'If ITV thinks CBB has been a hit, it’s in bigger trouble than we thought’….
 

…as a final thing to the first ITV celebrity series, I saw this article so I’ll post it for any thoughts that any of you may have…I do feel that while we live in a present world of ‘cancel’, the type of celebrity seasons that we’ve had in the past and come to know, will just not be possible or a reality anymore because of fears of careers being potentially impacted very negatively…anyway, the article…it’s written by Ian Hyland, who is a UK-based TV critic, interviewer and media commentator…




There have been two major surprises during ITV’s first attempt at restoring Celebrity Big Brother to its heyday.

One: shouty Boltonian David Potts (Foghorn Too Much Leghorn) didn't turn out to be the absolute nightmare that his previous onscreen appearances and his opening night entrance to reality TV’s most famous house may have suggested he would be.

He has been a fabulous Big Brother housemate throughout. A genuine revelation. Under normal circumstances, he would fully deserve to be the last housemate standing at tonight’s grand final.

Two: The bigger shock is that ITV has apparently already decided that the next run of the non-civilian version of the show will also take up three weeks of prime time ITV1 airspace.

Which begs the question, what has Celebrity Big Brother — and what have we the viewers — done to deserve that?

Opening night aside, the viewing figures have not exactly set the world alight. And in terms of capturing the attention of the nation, CBB hasn’t even located the water cooler, never mind had people congregating around it to discuss the latest shocks and scandals.

As the weeks have gone by, I’ve even detected a slight drop in Good Morning Britain’s and This Morning’s fervour when it comes to cheerleading for their stablemate. (Stay strong, Dickie Arnold. Only one more night to go.)

I can only assume ITV is planning to open its chequebook and flood the next celebrity house with A-list names that will demand our attention.

If not, that would mean ITV believes that the last three weeks have amounted to an acceptable level of success. Which in turn would mean ITV is in a lot more trouble than I thought.

Of course, Big Brother will always have a small army of diehard devotees who will follow it to the death while defending it to the hilt by telling people who aren’t enjoying it so much that “It’s not aimed at you!”

I find that retort particularly dumb and galling, by the way. I know there’s no way Big Brother will ever recapture the thrill and impact of its Channel 4 early days, but as recently as its Channel 5 period I was still looking forward to watching it every night.

Sadly, despite boasting two judges from Simon Cowell’s old pop circus in its line up, this run has consistently lacked the X Factor.

My attitude has pretty much matched the feelings of Louis Walsh when tasked with peeling potatoes for Colson Smith: “I’m not having fun, but I’ll do it.”

In other words, on more than one occasion I’ve found myself thinking I’m only doing this because I’m being paid to do it. Still, if that’s good enough for Sharon Osbourne...

Speaking of Mrs O and hard cash, the truth is that unless ITV is willing to spend big it would make absolutely no sense to continue airing the show on the main channel where it can get spanked by bizarre Channel 5 thrillers filmed in Budapest (no, I have no idea what Coma was all about either, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Jason Watkins next meets up with his agent).

ITV should just stick CBB on ITV2 and let it fight it out with Love Island to be top reality dog. Being hidden away there might also suit the production team.

As a format, Big Brother has always thrived on messing with the contestants’ minds and being — in gameshow terms — a little mean and manipulative.

ITV’s “recent troubles”, coupled with its determination to position itself as the caring, sharing “it’s good to talk” network, mean you can’t get away with that kind of evil behaviour in broad prime time light.

Consequently, the one time the producers tried to spice things up — with Bradley Riches’s backdoor eviction last night — it felt a little out of kilter and unnecessarily cruel.

The fact that Bradley was then allowed to go back into the house and say his goodbyes merely proved that the producers are working with one hand tied behind their backs — and also rendered the whole cruel twistiness of it fairly pointless.

I suppose it did get people talking though. The only other whiff of controversy I can recall was Ekin-Su from Love Island complaining that unkind editing was to blame for her eviction. As opposed to, y’know, her own behaviour. We’ll have to wait and see whether ITV ends up making a public apology to Ekin-Su. (At this stage, I wouldn’t rule it out.)

In the meantime, if you were looking for an alternative damning indictment of this series, allow my notepad to offer you the final week highlights.

