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BBUS - Season 25

Brekkie said:
No, he's not very likeable and should be out next.

Pretty dumb if they never thought that challenge would be a problem for a deaf contestant - and even dumver if they did make adjustments but haven't shown them on screen. Whilst his disability absolutely shouldn't define him on the show I feel viewers haven't been given the chance to learn about how it impacts him - does he just lip read or does he sign as well. Does he wear gearing aids, has he any hearing at all? Address these questions early on and the issue is dealt with.

The Circle really set the bar for how to treat deaf contestants with the accompanying sign interpreter. From what I've seen I don't think he relies on signing but if he does they should absolutely have an interpreter there for all competitions and ceremonies.
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You're right Raven was a real kick in the head wonderful
 
As I suspected the Pressure Cooker revival is being done in the dark. Nowhere near as claustrophobic a design though - in BB6 it was in a small box with everyone facing out whilst this time it's in a massive room set up in the back yard with everyone facing each other. It's still going though 10 hours on so at least hasn't been the anti-climax some thought it might be. Only the original version beats it BBUS wise for length of an endurance comp, though one BB Brasil comp lasted 50 hours.

Also the return of America's Vote to choose 4 contestants to secretly play for the Power of Invincibility - the ability to save one of the next two evictees from eviction.
 
12 hours in and theres still five left.
I'm also silently happy Cirie, Izzy and Jared are out of the running. I want someone else and unsuspecting to win power and not let the group steamrole

I hope Matt wins the power to save himself from eviction, I really don't want him to go prejury.
 
Down to two with 20 minutes to go until the record is broken.

America and Cameron are left. America is very much on America's side it seems - though a Cameron HoH could be nice and messy.

I would guess Matt, Cory, America and Cirie for the four to compete for Invincibility, perhaps Felicia instead of one of the last two.
 
Seems we have a winner.

Cameron

Unofficially they were one minute short of the record. Just goes to show the value of the live feed though - got the fanbase buzzing and they'll be tuning in in numbers to watch it unfold again on the broadcast show. The idea that withholding such comps from the live feeds, or withholding the live feed completely, to get people to tune in on Sunday is just nonsense.
 
While I’m not really a big fan of the winner it’s definitely going to throw a wrench in the game as he’s clearly going to go after those who’ve been calling the shots so far.

Although we’ve basically had unanimous votes all season so far we definitely have a house whose allegiances are kind of all over the place. Hopefully this week solidifies things and breaks up the house voting en masse. Or at very least starts the process of it.

Also we need more comps like the Pressure Cooker. Not really in the sense that they play out on the feeds but comps that at so simple that literally anyone playing could win if they hold out long enough.
 
Brekkie said:
Wouldn't be the season I'd pick but would be interesting to see an entire cast play again a few years on.
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Aside from Maggie and Eric I think it’s the only season where they could actually convince the cast to do it again.

I also like April’s idea of bring back the secret partners twist (which they had mostly forgotten about in the game) but having them randomly assigned a new partner.
 
Rison said:
aka the producers are hoping to get the numbers into alignment with where they would have been had Luke not been removed.
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That and the fact that it's a true 100 day series with only 17 HG's. There was bound to be some non-evictions and/or Battle Backs at some point.
 
I again spent A LOT of time watching feeds today.
Cirie is again still in a very dominant position despite not even being in power. Even if the veto is used I don't think she will be in much danger. Everyone is coming up to her with information. Blue was with her in the bathroom and told her everything from her one on one with Cameron, as did Matt who is telling Cirie about Cameron's ideal alliance plans.

Jag and Blue being nominated is a very strange and IMO a stupid move. I thought Cameron was close with them? I am still a bit confused as to what his actual plan is, maybe he wants to back door Izzy or Jared? That's what it seems will happen if the veto is used. Best case for Blue is if Jared wins the veto. Jag seems to be in a percarious spot here. I'm not that mad about it, my favourites are all seemingly safe. But I wish someone would win HoH and truly try and shake things up. But alas, with it being a 100 day season people are likely to play very safe for a bit.

Cirie is going to continue to steamroll if no one begins to target her. People like Cory and America have potential to do so. Not that it has surprised me at all though. She was in strong alliances in all four of her survivor seasons, had amazing social prowess and manipulation skills. So this comes at absolute no surprise to me. Even if she arguably still has an advantage, I do not doubt for a minute that the story would have been the same had she been a RTV newbie.
 
Yes, seems the plan is to backdoor...

Izzy, which isn't too dumb a move.

