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Blog
Ranting, whinging and maybe even some intelligent discussion. The Behindbigbrother.com bloggers bring you their thoughts on the season. Disagree? Want to comment? Let us know via our contact page.
Brekkie
BB09: The Rescue Plan
The BREKKIE Blog
OK, this season hasn’t been the best - in fact, it’s been a challenger for the worst, but at least since they reverted back to the original format it’s felt more like Big Brother again. Nominations, even more so than evictions, are the key part of the format and in the first few weeks of the series the show lost it’s soul. Also to be praised is the lack of Intruders - if we forget the gatecrashers, which I think we all have anyway.
However, if BB09 goes ahead the show needs to be given every chance to succeed - and that means more change is required.
TIME
Firstly, and most crucially, the time slot. The extended shows always perform significantly better after 7.30pm, while the hour-long shows seem far more popular too. So the first change is simply - move the weeknight shows to 7.30pm, extending them to an hour. And I’m in no doubt Ten could accommodate such a change considering nominations, midweek specials and FNL have filled the slot for years.
FNL
Talking of FNL, it’s an old one but it’s as relevant as ever - FNL is seriously over due a revamp. Firstly, axe Ryan so it’s no longer the BB boys club. Secondly, it’s slashed to an hour (8.30-9.30pm) so it’s straight to the point, rather than full of filler crap. And thirdly, it’s made with the Big Brother fan in mind, not their kids. Most importantly after four years of it being an individual competition the show is completely refocused with a new format and a renewed importance. The link with evictions is also removed.
LET BATTLE COMMENCE
What that change is depends on the series as a whole - and one tried and tested format would give both FNL, and Big Brother itself, the revamp it requires. Big Brother: The Battle - a revamped house, split into rich and poor, with up to 16 housemates split between the two sides. FNL then becomes the main “Battle” each week as the two sides of the house go head to head to claim their place on the rich side, with hot water, comfy beds and all the luxuries of the house, while the losers face the back to basics lifestyle - to the extreme.
The weekly task is also replaced by a series of ad-hoc challenges taking place randomly throughout the week either for rewards or for individual housemates to swap sides.
The format also allows for the nominations process to be revamped, and there are numerous ways it could be done. Each side of the house could nominate independently, with one from each side going head to head in the eviction vote. Other options include one side winning immunity, or perhaps linking it to the point system so the rich HMs nominations are worth 2 points and the poor HMs worth just the one. Or the nominations process could simply be left as it is, leaving the housemates themselves to decide how loyal to their own side of the house they are.
EVICTIONS
An absolute must - keep Mike Goldman as far away from them as physically possible. And they should certainly not bring back Gretel. Kyle and Jackie O have had the chance to bed in now and it’s important the show looks to the future, not too the past, so they should remain in charge next year. And them only being available one day a week has actually benefited the show this year, which hasn’t suffered from all the pointless midweek specials we had during Gretel’s final couple of years with the show.
And that’s the starting point to give BB09 a chance - it’s up to those paid to do the job to do the rest.
Any thoughts - comment on my userblog.
Will
Making news this week…
Some headlines you may have missed
Best experienced in audio form - download the Week 9 Radio show and skip to 46:05
- - -
“Good evening and welcome to this TEN News update, I’m Sandra Sully.
“First tonight, fans and media this week called on the government to step up anti-hoon laws and give police more power to deal with dangerous drivers. This follows an incident on Tuesday where ‘Grey Nomad’ gang members, Terrence and Terri, took the Kombi van joyriding. They attempted to run down several pedestrians, and Terrence could be heard shouting, ‘This is what’s wrong with the youth of Australia today!’ They have not received a strike for their actions.
“Doctors were called into the Big Brother house on Wednesday night to examine Brigitte’s mental welfare. Concerns had been raised throughout the day as Brigitte had gone almost twenty four hours without screaming something at the top of her lungs. She had also failed to call Terrence a ‘weirdo’ al day, despite his repeated attempts at provocation by wearing his sarong. When approached for comment, Terrence replied, ‘what’s sarong with that?’. Housemates then attempted to cite Terrence as an example of why euthanasia should be legalised… and encouraged.
