Guess who’s back to ruin/make* your summer? (*delete as applicable)

Well, the sun came along, gave us all a few days of warmth and sunshine and then disappeared to shatter those early promises of a long hot summer. Not to worry though because, if there’s one thing Brits like to talk about as much as the weather, it’s Big Brother.  Or Big Bloody Brother if you prefer. It’s always had a reputation as one of those love it or hate it “marmite” shows but this time around I get the sense that it’s missed its traditional polarising position in the schedules to become a little, so what?!

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Tags: BBBM, BBLB, Big Mouth, Big-Brother, Davina, E4, Endemol, Housemates, Little Brother, Live Feed, Task, Twitter

“Do you remember the time?”

Now is the time of year when many people are summing up their collective recollections of the latest incarnation of Big Brother and beginning their reviews with the words “Big Brother 2006 will be remembered for…” and whether it be Pete’s Tourettes, Nikki’s tantrums, Richard’s Diary Room bitchiness, or even Endemol’s ongoing incompetence, all well and good… Big Brain, Little Brother, and Big Mouth have all provided adequate commentary on these enjoyable, Orwellian inspired antics. However, this is the time when my enjoyment of the show packs its bags and heads off on its summer holiday to be replaced by a despairing sense of frustration with the world. The 22 contestants have had their fifteen minutes and it’s been suitably fun to watch on, hurling abuse at the television, at Grace and at Russell Brand’s hair but now it’s over. In any normal society, the 22 of them would scuttle back to their respective homes and occasionally talk about their experiences to their friends over a pint. What we get though, is a bombardment of faces coming back to haunt us on magazine covers, at film premieres, in the press, and worst of all in more dreary “celebrity” TV shows. Now, I don’t blame the ex-BB’ers themselves, they’re just looking after number one and if some media type is willing pay good money for a chat or a photoshoot, why not? My problem is with us!! Why on earth do we care about these people, they have done their time, they’ve served their purpose and they should be moving on. Jade, Chantelle and, inevitably, Nikki will be haunting us for years but can someone please explain why any of us should be the slightest bit interested?

Tags: BBLB, Big-Brother, Celebrity, Channel4, Reality, Russell-Brand, television, Z-List

“Don’t blame me but I’ve won already “

I’m sorry. Big Brother has been back on our screens for two weeks now and I have failed to mention anything about it at all. However, every time I think of something worth writing the dynamic in the house seems to change. Five people have already left the confines of the Boreham Wood studio… two have been evicted the public, two have evicted themselves and one was sort of, throw out: it’s been hard to keep up. A lot of people look down on reality shows like this and, if I’m honest, most of them have a point. It’s cheap, it’s nasty and there’s something deeply unfulfilling about watching it. I’d love to know the audience figures for the live streaming section but once you add in the complimentary shows (“Little Brother”, “Big Mouth”, Big Brain”, “Diary Room Uncut”, and Davina’s eviction show) you end up with a program that is on for 27 hours a day, this cannot be good for the health of any viewer. There is, of course, a flip side and that is it allows you to contemplate the life you live yourself. How would you react to Shabhaz? Is it right to talk about others behind their backs? How do I integrate myself into the various communities I live in? What are people’s first impressions of me? Anyone interested in people and relationships would find some talking points about the housemate’s antics. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Tags: BBLB, Big-Brother, Channel4, Dermot-OLeary, E4, Reality, Russell-Brand