Well, Nick was working to a game plan but I'm not sure if he was aware of his status as a "villain". Despite embracing this constructed "Nasty Nick" persona for his own gain after BB1, he has ridiculed it, arguing that "All I ever did was try to manipulate a game show," completely missing the point that he in fact manipulated other people by pretending he was their friend when he wasn't, revealing a great deal about his total lack of interpersonal skills. Not so much "Machiavellian mastermind", more ignorant, socially inept loser.

The point of BB1 is that it didn't focus on personalities. The actions of Craig, Mel, Anna, Caroline, Sada, Darren etc. being subservient to the cogs of the BB machinery constantly turning, so people who criticise its lack of overtly audience-friendly characters are rather missing the point. With Nick's influence, BB came to focus far more on "characters" as points for audience identification (Brian, Helen, Paul) but I think that was also an inevitable progression.


I believe that Lisa was also working to a personal agenda. Realising that her time in the BB house was limited, she attempted to curry favour as an "honest", "upfront", emotionally true person along the same lines as Caroline, Nichola and Narinder. Fine to watch, but rather trying to actually be around her. Still, she wasn't nearly as objectionable as say Jade...


Tim's total lack of self-awareness, like Nick, was definitely the point - and his arrogant, petulant party political broadcasts in the diary room were all the more amusing because of it. He was there to be figuratively put in the stocks and laughed at as an upper-class plonker.


I agree with this. For all their disparate personalities, they were able to conduct themselves in a civil manner. What's interesting is that most of them were in their late 20's - they weren't that much older than Alex, Kate, Adele etc. and yet they were so much more mature and level-headed.

I dont disagree with you in particular. All I was meaning was that Nick, Tim and lisa were probably behaving like they do in real life. Nick knows his patterns are wrong (he has probably got in trouble with it throughout his life) but he just cant help himself. Lisa just tries to convince you of her perception right from the start (no-one is rude enough to give her a wake up call in real life). Tim is hard to understand, especially since he went on about how well he had done to get that far. He was shocked how unpopular he was I think.

I would say people in their early 20s and people in their mid-late 20s, there can be a big difference in maturity. Tom was 30 odd. Craig was late 20s. So was Anna. Mel was mid-late I think.

BB3 had the youngest (Jade) and a lot of them were under 23 (?) (PJ being not a very good example of a 25 year old. Jonny a poor example of 29)

I would actually say they need to make the average age mid-late 20s but it didnt seem to work very well this year.

Well you do drone on about the BB1 lot as though you love them all in some sort of unnatural way!

I have to admit I found them an appalling crew.

I really loathed them when they ganged up against the Craig all the time(I suppose we did not call it bulleying in those days?)
And when he got a little friend who would talk to him and treat him like a proper person -they nominated them both so they were both up for the public vote together. how cruel.

Perhaps you should take off your rose tinted's and watch those tapes again .
What a spiteful lot-what made me admire the BB programme was the way the GBP voted for Craig and kept voting for him just to humiliate the others.Well done US!
Shame they couldn't keep it up in 4.

Nick was probably one of the more decent ones there!-although cannot be sure as I only watched it after he left so I only base my idea on what he did outside the house.He larged it up-good on him and I think he is respected for it.

Oh and the "superb" BB2 lot did something similar to Paul and Helen did they not.

At least Kate was spared being mano et mano with Jonny or Alison or indeed spencer even.

Big Brother is Reality TV bubble gum. It's good and its fun, all the more so because of the live coverage and the game show theme. Amateur psyches can have a bit of fun too, as well as social commentators, bookies, bored journalists etc etc

But that is all it is ... bubble gum, a panto or real life soap opera if you prefer. Addictive stuff but still not serious. It certainly isn't a considered piece of academic research as some on this thread choose to pretend it is.

So, may I respectfully suggest to the great and the wise here gathered that they all get down off their high horses, stop looking for excuses and just admit that they are ordinary folk who enjoy watching what is nothing more than a rather good light entertainment show.

Well, I do prefer watching decent people as opposed to the Club 18-30 tossers of BB3.




I recall some of them being irritated with the "Incredible Sleeping Man" over his lack of input over the tasks, and rather than incessantly bitch and bully (a la BB3 and BB4), Caroline fronted him about it at a house meeting.

The rules of the game require that you had to nominate somebody and that someone was Craig. Anna, Mel and Darren all expressed regret for nominating him all the time but that's because they got on with each other better. Simple as that.

Claire knew that she would only be in the BB house for a short time and I admired her for her realism. It was only Mel who arguably didn't like her much. Give one instance of her being bullied?


That would be a pleasure.



Oh, you didn't even watch BB1 until week six. Well, then your credibility goes flying out of the window doesn't it?


They nominated as the rules of the game expect.

Perhaps you should read up on what the rules of BB were, but since BB3 jettisoned all the integrity of the show for ratings, I'd be surprised if you can.

