorney’s office. And they have 3 daughters: Ariel, who’s just learning to drive, Bridgette, who offers much comic relief, and the youngest is Marie. Did I mention that mom, Allison, is a psychic who sees dead people, has visions, and other paranormal experiences?

Yes, the thing that keeps Medium from being a modern day version of Leave It To Beaver, is that it’s really a crime drama centered on a psychic who is trusted by the District Attorney for her paranormal insights. Much of the time Medium is a fantasy grounded in the mundane of every day life, and that seeming mismatch of genres is what makes this show so compelling.

In last night’s episode, “…About Last Night”, Allison blacks out for 6 hours, not realizing how she got from the supermarket in the late afternoon to laying on the sidewalk under a freeway overpass in the middle of the night. As she begins to realize what she’s done, she’s terrified that she may have killed at least one person, maybe two. (SPOILERS FOLLOW) It turns out that she was actually possessed by a recently murdered woman who takes over Allison in the hopes of stopping the deaths of many other people.

Medium is interesting because Allison’s visions and dreams aren’t always clear and she frequently misinterprets them. This leads everyone else to doubt her when her visions don’t make sense, at the same time they realize that her visions often do include important clues that they trust will help them solve whatever mystery they’re facing.

If you’ve never watched Medium, I’d suggest that you give it a try. Often there are great twists at the ends and great writing throughout. Also refreshing about this show is that there are only very minor ongoing storylines. Each episode is a self contained story, so there are no worries that if you miss one or haven’t watched from the beginning, that you’ll be lost, as in ABC’s Lost or NBC’s Heroes.

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TV Review: Heroes, "Cold Wars"

by Dennis West

“You know me, I’ve always been comfortable with morally grey.”

From the previews last week, we were promised that tonight’s Heroes on NBC would answer the question of whether or not Noah Bennet A.K.A. HRG (Horn-Rimmed Glasses) was a hero or a villain.

Whether or not he’s a good guy is something I’ve wondered for a long time, and been frustrated with. He seems to go through spurts where he’s devious and manipulative, and other times he’s playing the part of “inside man” turning the tables in the heroes’ favor. Personally, I’ve always wanted him to be a good guy trying to stay on the inside of a bad situation so he could turn the tables as a double agent.

When we left off last week’s episode, “Building 26,” Noah was in the restaurant of the hotel he’s staying in while he works out his family troubles. While there he discovers that he’s been drugged and looses consciousness. We then saw 3 of our on-the-lamb heroes, Matt Parkman, Peter Petrelli and Mohinder Suresh escort him out.

Tonight’s episode, “Cold Wars” began by skipping back a little before the three “supers” drugged Noah where we see that they weren’t all on the same page on the virtues of abducting and interrogating him. Once the abduction takes place, they spend most of their time in a seedy hotel room where Parkman uses his mind powers to probe Noah’s brain for answers about who is pursuing them and what their intentions are.

I’ll admit that Noah Bennet is one of my favorite characters on Heroes. One of the best things about this episode was that it focused primarily on his interrogation and featured many flashbacks from his memories exploring how he came to be involved in the hunt for the supers. There were echoes of what many consider to be one of the best episodes of Heroes from season one, “Company Man.” What both of these episodes have going for them is their focus on Noah and their black and white memories from Noah’s past.

What I think was lacking in this episode were the supposed-to-be tense interactions between the 3 heroes, Parkman, Petrelli and Suresh. I think the writing just isn’t up to par… or maybe it’s the direction. They’re supposed to be having this internal struggle, but to me it just sounds like they’re bickering about who are the good guys and who are the bad. In previous episodes it made sense for Hiro to call others, “heroes,” “villains” or “nemesis” because he was a geek growing up who loved comic books, but when it comes from one of the straight man-ish characters, it just doesn’t seem to fit, in the midst of this tense situation, that they’d be self aware enough to label themselves like they do.

