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The Big Brother post-mortem

Big Brother never realised its full potential as a reinvented Reality series until its bittersweet finale.

I admit to having a “love / hate” relationship with Big Brother this year.

There were aspects I thought were well done, others that were under-par and more that were simply not good enough. For a juggernaut the size of BB perhaps that’s not surprising, but I would hope if the show wins a renewal that there is room for improvement.

On the positive side of the ledger, the fact that the show made it to season’s end without a major controversy is an achievement in itself. BB is a show that can veer out of control very easily and we’ve seen in other years where media, politicians and industry regulator have slammed the show. Nine kept the show on track in this regard.

Sonia Kruger proved to be a worthy successor to Gretel Killeen, a tall order in itself. There’s a fair bit of traffic to steer on eviction nights before a frenzied throng and Kruger handled this with ease, peppering it with her humour and live performance skills, usually looking like a million dollars at the same time. Next year I would like to see her challenge the housemates a little more in eviction show interviews.

The finale was wonderfully produced, looking at the moments across the series (although I would have brought out the final two together and announced the winner on stage) and it stumped up with some emotional moments involving former housemates and families. I love the News headlines segment and the dance-fest that took us backstage genuinely put a smile on my face.

The best challenge was the Yes / No challenge in which housemates squirmed over dilemmas, sacrificing individual rewards for the greater good. The fake house was another mind-game goodie. I also liked the way housemates embraced a sense of fantasy without questioning the logic.

The delicate handling of Josh leaving the house was without fault.

When it comes to Casting let me firstly say this was a likeable bunch of housemates, which is essential for a stripped prime-time show. But that’s about where my generosity ends. They were too Anglo-Saxon and too young, especially after we were shown ads with various generations and promised a reboot on casting. With the exception of The Voice Nine Reality shows are too white, too often and don’t reflect a modern Australia (The Block is the worst offender here).

The capacity for Big Brother to become a social phenomenon is huge. Shows like Go Back To Where You Came From had the nation talking about racism and immigration, much of it driven by a girl in her 20s and her stubborn views. We saw none of this in BB despite teases that Estelle’s views and Zoe’s views would clash. If they had cast someone who came to Australia as a refugee and has settled into society it could have revolutionised the way we view the topic. We’ve seen big numbers for Anh Do. We fell in love with Amina in MasterChef. The Justice Crew boys were a melting pot of culture in Australia’s Got Talent. Hell, even Merlin in BB had us all talking about the subject in 2005.

The editing of these housemates avoided social issues. Even people in their 20s must have opinions on social media bullying? The Occupy Movement? Where were they? On the finale night Estelle recalled the location where she discussed politics with Bradley. She did?

Nine’s Director of Programming Andrew Backwell told me in June, “We’re casting for interesting debate rather than mindless chat,” and “We want relationships, adults who relate to each other, rather than just people looking to hook up.”

Sorry.  This year BB had two storylines and the main one was “Who can we hook-up next?” Look at the way Josh and Ava were thrown together. Look at the beds. Look at the casting of Sam (nice guy, but it was pretty obvious what was going on). Every second challenge was designed to bring potential partners together or split them apart. Yes romance is a huge storyline driver (Marty & Jess was a great TV romance in 2002, even spawning a spin-off special), but for a show that promised much it was baffling that they could not deliver any other storyline except for this: the bullying of Estelle.

It’s clear living with Estelle would have been a challenge to anybody in a confined space. But it was shameful the way she was isolated by the pack. No wonder the audience responded to her resilience, voting for her to stay week after week. Late in the series, sworn enemies had become friends, while others felt she was playing the victim card. Either way, she proved to be a well cast character with many facets, which is just what you need in a series of this length.

So after weeks of giving the show the most content, should the audience feel cheated that Estelle didn’t win?

Up to and including the finale he was still dissing her. I felt confident the audience would deliver the moral lesson: that you cannot bully someone in a social situation and get away with it. But I was wrong. The democracy that is the viewing public voted Benjamin to win and a wave of objections has ensued online, including on this site.

