There is no doubt that Big Brother has a rabid and loyal fan base. When I first started covering the show last summer, I was astonished at how much fans were into their favorite reality TV show. The online presence is especially mind-blowing, with countless Big Brother apologists logging in and enjoying the live feeds, populating epic message boards, and more or less making Big Brother feel like the most popular show on the planet. Unfortunately, this loyal fandom is misleading.
Big Brother has increasingly struggled in the ratings over the past few seasons. There are various possible reasons for this: increased competition in the summer months, mishandling of the franchise, a formula becoming tired, etc. It's most likely that the combination of these things have culminated in Big Brother slowly slipping out of the national consciousness. It was questionable whether Big Brother would even receive an eight season. Will this summer be Big Brother's US swan song?
Former executvie producer Arnold Shapiro was forced out after Big Brother 7: All-Stars, which many purists viewed as an abomination. Allison Grodner steps in to try and revitalize the fledgling show. Can we expect some drastic changes? I would assume so. What these changes entail are a mystery. I suppose it is possible for extreme alterations to be made, perhaps even to the schedule. I always felt that, although the three episode a week system did make the show unique, the amount of episodes were overkill. They could easily cut it down to two a week, but I doubt they will.
If CBS head honcho Les Moonves wasn't married to Julie Chen, she would surely be shown the door. The difference between someone like Julie Chen and Jeff Probst is akin to the difference between that dried piece of gum under your seat on the subway and filet mignon.
The point is, if CBS doesn't figure it out and turn Big Brother back into the summer hit it once was, we probably won't see a Big Brother 9.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of KiroTV.com)