“Another race row hit the house on Thursday morning, as Terri commented during breakfast that her toast ‘wasn’t dark enough’. This prompted some of the younger housemates to tell her she was being racist. Terri defended her actions, while using the opportunity to once again deny she had ever said ‘slit eyes’. Comment was today being sought from Nobbi.
“And lastly, this week’s train task took a controversial turn for the worse yesterday as one housemate was asked to lay down on the train tracks to demonstrate why platform safety rules should be obeyed at all time. Travis has now been removed from the house and placed into intensive care, after the locomotive failed to actually stop at the Bro Town platform and struck him at full speed.
“And that’s it for this TEN News update, from all of us here, have a good night.”
What do you think? Comments very much welcome here
vid
Strategic voting is back - hurrah!
Housemates click on that the show is actually a game
It’s nice when you get to this end of a Big Brother series and some housemates finally click on that the show show is really, on the inside, a game.
Strategic voting is the easiest way to get in and out of the diary room on nominations day with the least fuss and questioning from Big Brother. “I vote xxx because s/he is my biggest threat.” Signed sealed delivered.
As much as I hate Cherry, it’s clear he’s the one that actually understands what is going on. There’s a taboo around “playing the game” and how it’s unethical and wrong… but I see nothing against it. Playing the game does not mean that you cannot be yourself in that house. You can be yourself and show the true you to all your fellow housemates, and by watching who is evicted and nominated every week you can make judgements on who is the least likely to be evicted / your biggest threat. I see nothing wrong with that.
Voting strategically does make the nominations show boring though - thankfully people like Bridgitte will never catch on and we’ll get dumb answers from her every week until her immature and unadjusted ass is kicked out of the place.
Will
Why this week should be a triple eviction
And how they could do it
Yes, that’s right. A triple eviction. It’s certainly possible, isn’t it?
Look at the setup - there’s only four weeks to go, and ten Housemates left. Six have been placed up for the public vote, making this the perfect week. This series has seen numerous stunts and one-offs intended to spike up ratings, and this would just be another of those. Except it would be a stunt that doesn’t require any butchering of the fundamental BB concept - it would just be a new twist on the traditional BB eviction. More importantly, it would be a huge Australian first!
But how would it be done, with just a one-hour show to play with? I think the key is to maximise the shock to the Housemates. Begin the program as normal, but perhaps with a bit of a rush. The hosts welcome, and we quickly get down to the house for the usual reveal of the eviction twist and newly-nominated Housemates. Kyle and Jackie O have their live cross to the house. Blah, blah, eye twitch, blah. With that done, it’s time to head to our first ad break.
Back live, there is perhaps time for a very quick chat to the friends and family. Can’t go for too long though, because it’s now time for the eviction announcement! No time for the Housemate videos and personal interviews in the Diary Room. We want to boot someone out! And no silly announcement-prerecorded-by-3-minutes deal either, this has to be genuinely live. Kyle & Jackie O again cross to the house, giving the HMs their first inkling that something may be different tonight.
Forget the ‘safe’ announcements, the six evictees stand together and the first eviction call is made - “The next person to be evicted from the house is….” Everyone cries and farewells their departing friend, who disappears into the revolver. And then, immediately, it’s time for #2! BB doesn’t even speak up to call them back to the lounge. They’re still standing around, recovering, when suddenly Kyle & Jackie again appear on the screens and say, as if continuing the same sentence, “and….. the next person to be evicted from the house is….” And with that, another is named! BB instructs him/her to exit immediately, and 30 seconds later, they’re out!
Catching on yet? With no time for the HMs to collect themselves, those much-loved hosts again appear on the plasmas. “AND….. (HMs: “you’re kidding!” “no!” Nobbi: “this is dog, man!”)…the next person to be evicted is…..” and with that, the third is named and sent through the sliding doors of peril. After we gleefully spend 30 seconds or so observing the dumbfounded (and now certainly paranoid) Housemates, we head back to the auditorium where the hosts send us off to the next ad break.
As we come back, all three evictees make a combined entrance; walking down the aisle to the stage (I miss the ramp by the way). The next few segments of the program are dedicated to this joined eviction interview, with a mixture of individual and group questions. I know, on double eviction nights we’ve traditionally seen separate exits and interviews, but I think that regardless of who the HMs are, we could get more out of them if they’re kept together. I think the familiar company would help relax them and allow them to open up more, giving the hosts more to work with and the audience at home a far more engaging interview.