Well, you obviously don’t move in academic circles do you? Because if you did you would be aware that Big Brother was, rightly or wrongly, on the syllabus of many a Media Studies module in recent years. Purely because BB has intriguing points to make about human interaction, the nature of voyeurism (which is the underlying appeal of all cinema and TV) and the institutional changes taking place in the British TV industry in the 21st century.

The fact is that BB did initially have a more serious dimension, which led to the programme being acknowledged and discussed in the quality broadsheets as well as the tatty tabloid rags. However, there appear to be those for whom the joy of BB is that they don’t have to think about it. If I recall, the contrasting personalities of Jon and Cameron in BB4 led to some interesting debates on morality, creationism vs. evolution etc. With BB3, it seems to be Jade’s latest effort to get her mug on the cover of OK or Heat, or whether Kate is wearing a shorter skirt today on RI:SE. And that, to me, speaks volumes. In one context, BB can stimulate the intellect as well as the more base, judgmental instincts. In another, it’s just unimaginative stripped tabloid-friendly “bread and circuses” fodder. A simple show for simple people.

Bubble gum? No, that’s what BB became, because like anything that is successful it becomes formulaic and homogenised, the product is downgraded to attract maximum profitability. And that’s exactly what happened with BB3 and all its excesses. It achieved short-term success at the expense of the long-term credibility of the “franchise”. It pushed the envelope so far over the mark between viable voyeurism and sheer bad taste TV that the series had nowhere else to go content-wise. People criticise the BB4 HMs for being “boring” and not letting themselves go, but can you blame any of them after what happened to Adele and Tim??

BB4 was lambasted for being “boring” when in fact it was only trying to recapture the fervour and values of the original format – a group of people interacting in an isolated environment being filmed by cameras. But that’s not what the British public want anymore as they sit with their TV dinners. They want action, excitement, intrigue – but sadly treating ordinary people like performing seals for their benefit only highlights the essentially reprehensible nature of BB in the first place.



Alright then, let’s take another look at BB3.

A group of partying 20-somethings are the housemates (36-year-old Lynne was a mature student) with Sandy’s presence being a token nod in the interests of diversity. No, they’re not trying to crudely pitch the series to a specific audience demographic to make lots of cash at all are they?

Let’s look at Jade, an emotionally arrested young woman with a serious lack of basic intelligence being exploited for the cameras. Look at the banners on eviction nights saying “Kill The Pig” – a tad irresponsible for TV producers to incite so much hatred for one person but who gives a toss about her emotional wellbeing as long as the ratings are climbing? And look at the housemates tricking this stupid girl into stripping naked during one of their marvellous drinking games. Quality stuff.

Let’s look at Adele, this astute, self-possessed young woman who openly admitted that she was playing a tactical game being jeered at in Jade’s place due to selective editing. She walks out of the BB house into a hate-filled chorus of proletarian opprobrium like a Christian thrown to the lions. Hey, the ratings were fantastic tonight, weren’t they? Ker-ching!

Let’s look at Sophie, who’s crying because she is being victimised and bitched about since Jade hasn’t matured beyond thinking she’s in the playground. Oh, what fabulous bubble gum fun.

Let’s look at PJ and Jade in bed together, with Jade giving PJ a hand/blowjob. Not at all lowest common denominator, is it?

Let’s look at Jonny, whose idea of fun is to manhandle women in a swimming pool, ripping all their clothes off. Who would’ve thought that misogyny could be so entertaining?

Let’s look at Kate, who’s passed out because Jonny’s been plying her with booze all night. Let’s hope she doesn’t choke on her own vomit or something, but perhaps we might get even more ratings.

Let’s look at Tim, the upper-class prat chosen because he would be good “in the stocks” viewing just like Jade and see the guy (clueless sod that he was) having to emigrate to South Africa just to earn a living.

All in all, just harmless, jolly “light entertainment” wholly devoid of any wider considerations and anyone who doesn’t agree or has any reservations about the content is obviously just an arrogant elitist with no sense of fun. Thanks for putting us straight, Eejay.

Lest any of us require the scales to drop re the disparity between the incarnation that was BB1 and the subsequent inferior and indeed at best distantly related BB's then you should look no further than the above post by Ben.
Once greed and £££ poured in there was only one way for the sewage to flow.
So, fine. Watch your BBs now. Any better than IACGMOOH? Survivor? Any difference? Or do the tills sound just the same throughout?
Decry BB1 but that's as near as you will get to the ostensible creation that it was. I saw at the start of BB2 (Bubble) just where all this was heading.
I liken Jade in BB3 to the human embodiment of The Sun.
Cheap, trashy and dumbed down sufficient for sh*thouse rats to empathise with.
Musical Chairs for a task - I ask you!!

That sort of comment is just a cheap way of trying to pull rank over other peeps. Nothing more than an elitist trick. A bit cheesey nowadays as we are all familiar with it and have no way of checking each others credentials on the net anyway.

