Best of the Blogs

Posted on

In just three short weeks over 50 BBBA members have begun blogging for the site, with nearly 175 blog entries posted already.  The Userblogs have quickly established themselves as one of the key parts of this site, so thanks to everyone who’s been sharing their thoughts. (MA15+)

So here, in no particular order, is another round up of the best of the blogs.

Arneldo: The Good, the Bad and the Corey

This past week I have been looking and reading at peoples reactions to Corey. It seems a lot of people on this, and other, forums dislike him. But why? I cannot see anything he has done inside of the house that would make people dislike him so much. And outside of the house – when will people realise that it was the public that created this image of him. All he did was throw a party – and it became a big deal – why? Continue…

Clairebbbear: The beatification of Corey Worthington

Channel Ten has refrained from advertising any “world firsts” for BB this year.

But if it had, the copy would have written itself; “BB08 is the first series to allow the Big Brother show to be used as a vessel for the public rehabilitation of a public enemy”.

Corey Worthington has earned that title ever since a combination of a thoughtless myspace post, 500 drunk teenagers, a slow news day and a scapegoat-hunting fcukable journalist turned him into simultaneously a symbol of all that is wrong with the “young people of today”, and a hero to the same young people who feel themselves somehow repressed by concepts of responsibility and respect. Continue…

Mooseherder: The Bullhorn Recap

God makes his displeasure known by summoning the power of the heavenly kingdom and eliminating Corey in the first round. Ryan takes this as an open declaration of war, and the battle for the souls of humanity and control of the universe begins. It’s going to be a long millennium, folks. More…

Toiletduck: Public votes for top 3 for what?

Can someone please explain to me why there was the chance for the public to vote for the top 3 auditionees on the website, only for 3 of them to enter and two of them to be booted out? Continue…

GrahamUK: Around the World in 7 days

It’s been a fairly quiet scandal-free week, so this will likely be a short entry. More…

The Daily Gibberer: Disaster

But the Coomerese ruling junta has closed its borders to outsiders, refusing all but one offer of aid while allowing its citizens to be racked by unspeakable pestilence.

And the junta’s leader, Senior General Virginia Hodgson, has been criticised for pressing ahead with the weekend’s referendum while some of her countrymen had lost everything, even the clothes on their back. Continue…

Letterbox: Here’s something else I pulled out of my arse

Please BB… I just wanna watch the HMs for a bit…. and have some aspects of the show I can expect each week and look forward to…. rather than this stream of random sh*t that has been presented to us. More…

bb-06: My epiphany – why BB08 fails to capture us

Today while I was watching part of the eviction show, it suddenly hit me why BB08 – despite many changes (which are mostly positive) – has simply failed to grab me like every other BB season, no matter how bad they were.

BB08 is the absolute coldest, most impersonal reality show I have ever watched. Continue…

purringcat: Brace yourselves – I LIKE the new format

With everyone poo-pooing the new eviction/nomination format, I thought it was about time someone spoke up for it.

I really do like it, and I think it has really thrown the housemates for a six, which is fantastic. I love the way they’re really pushing the game aspect this time round – but that’s probably since I like to view BB as more of a social psychology experiment than a TV program. More…

If you like the look of them, head over to our Userblogs section for more, where you can also comment on the blogs – or perhaps take the plunge and post a blog of your own. For more information on how to use the feature, check out our guide in the forums.

Also on Behind Big Brother

They’re straying from the concept!

Posted on

I hate to make such a negative blog entry for my first for the 2008 season, but I can’t help it. So far, this season is so beyond a joke I’m finding it hard to watch.

One of my biggest gripes about any series of Big Brother (and it’s happened in international series, not just our Australian version) is when core elements of the show are removed and modified to make the show “fresh” or “exciting”. Unfortunately, it’s happening with this season.

It’s week three, and we’ve already had three intruders/gatecrashers/whatever, two snap evictions, some idiot party kid, and endless twists. Now, we’re about to see Carson go into the house. Why? I hardly know any of the housemates in the house as is and you’re flooding the daily show with twists instead of letting Big Brother just be Big Brother.

The core concept of Big Brother is a range of people living in a house, their every move followed by cameras. By throwing a twist in every second day the housemates cannot just live – get to know each other, bicker, fight, cry, etc. They’re too busy dealing with the twists!

I want to be able to form opinions on the housemates and decide who I like and who I don’t like. Right now, that’s impossible.

I know that Big Brother is a one-of-a-kind television show: in Australia it’s been running for 8 years now and still manages to get more than 1 million viewers tuning in every night. Perhaps it’s the higher powers at Channel 10 that are pushing these crazy ideas onto the viewers and quite frankly, treating them as idiots. Carson going in the house is nothing but blatant cross-promotion and to think that the viewers will look at it like anything more than that is hideously naive.

