Big Brother returns [split topic]

[PlanktonSideburns]

Why can't it all be absolute thumpers from Essex or someone from Surrey with an entirley grey landrover

[jobotic]

A cosplay Tory Boy. They can relax now

[Mr Banlon]

It's exactly the same selection of annoying people as it always was. But no, it's 'woke' and 'box-ticking' because Britain is now Cunt Island.

[Shaxberd]

wtf are they talking about, some of the most iconic original Big Brother contestants are gay (Brian, S2 winner), trans (Nadia, S5 winner), disabled (Pete, S7 winner) etc etc. They always tried for a mix, if nothing else to make the contestants easier to tell apart.

[thr0b]

It seems a decent mix - a fair spread of ages, given it's ITV2, a spectrum of personality types. And it's making me laugh - the party games are just the right side of cruel.

[PlanktonSideburns]

wtf are they talking about, some of the most iconic original Big Brother contestants are gay (Brian, S2 winner), trans (Nadia, S5 winner), disabled (Pete, S7 winner) etc etc. They always tried for a mix, if nothing else to make the contestants easier to tell apart.

Maybe these people have mixed up big brother and dads army

[Captain Z]

I haven't watched BB since around 2008 (aside from the David's Dead clip about 50 times) but flicked this on halfway through to see what was up. Suffice to say, that guy picking that girl in answer to that question was just about the most Big Brother thing that could possibly have happened.

[oggyraiding]

Tory cunt food critic vs Congolese leftie woman when?

[Noodle Lizard]

I've got high hopes. Feels a little bit more sophisticated than the latter-day C5 ones, and they seem to have gone mostly for people who aren't obvious try-hard arseholes from the off.

The hosts are a bit crap and I don't know if it benefits from having two. Maybe they'll sort of trade off throughout the run. Not doing a live launch episode was a pity. Any reason given for that?

[PlanktonSideburns]

I've got high hopes. Feels a little bit more sophisticated than the latter-day C5 ones, and they seem to have gone mostly for people who aren't obvious try-hard arseholes from the off.

The hosts are a bit crap and I don't know if it benefits from having two. Maybe they'll sort of trade off throughout the run. Not doing a live launch episode was a pity. Any reason given for that?

Its in case they all mass suicide like in that Japanese film

[thr0b]

I've got high hopes. Feels a little bit more sophisticated than the latter-day C5 ones, and they seem to have gone mostly for people who aren't obvious try-hard arseholes from the off.

The hosts are a bit crap and I don't know if it benefits from having two. Maybe they'll sort of trade off throughout the run. Not doing a live launch episode was a pity. Any reason given for that?

AJ's a good host generally, though I was surprised she got this particular gig given she was pretty rapidly dropped from Bit On The Side a few years ago.

I assumed not doing it live was to allow them to hit the 90 minute time slot on both ITV and ITV2, allowing for the live show on ITV2 to also start fully on time without any knock-on to the schedule on either channel.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I think they'd have struggled to make sense of the challenges going on whilst the contestants were going in if it were live. It also meant they could edit it to time.

Olivia responding to being nominated by accident with the classic mistake of turning into a massive shrieking diva, rather than just taking it on the chin and rising above it. Rookie mistake. Deadevicted soon.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

They've already decided Jenkem is the character this time

[thr0b]

They've already decided Jenkem is the character this time

He's also ENTIRELY humourless. His face in a clip from a challenge they showed last night - other housemate ranked him as Least Funny.

His entire persona demolished within 24 hours. Amazing.

[Icehaven]

I didn't watch the launch (not yet anyway, I might still) but an article I read made a good point about however much of a cross section of society they try and get on, however diverse in age/race/sexuality/identity/class etc. the common denominator they all have is that they want to be on Big Brother, which makes them far more similar to each other than to 99% of the rest of the population.

[Noodle Lizard]

This batch really isn't all that bad. The Tory food critic is a bit of a relic, but rather than him being a miniboss for the minorities in the house it seems as though we might get more mileage from his Scunthorpean cosplayer.

Characters like Jenkin and Olivia are Big Brother archetypes, although they still fit within the realm of "normal" people you're likely to meet. It might be because of the 5 year gap (the youngest housemates were only 13 when Big Brother ended), and the cultural distance from where we were when the first iteration(s) of Big Brother were popular, but I'm hopeful that it'll be something a bit different.

[twosclues]

I did enjoy the two posh blokes being instantly drawn to each other.

This could be alright. I do miss the dry, bare-bones production of the earliest series, when the narrator took it mad serious, but obviously those days are gone. One of the mid-pandemic rabbit holes I went down was re-watching most of Big Brother 2 (Brian, Helen, Bubble etc), and it is crazy just how slow and quiet it was back then. Long shots of Elizabeth taking a nap.