As for your other points ... yes, of course some media students may look at BB, but just take a look at those courses .... you'll also find Star Trek, Coronation Stret, Eastenders, the 9 o clock, news all there. These topics all being discussed in a wider context.

I made it quite clear that BB would be of some interest to amateur psyches, social commentators etc ... the point is that essentially it is not that, not even for you given that you are so familiar with all 5 BBs, though you appear to have loathed at least 2 of them.

Having said that, I have to accept & respect the fact that we just disagree on this.

:yawn:

Indeed. ITV's schedule, for example, is just one homogeneous glut of moronic, worthless crap.


True, but I would suggest that the camp comic Brian was more instrumental in the general dumbing down than Bubble.

Quote:
“ I liken Jade in BB3 to the human embodiment of The Sun.
Cheap, trashy and dumbed down sufficient for sh*thouse rats to empathise with.
Musical Chairs for a task - I ask you!!”

Absolutely. BB3 was just trash - and is depressingly popular for it. The only way I could get through it was to imagine that it was intended as an artful barbed satire on our hollow, micro-celebrity drenched age, produced by very canny sociologists attempting to bring down the spent force reality TV genre from within. But it wasn't. It was just trash.

:yawn:

Oh, tit for tat is it? How infantile. Posted like a true BB3 fan however.

No, I just found your post boring

Well, I have to say that your demeanour reflects far more on you now than anyone else. If you do not have anything else constructive to bring to the table, I suggest that you do not bother.

You can champion BB as being solely light entertainment as much as you like. Others, however, prefer to credit the series with a little more depth. That's all.

:yawn: .... well, I am a BB3 fan.

Very, very sad.

I heard a few people say that....

For me, my response to BB3 was informed by the fact that I'd read Ben Elton's Dead Famous a week before it started.

Wo!
Now then.
I recommend ANYONE and EVERYone to read Ben Elton's "Dead Famous". That book has a "Swampy" a "Nush" well, every tokenised stereotypical rake-the-money-in go-for-ratings, wannabe, misfit, loonie, moron, nutter, airhead, vacuous **** expose of what BB now is.
Mr Elton always ahead of most of us (or a reflection of) how things really are regarding topical and where we are being taken for a ride.
That book is hilarious - it pre-empted BB4.
Do you know, when I watched BB4 it was uncanny, watching, essentially, "Dead Famous" unfold, like the producers had literally stolen his script!
Not that they would stoop...

Indeed. Gigi, the head honcho of BB4, might as well have been just like Geraldine, the outrageously caricatured producer of "House Arrest".

LOL!
You can actually picture the scene. Ben Elton sees what you have been illustrating, namely, that BB is now a commercial exercise with ephemeral media cannon fodder for lab rats.
He saw too early on the "How Not To Get on BB" by doing, well, basically just the opposite in your application video.
How to lie about "a bar" in the BB4 house for instance, how to have absolutely no rules at all by underscoring the whole event by stating they have the right to alter them at any time - thus removing not only any rules but any vestige of credibility that Endemall retained.

I watch BB now for different reasons to those I embraced with BB1. With BB1 it was NEW, and untried, and incomparable (obviously).
That TV should always have to take anything and translate it into dollars is so annoying.
I am just so glad I spent a great deal of my time with BB1, because that embodied the spirit of 1984.
The sequels? Well, they are just that, aren't they?

well you can suggest it but you arent speaking for me

Its entertaining but its educational too. I presume thats why C4 are showing teenBB in their educational schedule. I dont think you need to separate the 2 and people will maybe watch it more for one reason than another.

Im sure psychology departments in our universities cant get enough of BB. They already have 3 or 4 involved in commenting on the show on a Sunday.

The competition certainly makes the whole thing work and the idea that people can be rewarded/punished in a popularity contest makes it fun and focused but I dont think people watch the feeds just for entertainment. I dont anyway.

I dont think its normal for people to be talking about a programme that stopped 4 months ago just because it was entertaining. For me Im mostly reflecting on everything and seeing if I can make sense of it in hindsight.

Both of these comments only apply to a minority of the viewing audience. When BB season was in full swing, it was talked about Marmite-style - people either loved it or hated it.

Since the end of BB4, the only discussion of the actual programme (rather than what ex-HMs are up to now) takes place in forums such as this, or amongst those who describe themselves as *fans/die hards/enthusiasts/......................................... [SIZE=1][*delete/insert as appropriate][/SIZE]

you dont think people watch BB to learn about people ? The feeds are watched by a minority but its most of us here. but even just the programme is enough to get an idea (unfortunately its up to the editing)

the bit about talking on a forum 4 months later, I was meaning us as in what are we all doing here ? I suppose I can only speak for myself but I dont tend to continually post about fiction programmes months later or even most factual programmes. With BB we have all the content , its the fact we can analyse it that keeps us going.

Im baffled as to why people dont think its educational. People in real life were probably scared of the Tim-type but they got to see his whole personality on BB. Im sure some psychologists probably use Tim as the model for the archetypal bully.

There really is no point in talking to you.