Why I Love Big Brother UK – #7

7. The Diary Room

In the US it is pretty much an afterthought or the way that producers like to ask questions in order to get certain answers. In Australia it just isn’t really used much at all unless for discipline problems, nominating, and the occasional “confession.”

In the UK it is a whole other room open pretty much most of the day and some of the night. There is always an ominous voice behind the camera that watches you and you can pretty much say whatever you want. Just click the button and you can go on it and talk about whatever. The diary room is not only for the above (discipline problems, nominating, confessionals)  it is a way for the contestants to pass the time. To talk to the audience about what they are feeling or just express themselves. It can be used in a task and someone like Susie from the seventh series can even get stuck in there for a long time.

Though it has been cut and unfortunately used as a recap program more often then not, the UK even had an episode that aired that was called Diary Room uncut. We got the full confessionals, or at least a longer edited version, that filled up the whole hour.

The diary room works best when there is a silly task, people are drunk, or are so pissed off they have to vent their frustration just a few feet away from everyone else. It is one of the highlights of the opening night to see the diary room chair for the first time.

Bottom line it is just a great place for the contestants to chill out or for Big Brother to dish out some of its evil plans. It is usually just a one on one place where the contestants are usually or mostly themselves (as much as the wannabes can be themselves). Each year the house designers out do themselves but remaking this iconic room. It isn’t just a confessional or a place to nominate it is one of the hearts of the show.

DVD: The Office Season 3

This was the season that made me love The Office. I don’t even remember why…I just decided to watch an episode and all of a sudden I spent the entire weekend sitting on my dorm floor watching the entire season online. Ever since then I’ve been a huge addict and of course have gone back to seen the first two seasons around the end of last year.

The first few episodes took a bit of getting into (as I am finding with a lot of shows lately, I guess I just need to be in the mood or something). The show really started to shine around “Branch Closing” and “The Merger.” Jim being off in another branch took away from the rest of the series and was kind of jolting to the plot. B.J. Novak even admits in the commentary that things were perfect.

However the first two episodes slowly introduced us to Karen and Andy. Karen has since left the show and Rashida is of course now on Parks and Recreation and Andy is so well ingrained into the show it was liked he was here the whole time.

I also feel like this is the season where they really tried to develop the peripheral characters. We saw a lot more of Meredith, Stanley, Phyliss, Toby, Kelly, Creed, Angela, Oscar, Kevin…oh I’m just naming them all. Again though I really felt like I got to know these characters unlike in the previous two seasons.

This season also has so many standout episodes. The last few are especially good. My favorites are: Gay Witch Hunt, Traveling Salesmen, The Return, Phyllis’ Wedding, and Cocktails. But the best finale arc I personally think are the final three episode with Women’s Appreciation, Beach Games, and The Job. Pam of course is excellent in these final few episode.  Jenna Fischer has really gotten into the role and this is perhaps my favorite season of hers.

The DVD lacked a bit of extra features but again it isn’t about that, it is about the episodes.

Great season, great packaging, and overall very happy with it.

DVD: Survivor All Stars

The first five episodes of this series is fantastic. Stop thinking about “What is Jenna Lewis and Amber doing here?” or “Is Alicia really All Star Worthy?” and of course “What is the point if they are just going to give Rupert a million dollars?” Forget all that. This season is picked on so much. But if you forget that Amber wins, for a little bit, and you forget how this started a trend of a lot of crappy All Star Winners then I don’t think it is that bad of a season. In fact I find it to be one of the most rewatchable ones, at least on DVD.

It has the game playing of a newer season, has the survival aspect of the earlier season, plus the first few episodes have some of the best/most entertaining people the show has ever had. The first challenge is epic, eighteen of some of the biggest contestants ever? Ethan is on the same tribe as Jerri? Richard Hatch is rubbing shoulders with Kathy, Jenna, and Lex?

It is huge and really the show is huge for the first five episodes. Tina is taken out because of winners jealousy, Rudy gets hurt…ok that sucked…ok it sucked that Jenna went home, and Rob Cesternino lost. We lost some big names at the beginning which kind of ruined the whole All Stars aspect. People like Amber, Alicia, and Jenna got to the final six it kind of just takes the wind out of you. The season could have been saved if Lex wasn’t such a huge idiot and gotten rid of Amber. The merge would have been crazy and the final four could have been…amazing. Plus his whole hypocritical nature. He did the same think to Ethan that Rob Mariano ended up doing to him.

So yea the show kind of dies a little and drags a bit in the middle. It also starts getting obvious that Rob has everyone fooled and he and Amber basically float to the end. Yet the final tribal council is one of the most bitter and tense things I’ve ever seen on tv. It is an epic moment with Lex, Kathy, and of course Tom being so bitter. Shii Ann is the only light saying that it was just a game. Perhaps that is the most fascinating thing about it. The players are so emotionally involved this time that it really does suck getting voted out by a friend. This season did introduce Romber to all of us and we had to endure them in several reality shows afterward (they make a much better Amazing Race couple then Survivor contestants). Yet I have a soft spot for this season. It isn’t perfect and we lose a lot of great people early on but it still is a fantastic Survivor season.

