Elizabeth July 27th, 2007

A few months ago (in a password-protected part of the web far, far away) I wrote the following post.

Some people disappear into their TVs during soccer season. Other people live and breathe cricket (although that condition is very serious and probably has a very long name ending in “-chosis”). Football season is understandable when it’s AFL, because of those tight little shorts and sleeveless jerseys (put an AFL player next to an American footballer and then tell me which is the better spectator sport).

Such pursuits are very noble and all, but they’re just not my thing. Big Brother is my season. And before you Americans rush off to delete me from your bookmarks, remember that our show is approximately 9472658x better than the disaster that gets served up in your country.

Big Brother is the thinking man’s television. It’s poetry; it’s culture. Big Brother is art for the masses, perhaps more Jackson Pollock than Renoir, but nevertheless speaking wisdom through our TV screens. Its cast members go on to become productive, benevolent members of Australian society - humanitarians and defenders of the downtrodden who work tirelessly without recognition. Before dismissing the importance of this institution, ask yourself what contributions you have made to the betterment of our nation in the past year.

More reasons to watch:

* Gretel has a new stylist. That should be reason enough.
* Big Brother is routinely discussed in Parliament, so you’ll be better informed come election time
* You won’t be left out of lunchtime discussions at work

And so, I am saying farewell for the next few months. I don’t wish to be the sort of un-Australian viewer who fits Big Brother around their existing priorities - Big Brother is a lifestyle and a commitment I intend to see through to the end. We have a responsibility as viewers to watch all 19-20 hours of weekly broadcasts, and anything less is simply a slap in the face to the mission of these brave crusaders.

But this is not goodbye, just “see you soon”. Probably sooner than you think, with plenty of discussion about the show! Please feel free to share your support and excitement in the comments.

Too much? Probably. But I was genuinely looking forward to this season of Big Brother and indulging my voyeuristic side. I have fond memories of earlier seasons, where the cast was made up of normal people who sat around and talked about normal stuff. It was uncomplicated, it was addictive, and it worked.

The person who knew that best of all was the show’s original Executive Producer and voice of Big Brother, Peter Abbott. In an interview with ABC’s Media Report on Radio National in 2002, he said the following:

Peter Abbott: There’s a lot of temptation to produce, but you’ve got to resist it. The whole process is one of creating an environment and then seeing what happens, and the nice thing is that it sometimes rewards you with something that’s far better than you could have ever imagined.

Back in the days of Peter Abbott the show was simple and transparent, and they were rewarded with great ratings and a loyal following. Most of all, the concept of the show was pure: Put 15-20 strangers in a house, cut off their contact to the outside world, let them interact and film them while they do it. And most importantly, guide them with weekly tasks but interfere as little as possible.

What resulted was a beautiful little social experiment, and viewers had front row seats. As viewers we could consider and discuss the relationships and events in the house with our friends, confident that what we had seen was unabridged and unproduced. In those early days the show was very transparent, and they weren’t trying so hard to make it into something it was not. It seemed easier to connect to the cast members, and identify with them.

With Kris Noble as EP, the true meaning of Big Brother has slowly been eroded. Over the past few years there have been fewer natural cast members, and too many famewhores. Simple tasks have been replaced with complicated themes, usually with no tangible end product and very little pay-off for the viewers. It seems that producers are only interested in creating enough content for their 22-minute daily shows, and are relying on SMS games and repetitive montages to fill in the remaining airtime.

Remember when housemates would auction off one of their belongings after their eviction for charity? When people cared enough to own the rug from the knitting task, or somebody’s guitar? I can’t imagine anybody bidding on stuff belonging to this year’s housemates, because we simply don’t care about them. Except for medical science, who are probably interested in the functioning portions of Michelle’s brain.

Speaking of Michelle…

Never before have I wished for a ratings box, purely so that I could protest with my remote control. None of my BB-watching friends could bring themselves to turn on the TV for her final 2 weeks in the house, despite being interested in how the others were going.

I wanted to like this year’s show, but with just a few days to go I don’t care. Not about the housemates, the outcome, or next year’s show.

• TV/Movies
• Comments(1)