The difference between the British Big Brother and the other International versions is that so far no one has had sex. They tried to engineer it last year with the love bunker but it never came off, and this year the house has been packed with twentysomethings, who the producers hope will probably be up for it more.

International versions have had to introduce the heaven/hell scenario to keep viewers interested in seeing a group of people confined for 10 weeks and their interactions, once the novelty of seeing a few shifting sheets had worn out. We still haven't reached that point yet, and I guess that's why I feel a bit disappointed after the first day of the new dynamic.

We had Kate/Spencer, Adele/Lee/Sophie and PJ/Jade boiling nicely as it was. And the new situation has blown it apart. Instead of the fireworks BB wanted we have the poor side bonding together and enjoying themselves, and the rich side miserable - how different it would have been if Spencer had gone first instead of Sandy and got the ball in the hoop.

Time will tell - but I was still enjoying BB Classic. New BB may end up going the same way as New Coke - a bit of a disaster.

tend to agree. I was looking forward to a similar structure as the last 2 BBs because it was actually entertaining having the HMs do real challenges and hence work for their food and booze. And it brought out the best (and worse?) in the HMs and encouraged team playing. This series fell flat in the first 2 weeks with all the idling about and partying every night, but overall the sheer boredom. Plus, as you say, this year they deliberately messed with the mix to get the boy/girl pairing going.

The benefit of hindsight is great, but have BB really got it wrong this year, are are we just rebelling against change?

No I think your right. They have got it wrong. This may sound petty, but this whole split thing has made almost want to not watch. I'm less interested, rather than more so. Change is okay, but using Accidie's Coke analogy, if you have a succesful product, you don't mess about with it too much. Last year they changed things a little, but the changes were subtle and made it more interesting. They gave them a lot more tasks and made them work for things. In the last two weeks, if someone so much as farted in the house, BB has rolled out the booze and food. The only tasks they've been given to do is paint some chairs and the quiz on the 2nd saturday!

I'm beginning to think they have got it wrong.

I don't want to see any bed hopping but I have been interested to watch relationships developing, as it did with Helen & Paul last year, so I feel let down that Kate & Spencer have been split up for the time being.

Also I feel that Alison should never have been evicted as I liked the closeness she developed with Kate & Johnny, and I feel it wouldn't have been her to go if ~A she hadn't been up against two other people & ~B Davina (God bless her) hadn't announced that the voting was so close before the final count. As far as I'm concerned Alison has totally proved herself since coming out that she wasn't 'putting on a front' but was just being her VERY funny natural self. She comes across very well in interviews.

Sandy is manipulating things too much for my taste and if he succeeds in getting Johnny & Kate nomminated and then one of them goes I think I will have to stop watching.

They just don't have enough to do either so it's boring to watch!

I think maybe there just aren't enough characters that I personally like enough this year. You can't win em all but yes I am disappionted.



JM

Stoped watching like an addict.....made me sad to see Allison go and now the split...ITS TOO BORING...

I'm trying to give the new formula time before I make up my mind, but so far, I'm not enjoying this "new and improved BB" even a fraction as much as the past two editions.

I find the Heaven/Hell division claustrophobic to watch -- especially the poor side which is unbearably cramped -- and I don't find the interaction between two small groups nearly as compelling as the interaction in a large group.

Interestingly, the Heaven/Hell idea originated in the States where it was felt the BB formula was too "tame" and lacked excitement. Let's make it a domestic Survivor was the idea behind it, and -- even more interestingly -- the US version of BB is the ONLY version that was an utter flop. No one watched it, and the producers got so desperate that they offered the contestants money to voluntarily quit the show so they could put an end to it.

I'll keep watching for a while, but I'm not optimistic that the new formula + a boring and disappointing choice of housemates is going to create enough interest to keep even rabid BB fans like me hooked until the end.

I'm not a yes-man but I tend to agree with most statements above. And to add, the continuous juxtaposition of the characters in the heaven/hell split over the coming weeks will do nothing to enhance group interaction.

It's too early to make a judgement on the new format (from the highlight shows anyway) but Allison must be breathing a sigh of relief that she's not still there

I know they've said that that the split will last for the rest of the series but I can't believe that it will. It simply makes for tedious television as the last day has shown. As the numbers on each side get smaller it will get even worse. I give it 2 weeks before they reconsider and tear down the bars.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think YOU are wrong. In series 2 of BB in america they had a new formula that was like survivor yes, but it involved them having a weekly task and the winner being head of house, then the head of house nominating 2 people for eviction and then the house voting on which of those 2 they wanted out - NOT a heaven and hell scenario.

I think the biggest mistake the british public EVER made about BB was voting Alison out and if Sandy walks before the end of the week I feel that he is letting his supporters down, not to mention letting Alison down. He should have walked before the end of last week if he was having doubts.

I don't particularly care about whether people have sex or not in BB. To me it is the interactions between the group that interests me. Now though, the group is not being able to interact half as much. I loved the early weeks of all 3 series because the more people that are there, the more interesting the interactions, but splitting them into two groups of five makes it as boring as Weeks 8 and 9 normally are, just inducing the boredom earlier.