I don't quite get the noms too as thought they were aligned but think there are so many alliances and cross alliances going on this season that ultimately none of them really mean anything and they're all playing for themselves. It'll be the smaller final 2 deals which are more dominant.


And Cirie is a classic case of being an obvious target everyone seems to ignore - whether that's because she really is that good, someone they think can go on the backburner for further down the track (resume evictions are better during the eviction stage) or that they know having her stick around in the house will likely keep more eyeballs on them too, valuing fame over winning, I'm not sure.
 
Zcsund1234 said:
I again spent A LOT of time watching feeds today.
Cirie is again still in a very dominant position despite not even being in power. Even if the veto is used I don't think she will be in much danger. Everyone is coming up to her with information. Blue was with her in the bathroom and told her everything from her one on one with Cameron, as did Matt who is telling Cirie about Cameron's ideal alliance plans.

Jag and Blue being nominated is a very strange and IMO a stupid move. I thought Cameron was close with them? I am still a bit confused as to what his actual plan is, maybe he wants to back door Izzy or Jared? That's what it seems will happen if the veto is used. Best case for Blue is if Jared wins the veto. Jag seems to be in a percarious spot here. I'm not that mad about it, my favourites are all seemingly safe. But I wish someone would win HoH and truly try and shake things up. But alas, with it being a 100 day season people are likely to play very safe for a bit.

Cirie is going to continue to steamroll if no one begins to target her. People like Cory and America have potential to do so. Not that it has surprised me at all though. She was in strong alliances in all four of her survivor seasons, had amazing social prowess and manipulation skills. So this comes at absolute no surprise to me. Even if she arguably still has an advantage, I do not doubt for a minute that the story would have been the same had she been a RTV newbie.
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Cirie is why I hate returning player seasons. Newbies tend to be too in awe of them to make the obvious move and get rid of them while they still can.

That said I do think she’s done a good enough job helping to set a decent tone for this season. Also her DR’s should be the standard production strive for moving forward. She gives way more insight in to the game than anyone else.
 
If I hadn't seen The Traitors US she'd be a complete newbie to me - I think it kind of says it all that BB marks 25 seasons by casting a Survivor player. Just highlights how it's always been in it's shadow. That said though I wouldn't have wanted a BB veteran in her place - seeing the likes of Dan, Rachel or Janelle play the game again wouldn't be that interesting. I wouldn't have minded Eddie from BB1 having a crack at it - having the first winner return and play a game completely different to the one he won, and 23 years older, could have been a good hook.


If they ever do an All Star hybrid season again I think they'd need to approach it differently - I think a "Big Brother Buddy" season could work well enough with new housemates paired up with veterans and playing as pairs pre-jury. That would at least ensure the newbies go into the jury stage with equal numbers.
 
Brekkie said:
If I hadn't seen The Traitors US she'd be a complete newbie to me - I think it kind of says it all that BB marks 25 seasons by casting a Survivor player. Just highlights how it's always been in it's shadow. That said though I wouldn't have wanted a BB veteran in her place - seeing the likes of Dan, Rachel or Janelle play the game again wouldn't be that interesting. I wouldn't have minded Eddie from BB1 having a crack at it - having the first winner return and play a game completely different to the one he won, and 23 years older, could have been a good hook.


If they ever do an All Star hybrid season again I think they'd need to approach it differently - I think a "Big Brother Buddy" season could work well enough with new housemates paired up with veterans and playing as pairs pre-jury. That would at least ensure the newbies go into the jury stage with equal numbers.
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Something that’s been overlooked so far is that brining in a former Survivor player calls back to BB2 where players from the first two seasons of Survivor entered the house for a night to complete against the F4 as part of a luxury competition.

Also Cirie is likeable so that definitely helps in not wanting to completely trash this twist. I’m also in agreement that she’s far better than any of the alumni they likely would have thrown in there.

As for Eddie while I like the idea I’m not sure he’d do it nor do I think the show would do enough to accommodate his disability. It’s common knowledge that while they have made some attempts to meet Matt’s needs he’s still struggling and been at a major disadvantage over HG’s at times.

If they did do another season with returning players it has to be a full All-Stars or not at all. Something like Second Chances, Legends, All Winners, or Hero’s v Villains with an even keel of old school HG’s and those from the modern era.
 
I agree in regards to Cirie being a good DR confessionalist. That may come with 121 days of experience, but she is very natural in the chair and it is a breath of fresh air to not see the repeated screaming scripted lines.

