[CyberTOPS] An article or two on The Biggest Loser! OT

[George Hughes]

 Don't care for Vicky AT ALL but death threats? COME ON!!! George :) Michelle
wins Biggest Loser even though Heba lost more weight; Vicky gets death
threats

The Biggest Loser 6, the family season, ended last night with Michelle
Aguilar losing 110 pounds, 45.45 percent of her body weight, and winning the
$250,000 prize. She's the show's second female winner in six seasons,
following Ali's win last
spring<http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_biggest_loser_5/2
008_Apr_16_ali_wins>
.

Second-place Ed Brantley lost 139 pounds, 41.49 percent of his body weight,
while Vicky Vilcan came in third after losing 101 pounds and 41.06 percent
of her body weight. Ed made it to the finale after viewers voted
overwhelmingly84 percentfor him to join the final three instead of his
wife Heba Salama, who viewers rejected for being such a bully. Heba would
have won the prize, however, as she lost 138 pounds (46.94 percent of her
body weight), earning her the $100,000 at-home prize.

Viewers weren't happy with Vicky, either, due to her vicious game play. She
"has been so widely reviled that she had to change her phone number because
she was receiving death threats, and to this day continues to receive
letters telling her what a horrible person she is," the Los Angeles Times
reports<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/12/biggest-loser-v.h
tml>
.

Vicky said, "Most people hate my guts.  I feel bad for the people who are
writing those letters. They don't know me."

And just if you are interested.....
Biggest Loser has the most product placement, but Bravo's placements are
more effective

The Biggest Loser 6 concludes live tonight on NBC starting at 8 p.m. ET, and
this will be the first episode I've watched in months. That's because I
bailed on the show, which has become so bloated (with two-hour episodes)
that it drags, and between that and the atrocious, obnoxious, offensive
product placement, which the trainers aren't even paid
for<http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_biggest_loser_5/2008
_Apr_15_finale_product_placement>,
I was watching it by fast-forwarding through 95 percent of the show, and why
watch something like that?

Yesterday, Nielsen released their list of the broadcast TV shows with the
most product placement, and surprise, surprise, The Biggest Loser is number
one with 6,248 placements this year. (More appallingly, Nielsen's data is
only from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30meaning that there are many more product
placements not counted.) That's more than 1,600 more than the number two
show, American Idol, which had 4,646 placements during its seventh season.

Overall, all of the reality shows in the top 10 except two are on Fox or NBC
(only one scripted show made the top 10).

   1. The Biggest Loser: 6,248
   2. American Idol 7: 4,636
   3. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: 3,371
   4. *America's Toughest Jobs*: 2,807
   5. One Tree Hill, 2,575
   6. Deal or No Deal: 2,292
   7. America's Next Top Model: 2,241
   8. Last Comic Standing: 1,993
   9. Kitchen Nightmares: 1,853
   10. Hell's Kitchen: 1,807

 Interestingly, only one of those shows, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,
made Nielsen's list of the "Top 10 Most Effective Product Placements on
Brand Opinion." CVS' appearance on the ABC show was number one, and Sears,
which provides happiness to destitute families through appliances, was
fifth.

But every single other show in the top 10 was on Bravo, like #2 TRESemme and
#4 Bluefly.com on Project Runway, and #6 Glad, #7 Whole Foods, and #8 Food &
Wine Magazine on Top Chef. Number three was El Pollo Loco on *Flipping Out*,
which was so effective and well-integrated I had no idea it was product
placement, I just assumed Jeff Lewis and company had lunch there.