The pros:
- A complete mindf*ck for the Housemates.
- If pulled off properly, this could be one of the most memorable nights of the show.
- A very real possibility it could boost ratings. It’s been suggested that many only tune in to see who gets evicted. Well, if the eviction announcement(s) were earlier in the show, the following joined interview might just keep those fickle viewers watching.
The con:
- It’s obvious - we could very well lose three important characters. Love them or hate them, Nobbi, Brigitte and Terrence are both a key part of the house dynamic. Even Cherry is showing some value as a strategist.
On the other hand, so what if we lost three key characters? It would transform the house dynamic and maybe some others might shine through and become key players. Besides, there’s only a few weeks to go. And there’s still a chance we could ditch some of the extra baggage, ie Terri or Alice. I wouldn’t have just spent ages writing this if I didn’t think it was a worthwhile gamble. Please BB, take the plunge and give us a triple! BB09 is on very shaky ground - this could be your last chance!
What do you think? Comments very much welcome here
vid
Have voters finally got it right?
Bye bye boring!
After eight years of Big Brother Australia it seems as though the voting public may have figured it out.
Kick out the boring ones, not the ones you wouldn’t want to live with.
Gretel crammed it into our brains eviction after eviction but every Sunday we would see the most out spoken housemate, or the housemate causing the most arguments booted from the Gold Coast compound. Now, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Rhianna was booted last night, and to be honest, I can’t think of one memorable moment she has had in that house for viewers. Yes, she was pseudo-dating Rory and some nip nip wiggy wiggy is good every now and then, but other than that she was a boring pot plant of a housemate.
I’m hoping she was evicted because she was boring (in the house, she may very well be a bundle of laughs outside) - not because she was getting it on with Rory, who I can see many young girls (and guys) with phone credit to burn getting jealous and voting her out.
We’ll see how things pan out tonight with nominations, and then this Sunday will be the real test - will the voting public (which lets face it, aren’t 100% of Big Brother watchers) kick out a boring housemate, or will they kick out another piece of flora?
Brekkie
Can BBUK learn anything from Aussie BB?
The Brekkie Blog
We’ve often posted here about how great BBUK is and how crap BB Australia is - and generally speaking in the last few years that’s been quite true, but there are still a few things where BBUK could benefit from their Australian counterpart.
Production wise in terms of the experience the housemates, and therefore the viewers, get has been far superior in BBUK, with better tasks, better twists and better housemates - with each year offering something different, rather than a carbon copy of the previous years.
However, when it comes to how the show is packaged there are things where BBUK could learn alot from BB Australia.
BUILDING THE HYPE
Beginning at the beginning, this years pre-season promo campaign was outstanding for BB Aus and really served it’s purpose in getting viewers interested in the show, and also indicating that there were changes in store for the new season. Meanwhile BBUK stuck to the standard format it has used for a few years - flashes of the new logo, “countdown” ads and the house ad - which only served to tell people Big Brother was back, but didn’t give any reason to watch, especially to those who deserted the show last year. The result - the lowest rated launch show since the live launches began in BB3.
Similarly promotion wise at the end of both the launch show, and especially the first eviction, the viewers were given very little reason to keep watching. We needed to be enticed with teasers of some changes to the rules or new tasks coming up - the promise of a wedding was not enough.
However, no hype means no let down. We all know how often BB Aus fails to deliver what it’s promised - with tonight’s big prize reveal being the latest example.
STOP TALKING!!!
Secondly the daily shows - as annoying as Mike Goldman is, at least he keeps it short and sweet. Marcus Bentley always seems to say 100 words when 10 will do, with his most annoying observation being that “all of the housemates are in the house”. Never - thank you for informing us none of them have popped down to the shops or out to the pub!
Worst of all though is how it’s assumed BBUK viewers have no memories, with long winded recaps of key events narrated to us by Marcus often two or three times in an episode, where either a “Previously…” segment at the beginning or just the basic assumption that viewers remember what happened yesterday would be much better.
Generally though of course our shows benefit from the longer running length - and especially the later time slot, meaning we’re not seeing a censored family friendly version of the housemates.