Checkout our podcast page where you can hear more of my views on this season of Big Brother.

Also on Behind Big Brother

Great expectations… greater disappointment?

Posted on

Cast our minds back a couple of weeks and everyone seemed to have high hopes for the series.

The promo campaign was great, the signs of change were there and from their initial intros, the housemates seemed to be just what the show needed. Two weeks later though and we’re already dissecting what went wrong.

The daily shows are just dull – partly due to the housemates leaving their back stories and baggage at the doors, but mainly due to complete lack of structure. The housemates aren’t given the opportunity to shine, perhaps with the exception of the weekly “family dinner”, while the lack of any real task means content is thin on the ground. Cleaning is not entertaining – especially when the task is minus any of the humour required to make it work.

But now – the major moan – axing nominations. The new system removes the core element from the show, more important than evictions or the public vote – it’s what the housemates really think of each other.

How a housemate nominates reveals alot about their character – whether they are spineless, manipulative, game-players or hold a grudge. Equally as important is how a housemate reacts to being nominated – that can often determine their fate, and similarly, a housemate being cocky about not being nominated can see them getting evicted sooner rather than later too.

However, giving this power to the viewers has now removed the key component of the show, and the structure to the daily shows too. Indeed now it’s just a case of voting for your favourite with those at the bottom facing elimination it’s just like every other reality show around – Big Brother has well and truly lost it’s unique selling point.

But, this being Big Brother of course they’ve screwed it up even further with the most ridiculous FNL twists ever. An over complicated affairs sees a housemate saved, 4th from bottom nominated and the FNL winner have four points to evict and two to save. The other HMs will vote with one and two points to evict.

It’s over complicated to say the least – and though I’m not a fan of viewers nominating, HMs evicting, keeping it simpler would give it a much greater chance of succeeding. Just let the FNL winner save one of the bottom three and then the other HMs vote out one of the other two. That’s it – simple!
Talking of voting though, the real scandal this week has been the “webmates”. Voted in by Australia, voted out by Terri two days later – the biggest insult to viewers yet. And this week they’ve barely featured in the daily show at all – indeed on Tuesday and Thursday they were nothing more than non-speaking extras.

And then we reach the end of the week with Nathan reminding BB he’s in the house by inconveniently winning FNL. Big Brother of course though continues to deny his existence and finds a reason to give the prize to Travis instead. The worst thing is we all know if Terri had won there is no way BB would have taken away her HoH powers.

Anyway, I’ve lasted two weeks and as usual by now it’s only key episodes I’ll be interested in. I think the fact BBUK is about to return influences that slightly too, but so far BB08 is dangerously close to becoming even worse than the Noble era – especially if producers continue to make up the rules as they go along.

As always, BBBA members can add their views on the Userblogs.

Also on Behind Big Brother

Big Brother, please don’t make me hate you

Posted on

This is the transcript (read: script) for my audio blog which aired tonight on BBBA Radio.

Before I get on to my main discussion point, a few bullet point things:

  • I liked the launch. Edited to the shit, but sufficiently different for me.
  • I like Kyle & Jackie hosting. And I’m glad I forced myself to hold off opinion until I saw them in action. I hate Kyle, but enjoyed watching him host. So that makes me conflicted.
  • Did not like missing the first 48 hours of streaming. I don’t think lowering the cone of silence over the BB website was worth it just to keep that eviction a secret until it aired.
  • Speaking of the new Official site – I think it looks nice, but it isn’t as functional and useable as it was previously. It’s harder to me to navigate the site and find the things I want.
  • I liked the twist with Nobbi getting kicked out of the house. That’s given us some great comedy moments for the past couple of days. And you can see some of them on my Youtube account.

Now, this is killing me, but onto the “big” news of the week. That lowlife smear-on-a-toilet dickhead Corey is going into the house. My immediate reaction? I HATE YOU BIG BROTHER. Ever since this rumour first appeared a few months ago, I laughed it off as being completely groundless and not making any sense at all. But I was wrong. They made it official on the OS that he’s going in on Sunday.

What remains to be seen now is how it’s all going to go down. How are they going to present him on Sunday? Will he be glorified? Put in the house as a means of “shaking things up”? If that’s how it is, I will vomit on myself.

On the other hand – will they acknowledge straight away that he’s universally hated? And put him in the house, expecting him to be torn down? Because that’s the big unknown – how the PROPER housemates will react to him. My hope is that they will not accept him, and completely shut him out. Maybe even beat him up and chuck his pasty white arse back over the wall. Because he does not deserve to be in there.