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #6

6. The House

This is our dollhouse for the next three months. Each series is original and they have become more and more complicated as they’ve gone on. It puts the Big Brother US house to shame. Granted there are some amazing Big Brother houses out there, but since I can’t understand any other language but English I’ll have to refer only to the English speaking houses and of course Big Brother UK.

The first series started off fairly normal. It was really just a house with a very basic garden. Two bedrooms, little decorations, a small little kitchen. Nothing to fancy. However as the show grew more complicated and became more of a sensation the house changed as well.

They built on the house in the second series. Still two bedrooms but it became more complicated. They developed a nice little log cabin like nook in the garden. The housemates could go inside and relax, it was a place to hide from other people. The living room also became a bit more decorated with more special couches and a nice big table for Bubble to slide over.

After this series the shows contract had run out where the house located they moved to Elstree Studios. Here is where the house started getting a bit more complicated. Big Brother 3 introduced a staircase going up into the house where housemates were greeted with another large staircase. It still had two bedrooms but they were a bit more fancy. The kitchen was decked out compared to the earlier series and they had a nice big garden with a good size pool and large open living are next to the kitchen.

Now I won’t comment on the fourth through sixth series because I haven’t seen them but somewhere in their the house became a bit more convoluted as the producers tried to liven things up. In the seventh series they tried a whole indoor outdoor theme. The dining room table was outside as was the stove. The living room lit up and now all the housemates stayed in one room together. All separate beds but they all had to sleep in the same area. This house had a huge pool and a couple of little talking places like the Bridge to Nowhere and even had a whole house next door (which they revamped twice in the series).

The eighth series probably is my favorite house (out of the ones I’ve seen). The eighth series was a lot smaller and not many places to go but it was bright and colorful. The dead grass from the seventh series was replaced with astro turf. The bedroom had two large 4 person beds and had a very luxurious bathroom. The kitchen was once again all over the place with the oven in the bedroom, the fridge outside, and the sink across from the whole preparation area.

Last summer, the ninth series, had a huge sprawling house. Two bedrooms were brought back, one extremely luxurious and the other had extremely thin mats. The bathroom was fantastic. All other bathrooms should be shamed next to it. It had all these gold plates fountains a nice large bath and a shower. The living room was huge, the kitchen was a little bit smaller, and the garden was pretty gigantic. The pool was brought back and like the eighth series had a smoking area that was shaped like an ashtray. This season also had a jail for bad housemates when they disobeyed the rules. This season also introduced the double staircase and the diary room was outside of the house.

Now this new series the house is a bit smaller and a bit bare but I think because of some twist it could be the most creative house yet.

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #5

5. The Housemates

It isn’t a show without the housemates…this is probably the best thing about the show. Period hands down. The producers go out of their way to find the 10, 14, and even 16 housemates who all summer long will be there to fill up 70 something hour long episodes. There are a couple of duds but most of the time we get people who are so completely interesting who continue to surprise us from the beginning. I’ve done tons and tons of charts on who are my favorites and who are my least favorites and that is part of the fun. Usually each summer, or series, I find myself falling in love with a contestant and I honestly feel like the show changes completely when they are gone. It is hard to lose your favorite person in the program.

Again, the best housemate is someone who can surprise you from day to day and will always put a smile on your face. Sometimes it takes awhile to pick that special person who is your favorite or they end up all being great that it is even harder. Worst case scenario is perhaps is the ninth series where no one really stood out for me until her husband got evicted.

These people pop out opening night, you get an immediate opinion on them. Most of them are A-Type personalities who are over the top and some a bit crazy that you might think about their mental state a bit. Either way it makes the stakes really high and when you lose on of the characters in this summer soap opera it is big.

The best housemates are also original. It is hard swallowing the wannabes year after year and every year it seems to become a bit more difficult. Most of them try to imitate previous series favorite (Chanelle’s tantrums?) or develop a showmance (Luke and Rebecca?) and usually lose their luster when they run out of material. However each season you might get someone who is fame hungry but they are different from the rest they stand out.

I first fell in love with Nikki. Now love is a strong word for a contestant on a reality show, but let me just say she was my favorite. I’m not talking about Nikki becoming a bit too self aware of her tantrums, I’m talking about Nikki from the first seven weeks of the show. In summer 2007 I had several favorites. I was disappointed to see Lesley disappear so soon, she was brilliant. Then Nicky didn’t last much longer so I went with Sam and Amanda. Last summer was difficult. I wasn’t losing my favorites I just didn’t have any…until Mario got eliminated. Lisa then really got to show herself a bit more and get more assertive and easily became my number one for the rest of the series.

The same thing goes for older series, where the contestants tended to be a bit more real. Anna quickly became my favorite in the first season. The lovable lesbian nun who just kind of did whatever she wanted. Season 2 had the lovable Helen (and I can’t wait to go back and see all of the weeks I missed that are now online). Season 3 was interesting. I fell in love with Alison at the beginning of the series (back when Kate was a bit hard to swallow) then moved onto Adele but now looking back I really did like Kate and I’m glad she won out of the three of them.

Contestants are amazing and I cannot wait to find a new love this summer.