Why I Love Big Brother UK – #8

8. Game Changer Week

Ok so this isn’t as specific or as solid of a choice like housemates or evictions but it is a reason why I love this show. Somewhere around the middle of the season is the game changer, the week that really changes the outcome. It can be early or it can be a bit later. However it is usually something that changes the way the house works and the way people act.

The first ever game change was when Nick was discovered cheating. The rest of the cast seemed to kind of work together in order to get expose him and it became the reason Craig won the show. It wasn’t really the happy go lucky house doing an experiment anymore. It became a soap opera and really changed the way the cast looked at each other. For that brief time it wasn’t “only a game show” it was something serious. I think the affects of this and Nick trying to manipulate the cast kind of set the tone for the rest of the season. They became a lot more wary of people talking in little groups and paranoia was raised. Paranoia even reared its ugly head when Darren’s nominations were accidentally announced over the loudspeaker and continued with the introduction of Claire.

In season three, it was around a similar time, maybe a bit earlier. It was after Spencer got out. He did have a lot off hold in the house and him going changed theh way the cast acted around each other. There was this sort of popular kids group with Kate, Spencer, Johnny, PJ, and Jade and that sort of relaxed once Spencer got out. The divide was already up but that really helped with the breaking down of the group barriers. Alex and Kate seemed to start getting along and new and different people were going. I’m not entirely sure if it was the week after Spencer got out or the week of, I just know somewhere around here everyone relaxed…and drank a ton of alcohol.

In recent seasons it was usually something to the same affect, somebody left and the attitude changed around the house. In the seventh series the show changed quite dramatically in about two weeks. Lea and Nikki, two big characters, were both evicted while four new people (not including Jonathan) joined the house. At one point it even seemed like the originals versus the house next door members. Aisleyne was also a huge mess during this time arguing with Nikki and having a breakdown after the house next door.

In the eighth series I think the show kind of took a turn for the worse after the game changing week. Charley left leaving us with a bunch of new people who were not very fascinating and the likes of Tracey and Liam to entertain us. All of the good people really left, or at least the abrasive people. This same week Chanelle also left the house…and lets be honest no matter how much you like Charley and Chanelle they were the biggest characters up until that point. The twins were big characters but not in the way that the whole show was about them…not only until Chanelle left did anything really happen with Amanda and Brian. Ziggy became extremely useless and none of the others were that inspiring. Though I have a soft spot for this series I’m not afraid to admit that game changer week really dragged this show down, but what a week it was.

In the ninth series the game changing week happened around the time the divide went up. Unlike the third series the two groups that had formed weren’t really broken down. It almost enforced B-Block vs. The Whisper Club. In the third series the sides were pretty much up in the air or random but in this series the Head of House usually got to decide who went where. Darnell picked his friends during the first week to go to the Heaven side and the next week Dale from The Whisper Club picked his friends. So really it was always Stuart, Rebecca, Luke, and Dale vs. Rachel, Darnell, Rex, Mohamed, and Kathreya. This divide of course had been happening for weeks but this really solidified who liked who and brought out people like Rachel. The others mostly weren’t affected (Mikey and Lisa) but it changed the show with the divide once again.

The game changer week usually happens sometime after week four and isn’t aways apparent but usually it is a pretty big shift in the house.

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.

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.

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #4

4. The Adverts

I might jut like UK commercials in general. They don’t seem as sloppy or as crude as American commercials. The Big Brother UK commercials are simple but fantastic. They know how to tease without giving to much away. A couple of weeks before the show starts they give little flashes of the eye like so:

Then to tease us a little more they get a bit longer.

Then we get a whole commercial.

And as of today the countdown:

This continues up until the premier day of the show. Tomorrow will be the nine days to go ad and then then eight days to go ad. It is just so simple and easy but it gets you excited for the show. Other notables ad campaigns was the Big Brother 8 one.

