[Maru]

It's been axed since CBB ended up in January in my mind. I've always felt like civilian may not happen. It's just a feeling that would not go away, for whatever reason. I can't say there was any real "logic" to that at all in fact.

In either case, I think the matter is now how it will be axed. I think while that is being decided or being "handled", is why we are not getting news in a steady stream and is also why we're getting the appearance of one foot in-one foot out... it's possible because they had contract to run the civilian, they ran auditions because of contractual obligations... and yes, maybe it helped to "negotiate" the final details of how the show would best go... but again, they also have to arrange sponsors for this thing, big name celebrities, etc and if it is mishandled, then the parties will part on bad terms... and that's not good, because BB really isn't a "dead" concept in the sense that it couldn't be resurrected, reinvented or "evolved" to be something more... but atm the right hands to handle that may not necessarily exist, so it's possible Endemol wants to protect the brand and does care a lot about how it will end... because it is still an "active" brand in that sense... they don't want it to end poorly and to leave a bad mark on their other presentations in other parts of the world which may risk being shelved for very similar reasons (including format fatigue)...

I do think there is a fatigue with regards to reality TV and the production of it... and part of that you can blame on the nature of celebrity, the endless thirst and expectations of the viewers of those brands, adding on top of that the very real nature of things happening across the world... can seem nearly impossible to produce a show without somehow connecting those elements to these productions... so yeah, I think the bar is continually being raised in such a way that it's not tenable to maintain continuous growth in that industry... I'm sure it sucks the life out of production to keep managing this show. They can't seem to find a new "favorite" format that works for all involved, and also improves the performance of the show... so yes, shelving it makes the most sense, but maybe that's not what all parties want and it may be that it needs the right hands... but those right hands don't exist that fit the context of such a "strange" show... BB's appeal to me, has always been kind of hard to really "explain" to other people.