Ever wondered what it would be like to take just one “cycle” of steroids? Just a little taste to jump start getting that new massive, ripped body that you’ve always wanted? Scrawny, nerdy Peter Brown asked himself that very question, but unlike most of us, he decided to actually give ‘roids a try….and to make an online video show about it, called Steroids Saved My Life.

It started out good

Peter’s a film student and he obviously has had some fun in making this show, as evidenced by the different styles that each episodes takes. Episode 1 starts out like a serious documentary and by the time we’ve gotten to episode 9, Peter’s documentary has changed to an hómage to Super Mario. In between, the show takes on the distinct aspect of an infomercial for steroids. It’s a strange and unsettling progression. Here’s the first episode:

I started out enjoying the show. Peter seemed like a sympathetic little guy who just wanted to change how he looks for the better, this charting his progress from weakling to hulk is something that the we’ve seen many times.

but then it started to go down hill

At about episode 5 I started to realize that I didn’t like him and was not really all that interested in his progression from 138 pound weakling to 165 pound nerd . It started in small ways, his dislike for food, the use of nick-names instead of real names for most of the people that show up in the show, the fact that he couldn’t keep a single format from one episode to the next.

But my dislike for Peter became full-blown when he started mouthing empty platitudes like “the world treats good looking people better” and giving so much camera time to his meat-headed, steroid role models Suga and Mr. Fantastic. If these are the people that he’s aspiring to be, than he should have enrolled in a Mystery Method course instead of taking steroids.

It’s an interesting show, nonetheless and if you’ve got an extra hour or are interested in seeing what steroids do to a 138 pound weakling in 12 weeks, then definitely check it out. It’s just a shame that Peter turned out to be such a flake.

The Bottom Line:

3 out of 5 stars for this interesting but flawed show about a chemically-induced quest for muscles.