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Big Brother Canada ends season early due to COVID-19 developments

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Canadian Royalty

‘Big Brother Canada’ Season 8 Ceases Production Due To Coronavirus Pandemic
Victoria Ahearn · The Canadian Press · Posted: Mar 24, 2020 2:56 PM ET | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

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“Big Brother Canada” season 8 is coming to an end.


In light of developments in Ontario resulting from the global coronavirus outbreak, the long-running Global TV staple will air its final episodes on Wednesday, March 25 and Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. There are currently no plans to resume production at a later date.

“‘Big Brother Canada’ is a labour of love for so many, and even though it hurts to say goodbye to the season, it’s the right thing to do,” says host Arisa Cox. “On behalf of the incredible people who put this show together, thank you to everyone who started this journey with us. Please take care and be safe!”


Fans can still rewatch episodes from season 8, as well as full episodes from seasons 4-7, on BigBrotherCanada.ca.


The move comes after Insight Productions took precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of the show’s crew and houseguests, including medical evaluations of all houseguests and daily professional cleaning of its facilities.

Meanwhile, ongoing instalments of the franchise in Brazil, Germany, Israel and Sweden continue to move forward, as well as Italy’s celebrity edition. But, production on India’s “Bigg Boss Malayalam” has been suspended temporarily. In Australia, filming of the country’s 12th season of the format was temporarily halted while a crew member was tested for COVID-19; a spokesperson tells 7News the test has since returned negative, and filming is set to resume.
 
It had to be done - surprised it lasted quite as long as it did and be interesting to see if others follow.

A shame the producers didn't admit to themselves this was happening ahead of last Thursdays eviction. They could have gone ahead with that eviction then turned off the live feeds and just rushed through the cycle, then played it out as weekly episodes. Then again that would mean paying the $100k prize - pulling it now presumably means nobody takes home the cash, though other versions which were pulled early sometimes split the cash amongst remaining HGs.
 
This really is a blessing in disguise as the series so far has been an unmitigated disaster from the start...

For me casting has been BBCAN’s undoing for the past several series. Also in terms of production they’ve fallen in to the same creative drought. Much like the American show each series feels remarkably similar with new people and new decor.

If BBCAN returns they really need to invest some time in creative development and bringing in some new production team members... Specifically in the area of casting.

I enjoyed BBCAN in the early days because it felt special and was a refreshing change from the American version... It would be great to have a series again where I could stomach watching more than a handful of episodes.
 
It had to be done - surprised it lasted quite as long as it did and be interesting to see if others follow.

A shame the producers didn't admit to themselves this was happening ahead of last Thursdays eviction. They could have gone ahead with that eviction then turned off the live feeds and just rushed through the cycle, then played it out as weekly episodes. Then again that would mean paying the $100k prize - pulling it now presumably means nobody takes home the cash, though other versions which were pulled early sometimes split the cash amongst remaining HGs.

From what I understand what’s happening with the prize money will be announced April 1.
 
Expecting this weeks show to be very much the usual Veto proceedings then end with an announcement from Arisa about the end of the season.

Agree the show has been in a bit of a creative drought - even in terms of theming they're just not taking it as far as they could. BBUSA has ironically overtaken them and for the last couple of seasons their themes, however weak they are, have at least been carried through a good chunk of the season in terms of the comps and twists. BB Canada just drops them after the first week - they really could be doing something with super powers this year.

I also think the comps have just felt quite cheap this year - previously they've been on a par with the US version but this year they've just felt quite budget. The cast just hasn't clicked - only three I value are Brooke, Minh-Le and the quite unfairly ejected Jamar, so of all the seasons to be pulled early I'm glad it's this one.


That said far more important things than Big Brother at the moment, but it was providing a really important distraction.
 
BB Canada did a superb job with their final episode - they've always had superb production values for their premieres and finales especially and this was no exception, covering the period from when they were told the season was over to the final houseguests leaving the next day.

The $100k prize was quite rightly donated to charities responding to COVID-19.
 
Could it have been a possibility for them to end production then resume it once carona settled down?
 
I think with Canada to the issues were more to do with employees and staff - there were reports many had quit due to the show not being pulled and them feeling it was unsafe to do so. I think also one thing we've learned in recent weeks is certainty is quite important - far better to end the season and everyone know where they stand than suspend it and leave it up in the air.
 
This really is a blessing in disguise as the series so far has been an unmitigated disaster from the start...

For me casting has been BBCAN’s undoing for the past several series. Also in terms of production they’ve fallen in to the same creative drought. Much like the American show each series feels remarkably similar with new people and new decor.

If BBCAN returns they really need to invest some time in creative development and bringing in some new production team members... Specifically in the area of casting.

I enjoyed BBCAN in the early days because it felt special and was a refreshing change from the American version... It would be great to have a series again where I could stomach watching more than a handful of episodes.
I agree that the casting has been abit iffy recently. To me the cast of the earlier seasons seemed to be more carefully selected, now it seems they just put in anyone they think would be good. Imo they also don't think about breathing space and letting individuals shine as they used to, like Ika and season 2.
 
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I agree that the casting has been abit iffy recently. To me the cast of the earlier seasons seemed to be more carefully selected, now it seems they just put in anyone they think would be good. Imo they also don't think about breathing space and letting individuals shine as they used to, like Ika and season 2.

BBCAN was refreshing in the early years as they seem to be driven to set themselves apart from BBUS... Recent series it seems they’ve fallen in to trying to emulate them.

Especially when it comes to casting. IMO it’s likely they’ve grown to trust Robyn Kass’s judgement when it comes to whomever she chooses to push forward. No doubt you could swap any of the most recent douchebags in an American series and not be able to tell the difference. She’s the only common denominator.
 
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Have to agree - having rewatched the first three series it is quite noticeable how much more diverse the casting was in the early series.
 
Have to agree - having rewatched the first three series it is quite noticeable how much more diverse the casting was in the early series.
The distant past. Free of "influencers" as a supposed job vocation.
Simpler times.
Better times imo.
Its got arse-backward. Philosophically, its great everyone has a voice to be heard.
Practically, it opens up the douchebag void and null.
 
Yes, I would say BBCAN and actually BBUSA to a large extent do still tend to cast people with real jobs that you as a viewer can identify with.
 
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