Sweatin’ to the Oldies recalls simpler times with Simmons

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE What is it? Richard Simmons Sweatin’ to the Oldies, 30th anniversary complete collection, six episodes on six discs from Time Life How much? $39.95 When? Now

Wait, you mean the guy with the curly hair and gym shorts on those exercise videos? The very same. It has been 30 years since Richard Simmons introduced a different kind of exercise video.

Instead of tough aerobic workouts, Pilates or yoga, Simmons turns exercise into a party.

Over the course of five programs, Simmons and his cast exercise and dance their way to weight loss to tunes like “It’s My Party,” “Jailhouse Rock,”

“Rockin’ Robin” and

“Proud Mary.”

Each program has a different setting

(a prom, a diner, an amusement park, a sock hop and a block party) but the same upbeat tunes, primarily from the 1960s, played by a band.

In the closing credits, there’s a curtain call of sorts as the participants’ names and weight loss successes pop up on the screen.

In addition to the five Sweatin’ episodes, there’s also Love Yourself and Win: Six Steps to Self-Esteem & Permanent Weight Loss. Simmons (in normal clothes instead of his signature workout gear) interviews clients and talks to an audience about his self-help program.

Simmons gives an intro to the first four Sweatin’s and Love Yourself and Win. Would this be good for weight loss? Depends on your needs, temperament, etc. But the timing is great for tackling those New Year’s resolutions.

Exercise programs have become more detailed, more elaborate, more hard-core in the last 30 years and Simmons’ perky get-upand-dance system seems simple, quaint and kind of hokey now. But, as he explains, some people don’t respond well to working out in a gym or going for a run or engaging in the various demanding forms of serious exercise. If dancing along to old songs gets people up and moving, why not?

As Simmons says, “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t gonna get done.”

Of course, for 30 years, there are people who have found the earnest, touchyfeely Simmons and his programs to be more a source of comedy than of fitness inspiration. Are there extras? There are. Spread over the first four discs you get: Interviews with Simmons, participants and the show’s wardrobe designer A roundtable reunion with Simmons and some of his participants watching videos Testimonials from people who’ve lost weight through the videos

A video with an excerpt of Simmons’ exercise classes

A surreal 1988 commercial for Simmons’ salad spray

There’s also an enclosed booklet that’s primarily made up of photos of and captions by Simmons.

New this week: Death Valley Days, Season 14; Last Tango in Halifax, Holiday Special Next week: Girlfriends, complete series; Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Season 2