[Tilly83]

Oscar Wilde said: "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." Although I'm sure he intended his assertion for something more lofty than a reality TV show, I still can't help thinking how apropos with regard to the Big Brother franchise. Y'see, it's my opinion that the producers of the series and broadcaster Channel 4 are slowly killing their golden goose. A case in point - it's the final of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack tonight and, in the infamous words of Lauren Alesha Masheka Tanesha Felicia Jane Cooper: 'am I bovvered'?

This time last year, a race row involving Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara, Danielle Lloyd and Shipa Shetty engulfed the Big Brother house. It ignited debate in Parliament, provoked an international storm, prompted flag-burning in India and resulted in over 45,000 complaints to the authorities. In addition, it saved Celebrity Big Brother 5 - ratings soared.

The annual summer Big Brother went ahead and faced the usual criticism of attracting the fame-hungry and talentless. Yet even before Brian Belo was crowned BB8's winner, the inquest had begun. Ratings fell to the worst weekly figures of any Big Brother series (dropping to an average of 2.7 million viewers one week in June when it struggled against ITV1's Britain's Got Talent); the tasks were far from memorable and hardly any of the twists worked. Remember Big Sister - the oestrogen-filled house of the first week? Liam's £100,000? The disastrous Halfway House? Although I personally preferred it to BB7's big yawner (Golden Ticket winner Susie anyone?), like a curry-chomping Jade Goody in the London Marathon, Big Brother 8 huffed, puffed and struggled towards the finish line.

So, time for a rebrand.

Instead of Celebrity Big Brother, we had a three-week winter show with 12 talented (in some cases) but not-quite-famous young people aged 18-21. The twist on the celebrity angle coming from stars, including the likes of Matt Lucas and Russell Brand, hijacking the role of Big Brother and having the run of the House. Channel 4 launched the show, then made the horrendous mistake of shoving it solely on their channel of endless Friends repeats, E4.

The effect was immediate: average ratings dropped from two million in week one to 700,000 in week two. Week three was even worse - down to 540,000. The 9pm highlight shows have produced disappointing figures too, hovering around an average of 500,000 viewers; a disaster considering that Reaper, E4's new US import, managed 779,000 viewers in the same slot. Even the evictions, normally solid ratings pullers, performed badly. When entrepreneur Liam and circus performer Victor got the Big Brother boot on Friday January 18, it saw one of the worst average ratings of the series. During the first part of the eviction, which aired between 8pm and 9pm, only 350,000 viewers bothered to tune in. Ratings were hardly spectacular over the weekend that followed; Saturday's highlights show achieved 422,300 viewers, while Sunday's edition managed 421,500 viewers.

However, more telling has been the quality of the Celebrity Hijackers - going from the well known (Ian Wright and Alan Cumming) to the not-so-well-known (some girls off Hollyoaks and Mat and James, the two presenters of Big Brother's Big Mouth) and the truly bizarre (art critic Brian Sewell and soldier-turned-novelist Andy McNab).

The general reaction on sofas across the land hasn't been the normal outrage and indignation at Big Brother antics. It's been even worse - indifference. The success of this series can be approximately measured as follows: ratings (down), tabloid press interest (down), celebrity magazine covers (down), forum message threads (down) and number of eviction votes cast (down).

The stench of disinterest has also extended to the auditions for the forthcoming Big Brother 9. It was all a bit of a damp squib in Glasgow; two days of try-outs saw fewer than 300 wannabes turn up for their chance at infamy and quick fortune. That fell far short of the thousands predicted by the organisers. A spokeswoman admitted numbers were down but added: "There have been a few promising people."

As if that wasn't bad enough, there are gleeful reports Big Brother 9 may face a kitchen nightmare. Rumours abound that Channel 4 plans to shunt it from its primetime 9pm slot in favour of Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. The reality show would apparently air after 10pm instead. Julian Bellamy, Channel 4's director of programmes, told The Daily Star that Big Brother 9 would definitely air on both Channel 4 and E4. He said: "Exactly where we play Big Brother in the summer has yet to be decided. It will depend on the quality and mix of the other programmes coming through."