My other concern with the storylines was the relentless dress-ups / antics that sought to push the “family-friendly” line. Sumo wrestlers, cowboys, gypsy weddings, cops, Halloween, animals. Was this show sponsored by the local costume shop? For anybody who said we didn’t have Friday Night Games, I would suggest we had it every night.

And while we’re on the topic of “Family friendly,” how is bullying family friendly? I’m confused.

BB did use Twitter well, but the official site lacked anything compelling that drew me back very often. Nine also didn’t maximise its multichannel opportunities. There was an audience that would have watched late-night content with Mike Goldman if it had been offered. Nine was so nervous about adult content de-railing the show’s tone, but it didn’t even offer a PG rated late night version, which would have lifted numbers for GO! and on some occasions they would have been enough to tip Nine over the line for a ratings win.

I fully realise that many of my comments are based on the selective editing of Producers. But that’s what Reality TV is.

Despite my concerns, let me assure you….. there are clearly positives in having a gay man win the contest, which is a first for BB.

Ironically, I would suggest that in years to come when we look back on the series, Ben’s surprise marriage proposal will actually be its defining moment. While debates rage about gay marriage it took a young man in love to make a live statement before a broad commercial audience.

Just as Merlin had done in 2005, Benjamin manipulated a genre that is always about manipulation itself.

I guess we did get a social statement after all.

36 Responses

  1. I believe estelle should of won, and I also believe she would have if the voted wasn’t revealed to the public on the Sunday night showing she was in the lead I don’t think bb should of done that, estelle was still being bullied right in the finals by ben and its not right.

  2. Race is still problematic and TV networks are very conservative. If they don’t have any ethnic diversity they will be critised for that, but that is normal and not a problem.

    If they do introduce ethnic diversity then as you pointed out many people we see it as never being enough and token.

    If there is any conflict between HMs of different race it will be perceived as racism and can get very ugly very quickly with threats of law suits and Human Rights Courts. As happened in the UK BB.

    Nor would different ethnic communities trying to organise voting blocks on social media be a good look.

    With the first series being a success they may be prepared to take more risks with the second to freshen the show up.

    Anh Do is a well known celebrity and produced an excellent light-hearted travel show on a topic he knows well.

    1. I’ve never said introducing ethnic diversity is at risk of tokenism, and it’s certainly no reason not to go there. I think the way different cultures have been weaved into shows like MasterChef has been revolutionary and never tokenistic. Reality TV is always more reflective of our country because it by-passes normal casting processes, except on Nine (The Voice was one exception). There were 2 non Anglo-Saxon housemates of 16 this year, which doesn’t reflect the Australia I usually see.

  3. Also in the #fail department at Nine was having the HMs participate in promos for Nine while in the house. They were all too aware of being “on a show” as opposed to “in the house” (and some of them referred to this). Nine only made this awareness more acute.

    HMs this year were playing the game hard to win, rather than just relaxing and enjoying their time and going along for the ride. The stupid performances put on by Michael, Ben and Stacey, the incessant shower songs and repetitive Oats a la Layla, everyone acting up for the cameras, was really irritating and I couldn’t help but think BB was actively encouraging them. Ugh.

  4. I would suggest that the lack of controversy is a direct result of Nine’s decision to have no live feed, and to tightly edit/construct each episode to within an inch of its life.

    How were the audience supposed to be able to judge the character of the HMs for themselves? Was Estelle really as annoying as the HMs said? Is Benjamin as big a bitch as was shown? It all came down to the edit as were denied our independent judgement.

    The premise of the show is not just Big Brother is watching, it’s that we are all watching. Channel Nine #fail

  5. Good article David. Not my style of TV show, for me I like Reality TV like “Outback Truckers” not contrived Reality TV like Big Brother Survivor Amazing Race all contrived stuff.

  6. Is it just me or did everyone else notice Ch 9 change the camera angle when Ben and is man kissed? Ten is the same with Farmer Dave when he kissed his partner on eviction.

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