[thr0b]

Really if they can get it do a BB7 vibe (less the fights), it'll be very good. By that stage the format was fairly set in place, but to the extent that they could tweak it. Housemates weren't in it expecting fame to the extent of a year or two previously, and weren't already "influencers" as such things didn't exist.

I trust GMGEndemolinitialbanijay.

[oggyraiding]

Read in the news that Hallie came out as trans to the other housemates and everyone was lovely about it. Nice to see in a world of KJKs and Glinners.

[jobotic]

Wee laughing at home about when this was on over night and it was just birdsong as they silenced the housemates as they said things too rude or libellous. Quality programming.

[thr0b]

Aye, this is a really good bunch of people. Already entertaining - natural conflict here and there but generally good-natured. Lovely stuff.

And Glinner put his foot through the telly.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I missed it tonight; put that "Late and Live" thing on and yeah they're just talking about Jenkem again. Forced meme vibes for me

[thr0b]

I missed it tonight; put that "Late and Live" thing on and yeah they're just talking about Jenkem again. Forced meme vibes for me

He's a busted flush. I think they wanted him to be the Fun One, but he's destroyed himself within a day.

Far more interesting characters in there than him, without the try-hard aspects.

[Hundhoon]

I dont think there is enough there to be honest. Its a very a average bunch so far. The editing is atrocious.

I was under the assumption it was going to be a major overhaul, return to more nautral setting, its complete opposite so far. I dont even think the cast is as good as the final 2018 series on Channel 5. Which was a  return to form, it just had  no promotion
This one is okay and watchable. But it all feels very sanitzied. The Gaurdian called in bland and gave it two stars, i agree.
Its literally impossible in todays landscape to approach anything remotely resmebling the golden era 2004-2006. I rewatched those series during lockdown and they were amazing,was suprised how good those series were. The second they started freaking out is the second the ratings dropped.

[kitsofan34]

I watched the opening episode last night.

They tried to mix things up in the opening ep, which can feel a little like a conveyor belt at times, especially if you've chosen 16 people. The party games fell a bit flat for me however.

The cast seem like a good mix, which is admirable considering ITV's usual tendencies, diverse and inclusive without really preaching about it.

Reflective of our tik tok, adhd generation, the producers would not let any of Big Brother's schemes breathe. The biggest example would be the Scottish girl and Jenkin's tension after the party games. Big Brother of old would let that fester, let it breathe for a little bit. 5 minutes after, Big Brother's brought the Scot in and told her she won't be actually up for eviction, if she completes his seeeecret task.

Tldr, too many twists and Big Brother intereference.

[centristmelt]

I've really enjoyed it so far, sorry.

[Noodle Lizard]

It's all very nicey-nice at the moment, which gives me the impression everyone's far more cautious than they used to be, but that might not be a bad thing. Any "villains" will still make themselves known, but perhaps the impetus to be an agitator is less important now.

The poshos and Trish getting on and taking the piss out of each other was sort of touching.

The ranking task was interesting. Obviously Channelle's reaction to being ranked towards the bottom in Kindness betrayed a bit of an ego issue, but I was more surprised Hallie got ranked last on a couple of things (trustworthiness and something else, I think) without much said of it.

[thr0b]

I'm enjoying the simmering resentment over curry flavour Pot Noodles. They're not even a decent flavour!

[cromby]

I watched the opening episode last night.

They tried to mix things up in the opening ep, which can feel a little like a conveyor belt at times, especially if you've chosen 16 people. The party games fell a bit flat for me however.

The cast seem like a good mix, which is admirable considering ITV's usual tendencies, diverse and inclusive without really preaching about it.

Reflective of our tik tok, adhd generation, the producers would not let any of Big Brother's schemes breathe. The biggest example would be the Scottish girl and Jenkin's tension after the party games. Big Brother of old would let that fester, let it breathe for a little bit. 5 minutes after, Big Brother's brought the Scot in and told her she won't be actually up for eviction, if she completes his seeeecret task.

Tldr, too many twists and Big Brother intereference.

Agree with all of this. It's far too nice-y nice at the moment. Even the last couple of series on Channel 5 weren't like this, though I suppose the world has genuinely changed so much duty of care wise in the intervening 5 years.

[thr0b]

Agree with all of this. It's far too nice-y nice at the moment. Even the last couple of series on Channel 5 weren't like this, though I suppose the world has genuinely changed so much duty of care wise in the intervening 5 years.

Plus - they've only been in there three days (TV pace) at this point. Not quite enough time for the boredom to set in and for them to start properly irritating each other, and BB has given them things to do and work towards, so they've not been given a chance to get bored and irritable.

Cliques are starting to form, so temperatures will rise eventually.

Tonight's task looks silly fun.