Big Brother

Plot

A group of contestants move into the Big Brother house, where they nominate each other to be evicted by public vote. The last person remaining will take home a large cash prize, while the others take home nothing.

Cast

A bunch of sad sacks desperate for fame.

Verdict

I remember when this came out, I thought it was a fascinating social experiment and an interesting premise for a television show especially since this was before the days where reality television was a big thing (Those were the days).

Throw a bunch of people into a shared property, throw challenges at them and have them voted off one by one until one is left and give that people a wad of money. Inevitably people play the camera, scheme against the others and in theory it makes for great television.

In reality? They scrape the barrel finding the most fame hungry desperate people they can, a combination of vile and just pathetic. And oh boy they do play to the camera, leaving not one single person you can relate to or even remotely like. And the scheming, it shows how scummy the majority are, just like in real life.

And then if you haven't had your fix of watching people sitting around, had your dose of drama and childishness then you can tune in live to watch them sleep in night vision! Yeeeah!

I despise reality television for a host of reasons, Big Brother embodies them all.

Rants

You know Big Brother has given us one good thing, ONE! And that's Dead Set (2008). Remember that? The zombie mini-series about the zombie apocalypse starting and those in the Big Brother house being unaware! Despite all the Big Brother alumni doing their best to ruin it just by existing I have to say that was good stuff. I'd rather watch one episode of that than all 1.4k of this offensively stupid tripe.

The Good

Davina McCall is oddly likable

The Bad

Literally everything else, across the board, just stop it.

'Big Brother' has now run for five seasons with 'real' people (i.e. ordinary Joes and Janes who were not celebrities) and has just begun a third season 'celebrity' version.

The trouble is that what was originally an idea of some originality and promise - shut a few contrasting personalities in a house with no contact with the outside world, intrusive cameras, and unusual tasks, for a few weeks and see what happens - after season 1 had passed future house-mates knew what to expect.

Subsequent seasons have seen the house-mates exploit their new-found 'fame' (for doing what, exactly?) not only after leaving the house, but while they are in there. So the challenges get ever more tedious, the tabloid and gossip mag column inches get longer, and the nation for some reason continues to watch.

Another nail in the coffin of British TV, an indication that poor taste and high ratings go hand in hand (that or the TV-viewing public at large really will watch anything and they get what they deserve).

We are talking about a show which was once introduced with the words "Day 21 - Derek is eating a sandwich". What sort of person carries on watching anything after that.

You'll see the phrase "like watching paint dry" through thousands of user comments across this website, on despised shows & films.

Never a truer word spoken here though & FOR TWO REASONS.

One because it is that dull - although that maybe a tad unfair on paint.

But secondly - the day British TV fell to it's knees (and went largely unnoticed). A few years back the housemates (there's better names for them than that - but wouldn't make it through the firewall) had to each paint a bench in a colour that reflected themselves. (I expected 12 grey benches). Anyway - after they finished painting them & went inside the camera remained outside, for several minutes - while the viewer did indeed "watch paint dry".

And still the public watched.

There is possibly one thing worse than Big Brother. The host. I won't give her the satisfaction of publicising her name (+or benal facial expressions) but we're talking about a woman who once introduced 3 OF THE 6 FEMALE ENTRANTS one year by their name & breast size. Never mind, name & job title, name & achievements, name and ambitions maybe. Nope, name & size of Charlies are all that counts nowadays.

Never, until the day I die, will I understand the appeal of watching some sad and lonely freaks raping their dignity for the sake of "entertainment". What is so amazing about people sitting around and talking? People sleeping? Who watches this filth?? It distresses me greatly how my generation will grow up thinking that "Big Brother" is a sleazy reality TV show and did not start out as one of the central themes created by Orwell for his book, "1984". When we live in a society where people waste their lives watching this crap, you realize that class is dead. As I am part of the "MTV Generation", BB's biggest audience, I worry if people will automatically assume that I am a fan, so I would like to assure you that I am NOT. It also annoys me how ex BB contestants like Jade Goodey and Brian Dowling (luckly there are few) have managed to turn themselves into household names, despite a complete lack of talent. It is morphing into a cheap and easy way to get famous, whilst those who have actually had to WORK for their fame are pushed aside!!! This programme is a DIRECT representation of the dumbing down of society. Annoyingly, it is still proving extremely popular, but I am praying for the day when the public will come to their senses and stop watching this garbage.

Big Brother. Sure, so the concept has been sold to practically every country on the planet, (much like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). And each time it's shown it takes the nation by storm. Everyone seems to be able to pick a member of the house with which they can identify with, and who they root for until, inevitably, they're voted out.

The first series was historical. It had every Brit watching in awe as a group of people feed chickens and talk about their lives. It was, for most, compulsive viewing. The 'inmates' became national celebrities and icons who were forgotten within six months, but were, for the summer they were in the house, heralded as heroes.

Some guy has commented, saying it's merely a copy of the American format, which to my knowledge, is quite untrue. The series was created and broadcast in a European country (Probably the Netherlands) and then sold worldwide. The British and American versions were screened at the same time, but that's not what this is about.

The thing with Big Brother, here in the UK, is this; If you watch it you wonder why you feel the need to view other people's lives (It's Blumner and Katz voyeuristic entertainment theory) and if you don't watch it you're catergorized as a pariah because no conversation is complete without a mention of the latest going-ons inside the Big Brother house.

As I've said before, the first series was classic, with the memorable 'Nasty' Nick Bateman, who scammed and cheated his way through until the house-mates caught on to his actions. This really was compulsive viewing, and yet the other two series failed to make a connection with myself, personally. Maybe I just crave the sheer drama.

In ending, you can't escape this show, no matter where you are in the country. The antics are front-page news and everyone's talking about it. And you know, there really is something in watching people in a house they are locked in. And then there's the chicken....