One of television's many mysteries

[thesloppy]

Exactly who in the hell is 'fitness celebrity' John Basedow? How is it that he can somehow afford to advertise on EVERY channel at fifteen minute intervals, yet he still has to work out in the park in a pair of purple bicycle shorts he bought in 1987? Who would win in if Mr. Basedow and the Arby's oven mitt were trapped in the octagon and forced to battle to the death?

I have a sneaking suspicion that if I were watching Al-Jazeera, I would still find ol' Basey promising me awesome abs, and telling me how starvation diets and miracle pills have never worked for anyone he knows.

Seriously, is this guy a national figure, or am I somehow unlucky enough to be in the only region where he is ever-present any time the TV is on?

[cuervo72]

Hah, John Basedow...everything about his commercials scream 1987, not just his shorts - his hair, his house (I think it is in some commercials), the cheezy graphics, everything.

I think the way to become a 'fitness celebrity' is to annoint yourself one in these commercials...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally posted by thesloppy Exactly who in the hell is 'fitness celebrity' John Basedow?

A quick check of the web turns up numerous postings of this biography.
Basedow Bio (http://www.exercisegroup.com/johnsbio.htm)

And then, on the other hand, there's
this take on Basedow (http://tiger.towson.edu/~msherm3/jb.html)

As far as I can tell, he's a newcomer that's being backed by a pretty serious marketing budget. As far as any real background or credibility, I can't find much except some fitness columns in some magazines (which I suspect are basically paid advertising posing as actual editorial content). But given the amount of money that's made off some of these "special TV offers", I'd say somebody is raking in hefty cash from the videos.

[sachmo71]

I don't like the looks of that dude. I think we should hit him with sticks.

[thesloppy]

Originally posted by sachmo71
I don't like the looks of that dude. I think we should hit him with sticks.

I like the cut of your jib sachmo

[Pumpy Tudors]

John Basedow looks Photoshopped.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
John Basedow looks Photoshopped.

Funny you should say that. My wife and I both think that he looks rather...odd.

They talk about the six-pack abs, show a picture of him and we both kind of go...ugh.