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During the later years of BB,did the opportunities for HM's decrease and if so why?
rfonzo
Posts: 11,776 Forum Member
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I was reading a thread recently about Brian Dowling having a chat show in his native Ireland and has obviously just won UBB. I then thought to myself that had this been ten years ago or slightly less, he would be on our national television programs as he was on SMTV. I then wondered about other contestants on more recent series of Big Brother and thought that there seems to be a similar trend in the lack of chances being given to the HM's who were more memorable.
Why do you think this has happened or developed over the past few years?
Is it the fault of the program and the producers? Is it other forms of Media presenting BB in a certain way i.e weekly magazines?
Is it because of us,the audience and do we expect certain HM's to be portrayed in a certain way and thus the media presents them like that?
Or is just the HM's themselves and this is reflected by the contrast of personalities from earlier series to the recent times?
Why do you think this has happened or developed over the past few years?
Is it the fault of the program and the producers? Is it other forms of Media presenting BB in a certain way i.e weekly magazines?
Is it because of us,the audience and do we expect certain HM's to be portrayed in a certain way and thus the media presents them like that?
Or is just the HM's themselves and this is reflected by the contrast of personalities from earlier series to the recent times?
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b) A lot of BB copies were launched, and devalued the brand;
c) CBB5 (the Jade/ Shilpa one) caused a media firestorm, and a lot of people backed off;.
d) The press fell out of love with BB 'stories' when first Pete and Nikki then Ziggy and Chanelle stayed together just long enough to scarf up the money, then split;
e) A lot of the early BB spin-offs were not that good or successful. Quite a few early housemates were offered their own tv series, but not many of them got a second one. Brian is one of the very few to have maintained a successful tv career for several years, and even then it included utter bollocks like the Mint.
Which examples were those?
It's all a blur. Shipwrecked/ love island/ space something... There were loads of attempts to launch rtv programmes in which groups of people would be filmed hopefully having sex and fighting. They came and went. All I can remember was a woman being called Charlotte the Harlot and another woman saying that they should bring back slavery. But I didn't watch any of them (unless you count Brat Camp, which was fab).
So it could be said that BB has suffered for being so innovative.
He has been on our screens. He has been on This Morning in the soap slot 5 times, he has co-presented Live from Studio 5 at least the same number of times and has been on several of the music channels.
I believe the chat show on RTE2 was probably mooted before he went into the house. For anything big in this country, the schedules were probably drawn up for the rest of the year long before he was in the UBB house so it's too early to say.
That's just the way it is though sometimes. Someone thinks of a good format and others pile on board to do their own version. The fact that none of the copycats were as successful doesn't mean that they didn't do BB any harm. There was a time when the world seemed awash with rtv people. I remember Narinder saying she was afraid that the market was saturated with ex housemates and she was in BB2. She was wrong: there was still room for a Brian, a Jade, a Kate, an Aisleyne, a Nikki and a Chanelle. But after that we started to get all those 'BB housemates not allowed in this club/ party organiser specifies no BB housemates' stories. People just got fed up with all the people fighting over the famous-for-being famous rewards. I don't think we will ever see another Jade.
The Farm might be an example for you, however.
But in any case, the idea that opportunities for HMs have gotten continually worse over the years is simply wrong.
If it were right, the bb7 HMs would have done worse than the BB 6, 5, and 4 ones, rather than better, Chanelle and Samanda wouldn't have had any success after bb8, and ... I don't want get into specific bb11 HMs, because they're still too controversial, but some have been doing ok so far.
Nor was there a range of great opportunities for HMs from earlier shows. Only two of the HMs from the early years -- Brian and Kate -- had what I'd consider high-profile jobs (at least in the UK). A few had niche market successes such as on DIY shows or mid-morning tv. And if we consider what's said in Dean's book, it seems that by bb2, BB was already more of a door-closer than a door-opener.
http://samuel-dean.com/josie-gibsons-new-perfume-two-words-sold-out/
The press probably loved that, gave them more stories to write.
I agree with you Veri.
Theres no graph that shows an upsloap and then a continous downward one. It' s been very random and in some cases it shows that more did well from some of the worst BB's than from some of the better ones.
BB produced two 'big stars' - Brian Dowling and Jade.
Beneath them we have the likes of Kate, who's had a successful and varied career. Alison, Craig [bb1] Tickle, with Anna doing well in Ireland.
Under them we have what we call the Z listers. -
None from bb1.
None from bb2.
None from bb3.
None from bb4.
