I have confession to make – I actually watched an episode of this series before the end of the run, nearly all the way through. Why ? To see what all the hype and fuss was about, really.
I did ‘dip in’ to the first series, which for me was pretty unappetising. Nothing was happening except pretty ordinary people trying to act like ‘pretty ordinary people’, but stand out, so they’d be picked or something.
Then, of course there was the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, where unremarkable ‘celebrities’ tried to act like ordinary people AND FAILED. Except for Jack Dee who did not seem to be acting fed up, just looked like he was at times.
Ah yes you say – “How do you know if you never watched it?”. It was in every bloody newspaper in the country – we had 24 hour blanket (and if the Media had their way – ‘under the blanket’ too) coverage. I did see the final Celebrity one, just to see whether Jack one or whether that girl that was in a Soap won it. I don’t follow the Soaps so I couldn’t tell you who she was, sorry and all that.
Now we have Big Brother 2. We’ve had the fuss over one of the women ‘accidentally’ letting her towel slip. That’s a sure way to court popularity isn’t it? Some bloke called ‘Bubble’ (well if your Mum and Dad christen you ‘Bubble’, I guess you will end up on some cheesy TV Show) who had a ‘mohawk’ haircut like David Beckham and one or two of the other housemates have been in the press too.
But was it riveting viewing?
Those of you that follow it religiously obviously enjoy it. Fair enough. Maybe that’s what you have to do. Learn to like and dislike the housemates as they gradually unveil the ‘real’ them. Not the persona that they’d like to portray. ‘Nasty Nick’ from the first serious was not really nasty – but it was a good enough tage to get him ejected from the show, but got him plenty of guest appearances on TV since. No doubt it has opened more doors for him that the guy who won the first series. What was his name? Craig…or Darren or someone I seem to vaguely remember. But that just shows what Big Brother is about. It is all about making the most of your 15 minutes of fame. Just like Survivor will be and the other ‘clones’ like Castaway etc.
Sorry, I digress. Is it riveting viewing ? For the occasional viewer like me. Nope. I watched it the other night – ALMOST the whole way through. I saw the blonde haired girl shouting at someone. Bubble and his mate, for some reason NOT Watching the England game on TV. And frankly that’s about all I remember. And this is ENTERTAINMENT?
I’ve seen comments that the interest the country has with Big Brother and it’s like, is that it is the fascination of watching human behaviour. No, No, No. The stooges on the shows are not trying to be normal, they are showing off to the cameras, they are trying to milk their ‘big break. There are out to win the prize money. The only part of human behaviour on show is the emotion of GREED – Pure and Simple.
All I can say is the sooner that TV Companies go back to providing ENTERTAINMENT TV the better. Not reality TV - If I want reality TV, I’ll go and Video my next door neighbours eating their dinner and sitting down watching the television. Oh yes, very stimulating….NOT!
As for Big Brother – BOG OFF!