It gets you excited, shows a bit of the house, and leaves you wanting more. It is really hard to type this without just showing you. These ads are meant to get viewers excited and remind them that the show is coming back…so hopefully the great ad campaign this year will result in a great year. It really is a good ad campaign Though I did like the past two years I haven’t liked it as much as I liked the seventh series ad (below). It also shows how different the show is from American Big Brother or even Australian Big Brother. Each commercial captures their own version of the show in their own way and I think BBUK does it the best.

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #3

3. Tasks

Not all tasks are great but when the producers put a lot of time and effort into a task they are the most brilliant things in the world. The best tasks are those that take place over several days really change the way the house works. I think that is one of the reasons why I fell in love with Big Brother UK in the first place. In the third week of the show they had the temp agency task. Nikki became the personal assistant to Big Brother and not only had to sit in a desk in front of the diary room all day but had to perform various duties like getting tea and performing various desk jobs. Lisa had to clean up the house every morning starting at 6 am and this is after Lea and Sam were up all night as security guards and patrol the garden. It is just so crazy and funny. The house doesn’t need security guards it is just a silly task that they did in order to get a luxury food budget. Imogen had to be the bathroom attendant at night and give people lollipops once they were finished. It is just crazy.

The other amazing task this season was the prison task. After dividing up the inmates had to basically be in a jail all day while a few housemates played the guards. They had to check up on them, let them walk around the garden, and stay up all night keeping watch. Already it is a good task because it changed the house and forced people on different sides. The guards felt bad for the prisoners. However then Big Brother changed it up for the prisoners.  He gave them a cake and inside the cake was a key, a spoon, and instructions. There was a secret hideaway behind one of the headboards however they had to keep this a secret or they would fail the task.

Inside the secret room was paradise. Food, a bath, a garden etc. Anything you could imagine was in there. Plus when they were in the secret hideout they were given about a five minute warning before the guards would come back in creating a hilarious sequence of the prisoners scrambling back into the prison and pretending nothing was going on.

So pretty good right? But then they switched it up again and switched one of the prisoners for the guard. So the prisoner turned guard then had to pretend that he didn’t know about the secret hideaway. A very clever task and pretty soon the prisoners were now feeling bad for the guards.

Since then I haven’t been to amazed by tasks. Big Brother’s birthday was great in the eighth series as was the seven deadly sins or fake week. Last year was kind of atrocious though with really only the secret couple twist at the beginning or Cops and Robbers task where Dale had to escape over to the other side of the fence and steal a token. I have high hopes that tasks will be back up to snuff this summer

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #2

2. Evictions

So they’ve gone in right? But what happens at the end of their journey? Two or more have been up for nominations for the past few days the public has been voting for who they want evicted and whoever has the most votes is out. The whole night is leading up to this point. We first get a recap of the events that happened yesterday. Much like Davina doing house tour I believe this is just a great way to build the tension. Davina comes back ever so often during the evictions to remind us of the phone numbers and who the audience could potentially want out and what that might mean. Then once the daily recap is done Davina talks to the house.

This is a huge moment for the cast. They get interaction from the outside world and whoever goes will greatly change the landscape of the house for the next week. It is just like, once they are starting to get comfortable that someone is gone, then “pow!” the dynamics change because someone is gone. So all the tension and everything is leading up to this. More often then I like the person who goes isn’t that big of a surprise…but the cast has no idea who is going to win and it is almost always a surprise for them and when it is a surprise for the audience it is just ten times better. Granted I can’t vote for being in the United States but I think I would if I lived in the UK. It is the audience that decides who continues on…

Once the person is picked they usually have 30 minutes to pack up their remaining stuff and say goodbye to their fellow housemates. There is usually some sort of emotion. Happiness, sadness, glee, they can’t wait to go, they think it is to early to leave all leading up to Davina’s famous word, “I’m coming to get you” then there is a countdown and the person has about 30 seconds to get out of their and up the stairs back into the crowd that welcomed them in. They leave their fellow housemates who don’t really even know how to react and just sort of mosey on back to their seats and into the house.