Errrrrrrr….excuse me? What's all this 'it depends' and 'yet to be decided' rubbish? This isn't ethnic minority programming - traditionally the bastion of much umming and aahing - this is a money-earner. Channel 4 relies heavily on Big Brother for a staggering percentage of its annual advertising revenues. It reportedly paid over £30 million to air the series until 2010 ergo the show has to deliver - and that's the bottom line. In the light of all the problems the Big Brother franchise has faced in the space of one year, why take the risk of shunting it around the schedules? The last broadcaster to try that tactic was the BBC with Top Of The Pops. And we all know what happened in the end, don't we? A 40-year institution went off to that big archive of cancelled shows in the sky. Finito. Goneski.

Truth is, the Big Brother rot set in long before Jade Goody's disastrous argy-bargy with Shilpa Shetty. And yet, it's hard not to see the irony of its most successful housemate consigning the series to the graveyard: "Sorry," she told the Daily Star, "but that show is over." If Big Brother 9 flops, maybe it is.

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/r...mentid=7221074

[Loukas]

oh please

E4 got FANTASTIC ratings for BB:CH!!!!!
And BB8 lost Viewers because of The all girls house at the begining

The producers should learn from there mistakes

Im hoping BB9 will be the best yet i have a good feeling it will be!!! so fingers crossed!

[Tilly83]

yeah so do I. I have applied for it and have had a few phone calls from BB regards to my application i do not agree with what it is saying but well makes you think

[~Kizwiz~]

BB's bubble wont ever burst I dont think. Its a format that can change and be renewed as this series has proven.

[Tilly83]

that is very true they just need to come up with some good ideas for this year and make the house the best ever and bobs yoru uncle also stop putting fame hungary freaks in there maybe one or two but not 23 like BB8

[Red Moon]

Didn't they say something similar after Big Brother 4 and look how Big Brother 5 turned the show around!

Anything can happen and if the producers get it right there is no reason why Big Brother 9 couldn't be as successful as Big Brother 5 and save the format.

As for Jade Gobby she is so far up her own rear passage she only talks _ _ _ _ ! (fill in the spaces!)

[mc140v]

the viewings slumped to 500,000, not great but think that was down to showing all BB:CH on E4 not channel 4. I dont normally watch BB but i found this years BB:CH interesting as they put relatively normal HMs in to the mix.

[Tilly83]

There is some truth in what they are saying i have not seen anything in the papers about the contestants no gossip only thing ppl are talking about is how BB is going to fail!

Hopefully BB9 will be the next turn around for the show i have found the BBCH really boring its like one of those books your read thinking it will get better or have a twist and it never does

[Loukas]

Originally posted by ~kizwiz~
BB's bubble wont ever burst I dont think. Its a format that can change and be renewed as this series has proven.

exactly now its on our telles hopefuly it will never leave!!!!

hopfuly it will be around when im 18 only 4 more years!!!!

[Tilly83]

It will eventually disappear like all good tv shows but lets hope it has a good reign

[~Kizwiz~]

I've watched BB from the first one in 2000 and I dont think anything will stop me doing that in the future

[Matt10k]

Originally posted by Tilly83
Oscar Wilde said: "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." Although I'm sure he intended his assertion for something more lofty than a reality TV show, I still can't help thinking how apropos with regard to the Big Brother franchise. Y'see, it's my opinion that the producers of the series and broadcaster Channel 4 are slowly killing their golden goose. A case in point - it's the final of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack tonight and, in the infamous words of Lauren Alesha Masheka Tanesha Felicia Jane Cooper: 'am I bovvered'?

This time last year, a race row involving Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara, Danielle Lloyd and Shipa Shetty engulfed the Big Brother house. It ignited debate in Parliament, provoked an international storm, prompted flag-burning in India and resulted in over 45,000 complaints to the authorities. In addition, it saved Celebrity Big Brother 5 - ratings soared.

The annual summer Big Brother went ahead and faced the usual criticism of attracting the fame-hungry and talentless. Yet even before Brian Belo was crowned BB8's winner, the inquest had begun. Ratings fell to the worst weekly figures of any Big Brother series (dropping to an average of 2.7 million viewers one week in June when it struggled against ITV1's Britain's Got Talent); the tasks were far from memorable and hardly any of the twists worked. Remember Big Sister - the oestrogen-filled house of the first week? Liam's £100,000? The disastrous Halfway House? Although I personally preferred it to BB7's big yawner (Golden Ticket winner Susie anyone?), like a curry-chomping Jade Goody in the London Marathon, Big Brother 8 huffed, puffed and struggled towards the finish line.

So, time for a rebrand.

