Firstly if this is in the wrong forum please move but have put it in the UK one at present.

I have watched the first three episodes for BB:USA and I have to say i am hooked. The amount of back stabbing is amazing. So what can BB:UK learn from BB:USA?

1) Let them talk about voting and nominations, it creates packs and friction.

2) Give them things to do, the US house has Baskett Ball hoop a massive chess bored it will stop them sleeping and not doing much so often.

3) I like the X's idea but not sure if it would work over here.

4) I like the head of the house one person voting for people and them able to talk about it and having to give reasons in front of the group really wound the group up.

So only 4 reasons but add your own. I for one will be watching this.

Ian

I assume you have been watching E4. I watched for the first hour and a half. Yeh it was interesting to see how the US do their BB's.

I will watch some more as the series progress. I think!! But i am not at all happy about the way the US TV put the program together.

The infuriating snips of contestants talking about themselves or their reactions but inserted between the BB house action. A few second action followed by a few seconds narrating by a housemate. That ruins it for me I am afraid.The games with rotten fish was disgusting to watch and made me feel sick. The housemates remind me of cut out characters from a fashion catalogue. Artificial stereo types. So for me first impressions are not that good.

Put the prize money in the UK BB up to £500k. That would really change people's attitude. £70k is a year's salary and certainly not as much as some of the HMs can make upon exit. Bigger prize money would really make them want to win no matter what.

No, because then they might talk behind people's backs and we can't have that. We don't like bitching in the UK

A years salary! LOL more like 4 years in this house!!!!

I know what you mean though £70k cant even buy a decent house thesedays.

Bitchin is good unless its directed at a housemate with no allies (i.e Lisa from BB UK) then it becomes bullying

Not to choose such a bunch of tightarsed wannabes who's only importance lies with themselves and what they public may or may not see them as.

We need people who literally don't care what people think of them, in other words, strong people.

The 3 bedrooms is a great idea and I suggested somewhere before in an ideas forum. It created tension already regardless of the x-factor.

The X factor is both cruel and wonderful, but knowing the brits the exes here would decide to let bygones by bygones and instead cry to the camera in the diary room.

They have a fair mix of ages and backgrounds, something our BB neglected to manage this time round.

Although the tasks are a bit 'It's a Knockout' they really put ours to shame.

I'm loving that they all want to win, so refreshing after 9 weeks of 'Well if I win, he won't win...' and love to hear their tactis. The one girl noticed on her ex being nice to her that her only tactic could be 'be nice to him and then stab him right in the back!'

Absolutely agree with all of that. Production of the US show seems quite poor IMO (and that woman isn't as good as our Davina ). I thought the initial show was meant to be recorded as live until they inserted those diary room clips which seemed quite pointless to me and ruined the atmosphere.
Although I haven't seen much, I have to say I think I prefer our BB so far.

absolutley agree, they are infuritating! Shallow, Plastic, Me me me, "I'm so special!!!" ,and you call our lot Wannabes! I have never seen so many desperate rejects in my life! Its not even the same show IMHO. Without public voting, it just isn't Big Brother, to me. The presentation, music, and titles are awful, reminded me of Crossroads!, one thing I will say about our presentation, it has energy, pace, and attitude, that reflects what BB is meant to be about.

Exactly, anyone who says our lot are wannabees with gameplans should see the US housemates

I saw a little bit.
They are SOOOOOOO American!
You know, like the worst stereotypical types of scum lol.

The point made about the money is very true. To get a 2 bedroom house in a not great part of Cambridge will cost you at least 180k.
I'm wondering what amount, if indeed any these housemates will make. If it was going to be a proper amount it would be more meaningful, especially as the years have gon on and the opportunities for people outside the house are getting less and less.

For my sins I've just watched all five hours on E4 with a few distractions, but I was impressed with it

I just love the fact that there is no bullsh*t, they're all in it to win it and don't mind saying so. None of this "I'm only here for the experience and hope to last three weeks" cr*p that our shrinking violets come out with

The tasks were fun, competitive and difficult, but most importantly they mattered, Something other than a few cans of beer was at stake.

I liked HoH, the nominations talk & tactics, the initial bedroom division, the ex's, the golden veto. I even liked the inserts of HMs explaining their actions to camera which gave us an insight into their tactics

What could we incorporate here ?

HoH, tasks which mean something in the context of the game, allow them to talk nominations

Ex's - OMG that would be fun, but can't see it.

We wouldn't want to lose public voting so I guess the nominated HMs would go to public rather than HM vote, which would be a good thing.

I suspect BB usa looks really good on the back of the huge disapointment with our BB4. If this had been on the day after BB2 or BB3 I wouldn't even have bothered watching it.

So it comes back to the picking of the HMs - get that right and any gimmicks, or no gimmicks, would be just fine.

If BBUK were to become like BBUSA I simply wouldn't watch anymore. It wouldn't happen. OK take some elements, maybe, But we have proved with BB2 and BB3 that we can do a fine job on our own.

