Big Brother 3 (2002)

...was going to give the Big Brother write up a miss this year, but whilst sat in front of my 'puter trying to 'pen' an op, I found myself far more taken by the Channel 4 programme than I was by the intended op material. What the hell I thought, I'm gonna give my 50p's worth. Then I thought, oh sh*t, it's not even a paying category, so here's my worthless opinion ;o)

Big Brother or BB as it shall from this point be referred too, took ...
...was the arrival of a full on storm that whipped up a howling gale of emotion inside their heads and hearts, yet for other people it was a dark storm cloud obscuring the sun with saddening dreariness. [Jeeze, I'm in a descriptive mood aren't I?].

Most people had an opinion on it, some good, some bad. I had to be different [of course], and was indifferent to it for some time. Truth be told, I saw little of the first series. I was working ... more

I was going to give the Big Brother write up a miss this year, but whilst sat in front of my 'puter trying to 'pen' an op, I found myself far more taken by the Channel 4 programme than I was by the intended op material. What the hell I thought, I'm gonna give my 50p's worth. Then I thought, oh sh*t, it's not even a paying category, so here's my worthless opinion ;o)

Big Brother or BB as it shall from this point be referred too, took the UK by storm in 2000. For some people it was the arrival of a full on storm that whipped up a howling gale of emotion inside their heads and hearts, yet for other people it was a dark storm cloud obscuring the sun with saddening dreariness. [Jeeze, I'm in a descriptive mood aren't I?].

Most people had an opinion on it, some good, some bad. I had to be different [of course], and was indifferent to it for some time. Truth be told, I saw little of the first series. I was working nights [and often mornings, lunchtimes, afternoons and/or evenings too come to think of it], and my 16/18 hr working days kinda got in the way of TV. In fact they kinda got in the way of life in general, but I'll save that rant for another day.

Anyways, to get back on track, if someone mentioned BB to me the only thought it really triggered off was, 'Oh yeah, the one where the people sit in the garden all day doing nothing'. But I got swept up in the hype that went with it. Well, I didn't actually. It was always on the TV in the staff room at work when I sneaked out for a ciggie, so I could say it was forced upon me. Either way, I ended up quite intrigued, and still am!

Stick a handful of total strangers from very different walks of life into a purpose built surround with 24hr cameras and no way out, and watch what unfolds. Wahaaaaay, it's like sticking gunpowder on a bonfire - * that is NOT a recommendation btw * - the sparks sure do fly.

Restrict or remove the things we all take for granted, you know, food, hot water, music, books, friends, family, contact with the outside world [you get the picture] and things get a little more strained to say the least.

Finally, add copious amounts of alcohol to the pent up anger sexual frustration and general boredom of these everyday people in a non-every day situation. Ask them to get to know each other, learn to work as a team, and then vote against each other each week to see who leaves the house.

What do you get? Apart from enough sparks to make Guy Fawlkes proud, you get BB, now in it's third year.

This year saw 12 people enter the BB house to embark on a maximum 9 week long 'game show' for want of a better word. I mean you can hardly call it reality TV can you? Oddly though, the tally for leaving the house come the final curtain call [uh-oh, getting descriptive again] will be 14. Nope, no births or anything that drastic bumped up the numbers. For the first time in BB history [albeit just a 3 year history] 2 people left the house of their own accord rather than due to their fellow housemates and the general publics voting influence.

One [female] took the easy route - exited through the back door less than a week into the show. The other [male] decided he'd make a show of things and 'escaped' up and over the wall. Both were replaced with like gendered replacements... they both went too, although up the stairs and out of the main door on a standard Friday night eviction.

So, what do people do in the BB house? Well it varies, and this year you might say not a lot. The first year was very much team orientated with tasks to get the inmates, erm sorry, housemates working together to win rewards. They had a small amount of 'housekeeping' money and they had to gamble a percentage on the weekly task. A successful task equalled more shopping. An unsuccessful one equalled poverty or close to it. They also had some mini tasks to win extra's like a takeaway meal, or a party. The 2nd series took much the same format.

This year though, it was rumoured BB was going to be harder, a lot harder. But was it?

The first week saw a pretty simple general knowledge quiz win the housemates £400 shopping money for the week. They only had to get 7 of 10 questions right. If my memory recalls correctly, they got 8. Okay, so £400 for 12 people might not be classed as luxury living, but it sure as hell isn't poverty.

Perhaps the real shocker of the first week, and the hardest thing for the housemates to digest was the surprise eviction that they didn't have a clue about. The public voted all week on their least favourite of the entering 12 peeps. The 2 most voted for were shoved in a bedroom whilst the remaining group members had to decide who to keep and who to let go during a 2/3 [sorry, can't remember which] minute discussion.