Instead of Celebrity Big Brother, we had a three-week winter show with 12 talented (in some cases) but not-quite-famous young people aged 18-21. The twist on the celebrity angle coming from stars, including the likes of Matt Lucas and Russell Brand, hijacking the role of Big Brother and having the run of the House. Channel 4 launched the show, then made the horrendous mistake of shoving it solely on their channel of endless Friends repeats, E4.

The effect was immediate: average ratings dropped from two million in week one to 700,000 in week two. Week three was even worse - down to 540,000. The 9pm highlight shows have produced disappointing figures too, hovering around an average of 500,000 viewers; a disaster considering that Reaper, E4's new US import, managed 779,000 viewers in the same slot. Even the evictions, normally solid ratings pullers, performed badly. When entrepreneur Liam and circus performer Victor got the Big Brother boot on Friday January 18, it saw one of the worst average ratings of the series. During the first part of the eviction, which aired between 8pm and 9pm, only 350,000 viewers bothered to tune in. Ratings were hardly spectacular over the weekend that followed; Saturday's highlights show achieved 422,300 viewers, while Sunday's edition managed 421,500 viewers.

However, more telling has been the quality of the Celebrity Hijackers - going from the well known (Ian Wright and Alan Cumming) to the not-so-well-known (some girls off Hollyoaks and Mat and James, the two presenters of Big Brother's Big Mouth) and the truly bizarre (art critic Brian Sewell and soldier-turned-novelist Andy McNab).

The general reaction on sofas across the land hasn't been the normal outrage and indignation at Big Brother antics. It's been even worse - indifference. The success of this series can be approximately measured as follows: ratings (down), tabloid press interest (down), celebrity magazine covers (down), forum message threads (down) and number of eviction votes cast (down).

The stench of disinterest has also extended to the auditions for the forthcoming Big Brother 9. It was all a bit of a damp squib in Glasgow; two days of try-outs saw fewer than 300 wannabes turn up for their chance at infamy and quick fortune. That fell far short of the thousands predicted by the organisers. A spokeswoman admitted numbers were down but added: "There have been a few promising people."

As if that wasn't bad enough, there are gleeful reports Big Brother 9 may face a kitchen nightmare. Rumours abound that Channel 4 plans to shunt it from its primetime 9pm slot in favour of Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. The reality show would apparently air after 10pm instead. Julian Bellamy, Channel 4's director of programmes, told The Daily Star that Big Brother 9 would definitely air on both Channel 4 and E4. He said: "Exactly where we play Big Brother in the summer has yet to be decided. It will depend on the quality and mix of the other programmes coming through."

Errrrrrrr….excuse me? What's all this 'it depends' and 'yet to be decided' rubbish? This isn't ethnic minority programming - traditionally the bastion of much umming and aahing - this is a money-earner. Channel 4 relies heavily on Big Brother for a staggering percentage of its annual advertising revenues. It reportedly paid over £30 million to air the series until 2010 ergo the show has to deliver - and that's the bottom line. In the light of all the problems the Big Brother franchise has faced in the space of one year, why take the risk of shunting it around the schedules? The last broadcaster to try that tactic was the BBC with Top Of The Pops. And we all know what happened in the end, don't we? A 40-year institution went off to that big archive of cancelled shows in the sky. Finito. Goneski.

Truth is, the Big Brother rot set in long before Jade Goody's disastrous argy-bargy with Shilpa Shetty. And yet, it's hard not to see the irony of its most successful housemate consigning the series to the graveyard: "Sorry," she told the Daily Star, "but that show is over." If Big Brother 9 flops, maybe it is.

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/r...mentid=7221074

I agree. Big brother has had it's day. It's become increasingly contrived- the idea spread thin and milked to within an inch of its life!

I'm not sure how much longer it'll be able to survive. From a social experiment that started nearly 8 years ago, to a cultural phenomenon that saw the rise of the z-list celeb and later on to the controversy that would almost kill it off completely and now slowly dying a predictable death.

Jade started a trend towards an increasing culture of fame, where anybody could be famous and for nothing it seemed- almost being famous for being famous! No talent was required.

The fact they chose talented housemates to begin with on hijack shows a shift in public opinion away from people like Jade- people that the public are becoming increasingly irritated by, talentless media *****s, thriving on any publicity they can garner and becoming increasingly outrageous, simply so they can stay on the covers of none magazines like heat.