YOU ARE LIVE ON CHANNEL 4
Finally let’s talk about the live shows. With the launch show there are strong similarities between the both, but Davina’s house tour and the simple format of HM VT, walk through the crowd and straight into the house works much better in the UK. However, where BBUK really lets itself down is the evictions.
For the first four series the eviction shows really stood out as the highlight of the week, with a good balance of pre-eviction features including nominee profiles and chats with friends and family before Davina announced the result from the studio, with the very effective one minute walk from the studio to the house, which visually worked very well.
In BB5 they decided that the crowd outside deserved more of a show, so Davina moved out, the pre-eviction features were axed and the show basically became a standard highlights show with the eviction tagged on at the end. For the first time the house could hear the crowd when Davina linked to the house, and how they reacted to each nominee. In later years chants of “Get XXXX Out” became common place on eviction night too.
Although Big Brother soon realised that interviews with the evictee couldn’t be conducted effectively amongst the crowd, they stuck with Davina hosting outside and linking to the house amongst the baying crowd - until now. In what is pretty obviously a last minute decision, Davina is linking to the house from the silence of the studio again, which has widely been welcomed by viewers, but she still hosts the rest of the show outside.
This has only really highlighted how poorly produced our eviction shows have become lately - with the transfer from outdoors to studio being particularly messy. Unlike BB1-4, it’s obvious the studio isn’t designed with this in mind, but since BB5 the link to the studio hasn’t been there - and the show suffers for it.
Although BB Australia’s set up isn’t ideal, especially now with the cut from HM revolving out of the house to revolving out on stage, at least it still stands out as the eviction show. We don’t need an hour of highlights on eviction night - and sacrificing just 5-10 minutes for some simple features profiling the nominees and talking to friends and family really would make all the difference, along with designing the studio with a link to the outdoor crowd in mind, and then BBUK evictions really would be back at the top of their game.
BUT…
All that said though, so far Big Brother 9 in the UK seems to be heading in the right direction. IMO we’ve had the best first week since BB6 - the housemates and tasks so far are certainly more interesting than anything we had last year and in just a week it’s provided much more entertaining viewing than the last two months of BB08.
Add your comments here.
Brekkie
Random Ramblings…
The Brekkie Blog
A few thoughts… and a look ahead to BBUK.
Firstly, the nominations. I’ve hated the new process from the start as it’s just not Big Brother, but I’ve got to concede it had the desired effect of keeping the characters in and kicking the pot-plants out, and I do think they should have stuck with it until the end of the season.
However, that being said we learnt more about the housemates’ relationships in the first round of proper nominations than we have in all the previous eviction votes - and now the HMs can get rid of who they want, and the viewer can get the final say. Perfect.
And although it’s much better IMO recording them and airing the nominations in the Daily Show, they need to tighten it all up a bit. It would be best to call the HMs into the diary room randomly during the morning rather than sitting them all down to do it, and that way the noms can be spread through the show a bit more, rather than in a couple of packages at the end.
On to Intruders and yeah, whatever. Same old same old with a VT entrance and splitting the HMs up. And now they’ve arrived, Ollie is sidelined in the daily shows, and Ollie is the only reason I started downloading again.
BBUK
The new series of Big Brother UK begins on Thursday and after a tough year last year, it’s time for the show to fight back.
Whether it will remains to be seen - it came back from the brink in BB5, so it’s got a proven history of revamping itself when required, even if they’ve left it a series or two too late this time.
Davina is back - and looking like one sexy mama in the pre-season photo shoots, while it remains to be seen what new hosts George Lamb and Zezi Ifore bring to BBLB.
The house is looking great though, and will be home to 16 HMs from Thursday night, with the first eviction due on Friday 13th.
BBBA forum users can comment on this blog here
Will
“If I were Ollie the dog…”
The Monkey House: Will's Blog
If I were Ollie the dog…
- I would bite Travis on the testes, just to see if his voice goes higher.
- I wouldn’t be so trusting of Alice, considering what she knows about my anatomy.
- I’d mark my territory inside the Kombi, because pissed-off Nobbi is funny.
- I’d be getting reeeally scared if the HMs were on staples. Especially Dixie.
- I’d make it my mission to teach Brigitte some basic tricks.
- My barking would be the highest form of communication exhibited in the house thus far.
- I’d attack Renee, because I don’t like her either.
- The first trick I’d learn would be to jump over that wall. And run.
