For what seemed like ages, “The Biggest Loser” was the only show on NBC that resembled a true ratings hit, so it should come as no surprise that ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss” debuted as the strongest show on television last night. Each episode of the reality series follows one disgustingly obese person for a year as they waddle through workouts to become a normal person (see trailer below), and the premiere pulled in an impressive 7.1 million viewers on a holiday, improving on its “Bachelorette” lead-in.
Weight Loss had 7.1 million viewers and a 2.3 preliminary rating in the adult demo at 10 p.m., up 28 percent from the season premiere of True Beauty in the slot last year.
That’s enough to rank Weight Loss as the highest-rated show of the night, which is particularly impressive since it grew from its lead-in — The Bachelorette (7.1 million, 2.1), which was down 23 percent from last week’s premiere. [EW]
I’ve said before that there’s about an hour of good television in every two-hour episode of “The Biggest Loser,” and I appreciate TV series that show people working out and eating well, so in that regard I welcome the addition of “Weight Loss” to the reality canon. But then I read that this woman is a gym teacher:
…and I just get pissed off all over again. Seriously, a gym teacher. A 400-pound gym teacher. I wouldn’t trust her with my sandwich, much less the physical education of my children.
