Biggest Loser Scandal Not A Big Deal
Everyone seems to be just scandalized that The Biggest Loser did some fancy editing that made it seem that a former contestant on the show had run a marathon, when in fact he didn't. In case you haven't seen the details, here is what happened. Dane Patterson who had already lost about 100 pounds when he was kicked off the show was shown at the end where they see how contestants are progressing after six weeks of being on their own without the support of the show. In the segment, Dane was showing crossing the finish line of a marathon with his very fit wife in a time that appeared to be 3 hours and 53 minutes which is really fast. So fast in fact that it got people suspicious.
What had happened according to everyone involved was that Dane had run the first 17 miles and a field producer realized that Dane was not going to make the six hour cut off for the marathon and so went and picked him up in a car, drove him 3 miles and then Dane ran the final six miles. As he crossed the finish line, it was an accurate photo, but some of the lights had gone out in the timer and so the actual time when he crossed was 5 hours and 53 minutes.
Immediately after Dane crossed the finish line, he, his wife and another person went back and ran the three miles he originally missed. Everyone is now calling into question whether reality shows are real. Ummm. I think that was answered a long time ago.
No one ever said the guy finished the marathon in 3 hours 53 minutes and they seem to be forgetting the fact that he did run the entire marathon. And even if you don't count his going back to finish the three miles, he still ran 23 miles in under 6 hours which is a fantastic accomplishment for a guy who was a bazillion pounds overweight just a few months before.
I don't see the big deal. I have never expected reality shows to be real. The Biggest Loser is more real than most because you can see actual weight loss, but if you think reality television is real, and are personally offended by some of the editing techniques used, then you really need to find something else to watch.
