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Big Brother video a clue to enduring popularity

If network execs ever wanted a sign there is still life in the Big Brother brand, it's here...

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This week footage emerged of a derelict Big Brother House, once home to Australian Reality TV memories.

It last screened on Nine in 2014, won by Ryan Ginns.

As many have seen this past week, it’s been trashed by vandals and fallen into disrepair. Nine News reported the property, once part of Dreamworld, is now owned by the state-run Qld Investment Corp.

If there’s any show I continually see people asking to revived it’s this one.

I’m told 10 considered reviving it for last summer but the costs proved too restrictive. That’s probably still the case given the manpower and tech required to run the show.

But if network execs ever needed a clue there is still audience interest it’s in the fact that in less than a week the video has clocked up nearly a million views….

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  3. Would love to see BB return, but I can see it’s a total logistical nightmare. Either you invest in it 100%, let it completely dominate your primetime schedule, and then people get sick of it very quickly. Or you invest hardly anything into it and alienate your viewerbase. Channel 9’s last season was especially disastrous… (Except Prisus. Praise Prisus!)

  4. I’ll add my vote as a yes please to bringing Big Brother back. It has to be on Channel 10 though. Sorry 9, but you sanitised it and ruined it. Would love Gretel to host again. She’s the only host of it that made it exciting to watch. Smart, funny, very quick witted and could think on her feet when things went pear shaped live. The others just read the autocue and made it quite bland.
    I actually think they could leave the house in it’s current condition and the new housemates have to renovate it, fix it up etc. If you’ve ever done renovations and had to live in the house while they’re being done, you’d know how many tensions it would create amongst the housemates. Would make interesting viewing. The camera runs would need to be fixed though obviously. Please bring it back channel 10.

  5. I have never watch BB, however, I think an Australian version would be really cool and I would watch it! (The same applies to Survivor!)

  7. If they stick to the original formula and don’t do ultra modern with decore then l feel it could work. The key is its success is the host. Only need one not several. To many hosts becomes unwatchable.

  9. I thin 10 should revive the show, given it airs on CBS in the US. They could do uncut on 10 all access. Casting is key though. Avoid the social media wannabes and focus on an original authentic cast. The likes of Reggie/ Trevor/ peter/ Sara-maree

  12. I don’t think the million views should be taken as a sign people want the show back, viewers where curious to see what the house looked like. I for one loved Big Brother but lost interest early in season 4. The last season with Kyle and Jackie O sparked my interest but it didn’t last and nine’s revival didn’t capture me at all.

  13. The costs are too restrictive? The production will pad out 10’s entire schedule. There will obviously be the daily shows, live nominations, uncut, Up-Late, evictions, Friday Night Live, among other specials, and they can also use it to pad out their daytime schedule (rather than airing repeats of last night’s programming). If they start airing Up-Late a little earlier, say 10.30pm, they could also boost their overall primetime share.

    A problem is when to air the daily shows. Traditionally, it has held a 7.00pm timeslot, so, they can shelf or move Celebrity Name Game to a slightly later timeslot (and perhaps have freshly evicted housemates serve as “celebrities”) or temporarily strip back The Project to a half-hour format (which can cause friction with the various panelists desiring airtime/monies).

  14. Honestly I never want that rancid piece of trash on TV ever again, especially the bland, whitewashed, version that Australia trotted out in every incarnation. I watched the ‘abandoned’ video because it was a great example of what has become known as ‘decay porn’, exploring one proud buildings and facilities that have fallen into a sad shadow of former glories. From that perspective, it was far more interesting than any episode of the actual show.

  16. I would love BB go come back, but back to its authentic original view. Not just a bunch of wannabes wanting instagram fame. Sure chuck in the odd ones in, but BB was great in the days when we has reggie and chrissie ect. Get some average funny aussies in! I think it could work still and it will come back one day.

  17. It should be noted that Big Brother still remains in the TV Tonight word cloud, which shows its popularity long after the Australian production was shown. The set could be restored and the show renewed as there is still demand for Big Brother in Australia.

    There are also many people who said they don’t want the show to return. I would like to see it return. I think there could be reconsideration for the name of the show to something gender neutral. I do have a vague memory of there being a female Big Brother character voiceover on the infrequent occasion. If anyone remembers, there was also a show called House From Hell that was a precursor to Big Brother.

    1. For the first paragraph, there is a book by George Orwell called “Nineteen Eighty Four” in which Big Brother watched everyone in Airstrip One. The show got it’s name from the book “Nineteen Eighty Four”, so changing it would not work.

      Secondly, I have never heard of “House From Hell”, so can you please elaborate on that.

      1. House From Hell was a Network 10 show from 1998 created by Andrew Denton and hosted by Amanda Keller. It featured a group of people living in a share house. They had to complete challenges and a lot of the show revolved around the eccentric behaviour of the housemates.

      2. The Indian version is called Bigg Boss (sic). The previous adaptation of the Canadian version was called Loft Story. The French version is called Secret Story. But the vast majority of Big Brother franchises have been titled Big Brother or the foreign translation of the name Big Brother.

  18. How could they let it get into such a state? It would be a massive tourist attraction. I used to love going through the Big Brother house when I went to Dreamworld.

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