Lee_Bo for the win...

bib - I'm the same, I don't think of it as Big Brother any more, it's the only way to continue to watch. The most enjoyment I get from it all is the forum, I'd probably stop watching otherwise but I like the cut and thrust of discussion and there are some wonderfully entertaining FMs (more so than housemates ).

I understand Bear's purpose, but I don't appreciate him. I perhaps would if he did let up some times and show a real emotion, but I'm not sure he has any

Or they're switching off in their droves but the ones in the BARB sample aren't.

I'm not entirely sure how the ratings are calculated. But they use a small sample and extrapolate from there, right?

If that's the case it could just be that the sample are still watching. Unlikely but possible.

Yep, get all the disgusting people in together and let them all tear each other apart because that's the way the show is heading and obviously what the producers want for the show and their target demographic.

Then you have a nice house for normal people to watch. I thought it was a compromise between what the producers want and what a lot of the 'classic' fans want.

When it comes to fighting, verbal of physical I have less of an issue if the two parties both want to engage. When it's one aggressor and the other wants no part of it then that is ugly and if it's just one or two people ruining it for everyone else then that's horrible.
So separate them out, have an ugly house and a nice house and let people choose what they want to watch.

I thought it was a genius idea.

Just ignore him/her. The excuses they keep trotting out for the man-child/cretin are brilliant though

that's because DS isn't representative of the wider viewing public the casual and armchair viewers if you will so while he may be reviled by a lot of people on here out there in the wider world people are liking how hes playing the game.its pretty damn hard on here to support him without getting called a moron an idiot and being generally hassled for daring to be a Bear fan

Seeing as there's currently a spare house going to waste, it sounds like a terrific idea for a reality show!

ETA: And I agree absolutely with your bib.

I agree but in previous years they kept a lid on it, this year the producers have allowed it to boil over through inaction and essentially validating the behaviour. The other housemates are literally powerless against the childlike antagonistic behaviour.

Lol, I tried reasoning, I tried ignoring so today I'm embracing it and encouraging.

It's going rather well I think

I barely view him as a housemate anymore - I view him more as a task. If you consider how easy peasy the tasks have been for years and years, the HMs are rarely put to any kind of test. Bear is the most humongous task that BB could ever put the HMs through - not one of them has any clue how to handle him, and they have all tried their different tacks.

But you will never see the real Bear because he is in character, doing his job. His real character would have been likely a disappointment - especially to the BB team!

It's how ratings have always been recorded. It's a small sample, but apparently it's very realistic (don't see how)

I feel that ratings for ALL shows are actually higher than the ratings suggest. For all we know, CBB gets 4m people and back in the BB3 days, got 15m, we never know. For all we know the Olympics is getting 20m rather than 8m etc...

But in our lifetime, don't think the ratings calculation method will change.

I forget the exact figures but they monitor 5000 homes. There's about 320 watching BB

My point is. If it's 320 households, as Lee said, watching the show. Then maybe those 320 haven't switched off but the show is actually haemorrhaging viewers. There's no way to tell unless some of those 320 switch off.

It doesn't make a difference to their ad rates though I guess.

It's a good point. The only solution is intervention from BB and the producers, hence the endless unofficial warnings.

For everyone else it is literal mental torture that has to be endured in order to earn a paycheck.

I'm pretty sure next year's celebs will view this series as a warning.

That's the whole game, that and PP

As long as people are watching and it's on the TV websites the content really doesn't matter.

Yes - it is a catch 22 situation. The Hms can't cope with the irritant, but it should be BB who are dealing with him. But BB aren't dealing with him because he is simply doing what they wanted him to do!

He ****ing killed it!

Best thread on the board - can't stop PMSL here

I blame the idiots who keep voting for him.

Blame Bear for Bear surely???

It looks to me that he has had a little bit of work done on his nose...

Depends on whether you've read the thread or not, there's lots of reasons why the producers are more to blame than the character they employed to perform.

Have a look, it's interesting stuff.

In fairness few on here like Lewis either

I agree, well done Al_capo

...and right on cue here comes tweedledee

its very strange