Regardless of one’s opinion of them, all our HMs went through repeated auditions, all these tests, months of waiting, and a week of lockdown to get into the house. This idiot threw a party, screwed over his parents, and wore a pair of ugly sunnies. Even though he’s just there as a temporary guest, it doesn’t matter.

Our favourite insider Steph made a great point on her blog – why can’t BB have faith in their own Housemates to work up the ratings instead of resorting to stunts like this? From what we’ve seen of Corey, he’s a complete black hole of charisma and will offer us nothing. There’s the line that any publicity is good publicity – after this, I call bullshit on that. I foresee a very dark week ahead for us.

Also on Behind Big Brother

Interesting Characters… No Personality

Posted on

So after launch night the housemates seemed to tick all the right boxes – they appeared to be the most interesting characters for years. The promise of “Dynamic Housemates” appeared to have delivered.

However, so far, so dull.

Let’s start with the two that stand out. Rima, who insists her height is the least interesting thing about her. So what else have we learnt this week – well, mmm, help me out. If she wasn’t 1m tall she wouldn’t have made it in. Simple.

And then there’s Terri. I admit she made me laugh a few times during launch – but she’s been cast as the mother of the house and in the few short hours she was there, where admittedly we saw very little of her, she was more than happy to accept the role.

Like with Rima I ask if Terri wasn’t 52, would she be interesting? No – her age is the only thing making her different – but it’s very bad casting having nobody in their late 30’s or 40’s to help bridge the gap with the younger housemates.

Next, we go to Travis. His voice – incredibly annoying in the promos, awful on the launch show – by episode 2, I didn’t care. The housemates have been trying their best to label him – “flamboyant” is what I think they settled on, but although he’s no mans’ man, he isn’t exactly out there enough to make himself entertaining.

And then there’s Nobbi. He may tick the Asian box, but he’s just another bogan bloke as we’ve seen time and time again. I do think though when conflict arises, potentially he’ll be at the centre of it – but banished to the Kombi van means the potential for conflict has been well and truly diminished.

Now they’re not blonde, but are the brunette bimbos showing any signs of intelligence – I Don’t Think So! Get Bianca and Rebecca a bottle of peroxide and they’re no different to the girls of yesteryear. Alice must be intelligent to be a Vet – or “Doctor” as they insist on calling her, but I don’t think I’ve heard her speak yet – she’s only ever featured on the running machine.

Renee is obviously a wannabe Reggie and I think she’ll do well – though perhaps she’s that little bit too smart to pull off the dumb country chick character. I didn’t like her at all the first couple of days – could barely understood a word she said, but she’s growing on me.

Onto the boys and the Spa Mafia. Rory is a housemate we’ve seen so many times before – we should probably just give him the prize now and be done with it.

UFO-hunter Saxon should be offering something new to the house – but there isn’t anyone in there for him to share his views with. It was interesting hearing him admit to his sexist and racist persona on the outside – but it’s a kind of a shame he’s attempting to leave that outside – though I’m sure the sexism will creep back soon enough. Thank god Gretel’s not around hey.

The two biggest disappointments though are Ben and David. Despite seemingly being two of the more intelligent housemates, and in David’s case with the most interesting back story of the lot, by Day 4 they’re reduced to hiding cuddly toys.

Is it the housemates though or is it Big Brother – do they render any intelligence useless by the end of the first week – and does any sign of a braincell just end up on the cutting room floor anyway?

Well, having gone through all the housemates (well, I forgot Dixie, but hey, that says all I need to say), I’ve come to a worrying conclusion… the most interesting housemate this series is… Bridgette!!!

I wouldn’t say I particularly like her, but I’m intrigued by her. She will be the person who grows the most during the series as a person, and it’s always interesting to see contestants who go on a personal journey. She may be a simple and shallow character now, but if she makes it to the end she’ll be coming out of it as a simple, but savvy, young woman. Perhaps.

So, in conclusion…
Despite the most promising launch show for years the daily shows this week have quite frankly bored me. I’ve not found myself being able to engage with the housemates at all.

I’d even say they had a better first week last year, though while last year we were waiting for it to implode, this year I’m more optimistic things will improve – though whether I’m saying that after Sunday’s show remains to be seen.

Some things never change though – FNL somehow managed to be worse than ever this year, and the removal of the Rewards Room and nominations twist just proves to me that even the producers didn’t want the show to stick around. It’s there solely because Ten want it – it’s a window to advertise to the under fives.

Anyway, that is all. Hopefully things will improve, but so far, I’m not impressed.

Do you agree – comment on our userblog pages – or share your own views of the housemates and in your own BBBA blog.