Still, I wouldn’t blame it all on Jade. All good ideas eventually become tired and overused and there’s only so many more twists bb can pull out of the bag before it all just starts to get oh so predictable (as if it hasn‘t already!)

Saying that though, there’s still the summer series left to ignite a few fires. I'm sure the producers will go all out (or at least try) to make it a memorable series. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see…

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Tilly83
There is some truth in what they are saying i have not seen anything in the papers about the contestants no gossip only thing people are talking about is how BB is going to fail!

I think that is more to do with the fact that the people on the show are not likely to have the same sort of past that the recent bunch of Big Brother housemates have had.

They are people that concentrate on their talents and not making fools of themselves and sleeping around etc......

[Tilly83]

Originally posted by Red Moon

I think that is more to do with the fact that the people on the show are not likely to have the same sort of past that the recent bunch of Big Brother housemates have had.

They are people that concentrate on their talents and not making fools of themselves and sleeping around etc......

They still must have something that can be talked they just seem boring to me no decent tasks no twists no secret rooms gah I hope BB9 pulls out all the stops

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Tilly83
They still must have something that can be talked they just seem boring to me no decent tasks no twists no secret rooms gah I hope BB9 pulls out all the stops

It was only three weeks and I guess the Celebrities were meant to provide all the twists and turns. If they didn't they failed in their mission to hijack the format of the show.

All of the people in the house would have be aware of the damage that could happen by being outrageous while in the house. They weren't about to jump into bed with each other and have wild sex to get in the papers. That wasn't the what they were on the show for. They already have the potential to be famous they didn't need the show to start them off. They just wanted the exposure.

[Tilly83]

Originally posted by Red Moon

It was only three weeks and I guess the Celebrities were meant to provide all the twists and turns. If they didn't they failed in their mission to hijack the format of the show.

All of the people in the house would have be aware of the damage that could happen by being outrageous while in the house. They weren't about to jump into bed with each other and have wild sex to get in the papers. That wasn't the what they were on the show for. They already have the potential to be famous they didn't need the show to start them off. They just wanted the exposure.

There are more ways to be entertaining the having sex if i wanted to see that id buy porn lol... once jade was kicked out all the fun was lost, I know they are very talented ppl but maybe they needed to let there hair down sometimes that doesnt mean being crazy i mean look at the twins from BB8 they had innocent fun albeit they may have been annoying at times they still made it entertaining

[molecular]

i think bb8 was rubbish because hey didnt want any controversial things happening becausde jed goody gave the show a bad name for the yearf. now that ch has given show a good name with nice talented people and celebs i think thwy can make bb9 relly good. i dont think the makers have to have a rubbish show - they can maked oit good if they choose to. just need to do things like free pass to final for people like charley and put more talent people in less borin wannabes.

[Tilly83]

IMO Jade was not racist she merely pointed out the fact that Shipa was not a princess in england jade did not use any racist words that i can recall how ever danielle and Jo did, no one seems to mention this!

Also what i did think was racist was jermain jackson calling Jade and her Mother WHITE TRASH? Did anyone pick up on this factor NO!

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Tilly83
There are more ways to be entertaining the having sex if i wanted to see that id buy porn lol... once jade was kicked out all the fun was lost, I know they are very talented people but maybe they needed to let there hair down sometimes that doesnt mean being crazy i mean look at the twins from BB8 they had innocent fun albeit they may have been annoying at times they still made it entertaining

According to the press the twins were less than innocent in their past according to the Daily Star

I agree the housemates did need to do more in the house and on several occasions the Celebrities failed to make the show interesting with their hijacks and tasks. With good tasks for every show the show would have been so much better, although I don't think it would have got any more press coverage than it did.

[mc140v]

the whole situation was wrong but i do think dan and jo both got off lightly in comparison to Jade, they didnt have to put up with half of the stick jade did and as for jermaine's comments, they were insulting and he should have faced the same wrath from the public but hey ho thats the public for ye... double standards!

[Tilly83]

Originally posted by Red Moon

According to the press the twins were less than innocent in their past according to the Daily Star

I agree the housemates did need to do more in the house and on several occasions the Celebrities failed to make the show interesting with their hijacks and tasks. With good tasks for every show the show would have been so much better, although I don't think it would have got any more press coverage than it did.

Lol the Daily Star makes most of their stories up tho so you can never be too sure about that, I just think it needed someone mischevious