October 9, 2008
Last week, we asked BuddyTV readers what one change they would make for Big Brother 11, and the responses came fast and furious. Over the coming weeks and months, we here at BuddyTV will analyze most of your suggestions, and discuss the positives and negatives of each worthy idea. While your opinions were diverse, there was one overwhelming sentiment that arose in the comments section: Big Brother should get rid of slop. It seems that almost no one likes slop. CBS and Big Brother, despite constant fan outcry, haven't made many changes to the slop policy in recent seasons. Why not? Laziness, maybe. Perhaps CBS secretly loves to torture their contestants. Regardless, you readers have had enough.
September 29, 2008
Big Brother 10 is over and done, and now begins the long death march across a normal TV season until the show returns. Big Brother fans are as rabid and tunnel-visioned as any fan base out there. For a significant number of Big Brother fans, it is THE show, the one they obsess over and look forward to, even when its premiere is more than half of a year away. Speculation about another winter edition of Big Brother ended last week when CBS announced that Big Brother 11 would premiere next summer. This is all but etched in stone, barring another catastrophic TV event, like last year's writers' strike that forced Big Brother into the winter. Unfortunately, this means that we have months and months to fill before Big Brother returns. We can't just have zero Big Brother coverage at BuddyTV, correct? So, this is one of the things we're going to do - Let's all have a long-term discussion about what should be changed for Big Brother 11.
September 26, 2008
If I were a reality show contestant (though I never will be), I would be eminently concerned with my legacy. What would I be remembered for in one year? Five years? The general public is going to forget about the small things. The big things, the overall persona (if it's memorable), the major events – those are what reality contestants are remembered for. Big Brother 10 is only recently in our past, but now that we've had at least a little bit of time to process and gain perspective on Big Brother 10, we can consider the various legacies of the houseguests. Not all legacies are fair, and oftentimes we think of past contestants in ways we really shouldn't. Minor squabbles become vibrant memories, but smaller personal moments are forgotten as time goes by. So – what will the legacies of the Big Brother 10 houseguests be?
September 24, 2008
With casting already underway for Big Brother 11, we thought that maybe CBS would bring fans another Winter edition of the network's prolific reality series. Earlier this week, I speculated that, although it might be difficult finding time slots for Big Brother 11 this Winter, that there was a distinct possibility that Big Brother 11 could return at mid-season. Well, CBS has nipped that notion in the bud. Big Brother 11 will air in the Summer of 2009. CBS released this information via a press release. Although this should end speculation for the time being, it should be acknowledged that TV is a transitory business, and anything is still possible. However, in all likelihood, Big Brother 11 won't be appearing on your television screens for at least nine months.
September 21, 2008
There are rumblings that Big Brother 11 may in fact be a winter edition. Speculation has been fueled by the mere fact that casting has already begun for Big Brother 11, some fans saying that casting now for a show scheduled nearly a year from now doesn't make any sense. While there is some validity to this line of thinking, Big Brother executive producer Allison Grodner has denied that Big Brother 11 will air in the winter. While Big Brother 9 did become the first season of the series to air in the winter months (where it was a mild success), the only reason CBS ran it was because of the writers' strike and CBS was desperate for new content. There will be no such strike in the coming months, and nothing there to necessitate bring Big Brother back before next summer. Nevertheless, let's examine this all a little bit further.
September 19, 2008
Yesterday's feature, The 5 Worst Moments of Big Brother 10, set off something of a firestorm in the comments section. I suppose that was to be expected. Big Brother fans can get fierce in their loyalties. That's the beauty of the series. As opposed to most reality shows, in which how the show is edited greatly influences how characters are portrayed, Big Brother lets its audience spend so much time with the contestants that we all can get a good feel for who they actually are as people. Stronger opinions are formed, and we are all thusly more passionate about defending or smearing their character. No one likes to read something negative about a person they legitimately like. Conversely, it can be personally baffling to read good things about someone you can't stand. I get it. Which is why a lot of you will surely disagree with what I've come up with in my five best Big Brother 10 moments.
September 19, 2008
Big Brother 10 was a joint effort. Everyone has been so quick to call Dan the sole mastermind of the season, but he really couldn't have done it without Memphis's steady hand there at all times. Dan might have used Memphis, in a way, as an means to and end, but it's not like Memphis was a puppet either. He put forth a great effort and almost won. I wonder what would have happened had Memphis attempted to turn on Dan near the end of the game and tried to take either Keesha or Renny or Jerry to the final two with him. In the second part of our interview, this was one of the many questions I asked Memphis about the Big Brother season.
Below you will find the written transcript as well as the full mp3 of the interview.
Exclusive Interview: Memphis, 'Big Brother 10' Runner-Up, Part 1
September 18, 2008
In downtown Seattle today, I witnessed a line around one full city block, hundreds and hundreds of seemingly normal human beings waiting to be let in somewhere. I had no idea what they were in line for – I assumed someone important was speaking somewhere (Sarah Palin? Flavor Flav?). Only later did I discover that there was no celebrity, no important speaker – these people were waiting in line for the opening of a brand new clothing store. Some Sweden-born establishment that apparently sells reasonably affordable apparel; I presume it's basically an Ikea for clothes. Point being – I will never understand people. The behavior of usually normal men and women never ceases to baffle and amaze. Why would a person wait in line for hours to enter a new clothing store? Why would a reality TV show contestant go ballistic over what they know is a game?