Another thing that bothers me is that, as a viewer, I know about the powers that these heroes possess. I know that Matt Parkman can use his abilities to give those around him illusions that can change their environment and make them believe things are happening that aren’t true. So why didn’t he use his ability to get away from the small army that was coming to take him? I guess how it played-out was appropriate since the episode was trying to focus on Noah, but sometimes the writers seem to conveniently forget details if it supports their storyline.

Oh, and when is someone finally going to blurt out that Nathan can fly?? It seems like that would be one thing that would seriously undermine his efforts to hunt them all!

Tonight’s episode ended with Mohinder Suresh captured, Peter (we assume, but it could have been Nathan) rescuing Matt Parkman, and Noah Bennet finishing a conversation with Angela Petrelli that he started 5 weeks ago in his memory. It’s in this last scene that we learn that Noah is still working for Angela and he still has the same goals that he had when he was working for the company, which seem to be noble enough in that he wants to save the good people with abilities, and only lock up the dangerous ones. He admits that he’ll have to go deep under cover and do even more questionable things to convince is colleagues that he really is on their side, but I think we, as viewers, are supposed to remember this and keep rooting for him to succeed as a “good guy.”

All in all, I think tonight’s episode was satisfying. Heroes is best when the storylines aren’t getting spread too thin amongst all of the main characters. Hopefully this will be a trend revisited in the near future. But please, the final shot with another painting on the floor of a city exploding–this time Washington DC. How many times are they going to build up to an explosion that never happens? Can’t they change their formula a little?

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Thoughts on Amazing Race: 14

by Bryan Osborn

“Your Target is Your Partner’s Face”

I have to start this off by saying that I am impressed with anyone who makes it on the hit show from CBS, Amazing Race, but the last two episodes have left me, shall we say, less than impressed with Steve and Linda, the county bumpkins. They seemed to get confused at seemingly simple tasks that everyone else breezes through. In their defense, I have been in stressful traveling situations in foreign lands with my wife, and it can be downright exasperating (no offense honey). That said, during last week’s episode, I was thinking, “if you come in behind the bumpkins, you deserve to be eliminated.” This week, Steve and Linda seemed doomed from the start. I felt empathetic for Linda when she lost her way and was impressed that they got it together enough to finish the leg. Too bad that Steve realized too late that he should stop criticizing Linda and start working as a team.

Lawyers Tammy and Victor put up an impressive run and never gave up the lead once they took it. They seem to know how to work as a team. Tammy may talk about how Victor always makes the final decisions as the big brother, but I think he respects Tammy’s input and contribution to the team. This is in contrast to another sibling team, Lakisha and Jennifer (does anyone else think that Jen got gypped in the name department?). These two sisters better get things together or they will soon find that their sibling rivalry will get them into trouble. Teams that gel always seem to do better.

I’m sorry, but I don’t see what all the big hype was about Margie and Luke winning last week’s leg. Sure he has a hearing handicap, but he is a smart, strapping young fellow. In most situations, it doesn’t seem like verbal communication would be that much of a requirement. I guess I just have always found deaf people to be just as capable as anyone else. We have a friend who plays on the high school tennis team; if it has been a problem for her, she doesn’t show it. To me it is impressive when anyone wins a leg, no matter who they are. It takes equal doses of smart playing, physicality, and a lot of good luck. Now if Steve and Linda had won a leg that would have been impressive!

Other teams that impressed me were Mel and Mike and Mark and Michael. I felt bad for Mel, that he had no choice but to wait for the wind to change up on that mountain. I agree with him that it isn’t really right for someone to pray and expect God to help you to win. I don’t think something as trivial as a game really registers on the “miracle” radar. However, I will say that it was a miraculous bit of editing for their scene. Mel kept saying how grateful he would be, and then immediately the wind changed. Amazing. Kudos to the editors.

As for Mark and Michael, something about them is endearing to me. Perhaps it is their cheerfulness or maybe their can-do attitude. Either way, I expect them to go far. On the opposite end, Christie and Jodi have been disappointing. What happened to their “insider-travel-secrets” advantage? I will be surprised if they make it another week.

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