BB5 - Michelle and maybe Nadia.
BB6 - Anthony did very well out of PA's. Orla did well from modelling.
BB7 - Pete from PA's. Nikki, Ash, Imogen, Grace all did well with some of them still doing so. Glyn did well from PA's.
BB8 - Generally regarded as one of the worst BB's is insteresting because it still produced Chanelle, Brian and the twins who all did very well.
None from BB's 9 and 10.
But then we have JJJ and Ben from BB11 doing well or ok so far.
To be fair (and trust me, I have no reason to big this up) Luke and Bex seem to have landed, respectively, radio and cable tv work; which puts them on the same general level as some of the others you have mentioned. And Darnell's Warning Signs is a good single imo and has won an award. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3cwSrT25D4
Curious to see how the BB11 housemates pan out. Obviously I hope Shabby's projects do well, but also interested to see what happens to JJJ, Sam and Ben over time.
Porn cable tv stations are watched by a reletively tiny number of viewers and Bex will be paid peanuts for her work.
Neither she nor Luke have done anything mainstream since being in BB9, or be seen as big enough to be invited to film premiers and opening of clubs etc. Yes, they have done better than the others from BB11 but you'll need to add another letter of the alphabet after Z to call them celebs
Darnell, might have won some minor award, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with him being in bb11. He is not what's classed as a Z lister.
Wait a minute. Didn't Nick become the first breakout star weeks before Craig won BB1?
Actually, to go back to the OP, I think that the BB1 housemates were treated with more reverence when they came out than any series since. It's not so much a matter of producing the biggest post-BB star (Jade, obviously) as the fact that so many of them were treated as stars. ANDY got a Heat cover. Nick was snapped up for a tv series. Mel was snapped up for a tv series. Anna and Craig, of course, got tv series. Craig and Nicola both released singles that were played on terrestrial tv. Caggie made several appearences on daytime tv. So did Darren. I am not sure that any subsequent series generated quite that level of favourable treatment. As early as BB2 the media seemed much more selective about picking out a couple of 'stars' (Paul and Helen/ Brian) and not showing much interest in the rest. Amma, for example, wanted to launch a career as a singer; afaik, no one even gave her the chance to record a single track.
I agree that BB1 has the elements more than any other series and thus that gives it a unique aura.
I dont think singing careers have ever come out of BB because it is not a talent show.It is hard enough from the xfactor but what of BB.Nadia,Samanda,Pete,Sylvia,Chanelle maybe Steph and Ife has got a record deal out of BB11 but I doubt if she will sell any records.
Yes, you can certainly add him to the list.
Anyway, a lot all this so-called Celeb stuff is a bit of a joke these days.
In this years I'm A Celeb there's that Agrro guy who i'd honestly never seen or heard of before, and Paul Casgoine's ex wife who's not even a Z lister imho, and neither is the Playboy model in this country.
Even in the Z Listers league there's many different levels from the likes of Kerry Katona at the top, to some ex BB's hm's near the bottom.
Imho, to be a Z Lister they have to be talked about in the tacky tabloids and celeb mags on a fairly regular basis, and at their peaks done OK or Hello spreads and some mainstream tv stuff.
Being a very minor cable porn presenter and doing a bit of local radio is hardly Z lister level.
So Emma Watson, for example, would still be interviewed at the moment by loads of people to discuss Harry Potter, acting etc even if her agent made it clear that she would not answer any questions about boyfriends. By this definition, I don't actually think any BB housemates at all quite qualify at the moment. Brian did briefly after he won UBB, but really that series only caused the smallest of ripples. John James and Josie are getting some interviews, but if they refused to discuss their relationship the magazine concerned would split their sides laughing at the thought. I don't think there is a single ex-housemate who could command the attention of a reputable magazine, paper or radio show just to discuss their work, without anyone asking them about their Big Brother experience and/or their love life.
I agree with some of what you say there.
However, i would say that the likes of an Emma Watson is an actress and not a celeb.Noel Gallagher as a musician. Wayne Rooney a footballer and so on.
Imho, 'Celebs' are, people who become famous without having any real noticable talent. Later on in life some people who were once 'stars' see their careers fade away and then go ont to become 'celebs' with Pamela Anderson now fitting that catagory.
From a celebrity point of view, the show really deteriorated after the whole affair. Russell Brand left soon after as did Dermot. Also the contestants that done CBB after really gained little in comparison to other reality TV programs that featured so-called celebrities. You could argue that Alex Reid did well he was well trained and honed before he entered the house.