It's 1961 and in a supermarket, housewife Jean Nidetch is about to get a shock that will send her on desperate quest to get thin.

But when her new diet gets tough, she turns to friends for help and inadvertently starts what will become Weight Watchers. And as Weight Watchers rakes in big bucks from weight-loss, a street-tough Philadelphia businessman grabs his chance to become a millionaire.

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