Tough Enough - Season One Review

Okay, I have to point out that I am very biased when it comes to wrestling; I think it's a huge waste of time. I don't understand how someone can sit there and watch this "sport" when it's obviously scripted. I think the appeal of sports comes from not knowing who will win. Even though I don't like wrestling I still respect wrestlers for what they are: physical actors.

"WWF Tough Enough" offers the ultimate prize for wrestling fans: the chance to win a WWF contract. Contestants spend 9 weeks learning the tricks of the trade: how to fall, how to punch, kick, jump and toss an opponent, even how to trash talk. You can tell that most of the 13 people on this show worship the wrestling world. The fame, the glory, the scripts...they love it all. We watch these contestants learn the moves they need to be a wrestler. They get bruised, they get beat up, and a few of them get MRIs. Through it all they meet their heros and learn what it takes to be "Tough Enough".

Video

Like all of MTV's reality series, Tough Enough is shot on video. The image is very crisp and clean, except for scenes where cast members are talking on the phone. I can only guess that this was a camera that was setup and didn't have anyone controlling the focus. An outfit worn by one of the wrestlers causes some problems at the start of episode 1, but there isn't anything else like it through the rest of the series. A few scenes in the series have shimmer problems but it's very short and tolerable. The "Exclusive Footage" that appears in the episodes is slightly poorer quality than the regular video. This is letterboxed, but the picture has been shrunk to achieve this (probably make it more noticeable as not being part of the original show). I also found the "Exclusive Video" was darker than the show footage.

Now for some random things I noticed while watching the DVDs. The show has been included on these DVDs in the same way it aired (with the exception of the exclusive footage). When the show comes back from what would be a commercial break the "WWF Tough Enough" bug drops down from the top of the screen and then zips off to the left. When the credits roll there's a space for MTV to insert footage of what's coming up next, something I've always wondered how they would handle on a DVD release. I noticed the picture had been flipped in a few shots which was odd but would have been part of the original broadcast.

I found a few things annoying with the release. There isn't a way to skip the opening video promos for MTV Home Video and the WWF "Don't try this at home" piece. I watched it on the first disc because I didn't want to miss anything, but on the second and third discs I just wanted to get to the show. For some reason there aren't chapters in any of the episodes. TV product like this has definite chapter points: the commercial breaks. I can't imagine adding chapters to a release is time consuming or expensive so there's really no reason not to have them. I wouldn't need a scene selection screen, just a way to jump past the opening (which changed in episode 7 or 8) or to some of the commercial breaks or exclusive footage.

Audio

The Dolby Surround audio track on "Tough Enough: Season One" isn't earth shattering, but adequate given the type of show. All dialog comes from the center speaker with the left, right and rears used for music. Unfortunately the audio on the released is censored, except for the "Exclusive Footage". The exclusive footage contains raw, unedited/unmixed audio which can be a little hard to hear at times. Actually, I found the audio on some of the episodes a little uneven forcing me to adjust the volume. There's also a huge pop in the audio 8:18 into episode 11 that made me jump a little.

Extras - How we rate extras

Cast Submission Tapes
The only extra found in the set lasts 28:03. We get to view the submission tapes in their entirety, except for Darryl's which is missing for some reason. I found some of these really funny, and others quite boring.

There are some obvious extras missing from the disc: cast profiles and wrestler profiles. I know there are cast profiles kickin' around because they are on the "Behind Tough Enough" disc sold separately, but I think they were purposely left off the release to entice people to buy the other DVD. As a non-wrestling fan I didn't know anything about the wrestlers featured in the show. A brief bio with personal information and the titles they hold or previously held would have been nice.

Summary

So, as a wrestling hater, what did I think of the show? I actually liked it. It's not something I'd seek out to watch when it's on TV, but I really enjoyed watching these people train to become WWF super stars. It was interesting watching their reactions when one of the WWF wrestlers came around (Josh's reactions were always the best) and seeing just how physically demanding the sport is. Sure it's fake, but you can't fake everything. If you're a fan of wrestling or watch it occasionally you'd really like this set, but if you're a wrestling hater like myself think about renting the discs (if you can find them for rent). Watching "WWF Tough Enough" almost made me want to watch wrestling. Almost.