Goodbye, biggest loser
Tragic tale of the past four years finally canceled
This is the worst reality show I’ve ever been forced to watch. Despite being canceled, it’s far from over. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t find the off button.
As we head to the finale, the story line is unfolding at a breathtaking pace. I want to look away and give myself a break but I’m afraid of missing an important plot development. It’s like someone hit the fast forward button except the end isn’t getting here any quicker; only the action is speeding up.
The pilot episode was so bad I figured there was no way the audience would want to watch this for four years. Critics roundly panned it and, despite the star’s extensive media coverage, it appeared that the vast majority of viewers agreed. So it was a shock to learn in November
2016 that the show had been picked up for a full season.
We were told that the shakeup in casting was a good thing. The show had gotten so bogged down in stock characters and tired scripts that the change would mean a return to high ratings, even though our ratings were pretty high to begin with. And they assured us that the inexperienced star, when faced with the scope of the production, would become a serious actor. Unfortunately, his skill set never rose above an ability to chew up the scenery.
It’s been a stressful run, especially once Broadcast Standards and Practices, the norms that allowed the audience to take comfort in generally accepted limits on what a cast would do, were not only thrown out the window, but their destruction became part of the entertainment. Story lines
BETSY BITNER and plot twists came at a pace too rapid to follow or remember, and were completely outside of scriptwriting conventions or customary story arcs. We were told we had not seen what we’d seen or heard what we’d heard. And all of it, from the pettiest insult to the largest catastrophe, happened at full volume.
Those of us who didn’t like the way the show was developing did what we could to make our views known — knitting pink hats, attending peaceful marches, making phone calls, and writing letters. These seem positively quaint in light of the shocking episode that happened last week, which as more and more details come to light, appears not to have been unscripted. There have been times over the years that I haven’t liked or agreed with the performers in the show, but this was the first time I felt that the star and his fans would be happy with wiping out half the audience.
And all because he finally got voted off the island. It didn’t have to be that way. A story line developed early last year of once-in-a-lifetime global proportions. If the star had cared about it a fraction as much as he does about his ratings, his series would probably have been renewed for another four years. Instead, the script alternated between accusations that it was an evil plot cooked up by a rival network and claims that it was pure fantasy, interrupted by occasional commercials for bleach.
At times it’s been hard to know exactly what kind of show I’m watching: a horror movie, a crime drama involving the mob, or an incompetent circus. Those of us who don’t like the show were often told that we were taking it all too seriously. Didn’t we understand that the star’s outrageous lines were just a joke? If it’s humor, then it’s very, very dark. I’d hesitate to call it gallows humor, though, after seeing an actual gallows erected outside the Capitol last week. That was deadly serious.
In the end, I think it can best be described as a tragedy. In the past, series finales and the accompanying cast changes have been routine affairs whose lack of suspense was made up for in pride at our shared respect for common ideals. Now, in a shocking plot twist that we all saw coming, the transition from one star and supporting cast to the next will forever be fraught with danger. And one of the saddest parts is that so many still insist on stroking the star’s ego rather than taking steps to ensure this particular episode never appears in reruns.
Our ratings are now at their lowest point and the set is crumbling. The star is forever tarnished, but not because viewers chose to give him the ax but because, in true American fashion, corporate sponsors pulled their support. How many more cliff hangers will happen before the final episode I cannot say. But one thing is certain: he has proven himself to be the biggest loser. It is time for him to go home.
Those of us who didn’t like the way the show was developing did what we could to make our views known — knitting pink hats, attending peaceful marches, making phone calls, and writing letters. These seem positively quaint in light of the shocking episode that happened last week, which as more and more details come to light, appears not to have been unscripted.