Also on Behind Big Brother

Everyone else used the witty titles

Posted on

Before I begin, a moments silence please for the dearly departed. They weren’t with us long, but we’ll never forget them and the impact they made.

So may the monkeys rest in peace.

We’re two shows in and I’m still none the wiser about which housemates I love and which housemates I loathe. In fact it’s probably a good thing this year that I’m seeing positives and negatives in everyone – it proves they’re not two-dimensional characters.

I’m not going to go on about the housemates then too much – I’ll focus more on the show, where I’m more clear about my views.

Titles
Let’s begin at the beginning – the titles. Well, that wasn’t worth waiting three years for was it. They may be different, but they’re not very good, and having the same Dreamworld opening yet again does them no favours. From us UK folks point of view it’s interesting how the BBUK eye is prominent not just in the titles, but throughout the show in the various stings too – indeed it appears more than the new Aussie logo.

As for the theme – not too sure at first, but it’s really growing on me now. And it’s great they’ve given it a noticeable revamp, rather than just adding a few beats here and there.

The Stage
Like the titles, it’s been three years waiting for a new set too – and on the whole I like it – but I wish they’d ditch those plasmas around the big screen – an unnecessary throwback to the last few years – the set would look better without them.

Kyle and Jackie O
I was surprised at how good they actually were – Jackie O looked like she’d been doing the role for years, and while Kyle seemed a bit wooden and uncomfortable in a suit, he made his mark by asking the housemates interesting questions and saying what viewers really were thinking – even when he shouldn’t. And if you weren’t too sure about them, just search out some old Gretel clips from launch night – they were truly embarrassing to watch.

The show needed a change – and there is no better way of illustrating that than changing the hosts, and it’s really paying off too. This years launch wouldn’t have been so special if Gretel had been in the role.

The House
Probably my favourite BB Aus house from what I’ve seen so far – the garden is great and seems to have much more life than previous years. I don’t quite get why they’ve shrunk the pool, but then we do know there is a second pool over the wall too – so maybe it’ll make more sense when that’s revealed.

The big bed and conveyor belt dining table are great gimmicks too – yes, the housemates will think nothing of it a few days in, but different is good. Love the lounge and bathroom too – though not so sure about the diary room. It should be a sanctuary away from the house – but feels more like a nightclub.

Big Brother’s Rules
They say there are no rules, but still won’t let housemates call Big Brother “mate” – I thought all the petty rules were supposed to be gone. It’s interesting though to here some nominations discussion might be allowed – I’ve often suggested having a “nominations room” as the only place in the house where the subject can be discussed, and I think it may happen this year. It would be a natural follow on from them being allowed too discuss tactics in the rewards room last year.

The Housemates
This year they definately seem to have delivered on the promise for more dynamic housemates – definately the most interesting group Australia have had in recent year – but let’s just hope the Daily Show doesn’t shy away from their personalities.

Not really formed too much of an opinion on them yet, but I don’t really get the forum support for Terri. She’s 52 – and that’s about the only interesting thing about her. If she’d been 20-30 years younger but with the same views and personality nobody would really be talking about her.

The only fault in the casting so far is how Terri is singled out in the oldie, with David the next oldest at 32. They should have put a couple of people in their late-30s and forties in to bridge the age gap and not single Terri out as “mum”.

Episode 2: The Eviction
After a brilliant launch show I was actually quite disappointed with the second episode – it was so focused on the eviction twist we seemed to learn nothing about the housemates. It wasn’t until it was done with and they moved in the house that it felt like Big Brother got started too me.

And some things never change – I still believe it’s a fake eviction and I think Big Brother trying so hard to make out it’s real – “this is not a twist, there is no secret house” – was pathetic really. It seemed like they were trying to convince themselves more than the housemates.

If, as I suspect, it turns out to be fake then it’s a bad move on Big Brother not to let viewers in on the secret. And if it’s real, what a pointless twist – though I’m not too gutted it’s Terri that’s gone – just a shame she couldn’t take Travis’s voice with her.

The Gatecrashers
So the top three online auditionees will move in Sunday – and I hope they really do something different with them. I’d send them in and put them in charge of the house – they own the place, they run the show, and for one week at least, they determine the nominees.


And finally…
Very much cut and paste views in my blog this week – just little things to say about alot. So if you want to read a decent blog, check out some of the other userblogs – I’m very happy with how they are going so far and we’ve had something like 30 new entries since launch night from both our forum regulars – and some relative newcomers too.

And thanks to CJ and Cove for keeping BBBA alive the last few days. The forums have kept flying throughout really.

And that is all…
Brekkie.

BBBA members can click here to add their comments.

Also on Behind Big Brother