January 14, 2008
Invested
Written by RobynDeHart in Jaunty Post
I know I’ve mentioned on here before that I love NBC’s The Biggest Loser, well, I don’t know if I’ve been able to properly express how much. I mean I really love this show. I wish it was on every night. It makes me laugh, it always makes me cry and it reminds me just how powerful the human spirit can be. I even recently watched The Biggest Loser Australia marathon on the Reality channel and it was from 2006. What can I say, it’s my favorite show. Well, the new season started on New Year’s day and while it is a short season, it’s turning out to be a special one. This time around they’re doing all couples - husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, friends and even brothers. They have a little bit of everything. But my favorite couple, oddly enough, is a formerly married couple - Paul and Kelly, the Yellow team. Well, they’re in white in this picture.
I think I probably was intrigued by them from the very beginning that they were there together working as a team even though their marriage had ended. But then I heard their story and now I’m totally committed, totally invested in them. It’s not that I want them to win, that’s never a big issue for me with the show, I just want them to succeed. And, I admit it, I want them to reunite. Maybe it’s the romance novelist in me, but for them, I have hope. First of all, Paul is so still in love with Kelly, you can see it all over his face. But really it’s their trials, the stuff they’ve been through that you can extrapolate was the reason they split, that just breaks my heart. You see Paul and Kelly suffer from infertility. And I’m sure some of you know from things I’ve said here and there that this is an issue close to home for me. They’ve lost three to miscarriage and two to ectopic pregnancies and that’s on top of the actual treatments and years of trying to conceive. I know, only too well, as I’m sure many of you do, how difficult this can be on a relationship. And to top all of this off, Paul comes from a family where the men (his father, grandfather and great-grandfather) have died far too early (in their 40’s) of heart disease. So you have a woman who clearly is driven to become a mother and is worried about the man she loves and whether or not he’ll be with her for too much longer. It’s no wonder that in our society they divorced. I’m sure I’m simplifying things for them, I don’t know this couple, nor do I claim to know anything about their actual situations, but hey, I’m a fiction writer and a lover of love and I can’t help but pull for the miracle. That they meet their weight loss goals, get their health back, and get back together to start that family they so desperately want.
So how about you? Do you get invested with people on reality shows?
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Shana Says:
I don’t get invested in TV shows, Robyn, but I often do in books. Sometimes I get mad if a character in a book does something I don’t like, and that’s it. I don’t want to be “friends” anymore. I just did that with a book last night. I don’t know when/if I’ll pick it up again.
USF loves “The Biggest Loser.” I wonder how those people don’t get eating disorders.
brownone Says:
I’m a “reality TV junkie”. Yesterday they were showing that new celebrity rehab show with Dr. Drew on VH1 and man is that a wreck! But it does give you alot of insight into what these celebrities go through! I felt so bad for that guy from Grease! He’s like a zombie and his girlfriend is SO unsupportive and is an enabler. It’s just heartbreaking that now that he wants to stop, his body does not want him to.
Jenna Petersen Says:
I’m so pulling for TK and Rachel in Amazing Race that I was actually sweating a little last night when I was watching them. They had come in last on a non-elimination leg last week, so they had to do an additional task no one else had to do this week. They were already behind and it was totally nerve wracking.
Yeah. So I need help. But they’re NICE to each other… and they enjoy the countries they’re in!!!!
Margo Maguire Says:
Nope - I’m not much of a TV buff, reality or otherwise. Unless you’re talking Red Wings Hockey. Then I’m there!
ladydawgfan Says:
Jenna, I have to agree with you on TK and Rachel. My mother and I are both pulling for them to win it all!! They don’t fight, they don’t insult each other, encourage each other, they enjoy where they are, and they go with the flow. In essence, they are a team and it shows. The only ones close are the grandfather and the grandson who keeps carrying his bag for him so he won’t get tired. They seem to work well together, although they do snipe and fight every once in a while. I also thought that Ron and Christina had a HUGE advantage in Japan and Taiwan with her fluency in the local language. They were able to communicate with the locals so much easier than the rest of the teams and it helped them immensely. And good riddence to the snotty couple that left last night. That girl needs to watch this season and be embarrassed by how she has acted on national television. JMHO!!!
Taryn Raye Says:
I’ve kind of gotten burnt out on reality shows. There are a fair few I still tune into, like American Idol. My husband and I were rooting for Chris Daughtry because we both just thought for sure he’d win, but though he didn’t, he’s still done better than most the previous winners.
Other than that, I’m not sure there are too many reality shows I invest much time in anymore.
Michelle Says:
I’m pulling from Paul and Kelly to - especially since I believe they are from around my part of the woods. (I heard she even works in the hospital where all three of my babies were delivered??)
As to TK and Rachel - I like them too. But I also like grandfather/son team too. I couldn’t have done that with my grandpa! I was also just thinking about Ron and Christina and how he seemed to be getting nicer toward her - then I remembered the fact that they’ve been ahead the last two weeks. - Let’s see how he acts if they get behind again.
Jane Says:
I do get invested with a show’s characters or contestants. We watched “American Gladiators” last night and we were so disappointed that one of the contestants(nicknamed “Big Country”) lost. It was so sad because he worked so hard just to lose at the end.