Big Brother Canada: Discussion

[Kingston]

It looks like they'll be plenty of blackouts over the weekend too as Slice have removed After Dark from their schedules for three nights.

I saw that... A bit odd IMO... I'm getting a little tired of these twists... None of them seem like they've been thought through well enough... I mean they are making a huge deal about Marsha coming back yet the red phone seems to dole out the same thing... I don't mind there being two distribution methods for secret tasks but there needs to be a diffenrce between the two... IMO rewards coming from BB via the phone should impact gameplay, in the same way American HG are given items like the CDT or a secret veto via Pandoras Box and then Marsha's tasks deal with luxuries ect...

Also if they are pushing for the interactivity via the PowerPlay game, the voting needs to be consistent... Right now it is all over the place... One week Canada was voting for a food item, the next it was for a 2nd PoV, and now we are voting for a 2nd HoH... There have been other votes as well but nothing is consistent with no real rhyme or reason, for the sake of doing something...

I don't want to rant anymore but the PoV vote really got me... I don't want to say that it was a fix but it was all very last minute and nothing about it made sense to me... A completely piss poor execution and it really gets me that they've done so many things right and then they blow it all away on something silly...

 

[Brekkie]

Absolutely agree with you. The second veto was so unfair and just thrown in on a producers whim at a point in the series it wasn't needed at all. Now saving Tom or Liza would have made more sense as they'd be more than just a bit of indifference to that in the house, but whenever they did it they should have been clear to viewers from the start of the week it would happen and ideally could have done with some kind of Pandora's Box type thing so that the twist of the second veto is as a result of a decision made in the house.

The red phone would probably have been better in the HoH room, perhaps hidden away with it only ringing when the HoH is alone in the room. Marsha should be in the house somewhere really - putting it in the airlock means they might as well just give the challenges in the diary room.

 

[Kingston]

Absolutely agree with you. The second veto was so unfair and just thrown in on a producers whim at a point in the series it wasn't needed at all. Now saving Tom or Liza would have made more sense as they'd be more than just a bit of indifference to that in the house, but whenever they did it they should have been clear to viewers from the start of the week it would happen and ideally could have done with some kind of Pandora's Box type thing so that the twist of the second veto is as a result of a decision made in the house.

The red phone would probably have been better in the HoH room, perhaps hidden away with it only ringing when the HoH is alone in the room. Marsha should be in the house somewhere really - putting it in the airlock means they might as well just give the challenges in the diary room.

I'm a little apprehensive to say it was rigged in someones favor or against but my point was that it was poor execution regardless... However I do think it actually created a fair amount of drama, in fact more than had it been in Tom or Liza's favor... Suzette may not have added a lot of entertainment value over the season, I think when she needed to she stepped up to the plate... And it really set the stage to see both Tom and Liza walk out the door the following week... Not a single person I've talked to was sad to see them leave... Also IMO there are still enough entertaining HG's remaining that they aren't missed... I think it will be much more entertaining to see friends turn against each other over the next few weeks and I know that is bound to happen... I have to agree though that the power should have been clear from the beginning of the week, and to be honest it should have played out like a secret veto where Canada could award it to any HG or it should have been the sole veto for the week...

I can see what you mean about Marsha... I think the outdoor area, which IMO hasn't has heaps of airtime might have been a better place for it... I know HG's are going out there for fresh air or even the back yard... However I don't mind her being in the airlock... As I said in my previous post it's more how she is being utilized in relation to the phone... Also I'm really not all that concerned with that placement either and again it's simply more how it is being utilized...

Given that there seems to be something now every week, I'm really not seeing where they can go moving forward in to a second season... I have every reason to believe that there will be one but it seems like they are pulling out too many stops... I said right from the beginning that the changes needed to built in to the format and that the season needed to remain relatively twistless... Despite my complaints BB Canada has become such a guilty pleasure... I honestly haven't needed to watch the American format since season 8 and I have yet to miss an episode... If that's don't speak volumes for my point I don't know what will...

 

[Brekkie]

I think a second season is a certainty - the huge start up costs in setting up the house and production means it probably takes a good couple of seasons before it starts paying off, especially on a cable channel. I wouldn't be too surprised if it was as early as the fall too, though I think leaving it till Feb next year is probably the better option.

Hopefully producers will be able to see what worked and what didn't for a second season and build on the first.

 

[Kingston]

I think a second season is a certainty - the huge start up costs in setting up the house and production means it probably takes a good couple of seasons before it starts paying off, especially on a cable channel. I wouldn't be too surprised if it was as early as the fall too, though I think leaving it till Feb next year is probably the better option.

Hopefully producers will be able to see what worked and what didn't for a second season and build on the first.

What gives you that impression... I wouldn't mind a shorter 3 to 4 week series in the fall... Not too sure about a Canadian version of Celebrity BB as anyone worth casting would be American, however there are several other variations they could use... Overall I think they are happy with the Spring schedule and given the limited budget a cable network has I think they are happy with only one season a year... No other Canadian reality show has run more than once a year...

It also sounds like a lot of the house was constructed using sponsorships, given the number of times certain sponsors have been pimped...

 

[Kingston]

No mention of the live feed in tonight's episode... Although I really don't know why two HoH's is such a big deal that they need to black out the feeds for 3 whole days...

Another thing that is getting to me is how friendly Arisa is getting with the HG's, and since I've been watching BBUK I really don't see a need for this type of interaction... IMO the host really only needs to talk to the HG's after they are evicted during their interview... It's not as if she's really able to gain any new insight on a particular situation anyways...

 

[Brekkie]

Tonight's show was just a mess really - they didn't even show the evictee leaving and then had about five minutes to fill at the end, and didn't actually tease what the twist was other than getting the sponsors name in there.

