Couch Potato: A ‘Huge’ disappointment
By Casey Gillis on Jun. 23, 2010
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I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from ABC Family’s “Huge.”
Would the show, which premieres at 9 p.m. Monday and is based on a young adult novel about teens at a weight-loss camp, be uplifting? Condescending? Mean-spirited?
The answer is none of the above.
Instead, think cheesy after-school special. The action didn’t flow from scene to scene, the camera work was sloppy and almost every scene was scored with melodramatic music, whether it was called for or not.
Overall, the show and many of its plot points were just flat-out awkward.
Besides star Nikki Blonsky and a few others — including newcomer Ari Stidham, who struck me as a cross between Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill — the acting wasn’t great, either.
Blonsky, who starred in the movie version of “Hairspray,“ is Will, a sarcastic, difficult teen sent to Camp Victory as a last resort. If she doesn’t make it there, her parents are going to send her away to military school, but that doesn’t stop Will from self-sabotage in the first episode, as she tries to gain weight instead of lose it.
“I’m down with my fat,” she says. “Everyone wants us to hate our bodies. Well, I refuse to.”
Will’s opposite is Amber (played by Hayley Hasselhoff; and, yes, she’s David’s daughter), who has some serious body image issues.
An eating disorder waiting to happen, Amber tells fellow campers that she’s been dieting since she was 10 — “It’s probably the thing I’m best at” — chews each bite of food 30 times to make it last longer and tapes photos of bikini-clad models around her bunk for what she calls “thinspiration.”
Fellow campers include the pathologically shy Becca (Raven Goodwin), who buddies up with Will; Chloe (Ashley Holliday), a snobby longtime camper who I haven’t quite figured out yet; and Ian (Stidham), who develops an entertaining rapport with Will but, as is so often the case in teen stories, only has eyes for Amber and sees Will as more of a confidant and pal.
Unfortunately for Ian, Amber doesn’t seem to know he even exists. Instead, she’s crushing on the camp’s newest — and definitely hottest — counselor, George (Zander Eckhouse).
An Amber/George pairing is obviously going to be in the cards, but I’m just not feeling it yet. I’m all for a little star-crossed romance, but they haven’t earned it; there has to be a build-up that makes me root for them to get together.
Overseeing all the drama is Dr. Dorothy Rand (Gina Torres, “Firefly,” “Alias”), who, during the first two episodes, came across as awkward, nervous and very insecure.
Torres looked like she was in pain during a lot of her scenes, and I couldn’t tell if that was a character choice or if her acting skills had gone downhill.
Some interesting seeds are planted toward the end of the second episode, but I’m not sure it’s enough to keep me around all summer.
Like Will, I kinda want out.
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