On Tuesday, David was so bored he decided to set his own secret mission: To persuade Marisha that she had to remove all the cutlery from the kitchen and hide it upstairs.

On Wednesday, the producers decided to set David a real secret mission: To start an argument with a housemate, any housemate. (I know, talk about them admitting failure or what?)

Anyway, David’s idea turned out to be much funnier and much more entertaining. So if he doesn’t win tonight, I know what ITV should do by way of recompense.

Make him executive producer on the next series. Oh, and buy him some trousers. Obviously.



https://uk.news.yahoo.com/itv-celebr...104803072.html

It's an interesting article. Right now the CBB final is one of the top stories on BBC news and the second most read article behind Kate's diagnosis so there is some traction there. The ratings are average but better than C5 and catch up figures are strong. It's true that it doesn't feel like essential television though and hasn't been a big conversation topic compared to something like the Traitors.

I don't think it should be surprising that they're giving it another run though. It would be premature to give up on it already and there is potential for ratings to increase if it's a better series. And they'd only attract worse celebs if they relegated it to ITV2. They've hopefully learned a lot from these first two series. Plus ITV1 doesn't actually get that high ratings in that slot most the time anyway and running CBB at least means they don't have to scrabble around for other content for a few weeks. Filling the schedule of a traditional TV channel isn't that easy in the age of streaming.

That said I'd be happy enough if they binned off CBB and just ran a civilian series once a year

…and put more energy/focus into that civilian one…?…it was a good starter/foundation, I felt…but still a lot to be built on in terms of improvement and enhancement…it also felt quite ‘rushed’ at times…but making a saving on keeping the celebrity edition would free some budget, maybe …to spend on the civilian…

Yeah exactly, I think they cast well for the civilian BB but otherwise they could have produced it a lot better because the strength of the housemates carried it imo

…I also think that the era of the ‘messy celebrity’ that we’ve seen in times gone by and that has created so many talking points and dramas etc…just is not going to be present anymore because there would be too many career fears, really…and that also is very much because of the celebrity housemates chosen….in that they’re advancing their careers, they’re more at the beginning of….the older housemates for this in Sharon and Louis weren’t looking for any career potentials from the show so they were able to provide the more ideal houseguests and the better entertainment values…and Fern giving Louis a head massage and his enjoyment out of it and their strange language throughout it…:laugh:…was the closest moment we had to old style CBB and George and Rula/…let’s be cats…

I enjoyed the launch but as the days went by I became increasingly bored of this series.

I'd record it and watch it in the morning. Fast Forward, the best thing since sliced bread. :D

No adverts and all that rubbish cut out often reduced a 1 hour programme to about 30 minutes.

The problem was, apart from Louis and Sharon, I couldn't see any real celebs, not even the guy from Corrie.

I fast forwarded much of the final, getting down to the basic evictions and I didn't bother with the interviews.

CBB or BB for that matter are not prime time shows. And the journalist is right, it should go on ITV2.

But they must try harder. This CBB was without question the worst ever.

I can't stand Sharon or Louis, and they were made the prime focus for a third of the show. The only hm i took to at all really was Zeze and she got less and less attention as time went by

For me, the tasks were the major let down, there was only 1 that was half decent and it's the tasks that make the show. The rest of the tasks were mind blowing bad. This series just wasn't for me

David could only be described as a novelty winner, no offence to him, but he was blinking awful :laugh:

The show was too quick...if they are going to do that for civilian then thats very disappointing. Of course I will still watch but it wont be the same.

It wasn't as striking as other series.
However I recall endless moaning at other series too.

I'm just glad BB is back and therefore will support it and watch it as long as it is
Because I think it still has a lot of mileage as an experiment.
With the ever stronger reliance on technology in life, seeing people cut off completely from that for weeks is interesting in itself.

I know people who cannot be away from their phones etc for an hour never mind weeks on end.

Again though, I find it really interesting learning about the housemates, it doesn't have to be about drama or created arguments to be good.

For instance Fern,Ike interviewing David and Nikita was to me really interesting.

I'd have to admit the civilian one was better than CBB.
Maybe that was down to length they were on however.

I rarely backed the winner in both channel 4 or channel 5 series.

On ITV, I supported the winner Jordan in the civilian one.
Plus supported a strong runner up in Nikita in the CBB series.
I was extremely happy seeing those results.

