The Afternoon After: Big Brother, Still in the House
Sonja Flemming/CBS
Last night saw the return of CBS's Big Brother, which I confess I haven't watched yet. But what interests me most about the show is simply that it's still around. When it first began in 2000—the dawn of primetime reality TV—people like me thought it would either blow up huge like Survivor or flame out. It never really did either one, but simply managed to reliably stick around, with the simplest, most elemental of reality premises: people simply being in a house and conniving against each other.
I personally can't manage the commitment to follow the show every airing; dipping in a few times a summer does the job for me. For bigger Brother fans, do you think the show's gotten better, worse or stayed the same over time? And anyone want to stick up for Julie Chen?
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I used to be an addict -- subscribed to the live feeds and everything. I stopped because the show was becoming about the hot bodies and emotional sadism
I just checked out the premiere, and its still the same -- and thus not worth spending time on. (clue -- when the first HoH competition is all about endurance, it kinda favors the "athletes", doesn't it?
What's interesting is that BB in the rest of the world is all about putting a bunch of people who are chosen because of their personalities, rather than their bodies -- its a range of ages, body types, and characters.
- poniewozik @LaurelSnyder that falls under the "stuffing is not dessert" rule for me. - 8 hours ago
- poniewozik No spoilers, but next #fnl is the best ep yet of the new season and Zach Gilford's best work on the show. - 14 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Not so fast, Carr. That means you owe us a substitute windy blog post. Chop chop! - 16 hours ago
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