Also agree that seasons with returnees need to be soley returning seasons. Pre-gaming will happen regardless, it is inevitable. And in fairness, despite BB22 being a very slow and painfully predictable season; it does feature some of the best players who have ever played the game. Moving forward if they continue this diverse casting I think it be wise for production to choose returnees based on entertainment over legacys per se. For instance, BB22 would have been better off without people like Memphis or Cody. Casting choices like Felicia give me hope for returnee seasons moving forward. Also with the 50% POC rule it is inevitable that multiple BB23-onward alumni will return when the oppurtunity arises. Tiffany and Taylor are the first two that come to mind.

For me, I'd like to see a reality showdown season like they did with The Amazing Race 31. Throw in some BB alumni as well as some from Survivor and TAR. I'd enjoy seeing a few BB housguests back as well as watching more Survivor players adjust their usual fast paced gameplay style to being accustom to the weekly turnover. Like we have seen with Cirie, she has had some moments where she is at times struggling with the differences between the two shows. She is used to being able to make a move against someone and not needing to deal with the ramifcations for any longer than a day or two. As for the TAR contestants, I guess adding them would just be logical, not so much because it would be that amazing to watch. I don't think the majority of (modern) TAR alumni would bring that much. Or maybe I'm completly wrong. I'd love to see a season play out like this so I can simply see what would happen. The divide between the shows would only last so long.

I am surpised that CBS haven't done this with Survivor yet. It truly blows my mind. As we all know Cirie is not the first instance of a crossover between the CBS three;

1 Initial Survivor Player has played Big Brother (Cirie)
12 Initial Survivor Players have competed on The Amazing Race (Rob & Amber, Ethan & Jenna, Laura & Rupert, Corinne & Eliza, Bret & Chris, Keith & Whitney).
2 initial Big Brother Players have played Survivor (Hayden & Caleb)
14 Initial Big Brother Players have competed on The Amazing Race (Alison, Jordan & Jeff, Rachel & Brendon, Elyssa, Nicole & Victor, Janelle & Britney, Cody & Jessica, Derek X & Claire)
3 initial TAR Players have played Big Brother (Jeff & Jackie and Mike White)
1 initial TAR team has played Survivor (Natalie & Nadia)

So as we can see, CBS has pretty much included these three shows in the same canon. Phil Keoghan has even appeared on an episode of Big Brother and Julie has interviewed Survivor finalists the morning after. Why not mix them up together more, and heck even help promote the show more. I am sure there are many BB fans who have never seen Survivor who may be inclined to check out Cirie's Survivor seasons now.

And of course, I am itching to see who will be the first person worldwide to compete on all three.

Interestingly as well, Australia has had a Survivor Player play Big Brother (Luke) a Survivor player compete (George, later this year) on TAR and a fomer TAR player (Sam Schoers) play Survivor.
 
Given that CBS now have The Challenge USA I’m not sure they’d go for mixing more casts from different shows.
 
The edit of the Pressure Cooker was very underwhelming- far more focused initially on flashbacks of alliances bring formed then all about the clips of Kayser. Little footage of conversations during the comp or even anything more than the standard DR's during the comp which added little insight.

The fall out was barely covered either, with just a couple of scenes before noms.


It's a general trend in reality TV that over the years content in episodes have got thinner and it's also true in BBUSA. I took a look at some of the early premieres last week which within an hour had their intros, move in, first food comp and first HoH comp within an hour long show and still seemed to have loads of scenes of them getting to know each other too. Too much of the show comes from the diary room nowadays.
 
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I agree. There was a lot left out. I thought there would be more shown about the actual formation of Legend 25 and The 7 Deadly Sins. After Cameron had won HoH there were so many conversations that got back to Cirie, and also Red and Cameron both discussed how much they trust her. None of this was shown. Another thing that was missed was how Izzy reacted to Cameron winning and how the others all were annoyed at how obvious she made it.

The comp took up way too much airtime. I prefer to have quick and simple HoH challenges where like Kingston said, everyone has a chance. I prefer the comps where they either have to answer questions with true/false, before/after or numbers on whiteboards. Even if it is something as simple as the Felicia HoH. I don't mind having comps that go over to the Sunday show, like the pressure cooker, wall comps or the caged egg comp, but not every week.

I am still loving watching feeds and even got my mum to try a few episodes of this season. She felt it was a bit jarring with the format change (she's never seen international Big Brother before) and dislikes the lack of BB voice lol. She naturally likes Cirie.
 
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