So for me while it may have been weaker on ITV, that can be rectified but for me still I'd say a success overall

The relative blandness and inoffensive nature of the Ch5 and ITV versions were just about bearable, and owing to the fact that I've never been into celeb iterations of shows as much as their civillian versions, the brevity of this recent CBB was also just about bearable. But if it is indeed true that they're thinking of limiting the civillian series to about the length of a CBB series, then I'm not sure I can be bothered to carry on any further under ITV. Watching a drastically diminished version of the show is simply communicating to the producers that they can just keep on keeping on with diminishing it. Viewers should have enough self-respect to know that they deserve better, and thumb their noses up at such liberties. That's what I think, anyway.

Where has that been reported?

Ammi

I wish you would start
by putting Ian Hyland



This is all his bitter views
because they fired him
years ago

…as you wish, sir…OP amended and enhanced etc with the article writer’s name added…

I would put him at the Top
then I know to leave the thread


If I Click YOUR
yahoo link

His Name is UP TOP

…one of the things that I do think also, for me…is that the Late and Live show just isn’t working…I often like the guest panels…/…some or all of them…and I agree with much they have to say…and they have a live audience, which is obviously good…and the presenters are both very lovely people…(…I’m not sure that they completely gel and blend together, but there are many solo shows with just one of them presenting/hosting…)…but it still just doesn’t all hold my attention in the way that both Channel 4 and Channel 5 sister shows did…even yesterday with the final, I watched some of it and David’s interview…but I struggled to watch it to the end…even for the final night…I think in general for me the sister show now adds very little…

Blame AJ
she does not speak clearly

Also David was the wrong winner

…I struggle with it and it holding interest whether AJ is on or off screen, Arista …or whether she’s speaking or not so I won’t blame AJ…because that would be unfair and inaccurate for me…

They are New Presenters
all you can hope, is they get better..............


At the Very End of the final ITV2HD Live show
Bradley Sung.


I recorded it
Used 1.9 on my SkyHD Box
so unlike BBC Local News (some are still using Half HD cameras)
it was Full HD 1080i

…actually, I did think they were better for the first ITV civilian last year…and got a bit less better for this celebrity one ….not just the presenters, though…I mean, I felt the whole thing didn’t work quite so much and didn’t hold interest for me with the celebrity version…

I often found the BBC extra shows fair at best even under Emma and Rylan.
The audiences always seemed more biased then.

However I agree with you totally, while I think the audiences were better in these series, the show just doesn't work.
Take away the sneak previews of things in the house, the rest is mainly tripe.
Rushed through too.
There seems no proper planning either as to any format of the show.

Ignore me, I must have misread.

And if I didn't misread, still ignore me. I was in a rotten mood yesterday morning. :hehe:

Haha no worries, I initially did the same with this bit of the article:

ITV has apparently already decided that the next run of the non-civilian version of the show will also take up three weeks

So wanted to check it was just a misread and not something being rumoured elsewhere!

ITV needs to look at The Traitors, which The Traitors itself is copying the best elements of Channel 4 Big Brother, with a modern twist to keep it contemporary.

The Traitors has a bit of backstabbing nastiness, but also manages to make the contestants likable and overall interesting.

I enjoyed it but would have liked it to have been longer, I like to people watch and I rarely pick a winner but I was close with Nikita, I loved the personality of Jordan in the civilian one and the unintentionally funny Ben Duncan.Its better to have BB on screen than not,so hopefully it will be kept as it keeps the TIBB community together aswell.

For me there were too many hm's with a similar character type, and they overwhelmed the ones that could have made it interesting.

Some well thought out tasks could have brought different aspects of peoples characters out into the open, but little thought went in to all but one of the tasks.

They also put way too much emphasis on sharon and louis and that certainly didn't help

I fully agree with you last statement bots, it was all about them really.

The BB brand brings more attention to their channel, so we will probably see more ITV-adjacent personalities (mostly reality people probably) and that may just mean the drama is more pre-produced based on things that happen just before entering the house... They could take someone controversial from popular show X and throw them in with other very controversial and attention-seeking neurotics from popular show Y and let it rip... it's not the original spirit of BB, but it's also just so hard to find "normal" people to throw in there that haven't already been touched by media and made some links to that industry.

