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Originally posted on Day 14
On a day where what would traditionally be the first Big Brother eviction for the year, we are without Big Brother for the night :(. So instead of talking about the pending eviction that will now occur on Monday nights, we’ll share some of our more creative Housemate Photoshops that our talented forum members have created. Continue reading “2013 Housemate Photoshops!”
It's been four long years... The wait is nearly over...
Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment we have waited for the past four long years is FINALLY upon us. 7o’clock this Monday evening our favorite reality show finally bursts back onto our screens. So I thought there is no better time than right here, right now to dish my opinions on the pre-series run up and some of the information we’ve been hearing.
However before I launch into my thoughts, let me introduce myself. I’m RK. This may be my first time blogging about my beloved native version of Big Brother, but for those of you who follow the UK edition of the show, you may have seen my weekly blogs on the goings on in Britain’s most famous bungalow at some point over the last four years. But for the next three months the brits get a rest from my examining and now it’s Australia’s turn. I couldn’t be more excited. But that’s enough about me let’s get down to business shall we?
The news that the show was returning took me like many others by complete surprise. Part of me thought it was nine idea of joke, but to my relief it was absolutely true and here we are today with only a few hours left till it reappears! What a journey this pre-season has been.
Sonia’s appointment as host Initially came as shock to many viewers when it was revealed but now that viewers have seen her in a different light with her new role on Mornings I think she has become relatively well liked, and the reports I’m hearing from the launch taping the crowds have reacted well to her. I was certainly one of those in the beginning that had my doubts, but after interacting with her via twitter and seeing mornings I am eager to see what she brings to the table! It should be interesting…
One of the really interesting points for me about this whole reboot is how much people despite production announcing that this reboot would differ from anything we’ve seen before, seem to be stuck in the past, especially those folk that are posting on the main Facebook page. I for one, beg to differ with the majority of comments from fans about the fact that if the show doesn’t have the various elements channel ten made famous with the show it will flop, I think the four year absence is the perfect chance to change the series and give it a completely new lease of life.
However, one thing I am not so happy about changing, is the live feed. After hearing so much how the producers wanted a “pure” BB for this reboot, to ditch the feed is basically laughing in the face of this way thinking, not to mention the fans. But the biggest failing with this however is that it has not and appears like it won’t be officially announced to fans. It was initially revealed only via a tweet to one of the many fans asking about the feed. In my opinion this is simply not good enough, for the fans of the show to be able to relate to a housemate and get to know them fully we need more half an hour a day and some very unreliable updates via twitter. The twitter system has already proven itself unreliable for fans as we’ve all see during the launch taping when it took 19 minutes until the “live” account was updated after it’s first initial tweet. So it will be interesting to see how the social networking plan is put into place for the run of the series if tonight is any indication.
Live feed aside however I am quite pleased with how Big Brother have gone about their first phase of the reboot. The advertising campaign was a clever move on the production side, bring a song that was widely known in pop culture and tying it to the show, with a second hidden layer when the housemates were in lockdown, that judging by twitter took everyone by surprise and has really help amp the excitement levels amongst the general fan community. It is clear that channel nine have put some serious cash behind this show, the advertising campaign being one of them and the other being the house.
The house for this years show is nothing short of amazing. Even though the blueprints were leaked during the run-up to launch when I saw the photos today I have to admit I was nothing short of blown away. The attention to detail really shows in the preview photos and I cannot wait to see it on screen. When compared with previous houses for the show I seriously believe that this the best house we’ve had. It will be very interesting to she how the various quirky elements (e.g., the clown in the kitchen.) work themselves into the show, and how the housemates react in such a strange environment that is so different to anything Australia has seen before.
Even with what has been a slight hiccups we’ve had along the way, there has still been some really positive signs about the series so I am still holding out hope that the show is still ironing out it’s wrinkles and finding it’s feet in a new age. But I guess we shall all see what comes in the next few weeks and months. I as a diehard BB fan really do hope it succeeds and manages to be the great show we all know it can be. But I tell you what I can’t wait to share this journey with all of you as we find out. It’s going to be fun, I think! Don’t you?
