Heavy on A&E -- Review of premiere

So, the new A&E show, Heavy premiered on Jan 17th and the weight loss forums have been pretty chatty about it.  Basically it's a show about morbidly obese people who go to this intervention type camp. It's actually kind of gorgeous and I wouldnt' mind visiting. ;)

 View the ad: 

I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel about it, because I generally dislike weight loss TV shows and 'reality TV' in general. I feel that they are exploitative. A way for thin people to sit on their couches and poke fun at others from the comfort of their home. In general I find reality shows to be similar to circus freak shows.

In my opinion The Biggest Loser might as well start filming under the big top:

From Tod Browning's Freaks: 

To The Biggest Loser: 

I understand that some people are motivated by this show, but I feel it sets most people up for failure along the road to wellness. The exploitation is pretty clear in the difference between the photos and I'm not talking about her weight. We see exactly what they want us to see. 

Anyhow, I went into watching Heavy with skepticism about it's intentions. ) It was actually an "okay" show, but I feel I may be forgiving a few of it's transgressions because I'm biased. (aka fat).

• They focused mostly on exercise, showed a tiny snipped of therapy and an obvious plug from dannon yogurt "Mmmm, tastes like pudding!"....and that was about it.
• Not very informative but I suppose it's not supposed to be, it's telling their story. It's not showing a 'how to' guide, I just have to keep that in mind, and we can all sob in our ice cream...er, dannon yogurt, together. ;)
• I don't want to be like those doctors who groan on and on about how unrealistic ER was, or a lawyer or cop whining about Law and Order, but it seems like they could be more educational and less dramatic, but then again, it is a docudrama. So my expectation for anything more is now gone. No worries. 

Although I'm totally put off by them using a GORGEOUS fat woman who is not on the show for their promo:

• In the end it did, I must admit, give me the warm fuzzies for those people who were on the road to good health, the methods on the show seemed pretty simple: diet, exercise, and a bit of therapy were involved. It's a start. 

• A major strike against the show was that it didn't focus much on healthy food choices or portion control. It really only showed them eating ice cream and junk or ordering massive portions of food. 

It seems that they totally embraced the idea that food was the problem, but ignored the fact that (healthy) food was also the solution.

Did you watch the premiere? What did you think? Will you continue to watch it?