Jackie Warner ramps up the workout

Good news, fans of the Bravo show "Workout" -- Jackie's back!

We're talking, of course, about Jackie Warner, personal trainer extraordinaire, owner of the exclusive Sky Sport & Spa gym in Beverly Hills, and star of her own reality show.

We spoke with Warner for a few minutes by phone recently while she was in New York promoting the third season of the show that kicked off this week, along with the many other things she's got going on.

She kindly teased some highlights from this season, mentioning "faster pacing," "a lot more emotional," "I'm in a relationship," "you're going to see my mom again," and "some of the trainers who were problematic become more problematic this season." Excellent.

But enough with the gossip -- we wondered if Warner thought that having her trainers bare their emotional selves on national television helped or hurt the image people have of the profession.

"I think in areas where people aren't used to being able to hire trainers, the trainers look almost god-like," she says. "They're beautiful, and there seems to be a little bit of star quality." For the rest of us jaded souls, "You see their flaws, and you see them as very human."

We're still stuck on the fact that there are places in this country where you can't find a trainer. What's next -- towns where you can't get Starbucks?

Warner also promises that this season we'll witness more of the Sisyphean struggle to lose weight and get in shape and see more client-trainer interaction: "We see how they deal with each other, and it's not always good, it's not always the right fit. Some (clients) end up responding wonderfully, and some can't overcome their demons and addiction to food."

When Warner isn't filming she's a whirling dervish, designing a line of men's and women's workout wear, coming out with a new workout DVD (also available soon via ExerciseTV), and opening a gym in Hollywood. This one will feature classes, such as group cycling paired with resistance training, and maybe Japanese sword fighting. "I don't want things too shticky," she says. "I'm not into pole dancing or running on the treadmill in high heels."

Warner still trains clients for the hourly fee of -- are you sitting down? -- $400 an hour. "I get you started on a life change, and empower you to make it happen," she says. "I also give you tools. I'll find trainers in your area, call clubs for you. Of course I also give you a lot of tips and you learn a lot about nutrition. It's about making that spark go off in your head, so you are on a different life path."

Spark, shmark. We're not saying Warner isn't good at what she does, but for that kind of money we'd better end up with an exact replica of Eva Longoria Parker's body after an hour. Maybe we'll just sign up for the sword fighting.

"Workout" airs on Bravo on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. PT

Photo of Warner with client Deenie Castleberry by Vivan Zink

-Jeannine Stein

A troubling dose of reality on TV

Cancer, sad to say, is about biology. It’s not about strong will or positive attitude. People who eat well, don’t smoke, exercise and think happy thoughts get cancer. “Sometimes you can play by all the rules and just have bad biological luck,” says Linda Garmon, producer of a 90-minute PBS documentary “The Truth About Cancer.” The show airs Wednesday, April 16, at 9 p.m. EDT and PDT. It’s followed by a 30-minute panel discussion moderated by journalist Linda Ellerbee, a breast cancer survivor. The panelists are all physicians—and all cancer survivors themselves.

The documentary tackles the tough question: Why does anyone still die of cancer? While the news media regularly report on the potential of stem cell research, targeted drug therapies and potential breakthroughs, the grim truth is that fewer than one out of 10 patients will survive five years once cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

In the decades-old war on cancer, there are still some devastating forms of the disease (ovarian, pancreatic) with distressingly low survival rates, treatments that have not significantly changed in decades, and no preventive screening tests to find them before they spread.

The documentary is an important view of the reality of a cancer diagnosis but could be a difficult show to watch for patients or families in the midst of finding out for themselves that the war on cancer is far from won. Garmon documents her own husband’s diagnosis with lung cancer, his decline and, finally, his death. A patient in the documentary, Jamie Kleiman, 38, has pancreatic cancer that has spread to other organs. She has a difficult time convincing her father that there’s no doctor anywhere who holds the secret of her cure. "I don't think there's anyone hiding the secret magic bean," she says. But her father holds the very American attitude that you can control your destiny, and if you fight hard enough, you can beat cancer. That's what Lance Armstrong did, after all.

But Kleiman has discovered the cruel difference between Armstrong's successful testicular cancer treatment and her own pancreatic cancer, unresponsive to chemotherapy. "He had the most sensitive cancer to chemotherapy," she says. "It had nothing to do with the fact that he was an athlete."

Cancer is not one disease. It takes hundreds of forms and once it spreads the war on cancer doesn't go well.

-Susan Brink

Tonight on television - Caring for Your Parents, Autism Every Day

Two new health special premiere tonight:

“Autism Every Day,” airs on the Sundance Channel. This film, which debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, follows a typical 24-hour day in the lives of eight families who have children with autism. Directory Lauren Thierry, who is a mother of a child with autism, depicts the realities of the disorder and how parents struggle to do their best to meet their children’s needs. 8 p.m. Sundance Channel.

 

“Caring for Your Parents,” is a 90-minute PBS documentary from filmmaker Michael Kirk. The documentary follows families from diverse experiences and backgrounds as they grapple with how to care for aging parents. The film doesn’t shy away from controversy, showing how families cope with tension between caregivers and tough decision, such as taking away the elder’s driving privileges. The documentary will be followed by a 30-minute panel discussion led by Dr. Art Ulene called “A Conversation About Caring.” 9 p.m. KCET

-- Shari Roan