''Shaq's Big Challenge'' is a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

television show hosted by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

that debuted on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

with its first episode on June 26, 2007, and concluded its first season on July 31, 2007. It featured Shaq's efforts to help six severely

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

middle school aged children from

Broward County, Florida Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

lose weight and gain a healthy lifestyle. The events of the six episodes take place over a period of nine months. The challenge was originally scheduled to last five months, but near the end, Shaq and the kids decided to extend it another four months. All kids started out in either the obese or the morbidly obese category and were unable to produce adequate results in the President's Physical Fitness Test, and by the end they were all within the normal or overweight categories and passed the President's Physical Fitness Test in all areas. The show debuted to low ratings, though it can be attributed, and is attributed by ABC as well as critics, to the fact that the show shared a time slot with the highly successful ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

'' and reruns of the immensely popular ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

''. Critics, parents, and educational institutions lauded the show for its accuracy, humor, emotion, sincerity, and lack of exploitation. The two schools featured in the show are Pines Middle School and Olsen Middle School, both of which are part of

Broward County Public Schools Broward County Public Schools is a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, and is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, sixth largest public school system in the nation. During the 2023–2 ...

Shaq's Team

The Kids

The Experts

Episodes

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Shaquille O'Neal 2000s American reality television series 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company reality television shows Shaquille O'Neal Television series by Banijay Television shows set in Florida