That was seemingly part [in fact a large part] of the long term game plan for the series, to give with one hand and take with the other because the next week saw a rich poor divide, with the house materially divided by bars and mentally by status. Based on a basketball task, the first 5 to get a basket got a place on the rich side, with the £400 shopping budget between the 5 of them. The others became poor, with basic food rations, no hot water, and only the clothes/possessions that they'd managed to cram into a small bag.

It became more like survivor than the BB of previous years. The resentment was clear to see. Bitching and backstabbing was as much part of the daily routine as cleaning out the chickens, jeeze they ripped each other to shreds bit by bit.

For several more weeks the divide remained, but each Saturday saw a clean slate with everybody having another chance to win a place on the rich side. It wasn't always as simple as the basketball task though. One week saw the task winner having to decide who would join him on the rich side. Another week saw both a winner and loser deciding the fate of the others life style.

You'd have imagined the rich side would've been laughing, and the poor side depressed, but it didn't always work like that. Cross divide banter and bickering caused varied results. The novelty of a life of luxury wore off with some - there was little to do, and little effort needed to do it. The poor side were in some ways better off - it took effort to plan a meal which had to be cooked on an outside BBQ come rain or shine, it took time to wash and dry the few clothes they had, and I'd say it took guts to stand under a cold shower in the garden! They had plenty to do, albeit things they mightn't have picked by choice.

The group was given a chance to bring the bars down - they each needed to get one observational question about the house right. Only 2 succeeded, but were then given the chance of an extra question to re-unite the group. They tried, they failed! So that week saw just one person on the rich side, with the remaining housemates poor - £400 to himself didn't bring much joy.

The bars came down the next week anyway, but with a further sacrifice to be made. Rather than the standard nomination process, 2 housemates were offered a message from a loved one in return for putting themselves up for the public vote. Sadly, in my eyes, the desired effect of a discussion on who was deserving and who wasn't didn't evolve. Instead they drew lots to decide.

Another Saturday task was answering questions about fellow housemates, with correct answers winning seconds for a telephone call to a loved. Again, the housemates had to decide who was to take the call, but this time BB made it clear that they had to reason it through, not take the easy option of drawing lots again. The phone call was almost forced upon one guy, and he got to speak to his mum.

You may well be wondering why oh why would anyone put himself or herself through this? Well, I'd imagine the thought of the winners prize [£70,000] goes some way to being the incentive. But they rarely admit to it.

One guy (series 1) wanted the money to give to a very ill friend who needed an operation that couldn't/wouldn't be done on the NHS. He played it close to his chest till toward the end of the show, and he did indeed get the money. Another guy (series 2) wanted the money so badly he told everyone that was the only reason he was there. He wanted to be able to give his young daughter a better life. He didn't win the money!

Most housemates play the money side of things down. They claim to be there for the experience, for a bit of self discovery, for the achievement of having survived the audition process and becoming a 'chosen one' from so many other contenders. Hello????? They survived coz the producers thought they'd make good TV viewing, that's all. The ultimate question is did they?

I've enjoyed the series, and I'll be watching tonight [erm 26th July that is] when the final 4 become 3 become 2 become a winner and loser. But, at times I've felt like an intruder in a private argument. These lots of contestants haven’t held back in what they think about things in general and each other. The media have [as usual] put some people on pedestals and resigned others to quite harsh ridicule. They were normal people when they entered the house, but I'm not sure any of them will have left the same.

One housemate seemed to have an acceptance of that, and told others that he'd probably go overseas post-exit, and not return until the interest had dulled. Most of them probably don't have that option though, and will have to face the music for a long while yet.

To my mind BB this year certainly was tougher, both on the viewers and the contestants. Despite the stabs at luxury living, mini-tasks and the Saturday night live shows that provided some focus for all concerned, boredom and discontent came through stronger than ever before. Most entrants to the house at some point considered choosing to leave rather than being evicted - and of course as I said earlier, 2 did indeed do so.

One of the highlights for me was a late night announcement about the cut in broadcast. During the live screenings, sound [and sometimes picture] is sometimes cut and you get an onscreen notice 'We apologise for the gaps in sound. This is due to legal reasons and normal coverage will resume shortly.' This is accompanied by a voiceover saying similar. One night the poor voiceover girl must have been so bored with the same spiel, and spouted 'Sorry about the loss of sound, this is because the housemates are being slanderous and will get Channel 4 taken off air'. I did laugh, but it's a little sad I can remember that above all else in the 9 weeks.

Love it or hate it, BB gets people talking, and series 3 has been a success in terms of viewing figures and media attention. I'll be watching future series' when or maybe if they come along...

* ~ [Btw, I decided against a character analysis/assassination, as if you watch the show you'll know the people, and if you don't you probably won't care! If you come somewhere in between there are 30+ more ops to fill you in] ~ *
 

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