You could be right about series 2, but I was referring to the first series of BB in the States which introduced the Heaven/Hell concept. I was in the States at the time and watched it for about ten days. It was awful!

Well, sorry that the public have a mind of their own eh !!
To reiterate - the HM's nominated Alison and the public - or possibly the gambling section of it - then voted for her.

Perhaps all the Alison supporters will ask C4/Endemol in the next series to only allow eviction of those people they don't like!!
The beauty of BB is exactly this unpredictability.

As for Sandy 'letting his supporters down' I think you'll find the people who like him admire his ability to think for himself and not have to go with the herd in behaving - as he has said himself - like some kind of performing seal.
'Letting Alison down' - I don't think so! Yet again it looks like you as an Alison supporter can't handle her rejection by 4 HM's and the voting public. Whatever Sandy does or doesn't do is his and only his responsibility - he has no duty to previously evicted HM's whatsoever.
As for his doubts - these came after the split house which Alison had no part in because she was evicted already..........

I agree, this doesn't seem to be a good move. Although, like others, it's worth giving it a chance to see how it pans out.

I too have found the last two weeks excessively boring. I used to enjoy the growing interaction within the group as they created relationships. Watching a bunch of people going quietly crazy through boredom isn't really my idea of fun, and there is only so much people can do to amuse themselves with no tools to work with. With no weekly task, and nothing to keep their brains active apart from working out who to hate next, what interest can there be for us? They can't even really form bonds, because from next week, they may be separated. And then, I wonder how it will affect the nominations now. Will they be based on revenge for winning the last task? What do others think?

Those on the poor side seem to have the better deal in some ways, at least cooking their dinner a) gives them something to do and b) has a greater chance of making them sit and eat together, the 'poor' little rich kids have even had the excitement of doing their washing taken away!

Do others know how this format fared in other countries?

I agree with most of the above. The whole rich/poor thing just seems like one gimmick too many. To me it doesn't even feel like Big Brother any more, but one of those imitations that periodically spring up on other channels. It doesn't surprise me that the idea first came from America, where TV producers are so paranoid about making things "interesting" that they daren't sit back and let things happen naturally.

Having only got really into the last two BB's after the first couple of weeks, I was looking forward to following the whole thing through right from teh very beginning, but somehow this year doesn't seem to be half as interesting as before. I think a large part of that is the contestants. Perhaps the producers were so keen to weed out any wannabes that they inadvertantly got rid of any genuine extroverts, with the exception of Alison. This year's lot don't seem to be particularly capable of doing anything on their own, and the division will only serve to disrupt any group building that may take place. I think the fact that *TWO* HM's have seriously considered leaving has shown either just how wrong the producers got the selection, or how badly the HM's lives are being managed.

For me, the great strength about the first BB was in watching the HM's deal with their extraordinary situation in their own way, with apparently little influence from the producers. Where it started to go bad in BB2 was when it became obvious that the producers were trying to manipulate Paul and Helen into sleeping together. BB3 seems to be all about "what can we do to these people to make them do something that will get ratings". When that happens, it stops being a true "reality" TV show, and starts to lose my interest.

If there's anyone who ought to get evicted it's some members of this year's production crew who have made a number of cock-ups.

Firstly, they got the mix of contestants wrong. Another thread asking for nicest housemates went nowhere because, for the most part, none of the housemates really engage the public.

This is partly because the production crew decided to turn BB into Survivor, despite that it completely failed here in the UK because the audience failed to connect with the contestants.

Then they capitulated to the tabloids by desperately trying to have sex on the show (and giving the tab photographers their own platform on the eviction catwalk).

Then they've opted for conflictual scenarios rather than co-operative ones. For instance, not having E4, it seems that after that one time when Lynn was in the house, the HM never made communal meals where they properly sat down to eat together. Usually they forage alone as it if were a hall of residence.

Don't know, but I were O2, I'd be having some serious chats with Endemol at this point, since it's clear that there's a problem afoot.

When I first heard about the heaven/hell thing in the press back in Feb, I knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. I was pleased when it looked like they had pulled the idea.
However, just after the series began, the offical site had pictures of the house with the bars up. Firstly it looked like it was only going to be a week - which I thought would be good. It would mix up the group and change the dynamics. However, I have found it, like many of you, really boring to watch. The thought of the rest of the series being like this does not feel me with joy.
The lack of the longer weekly task means that there is nothing interesting going on. All we get, and will get, is them sitting around doing nothing. It's not good TV. When they are bored, we are bored with them.
BB was supposed to get tough - and this divide is supposed to be an example of this. I don't think it is. Half the group get to live in much better conditions than any other series, and each contestant will get the chance to get in there.
All BB producers are doing is forcing conflict. It seems that this has been their main aim this series.
1 - they have to say who gets evicted in week one
2 - divide, poor watching the rich
3 - task 2, deciding who gets the chance to win where some don't even get a go..
4 - no long task, creating bordem - people's patience wears thin.
etc etc.
They may as well give them a script to follow.......