Live feeds have now been blacked out for the entire weekend (surely the peak viewing period for them!) but the twist looks to be an instant eviction rather than double HoH, though unclear if voters choose the evictee directly or if they choose two nominees to face this instant eviction. I guess we'll wait and see who goes before deciding if this sort of twist is worth it, but even so they'd have been better off moving the eviction show forward to Wednesday then airing the instant eviction on Thursday - either live or if pre-recorded at least it's one day without the feeds rather than three.

With it being Easter weekend I'm sure they'd get away with telling the HGs it was bought forward due to the holiday, and anyway I'm sure suspicions would have been risen by the eviction being done earlier than yesterday anyhow and Arisa's random post-HoH line of questioining last night anyway.

 

[nutmeg]

I'm interested to see what Topaz does as HOH this week.
No way is she going to put up Gary like everyone wants.
I would love to see something happen that upsets the Shield - Alec and Peter.
They are too cocky. Funny, but full of it.

 

[Brekkie]

So they block out the feeds for three days but still stick them back on for 10 minutes or so - long enough to leak out the key details:

Spoiler

AJ and Andrew were nominated. Andrew was the target, but Alec and Peter voted to keep him so AJ was evicted.

Andrew is the new HoH and will likely nominate Topaz and Gary.

 

[nutmeg]

The feeds are so annoying. I hooked up a Canadian VPN for $7 a month so that I could watch, but it was hardly worth the effort.
Thanks for the spoilers, Brekkie. Though I'm not happy - don't want to see Topaz and Gary facing off, if that is what happens. Grrrr.

 

[Brekkie]

OK, the show wins marks for the behind the scenes intro (ages since I've seen a BB presenter in the camera runs!) and the late night look to the front of the house, but that Instant Eviction could easily have been done within the live show on Thursday meaning no blackout required. Did their live feed crew just want Easter weekend off?

The US purists don't like that Big Brother effectively outed Topaz's game with this twist, but for me I say it's fair game and these sorts of twists which break the rules are all the better for it. This was far better than the Canada's Veto twist a couple of weeks ago and there will be some genuine fall out, though we didn't see enough of it on today's show.

Gary's reaction to being on slop was pathetic too - even worse than Suzette moaning about being on the block.

 

[nutmeg]

I couldn't stop laughing at Gary's reaction - so hilarious.
And just when you think he couldn't keep this up any more, he carries on even more. Bwahaha.

And I really liked the twist on Topaz.
These guys are all too BB savvy - the show needs shaking up somehow.
Well played BB.

 

[Kingston]

Personally I hated the twist... Topaz was stupid for thinking out loud, but I really didn't see a need for it to be broadcast to the rest of the house... It also wasn't fair that there was no PoV... The timing was pretty crappy as well... They could have easily waited until Sunday and there still would have been more than enough time for a second round on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as there really isn't much happening game wise on those days...

I'm far from a purist when it comes to the US format but I think both major twists so far have gone above and beyond a certain line... I really haven't liked either one...

 

[nutmeg]

Totally agree with you on the lack of POV. It all happened so fast, and I was disappointed for AJ not to have a live audience to see him out – what an anticlimax!!

And I was sorry for Topaz to have given up her whole game – I would have much preferred if it was one of the power players (ie The Shield). But that’s BB.

Although this is my first experience of US-styled BB. I don’t actually like it – seems like it encourages people to be complete asses to each other. BUT I’m reserving my judgment til the end – maybe it will all make sense to me by then.

 

[Brekkie]

I didn't mind the lack of POV at all - nominees and HGs in general are so over reliant on the Veto it's nice once in a while to throw in the twist of it not being there. Far better too than the unnecessary second public veto they had a few weeks ago.

I would like to see them try a double eviction though where it is two people being evicted under the reign of one HoH - or perhaps go for that double HoH idea and have two sets of nominees and two evictions in the week.


And no audience didn't make sense when producers switched the live feeds on long enough during the blackout to leak who had been evicted, the new HoH and the new nominees anyway.

 

[SnideAsides]

I don't mind the lack of a Veto either. The whole point of the show is to 'expect the unexpected', and when something unexpected actually happens people chuck a fit? Give me a break.

 

[Brekkie]

Unconfirmed Twitter rumour that as a result of Jillian opening Pandora's Box (something I'd hoped wouldn't make it to the Canadian version) that:

Spoiler

Gary has returned to the house with a second Veto for the week, which seems like a blatant production fix in order to save the Shield if they're betting on him giving it Topaz then her using it on Alec. That would leave Jillian with no choice but to nominate Talla and Andrew (assuming she wouldn't nominate Emmett).

 

[Kingston]

I don't mind the lack of a Veto either. The whole point of the show is to 'expect the unexpected', and when something unexpected actually happens people chuck a fit? Give me a break.

The set up was "unexpected" but the lack of veto wasn't... It's a fundamental pillar of the HoH format, that is not to be forgotten about...

That being said I'm really not sure why I'm even bothering responding about this to someone who doubted BB Canada would even follow the US format... You clearly haven't got a clue... BTW I'm not "chucking a fit" about the lack of PoV, but it just didn't make sense not to include it in one form or another...

 

[nutmeg]

So who will come back?

I am trying to get the hang of this alliance-styled show, so I'm not sure that any of the Jury Room crew would do any good coming back.
Alec seems to be poison for the Shield alliance now.
Peter voted Topaz out so she has nothing to go back to.
Everyone left can't stand Garry.
So I think AJ is the only one who might be worth sending back in, as he and Andrew would pick up where they left off, and that might shift the power in the house.

But I don't think that will happen.

 

[Brekkie]

I'd be amazed if it wasn't Gary who picked up the votes.