Source: Irish Examiner

Big Brother 5 set for a major makeover

Channel 4 Chief executive Mark Thompson has announced Big Brother is set for a makeover next year after the channel was disappointed with Big Brother 4.

He reconfirmed Channel 4’s commitment to Big Brother today, which comes back for a fifth series next year.

But he admitted that Big Brother 4, won by virgin fish trader Cameron Stout, had been a disappointment.

“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in Big Brother 5, but one thing you can be sure about is that it will be different from Big Brother 4,” he said.

“Although there was a lot to like in Big Brother 4, it just didn’t grab my attention as much as Big Brother 3 or 2. There may be some lessons to learn from that.

“It had some great and larger-than-life characters, but the overall magic between the housemates wasn’t as strong as in previous years.

“There will be a fresh start with Big Brother 5 and I hope it will be a great show.”

Note: The Title of my thread didn't fully print out correctly. (Weird)
The end should have read: "American Format?" (not American)

Thanks for that post

I wonder how they are going to revamp it - basically they need better people for a start and some way of stopping the great
british public voting out the big personalities

I am hoping that the next contestants will see how poorly BB5 was received and realise that pretending to be Mr or Mrs nice guy for the whole series won't secure them a lucrative future outside of the show

I wouldn't mind an american bb style format - but i don't know if it would translate over here -

I loved the line about Virgin Fish Trader

How can he tell which fish are virgins ?

Does he throw the others back in the sea ?

Well there are plenty more...

See the above? That's from a Channel 4 exec right?
Now, given their veracity to mendacity ratio apropos BB that translates as:

"Yer, same as ever. We get plenty of loot whatever"

Yes, Channel 4, especially the BB producers, don't you just love 'em.
They said that they would never entertain overt religious bible bashers as applicants, as tha would be a turn off to viewers. Well they proved that by letting Camoron in in BB4.

In BB4 they said, "We can categorically deny that there is a bar in the BB4 house"
Would that be the bar they had in the BB4 house then they categorically denied?

They lie more than this government and that takes some doing.
I don't believe a word any of that lot say, they just have a script, a cast, then they alter the script everyday, like The Archers, to keep up with current events and ongoing matters.

Please! Endemall. A return to the values of BB1 with the characters of BB2, and decent bl**dy terrestrial coverage!
Then you will get the voters back (= £££ for you) and great interest back for the likes of me and a few others I know!!

Wasn't this what they said about BB 4?

Yes, but they lied, steered their predetermined winner Camoron to the prize, and did exactly the opposite to what they maintened was true.
It backfired as these people/lovies/producers/cretins are all bloody "Perrier Water" and "Meetings" and "Run It Up The FlagPole" and "Window Of Opportunity" *sreholes who make me want vomit.
They should remember that BB was devised for better reasons than the crap we were served up that was BB4.
If you saw BB1 as and when, which you may well have, you will know the untainted beast to which I refer.

Edit
Last edited by Ciixii : 30-10-2003 at 01:26

You raise a good point swingaleg.. because fish probably have sex and then a minute later can't remember it and still think they're virgins - a bit like Britney spears really

I said they needed to go back to the original formula and thought they were going to when they said back-to-basics for BB4. But they lied.

They need to build a new house in a remote location so that they can make as much noise as possible. The current house next to a residential area really spoils any chance of nocturnal activites that will keep us watching at night.

Characters are always going to be difficult to choose from. After the last bunch of people they may be tempted to put 12 larger than life characters in the house. This could really backfire if not chosen correctly. They need to get the right mix of people.

Take BB2 for an example. They had the larger-than-life characters (brian, bubble, helen) but they also had people who were down to earth (dean, elizabeth etc) The general mix of people hasn't really been more expertly choosen than that group.

The tasks in this years show at least gave us something to watch during the day but they were too boring. I'm sorry but watching people say "ding" over and over for hours isn't interesting.

Stop giving the contestants so many rewards! There is no need to keep plying them with booze, take-aways etc. The reward room sounded like a good idea but I didn't like it. It meant they didn't really need to spend their budget wisely as they knew they would get loads of free booze on the saturday.

I agree the tasks were appalling this year

I would like to see them adopt BB4 SA tactic of having no evictions for a month - it would give us a chance to see how relationships develop and the characters involved

I think the instant eviction element they had for the last two years is very flawed

But that means they don't earn revenue for a month so i don't think there's any chance of that -

The problem with future BB's is that housemates, like in BB4, will not 'let go' as much for fear of public and tabloid ridicule, like BB3.
In BB4, the tabloids were so desperate to ridicule the hm's that they made up a story about Tania once being a man.
Pathetic.

And we also have the way the public vote out the interesting ones!. They should change the voting to positive, ie 'Vote for the one you want to stay'.

The producers made a massive mistake choosing the contestants they did......It's their fault if the tabloids have to make up stuff to cover the inadequacies of the contestants.....