Excess BaggageMon-Thu 7pm, Ch9.
http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/excessbaggage/
“Tonight, the hard work begins.” You don’t know the half of it Kate. Everyone’s nervous because it’s time for the first of the regular training sessions with Christian, and it’s also stats time. Dipper’s treating the whole thing like a pre-season camp & team mate Lana isn’t used to be “supported” like that.

The teams are bonding and fracturing already. Overall it’s a big focus on health and fitness rather than just weight loss (nice niggle). There are some harsh numbers as far as waist measurement, body fat % and fitness test results go – and starting weight is only noted as a by line. This is a weight loss show with a difference. So Darren nicks off for a smoke.

“Darren – why are you here?”
“Because of the paycheque… sorry, to get fit and all that.”

Everyone is of course overwhelmed with their starting figures, but no one cries on cue like Ajay.
“I used to get text messages – nil by mouth – from stylists wanting me to fit into sample dresses.” That’s a bad place to be in no matter who you are. The contestants have all been tasked with improving their three scores for next check-in, and they’ll be scored accordingly in the process… and then BAM! Australia hits K-Fed. Australia maybe wishes it had swung a little harder.


The Biggest Loser AustraliaMon-Thu 7pm, Ch10.
http://thebiggestloser.com.au/
After last night’s elimination, there was always going to be an aftermath – and it was always going to aimed at Margie after she led the charge to boot Selena. Boy wasn’t Margie hung out to dry too. Cue tears. Enter the trainers to offer shock at the result and to add to the niggle. Cue tears and a walkout (who says reality TV isn’t formualic?).

Trainer Michelle already knows Margie after only a week, and Margie knows in hindsight she shouldn’t have even cast a vote [Slaps self in face with faux shock].

Everyone trains and everyone gets ready for the first challenge. All this exertion by the contestants makes me wonder: does the Commando ever gets sick of wearing camouflage and black? Is there a correlation between obese parents and children with downs syndrome? Does Hayley Lewis’ face move? This was all quickly overcome by a meltdown from Lydia after she failed in the first challenge and was cast into the pit of eternal despair for not being able to hold a ball above her head. There’s always a lot of shouting in these challenges and very little of it makes sense.

Shane won overall for the Black team and got to go on “the walk”, followed closely by “the heavy breathing” and then “the sit”. Shane chose the Mystery Box, and there was lots of “oooh’s” and “aaah’s” as he revealed what it meant in the teaser for tomorrow night.


My Kitchen RulesMon-Thu 7:30pm, Ch7
http://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/
Angela & Justine are straight into their shopping for their WA instant restaurant.
“Keep it simple, stupid” says Angela. Justine looks at her blankly like she just quoted Confucious.

The girls love their food. They also love the heroes of their dishes, and the duck is it for their entree. Pete & Manu worry about the cooking of the duck, but are then interrupted by other sweeping generalisations from Angela about real foodies loving gorgonzola.

“The pressure’s on” they acknowledge as the air starts being sucked from the room. Their initial thoughts of a biblical theme for their instant restaurant didn’t work out when they couldn’t carve the menu into stone tablets in time, so the opted for a Garden of “Eatin'” theme instead (this stuff just writes itself). The SA team already acknowledge the WA team will be their main competition, and Florist Leigh thinks they’ll be second guessing their presentation because of her.
“Maybe that’s good because it will put a little bit of wind into them…” — SA’s Leigh.

Their allocated three hours of preparation vanishes very quickly for the girls. They’ve so much to worry about: stock, runny semi-freddo, pommegranate vinniagrette, too many vowels. They have little pet names for each other like “the brownie queen” and “hurry up, you lazy shit”. They prepare the champagne cocktails as the final seconds tick by…
“I can’t get it out.” — Angela
“I’m coming.” — Justine
Just a normal day in the kitchen for these two, really. Oh they meant the champagne bottle. Wow.

Everyone arrives and instantly makes judgements. Who’d really invite these people over if all they are going to do is pick apart everything you do? What do they think it is – some sort of competition?? Princess Jen launches into her critique, and everyone hangs on her every sigh. Meanwhile the kitchen is a hive of activity, which is a damn shame as the girls have to stop cooking to de-bee the place before Pete & Manu arrive.

All the panic, drama, fake drama and creative editing in the kitchen didn’t really pay off for Angela & Justine. The narrator tells us it’s crunch time for Angela & Justine when they serve their main – awkard considering they’re serving a risotto. During the “game time”, Princess Jen claimed her teammate Leigh was “COD”. Yeah. Tip for young players: always chill your plates before dishing up the semi-freddo in a hot kitchen.

Scores count for everything in this game, and it was a bit all over the place, but with 6’s, 7’s & an 8 – total score 34/50. Pete & Manu scored:
P Entree – 7; M Entree – 7
P Main – 7; M Main – 6
P Dessert – 8; M Dessert – 9
Overall score: 78/110
Steve manages to reveal somehow he has grasped the decimal number system by proudly declaring “We’re still second – YEAH!”. It’s off to SA tomorrow night to see what the Florist and the Princess can offer up.