Extreme Male Beauty (2009)
Extreme Male Beauty is a British documentary series which began airing on Channel 4 and features television presenter Tim Shaw as he explores the various lengths men will go to in order to achieve the beauty standards placed on them. The series criticises the modelling industry and the 'perfect' body images shown in the media and, whilst Shaw attempts to conform to the desirable body images sold by advertisers. Some criticised the show for having an over-complicated format.
Extreme Male Beauty: Season 1 - 4 Episode s
1x1 - Episode 1
May 7, 2009
Tim begins his quest to transform himself from superslob to superman in just eight weeks. The 35-year-old journalist, husband and father of two is 6 foot 5 and weighs 14 stone 7 pounds, and describes himself as a 'skinny fat bloke' with a beer belly, hairy back, man boobs and 'an obsession with the size of my knob'. First, Tim focuses on his chest as he tries to turn his man boobs into the sort of pecs you see on the poster boys. Along the way, he meets men who take their desire to get bigger and buffer to frightening extremes - including steroid abuse and surgery. Tim also hears locker room tales; anything from moobs to shaving your privates.
1x2 - Episode 2
May 14, 2009
Having spent two weeks trying to increase the size of his pecs, in tonight's show Tim turns to a more personal project: getting a bigger penis. Penis enlargement ops are hugely on the increase, and Tim sits in on the very latest procedure in which a man has an artificial filler, previously used for boob jobs, injected into the shaft of his penis. Tim also tries out a variety of gadgets and exercises that claim to make your penis bigger - from pumps to stretchers, and heads to the locker room for an all-male chat, to find out if the average man is worried about the size of his manhood. We also meet 33-year-old Edward Evans, who has never had a girlfriend and is looking for love. Having lost 17 stone, he needs radical surgery to take away all the sagging skin and give him the confidence to find romance. Plus more guys strip off and reveal their buff bodies as they battle it out to become the new cover star for male grooming bible, Men's Health magazine.
1x3 - Episode 3
May 21, 2009
Tim Shaw continues his battle with the bulge as he attempts to transform himself from Mr Blobby to Mr Buff in just eight weeks. Having spent two weeks attempting to increase the size of his pecs, and another two his penis, in tonight's show he tries to get tighter abs. Tim sits in on the very latest abdominal liposculpture procedure in which the fat is literally whisked up inside before being sucked out. The aim? To give you an instant six pack. Unfortunately Tim nearly throws up in the operating theatre and decides to try less radical means. For two weeks he tries out an electro stimulator with literally shocking results. Tim also finds out how important getting a six pack is to the average man as he hangs out with a bunch of guys in the all-male preserve of the locker room. We meet 35-year-old flabby cabbie Anthony Hall, who is trapped in a body he despises. Left with masses of overhanging skin after losing an incredible nineteen stone, he is desperate to lose the flab and look more like his Bond hero Daniel Craig. Plus we get down to the final twelve in the final stages of Men's Health magazine's competition to find a cover model.
1x4 - Episode 4
May 28, 2009
Tim Shaw has reached the final stages of his transformation - and now he's spending two weeks working on his face. He tries out anything that will help tone it up, including the ancient and revolting art of drinking your own pee. Tim also sits in on the very latest and very bloody hair transplant procedure, observing a man literally having individual hair follicles gouged out of the back of his head and transplanted into the front. He puts the finishing touches to his new look with a back, sack and crack wax, before revealing the new Tim to his utterly shocked wife Hayley. Meanwhile Tim's friends in the locker room reveal just how important the face is to the average man, and we meet 40-year-old biker Jay Wheddon, who lost his looks after taking steroids to cure an illness. He's desperate to get them back and is going under the knife in order to do so. Plus we find out which hunk is the winner of Men's Health magazine's cover model competition.