Also new this month, we have the latest instalment in the Real Housewives franchise, a fresh Australian mystery boasting an all-star cast, and the surprisingly good Outlander prequel.<\/p>\n
Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser \u2014 Netflix, out now<\/p>\n
Helmed by personal trainers Jillian “unless you faint, puke or die, keep working” Michaels and Bob Harper, The Biggest Loser US premiered in 2004 to soaring ratings.<\/p>\n
Back then, we tuned in every night to watch overweight people<\/a> pushed to exercise to the point of vomiting in the pursuit of being crowned “the biggest loser” \u2014 the person deemed to have lost the most weight.<\/p>\n Reclaiming the word ‘fat’<\/a><\/p>\n As more people take back their own bodies, language and meaning around fat and similar terms must continue to evolve.<\/p>\n Over three parts, Fit for TV forces us to reckon with a competition that was entrenched in fatphobia and spectacle masquerading as well-intentioned inspiration.\u00a0<\/p>\n It begins by charting The Biggest Loser’s confounding beginnings and runaway success, followed by the global spin-offs (including an Australian version, running from 2006-2017), the lucrative merchandising \u2026 and eventually, the scandals.<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n These include \u2014 but are not limited to \u2014 the caffeine pill furore of 2013<\/a>, Rachel Frederickson’s win that same year<\/a>, and the damning 2016 study by the US National Institutes of Health<\/a> that helped us understand why extreme weight loss almost always results in the subsequent weight gain many former contestants experienced.<\/p>\n Fit for TV would have drastically benefited from featuring non-diet aligned medical experts such as dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch<\/a>, and you shouldn’t go into this expecting much, if any, remorse from the personal trainers, executive producers, or hosts involved in making this show happen. Hell, Jillian Michaels declined to comment at all.<\/p>\n There’s also a lot of talk of weight and calories, before and after comparisons, and unsafe weight loss practices, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re in a good place with your body and food.<\/p>\n Bob Harper (left) trained contestants for 16 seasons, mostly alongside Jillian Michaels. (Supplied: IMDb)<\/p>\n But there are elements of Fit for TV that feel rooted in 2025 understandings of diet culture and move the conversation about The Biggest Loser’s impact forward, ultimately making it worth the watch. Talking heads include Aubrey Gordon of The Maintenance Phase (and the documentary Your Fat Friend<\/a>), as well as countless former contestants who now see the series for what it was.<\/p>\n We now need a version for the Australian Biggest Loser. Oh, and while we’re at it, America’s Next Top Model.<\/p>\n For fans of: Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action and Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel<\/p>\n Long Story Short \u2014 Netflix, out now<\/p>\n BoJack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie fans, rejoice: Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Lisa Hanawalt’s latest show is delightfully reminiscent of their previous works in terms of tone, animation and narrative style.<\/p>\n But at the same time, it’s entirely distinct.<\/p>\n There are no talking animals, for one.<\/p>\n Long Story Short tells the sweeping story of the dysfunctional and unmistakably human Scwhooper family, starting in the 1950s and jumping across multiple timelines of varying levels of absurdity to chronicle coming of age, love, parenting, religion, intergenerational trauma, and raising kids despite it.<\/p>\n How a depressed talking horse changed adult animation<\/a><\/p>\n Equal parts hilarious, heartbreaking and daring, the popularity of this cartoon about a chemically unbalanced horse has endured for a decade.<\/p>\n Each of the 10 30-odd-minute episodes in this decidedly Jewish story focuses on a different character or relationship dynamic.<\/p>\n There’s fiercely protective matriarch Naomi Schwartz (Lisa Edelstein), her comparatively meek but deeply feeling husband Elliot Cooper (Paul Reiser), and their three children: Avi (Ben Feldman) the unmoored eldest son, who brings a shiksa home to meet the family on the worst day possible; Shira (Abbi Jacobson) the defiant lesbian middle child in an interracial relationship; and Yoshi (Max Greenfield), the Todd Chavez-coded youngest who succumbs to a mattress-in-a-tube multi-level-marketing scheme called TAMIT (There’s a Mattress in There).<\/p>\n Far from disjointed, this back-and-forth saga is full of quests and yearning, and it perfectly articulates the chaos of family.<\/p>\n Every single episode will make you laugh, and many will hit you in the gut and force you to contemplate your existence, much like BoJack. It’s also the kind of show you’ll get something different out of on every rewatch. I’m already planning mine.<\/p>\n For fans of: BoJack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie, Bob’s Burgers, Disenchantment<\/p>\n The Family Next Door \u2014 ABC iview<\/a>, out now<\/p>\n Months on from her turn starring in the adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s The Last Anniversary<\/a>, Teresa Palmer is back for another go at the mystery drama genre \u2014 this time as Isabelle, the totally normal and not at all suspicious new arrival to the sun-drenched and sleepy coastal town of Osprey Point, Victoria.<\/p>\n Isabelle booked a holiday rental in Pleasant Court, a cul-de-sac to rival Erinsborough’s Ramsey Street, for a very specific reason \u2014 and it wasn’t to write a travel article about “the new Byron Bay” as she tells real estate agent, neighbour and rage-filled mother Ange (Bella Heathcote) in episode one.<\/p>\n She wouldn’t need to take surreptitious pictures of her new neighbours’ children for that.<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n This adaptation of Sally Hepworth’s 2018 novel may have a tired “coastal town mystery” premise, but it feels lived in.<\/p>\n Beyond the quietly intense Palmer, the cast is packed with instantly recognisable Australian actors who do more than just deliver on the tightly written script \u2014 from Bob Morley, who plays Ange’s directionless husband Lucas, to Philippa Northeast, who stars as exhausted new mother Essie.<\/p>\n Each episode in this six-part series focuses on a different woman from the families who call Pleasant Court home, allowing for a diverse and nuanced exploration of themes, including loss of identity in motherhood and marriage, as well as the importance of community.<\/p>\n Tying all this together is the moreish mystery that makes it difficult not to consume The Family Next Door in one sitting.<\/p>\n For fans of: Deadloch, The Last Anniversary, Big Little Lies<\/p>\n The Real Housewives of London \u2014 Hayu, out now<\/p>\n With 31 other Real Housewives franchises out there, the fact it’s taken so many years for a London version (2014’s Ladies of London doesn’t count) has long miffed fans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, Hayu (the company behind The Real Housewives of London [RHOL]) has rectified this massive oversight on the behalf of Bravo (the company that birthed the franchise).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n