I’ll see you again soon when I divulge my thoughts on our new friends who we’ll be sharing our living rooms with for the next three months! I can’t wait!
‘Til Next Time,
RK x
The great thing about our very own Userblogs is when you can’t be bothered writing your own blog, you can just cut and paste someone elses. Unlike certain sections of the media though, we’ll give the credit where credit is due…
So firstly, clairebbbear blames YouTube:
Death by youtube: how generation Y killed Big Brother Australia
Just like death, and taxes, the end of BB was always inevitable.
It would have been nice for BB to have gone out in style, with a dramatic flourish at its execution, but today’s news feels like euthanasia after a prolongued period of suffering, during which the show lost all traces of what it once was.
The post-mortem has not yet been conducted, and I am sure that it will reveal multiple causes of death, ranging from the producers, to the hosts, to the apathy of the audience and the concept as a whole.
But I feel that the actual reason can be traced to a factor that could not have been anticipated back in 2001. That factor is youtube, and more precisely what it offers to the young viewers on whom BB depended.
BB has always been a young person’s show, especially in Australia. The 7pm timeslot, the voyeurism factor, the preference for pretty HMs and the dominance of storylines that belong in the schoolyard all helped BB become required viewing for teenagers and young adults. With the young viewers came sponsors, and in the beginning they were falling over themselves to be involved with a program that spoke to young viewers like no other show.
Then came youtube. It is not a direct rival to BB, but its presence has hung over the show – and in fact channel Ten as a whole – like a curse.
Meanwhile bb-06 doesn’t blame Jackie O:
My last blog?
Well…I’m guessing this could be my last blog. There’s no ‘next year’ and I’m certainly not wasting my time writing a blog about the final week of this crap series. I’m not even sure I’ll watch. Hell, there’s a Daily Show on now and I have a DVD menu up on my screen.
In my last blog I talked about a couple of positives about BB08 and one of them was Jackie-O. I remember something I read on the internet at the beginning of this year about Jackie-O being the touch of death for television series – naming all the flops she’d been a part of. Well, she’s got another flop to add to her resume but it was not a flop because of her. She was one of the very few positive points about this years Big Brother and while I’m not claiming she had the presence of Gretel – she did have the grace and that little bit of class in this years BB gave it same moments that were worth watching. So take it easy on here.
Kyle, on the other hand, does deserve to be blamed in my stage. If he hadn’t been so keen to act like a total prat and had tried to get some likability about himself – people would have watched. A smile was all that was needed – but it was too much to ask of Kyle ‘All Talk and No Action’ Sandilands. While I very much doubt that Jackie-O reads this site – my advice to her to is to get away from him. Having seen you on stage with Mike and Kyle this year – you’re so much more entertaining when you’re not weighed down with the former. You’ll have a better career without him, if you ask me.
These new producers made a hell of a lot of mistakes – they produced a ‘made to order’ Big Brother this year and I don’t believe that they for one second thought they’d given us something new. Ten is a network without imagination, without the courage to try something new and that’s why it is, and always will be, a network without success. Why they wanted to continue with Kris Noble’s unsuccesful format when they could have picked up where Abbott’s left off and had a successful show is beyond me. These producers made some bad decisions and I said some bad things about them – but at the end of the day I realise they did the best they could to please the fans while keeping within the strict outline set for them.
Yes – the blame for killing Big Brother lies squarely on Ten’s shoulders.
So what do you think about Big Brother being pulled from the schedules next year – and where did it all go wrong? Post your blog entry here.
As for myself, not surprised at all, and not before time. Perhaps it will return one day, but it’s got to be kept as far away from Ten as physically possible.
OK, while of course something completely original would be preferred, despite what some people think I don’t have a problem with them nicking (good) ideas from other Big Brother’s. The problem I’ve had is they almost always screw them up.
So a few ideas – some which I think might work, some which wouldn’t – and one in particular I’d really not like to see, but it’s the sort of thing BB Aus would probably do…
So we’ll begin with that one then…
The Family
Italy put a family in the house this year – a 50-something mum and dad and their three sons. The three sons were automatically up for eviction during the first week, though I’m not sure whether they had to keep their family connections a secret or whether they were up front with it.