I wouldn't call our lot wannabes this year at all. If they were, there would be loads of playing up to the camera to get noticed.

And if I were to go on BBUK I genuinelly would go for the experience, Big Brother has become a phenomenon in this country, and I would love to be in that house for nine weeks to experience, the money would be secondary to me. Any gameplayers are hated in this country, look at Adele and Nick, also don't forget its Channel 4 that its on, which has a much smaller budget.
Next step for me is Fame Academy 2, Louise is Amazing!

I watched BB USA from 5 to 6.30, then caught Fame Academy 2 and then went back to BB on E4+1. Great TV, really good stuff. I like everything about this compared to BB4 except:-

- The opening credits. Really tacky like from a daytime TV chat show!

- The diary room and the lack of hearing BB talk to the housemates.

-The Head of Household and the Golden Veto.

But I do love all the backstabbing, bitching, the sucking up, the saucy shenanigans, the moodswings, the fakeness in the sense it's such a refreshing change compared to BB4. BUT I do prefer the Britishness of our contestants and a few amendments to bring it more in the the US way of things would be just fine. We do need a HoH with a separate room surely!

It's amazing what they can fit into one hour of highlights compared to the spiders crawling and narration of people sleeping in just an hour hour slot in BB4.

IMO The UK crew need to be learning from the US.

Bring in HoH BB5!!! No public vote! till the final.

Thank you, please.

Yes the irritating Diary Room clips coming on every 30 seconds has put me right off the recorded shows.

The Live feed might get me for a half an hour each day,
but all in all its just doesnt feel right.

There is no Big Brother presence as such in the house,
they refer to the people in the diary room on a first name basis, although we dont even hear those people.

Secondly, NO PUBLIC VOTE, how rubbish is that?.

Finally, the whole X factor thing lasts for what 5 minutes on the first highlights show, because it didnt show up much in terms of friction in the later shows.

Thumbs down for me.

HoH, yeah increase that in BB5, rather than as a tester in BB4, however, you have to have the public vote, otherwise the country won't vote, there wouldn't be any save campaigns, people wouldn't feel so involved, and if they were all fake like that to get to the final, they would all get booed, and no one would want them to win!

Public voting and involvement, is what BBUK is all about

Logged onto a US forum
here are some of the comments

`No. They are so bland and boring. The only one with an ounce of personality is Jun. `

and

`After thoroughly enjoying the past two seasons, I sure can't say the same this year. I appreciate Jack, Erika and David - at least they seem human. The rest do not. What a sad representation of the young adults in our country and from the areas they represent. Their home towns must be humiliated. I too have lost interest in this show. `


Apathy the same as BB4

LOL, deja vu or what!!!

There's always someone that moans, there were ppl moaning about BB3 UK being boring after Kate won it last year

Make the BB5 contestants sign a "no media jobs" contract before they enter the house. That should do away with the wannabee factor that has plagued BB since BB1.

If you'd seen BB2 and BB3 usa you would realise why BB4 is boring. I watch all BB's Since the BB1UK, then I moved to Canada so I only see the BBUSA TV shows (dont see BBUK Tv shows, only live feeds) I can honestly say BB2 usa was the best BB EVER!

For those not used to the BBUSA you will deffinately get the wrong impression by the US Tv shows. (They are very Hollywood) give it a chance and watch the feeds, there is no fake plastic "Im an American superstar" when it is Real downtime

I gave up on BBUK4 this year but will continue to watch USA because every year it is deffinately worth it.

No America's choice this year though .. Public decide on Rewards and Houseguests who get surprises! - Shame ... but the Americans are still great on giving value for money by the end of the 3 months.

Last year, Feed watchers (On the Internet) got to see a live concert in the backyard that Sheryl Crow put on but you only get the snips on TV.

Stick with it. They are not as plastic as they appear on TV

Nobody's mentioned the lack of a crowd on eviction night.

The program feels and looks like a typical americam sitcom without the canned laughter.
It's too glossy for UK tastes.

I like the fact that they can say and do anything without BB interupting. Also each HM was chosen by the fact they were not currently involved in a serious relationships.
I also like the nom process,hoh, golden veto and the tasks.
I would like BBUK to use these but keep Davina,BBLB,Dermot,public voting and the eviction crowd.

BBUSA have done the public voting and crowd thing (exactly the same as UK) and it did not work. No-one was interested because the Houseguests just played up for the cameras. Nobody was themselves. Everyone just wanted the public to like them so it was very bland. Since they did HOH and houseguests do all the nominations and evictions it is much bigger. BBUSA is bigger on the Internet than TV. Whereas UK is very TV razamatazz.

Also BBusa does not have the teeny bopper audience. Fans range from early 20s and up mostly.

imo, the editing on the highlights show is a whole lot better. The production team clearly puts more effort into it. I, for one, am pleased that there are no 'sleep updates' and banal conversations. The diary room narration works very well too, as does the continuous(?) soundtrack.