I can see it being very hard to avoid recycling the same reality TV people across the spectrum/multiple programs. The reality TV industry is very incestuous. As such, they probably get a lot of interest from people who are creatively active, but because they already know what they will get from them, especially if they're seasoned in whatever douchebaggery they specialize in, it's not a good fit for what BB is meant to be: a social experiment. It's not meant to just be a house for people to just come in and shout at cameras so their faces will be plastered everywhere. Maybe they risk annoying and scaring off the audience if they cast mostly these kinds of publicity-greedy personalities. (They would want people to understand and actually play the game for it to really work)

That's true, just look at how the BBC described David's 'celebrity' status:

:skull:

The best celeb series have been when there's a few unpolished housemates, one or two who don't really know what the show is about, a couple from non-TV backgrounds, and maybe a housemate at the end of their career who are past caring or have no interest in redemption arcs. A few reality personalities are fine especially ones who deliberately stir things up knowing it makes good telly, just not a whole house of them

Could the shorter length actually help with it being easier to produce, if they actually produce? :laugh: They can keep the HMs on their toes by switching up things more often and maybe stop some of the predictable alliances and usual celebrity bullshit from getting in and killing the spontaneity. It could be more interesting for the HMs as well... putting people in a house without social media and cell phones is probably hard for the younger ones especially who are used to flicking through their phones all day and so aren't accustomed to needing to entertain themselves or others without it :laugh:

Edit: That doesn't mean they can't lengthen it later once they find a workable formula

Yeah it wasn't the best. Actually quite a few episodes I found that I had literally fallen asleep ten minutes before the end. I wasn't really gripped at the cast, I loved Sharon but once she had gone I just didn't really support anyone. It seemed like everyone just wanted to be nice. Fern was irritating me with all the crying all the time. The lads were just nice, David had some funny moments but I think he could have been even better with some better fellow housemates. There were some moments I enjoyed but it just really really lacked something. Channel 5 gets slated a lot but they had amazing series of CBB at times when they had a more interesting cast.

The civilian one was good but not brilliant. And felt slightly too short and it really should be over summer. I think that's all it lacked really.

AJ and Will I think are getting better but they don't have that Davina or Emma feel for me. I don't know I don't think it will last as long as the channel 4 and channel 5 series did.


As for competition with Love Island, love island has been drawn out too much now it's way past its sell by date, noone I know even watches it anymore

…I really personally don’t think it’s so important which aspect of entertainment/celebrity the housemates have hailed from…some of the best celebrity housemates have provided some of the most watchable CBB times over the years and can have us screaming at our TV in create so many talking points…I think in Stephen Bear’s year/edition, it was very heavily realty star based…it’s not what they do in terms of a career, it’s who they are in terms of how they blend together and thinking of it as a complete house as well…I’m not sure that seems to be given the thought in terms of what has made the best celebrity viewing in days gone by and reality TV stars can give great reality tv, that’s the point…if they’re well chosen with thought…I mean a fundamental of…’we’re going to go back to basics and give you more a back in the day CBB…’…etc…is that they look at past celebrity editions and the essence of how a house has been put together in the more talked about and more watched and ‘controversial’ versions…this felt as though there was choosing as individuals for individual limelight and highlight and fingers crossed, people…and it fell short quite a bit…

I can easily agree with this.

Again personally for me, I'm just pleased BB is back.
It also depends what people watching it want to see too.

I found the drama, the arguments, which were in my view sometimes staged too just false and not really enjoyable at all in many previous series.

I liked this CBB it could have been longer but even more as to challenges could have been done in the time it was on.
I like to learn more about the housemates.
I said earlier when Fern interviewed briefly David and Nikita.
I found that interesting.
I'd like more of that

Another issue however is the highlights.
I don't think any BB series gets the right balance of the events in the house shown in the highlights.
That's all down to production of course.

All I know is last night it was a big miss on TV and I was still wishing it was on.
So it's been enjoyable enough although no BB or CBB series will please everyone watching.

Again, I'm just so glad it's back and will watch and support it whatever.

The shorter length is just a reflection of peoples reduced attention span.

I don't think i was alone in thinking that 3 weeks was more than long enough for the latest celeb BB. If it had been any longer, i would probably have switched off after the first couple of days

…I would have read your 2nd paragraph as well…but honestly my attention wandered toward the end of the first sentence…:fan:…

:oh: