BB09: The Rescue Plan

OK, this season hasn’t been the best – in fact, it’s been a challenger for the worst, but at least since they reverted back to the original format it’s felt more like Big Brother again. Nominations, even more so than evictions, are the key part of the format and in the first few weeks of the series the show lost it’s soul. Also to be praised is the lack of Intruders – if we forget the gatecrashers, which I think we all have anyway.

However, if BB09 goes ahead the show needs to be given every chance to succeed – and that means more change is required.

TIME

Firstly, and most crucially, the time slot. The extended shows always perform significantly better after 7.30pm, and always seem far more popular too. So the first change is simple – move the weeknight shows to 7.30pm, extending them to an hour. And I’m in no doubt Ten could accommodate such a change considering nominations, midweek specials and FNL have filled the slot for years.

FNL

Talking of FNL, it’s an old one but it’s as relevant as ever – FNL is seriously over due a revamp. Firstly, axe Ryan so it’s no longer the BB boys club. Secondly, it’s slashed to an hour (8.30-9.30pm) so it’s straight to the point, rather than full of filler crap. And thirdly, it’s made with the Big Brother fan in mind, not their kids. Most importantly after four years of it being an individual competition the show is completely refocused with a new format and a renewed importance. The link with evictions is also removed.

LET BATTLE COMMENCE

What that change is depends on the series as a whole – and one tried and tested format would give both FNL, and Big Brother itself, the revamp it requires. Big Brother: The Battle – a revamped house, split into rich and poor, with up to 16 housemates split between the two sides. FNL then becomes the main “Battle” each week as the two sides of the house go head to head to claim their place on the rich side, with hot water, comfy beds and all the luxuries of the house, while the losers face the back to basics lifestyle – to the extreme.

The weekly task is also replaced by a series of ad-hoc challenges taking place randomly throughout the week either for rewards or for individual housemates to swap sides.

The format also allows for the nominations process to be revamped, and there are numerous ways it could be done. Each side of the house could nominate independently, with one from each side going head to head in the eviction vote. Other options include one side winning immunity, or perhaps linking it to the point system so the rich HMs nominations are worth 2 points and the poor HMs worth just the one. Or the nominations process could simply be left as it is, leaving the housemates themselves to decide how loyal to their own side of the house they are.

EVICTIONS

An absolute must – keep Mike Goldman as far away from them as physically possible. And they should certainly not bring back Gretel. Kyle and Jackie O have had the chance to bed in now and it’s important the show looks to the future, not too the past, so they should remain in charge next year. And them only being available one day a week has actually benefited the show this year, which hasn’t suffered from all the pointless midweek specials we had during Gretel’s final couple of years with the show.

And that’s the starting point to give BB09 a chance – it’s up to those paid to do the job to do the rest.

Any thoughts – comment on my userblog.

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Random Ramblings…

A few thoughts… and a look ahead to BBUK.

Firstly, the nominations. I’ve hated the new process from the start as it’s just not Big Brother, but I’ve got to concede it had the desired effect of keeping the characters in and kicking the pot-plants out, and I do think they should have stuck with it until the end of the season.

However, that being said we learnt more about the housemates’ relationships in the first round of proper nominations than we have in all the previous eviction votes – and now the HMs can get rid of who they want, and the viewer can get the final say. Perfect.

And although it’s much better IMO recording them and airing the nominations in the Daily Show, they need to tighten it all up a bit. It would be best to call the HMs into the diary room randomly during the morning rather than sitting them all down to do it, and that way the noms can be spread through the show a bit more, rather than in a couple of packages at the end.

On to Intruders and yeah, whatever. Same old same old with a VT entrance and splitting the HMs up. And now they’ve arrived, Ollie is sidelined in the daily shows, and Ollie is the only reason I started downloading again.

BBUK

The new series of Big Brother UK begins on Thursday and after a tough year last year, it’s time for the show to fight back.

Whether it will remains to be seen – it came back from the brink in BB5, so it’s got a proven history of revamping itself when required, even if they’ve left it a series or two too late this time.

Davina is back – and looking like one sexy mama in the pre-season photo shoots, while it remains to be seen what new hosts George Lamb and Zezi Ifore bring to BBLB.

The house is looking great though, and will be home to 16 HMs from Thursday night, with the first eviction due on Friday 13th.

BBBA forum users can comment on this blog here

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Change is a good thing right?

So Gretel’s gone to that great eviction stage in the sky, or a donkey sanctuary or something, meaning this year there is a very visible change in the form of Kyle and Jackie O.

It seems a risky appointment – but that’s far better than going for some reliable autocue reader with little personality – and it could just work. And if it doesn’t, well I think it’ll be entertaining watching their careers just slip away.

The more important change of course though is that of the production team. Love him (his mum) or hate him (the rest of us), four years is just too long to be in charge of a show like Big Brother, and Kris Noble ran out of ideas at least two years before he left.

So far the new producers (Rory Callaghan and Virginia Hodgson) seem to be heading in the right direction, but it’s not what they’re promising, it’s what they deliver which they will be judged on – and we all know how many promises have been broken in the past.

It’s not so much about what twists they come up with or what they steal from abroad and pass off as a “world first” – but it’s how they execute the things they do.

In many respects it doesn’t matter too much what they do – but it’s very important that what they do do, they do well.

After all, it only take one bad move for the series to be written off once again.

So what do you think – add you comments on our new BBBA community blogs here. And if you’d like a place to share your thoughts, why not try the brand spanking new BBBA user blogs and get blogging yourself.

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