The best part about the crowd is when they have real emotions to the person leaving. Huge cheers if it is someone they like or the biggest boos in the world if it is someone they dislike. Like last year for example one week Nicole got the most votes to go and got some of the loudest boos I have ever heard. Then the next week Lisa went and got the biggest cheers in the series so far.

The best part is to see the reaction of the person voted off. If the crowd hates them they are usually taken aback, but if the crowd loves them then they look like the happiest person in the world.

Then it is back down through the crazy crowd and to the paparazzi and inside for the eviction interview. The eviction interview is big enough of a moment besides the actual eviction that it might be best to save that for later.

Why I Love Big Brother UK – #1

With just 14 days to go until the tenth series I am  starting a new series of articles today based on why I love Big Brother UK. Few things first, yes I didn’t start watching until season seven, and yes the show seems to be in a bit of a slump but that doesn’t mean I can’t love it. I’ve gone back and seen everything from BB1 to CBB2 (so still missing out on three series and several of the Celebrity Seasons and other spin offs).

I find this show to be one of the best reality shows in the world (and as a US viewer extremely refreshing from our own BB). It isn’t the most high class but it isn’t in Flavor of Love territory. As the series progressed from the beginning it has kind of turned into throwing 14-16 crazy people into a house and seeing what happens…but that is why I love it. There is little to no strategy involved and if there is any I personally think it doesn’t alter the show to much. Yes there is obviously producer favoritism and twists to help certain castmates out but if you think this is the only show guilty of that you are quite mistaken. So in no particular order here is number one.

1. LAUNCH NIGHT

What is there not to love about launch night? It is an event like no other. Besides maybe a few minor spoilers, house pictures, and commercials we know next to nothing that is about to happen. The excitement comes right from the start. Davina says her quipy little phrase the crowd cheers and we go right into the NEW intro. Which I am always so excited about. The producers sure know how to put their graphics together especially in the recent seasons.

Then we get Davina talking about the rumors and then it is time to go into the house for the first time. The house tour is great, it is the first real look at the house from a different angle then the pictures. Davina talks about some of the features and some of the quirky little things around, possible hidden things. You start getting the big picture of where these people will be living. Then she brings us into the diary room, usually a huge secret as well (minus last year). However while you are excited about the house it really starts bringing the anticipation of who is going to be here. You want to see them now!

After a quick commercial break it is back the crowd outside. Signs, posters, energy, Davina is usually looking fabulous (and I love her over any other host, she may love her boring blokes and the relationships in the house but you can tell she loves hosting this show) as she teases us just a tiny bit more and then it is on to the housemates.  Whether the housemates end up being the next Nikki Grahame or the next Mohamed doesn’t matter at this point. The editors put together nice VTs for all off them. They say who they are, talk about themselves mixed with popular music… giving you and immediate reaction them. You either love them or hate them already. Sometimes you are in between but you have an idea of who this person is. It is like each person you get is another piece of candy and you start getting disappointed when you realize you only have two or three people left to see. Each person will change or affect the house  in some way whether they are boring or crazy. This is your cast for the summer and with or without a live feed you get some sense to how these people are.

Then immediatly they are thrusted out of their cars into the paparazzi and crowd either accepts them or already wants them to leave. Granted the crowd can be kind of annoying. It is panto and the crowd is easily swayed. However this indication doesn’t necessarily mean how that contestant will do. Sam and Amanda from the eighth series were booed when they came in while Laura was given pretty good cheers. Sam and Amanda ended up in second place while Laura was gone by week five.

Then our new guests head into the house, we see their immediate reaction almost no matter what. It is like they forget for a split second that they are on tv and take a moment to breath and think about what just happened. Then they start discovering the house and start talking with each other and things get more and more exciting as more and more people come in.

In recent series there is also an opening night twist. Whether it be all girls, no suitcases, or the secret couple twist from last summer leaving you hopefully wanting to come back for more.

There is another article tomorrow!