TLC Show

[TLCShow]

Hello,

I am casting a show for TLC about people with crazy diets. I read your posts about the paleo diet and it would be great to have the possibility of sharing your stories our on show.
If you're interested please contact : tlcobsessionshow@gmail.com

Hope yo hear from you!

[TylerDurden]

I'm curious as to the nature of the show. The last time, one of us was approached by  a TV production company that just wanted to show how misguided we all were. The only good thing was that they were honest about their goals.  A newspaper interview I gave was twisted to make it seem  as though the only reason anyone would do a rawpalaeodiet was in order to lose weight! I will admit, though,  that not all such interviews/shows have been bad, and some actually quite good.

Oh, and you do realise we are "rawpalaeo" not just "palaeo" as in "cooked-palaeo"?

[Ferocious]

I'm curious as to the nature of the show. The last time, one of us was approached by  a TV production company that just wanted to show how misguided we all were. The only good thing was that they were honest about their goals.  A newspaper interview I gave was twisted to make it seem  as though the only reason anyone would do a rawpalaeodiet was in order to lose weight! I will admit, though,  that not all such interviews/shows have been bad, and some actually quite good.

Oh, and you do realise we are "rawpalaeo" not just "palaeo" as in "cooked-palaeo"?

Considering their email reads "TLC Obsession Show", it doesn't seem positive. Seems like it would be about people obsessed with "weird" things. In our case that would be eating raw meat. But who knows?

[jessica]

i sleep with raw meat under my pillow

[Projectile Vomit]

I'm in an ornery mood this morning, so I responded to them. I'm curious if they'd even be interested in me though, as I'm a well-kept, articulate professional with a (legitimate) PhD. I suspect they're looking for someone with obvious physical, mental or social imbalances to make a mockery of.

[TylerDurden]

Oh dear, we've come across these people before:-

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/hot-topics/%27freaky-eaters%27-a-tlc-show-with-raw-fooder-episode/

[Projectile Vomit]

Just heard back from the folks at The Learning Channel. The woman seemed nice enough in her response and portrayed the series as offering people who eat alternative diets an opportunity to explain themselves, rather than attempting to prove them wrong. I still have a healthy amount of skepticism, but I'm entertaining the possibility of being featured on the show. We'll see what happens.

[PaleoPhil]

Eric, please bear in mind Tyler's advice to only do live, or at  least unedited, interviews, and be aware that The Learning Channel has learned that freak shows sell ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(TV_channel)#Criticism ):

The channel has been criticized for departing from the original nature of its programming, by airing shows of controversial nature with what is described as no educational value. [8] TLC programs that were under fire from critics and the media included Toddlers and Tiaras, [9]Sarah Palin's Alaska, [10] Extreme Couponing, 19 Kids and Counting, Kate Plus 8, Sister Wives and Long Island Medium.

[Projectile Vomit]

Roger that Phil. I have no interest in allowing a big network to make a mockery of me for profit and ratings, and will not acquiesce to anything that even remotely looks like it will twist facts or interviews. And I'm not desperate for exposure, so I can afford to be finicky.

[Projectile Vomit]

Just got off the phone with a producer from The Learning Channel. There's no guarantee that I'll be chosen of course, but so far our email and phone conversations have been promising. I'm also left with the sense that they're not out to mock or discredit anyone, just to portray people with interesting diets in an episode of their series that focuses on diet.

My contact offered a link to a past episode on Vimeo (nothing to do with diet, it was about people who had unusual collecting habits, like antiques, disney paraphernalia, etc.), and when I watched it I definitely got the impression that they were not out to portray people in a negative light. She said that the vast majority of those who've participated in the past were very happy with how they were portrayed. This also gives me confidence.

If I end up being chosen, I'll let folks know. Filming will take place in late August or early September (2012), and the episode would likely air on TLC sometime in spring of 2013.

[Projectile Vomit]

I recently found out that they wanted to move forward with featuring me on the show, but I've also gotten the sense that although they wouldn't twist facts there was surely going to be a healthy dose of sensationalizing. I told them I've decided not to be involved. If someone else wants to take a crack, go for it and let us know how it goes.

[cherimoya_kid]

I recently found out that they wanted to move forward with featuring me on the show, but I've also gotten the sense that although they wouldn't twist facts there was surely going to be a healthy dose of sensationalizing. I told them I've decided not to be involved. If someone else wants to take a crack, go for it and let us know how it goes.

You were our best hope. I don't think anybody else is going to be able to generate any more credibility in that situation than you would.  GS would be good, but he's in the Phillippines.  TylerDurden would be OK, probably, but he's in London.  I know what I'm talking about, but I have a thick Southern accent and would get dismissed because of that.  I also feel I might have trouble expressing my thoughts clearly and logically in that context.  I'm not the world's most logical person.

[eveheart]

I've never watched the TLC show, but I do know how TV loves sensationalizing. We need more of a BBC or Nova approach, with interviews with all the researchers that support RPD as well as modern raw-paleo eaters from a few countries.

[jessica]

ha, id love to do it just for the fact that right now i am living in a cabin in the woods and poop in an outhouse, thatd really make for some sensationalism.  also going to be harvesting my own chickens and deer here soon.....good judgement though eric

[cherimoya_kid]

I've never watched the TLC show, but I do know how TV loves sensationalizing. We need more of a BBC or Nova approach, with interviews with all the researchers that support RPD as well as modern raw-paleo eaters from a few countries.

Agreed. 

It would definitely generate some forum traffic, if one of us did that TLC show, but I think we'd be banning a lot of trolls for a while afterwards.

[PaleoPhil]

Is this the show?

Freaky Eaters (TLC series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freaky Eaters

"Freaky Eaters is an American documentary television series based on the BBC series of the same name that aired on TLC.

The show deals with people who have bizarre addictions to food and/or eating disorders. Each episode, like the BBC series, is titled with the words "Addicted to" and then whatever the food is. The show's first episode aired on September 5, 2010. Psychotherapist Mike Dow[2] and nutritionist J.J. Virgin host the show. Voiceover actor Josh Artis is the show's narrator."

"Episode 5   Addicted to Raw Meat   September 19, 2010   A writer only eats raw meat and is on the road to getting a parasite. He is later cured of eating meat raw."

Yellow journalism speak: "on the road to getting a parasite"
Translation: doesn't have a parasite.

Yellow journalism speak: "cured of eating meat raw"
Translation: no longer eating raw meat

The nation of Japan apparently needs to be "cured" of its enjoyment of sashimi/sushi and France of steak tartare, etc.

[Projectile Vomit]

No Phil, that's not the show. This one focuses on people's obsessions more generally, and is intended to let people explain them. I can't recall the series' working title and have deleted all of the correspondence email with the producers at TLC, so can't find it now.

[PaleoPhil]

Is this it?
My Crazy Obsession, http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/my-crazy-obsession

[Projectile Vomit]

Yup, I think this is the program.