Celebrity Fit Club

What’s the Story?

VH1's CELEBRITY FIT CLUB is a reality competition series that rounds up overweight, C-list stars past their prime, splits them into two teams, and challenges them to replace their fatness with fitness. The celebrity who loses the most weight at the end of the 100-day challenge wins a prize package and bragging rights as Celebrity Fit Club champion. But the losing contestants tend to walk away with something too: slimmer bodies and the tools to continue losing weight on their own. Some of the familiar faces who've subjected themselves to trainer Harvey Walden's drill sergeant-like care include Tina Yothers (Family Ties), Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), and Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) -- who lost 160 pounds after her gastric bypass surgery but went back to battling the bulge in the wake of her daughter's birth.

Is It Any Good?

While some people might view Celebrity Fit Club as a genuine opportunity to cheer on celebrities as they struggle to eat right and exercise, the show's producers seem to assume that most people just want a peek at the side show. Celebrity Fit Club exploits the fact that these one-time A-listers are now desperately out of shape with unforgiving camera angles, humiliating challenges that require bathing suits, and overly dramatic weekly weigh-ins. The full-body, 360-degree views of each contestant that broadcast their height, starting weight, and weight-loss progress are particularly painful to watch.

They say the camera adds 10 pounds, but this is ridiculous. In essence, Celebrity Fit Club is the kind of show that makes it easy to gloat about your own physique, mostly because you're too busy gaping at bodies that have fallen from grace. And is that really the kind of judgmental behavior you want to pass on to your kids? The show isn't straight-out bad, but for family viewing, it's probably not the best choice.