Now, obviously we all know in the last couple of years Australia have loved their relationship twists and this is probably the ultimate one. I think it needs to be strangers this year, but if done, I think they need to be upfront in putting the family in and see how the HMs react to that family, rather than the whole secret relationship twist yet again.
Soulmates
BBUSA’s latest twist sees the houseguests paired with their “perfect soulmate” and then play the game as pairs – being nominated together and evicted together. Throw in one pair of exes, plus one secret couple split into two different partnerships, and leave to boil. The jury’s still out on whether the twist was a success – IMO it’s been a bit of a slow burner, but an interesting twist.
I think if BB Aus did this they’d probably only do it up until the first eviction – but really to get the benefit out of the twist it needs to run a little longer.
Celebrity Hijack
I mentioning this more for the sake of mentioning it than anything else, but the premise is a series of celebrities step into the Big Brother role, talking to the housemates, chatting to them in the diary room and setting tasks.
This was an experimental series in the UK with a new celeb every day for about three weeks – and as an experiment it kind of works. However, as a full 100-day series I don’t think it would, and I think it strays too far from the “no outside contact” principle to be includes as just a one-week twist.
Secret Story
From France last year, each housemate goes into the house with a secret and the mission to identify each others secrets. Each secret is worth cash and when you think you know a secret, you can confront them and if correct, win their cash.
Secrets included being triplets, a married couple, a transexual, the son of a celebrity, an “insider”, being in contact with aliens and having OCD.
.. and now two classic formats which often crop up for discussion prior to each series.
Head of Household
OK, most are probably familiar with the US format where each week the “houseguests” compete for the role of Head of Household, aka the HoH. The HoH then nominates two people for eviction.
The houseguests then compete again for the Power of Veto, which enables the winner to save a nominee (if they choose) and force the HoH to nominate a replacement. Then at the end of the week the other houseguests vote for which nominee should be evicted and the process starts again.
When two remain, the last seven evictees vote for the winner.
Now, some people view the FNL twist as a nod to the format but IMO it’s a poor mans HoH, though last year the prize was effectively the Veto. However, it was a mistake IMO not to allow the winner to leave the nominees unchanged – which could cause just as many problems as them saving a nominee. Giving the nominees a week to think about the changes the FNL winner had made also would surely have been better than telling them just minutes prior to the eviction.
Back to HoH though and if Australia adapted it I’m sure it would be more along the Brazilian lines, keeping the public vote. Basically the HoH chooses the one nominee, with the other housemates voting for a second before they go head to head in the public vote, though I suspect if Australia did it they’d keep the three nominees so probably have the HoH choose one and the other HMs choose a further two.
and finally:
Big Brother: The Battle
If BB08 were to borrow any twist this is the one I really think could work for Australia. The concept is pretty simple – divide the house into “rich” and “poor”, with all the luxuries such as the kitchen, bathroom, pool, gym etc. – and the week’s food budget, available to the “rich” housemates, while the “poor” housemates have to live in more basic surroundings with an outside toilet, outdoor showers and an outdoor stove – with just the bland basics to live on.
It’s a very visual twist which can be adapted in many ways. Who lives where would be a great new focus for the challenges on Friday Night Live – either with big team challenges or a series of head to head battles, while further challenges during the week could give individual housemates the chance to swap sides.
Nominations too can remain as they are, or be split so housemates vote separately in the “rich house” and the “poor house”, with one or two from each side going up for eviction.
It’s a twist which BB Aus has never really explored – it was used for a week in BB04, but that missed the whole idea. It’s when people have been stuck on the poor side for two or three weeks the format really develops – knowing it’ll all be over in a few days doesn’t have the same effect.
However, it’s also an example of how Australia should be adopting twists and making them into something new, as they did with the two houses in BB03 – which basically saw each begin as a “poor house” and then merge into a “rich house”.
So what do you think – would you like BB Aus to try any of these ideas this year, or is there something else from elsewhere you think could work?
Is it a good time to do something that might be new to Australia, but has been tried and tested elsewhere, or for the revamp to work does any twist have to be truly original, not just for the benefit of international fans like myself, but for the Australian audience as a whole?
Share your views in the BBBA forum.