Post comments in our userblog section here
vid
I liked the specials
... but FNL needs some work!
I’ve got to admit, I did enjoy these last two Carson specials.
Yes, they did try (to some degree) to make it look like they weren’t shot on consecutive nights.
Yes, they were blatant attempts cross promotion.
Yes, at some point it was excruciatingly awkward to watch.
But, Carson was entertaining and unlike a certain Friday night show, the specials managed to flow and remained entertaining the whole way through. Just as things started to get slow the next housemate would be brought in or Carson would deliver a one-liner that lightened the whole thing up again.
As much as I’m against the cross promotion thing, this, to my surprise, worked. Word from inside the compound is that the Peter Powers special was even funnier - we’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out, though.
The certain Friday night show on the other hand is getting old and stale. It’s exactly the same as it was in 2005 and in this case, sticking to the original concept is not working. The show runs for much too long. Yes, I understand tasks need to be setup, housemates need to be moved in and out of containing areas and whatnot. But watching the show feels like dying a slow and painful death.
Numerous times when I’ve tried to trick myself into believing “this week will be different,” the show finishes and I find myself with a sharp knife to my wrist, not knowing how I managed to walk into the kitchen and retrieve said knife - it must have been the unfathomably boring commentary and real lack of anything interesting.
I’m not even going to go into the fact that the housemates get to see Ninja’s, which is totally against everything Big Brother is meant to be - SECLUSION, anyone?
The concept itself is interesting - housemates in crazy outfits with oversized props and high probability of being injured. However, the way it’s being delivered is painful. Inject some life into this show - changing the theme each week really isn’t enough. Get some new hosts and let’s try to appeal to the older demographic, not 12 year olds who like bright colours and will watch anything prefixed with “Big Brother”.
Will
Officially. Loving. It.
The Monkey House - Will's Blog
As spoken on this week’s BBBA Radio!
One of the popular criticisms of the show this past week has been the amount of twists, intrusions, and general external interference we’ve had in the house. Well I’m saying, as someone who has followed things on the OS and watched every daily show this week, that it’s really not that bad.
I’ll use Thursday’s Daily Show as an example. On this particular day the dominant storyline was the weirdness between Nathan and Renee. The other things going on included the ongoing Brigitte saga, and the Wednesday night family dinner. There were some brief clips from the cricket task, and Dixie broke down in the Diary Room when BB asked her a question about exercise. This is all stuff that has come out naturally through the Housemates and their interactions, and the things that are a traditional part of the show, like the weekly task.
The key thing is, all of it was entertaining. And all of it helped me learn about the HMs, and helped me engage with them better, which is what some people are saying we’ve been missing out on thanks to all the twists. I’m not missing it at all. It’s right there.
As for the other stuff they’ve had going on this week - earlier on they had the Bali thing – and while it was largely pointless, except for some funny airplane moments, I’m with everyone on the forums who are saying that this time was just a setup for a future one. Also, even Corey this week was pretty much a background character, so I was quite happy with that.
Programming-wise, this week has brought mixed thoughts from me. The eviction show was the lowpoint of the series thus far, no question about that. They’d already done a couple of stupid things, such as the web-voted HMs who were there for two days, but this was the one thing that made you sit back and think ‘good lord, what have they done?’. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Big Mouth – because that show is fantastic. The interview with Saxon is what a true eviction interview should be. They grilled him – they explored, discussed, and challenged his views and his character. I hope Big Mouth continues to be as excellent.
As I already said, Daily Shows are great. I think they’re picking the right stuff to show, and we’re seeing stuff that’s interesting and revealing about our housemates, as well as just some simple funny shit. Case in point – Thursday night, and one of the all-time best ever lines from Big Brother.
The Carson thing didn’t bother me – yes, it was blatant cross-promotion, but it was an added show so it didn’t infringe on our normal viewing. And it rated well – it won its timeslot easily, which is good for the series and for Ten overall. I even found it funny at times. Lastly, Friday Night Live. This show hasn’t changed a bit. It goes on for half an hour too long, but it panders well to the younger audience, and as long as you just take it at face value, it gives some fun Friday night viewing.
I think that where it matters, BB is sticking to the core ideas of the show and its concept. Three weeks in and I’m completely engaged with the show, more than I have been for at least the past couple of years.
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