I used to post here a lot, a few years ago, but BB has lost its roots since the first 2-3 series, now it's just a bunch of showoffs and wannabes. But there is something even more noticeable about this year's bunch, and it reflects what I see in the street these days, and a fair number of posts on this forum.

Tony Blair initially promised that his top priorities would be "Education, education, education". Judging by the housemates on BB8, he failed miserably.

[xXEtchieXx]

Blah!

[Meerkat]

Yawn!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rory]

Well, Emily was all about education except for the part about racially offensive words.

[Mark]

Welcome back oldgit... it's been a while

I agree that during BB1 and BB2, people weren't really in it for the fame as they didn't know what to expect from the experience - but all that has changed.

Channel4 and Endemol are here to make money, and to attract as many people to watch their show as possible. They know that the majority of people apply for the fame (there are exceptions like Jonathon this year) but they need to pick a group of people that a) are entertaining to watch and b) that viewers can relate too. Perhaps the characters do represent people which you see in the streets, but maybe thats the reason they were picked.

- Mark

[Revol]

Well if you don't like it don't watch. Surely you can use basic logic?

[Amy]

Originally posted by Mark
Welcome back oldgit... it's been a while

I agree that during BB1 and BB2, people weren't really in it for the fame as they didn't know what to expect from the experience - but all that has changed.

Channel4 and Endemol are here to make money, and to attract as many people to watch their show as possible. They know that the majority of people apply for the fame (there are exceptions like Jonathon this year) but they need to pick a group of people that a) are entertaining to watch and b) that viewers can relate too. Perhaps the characters do represent people which you see in the streets, but maybe thats the reason they were picked.

- Mark

I agree with you Mark, I also miss the innocent days of not wanting the fame but wanting the experience.
I think this years lot are a little more level headed but some are obviously only there for one thing.

And welcome back Oldgit So lovely to see you posting on here again

Hi, greetings to all those who remember me from the old days...

The "Warmth not Waste" task really illustrated what I was saying. Chanelle is alleged to have the highest IQ in there, but did not know that there was a language "Finnish". Charley had never heard of Nepal. When I was at primary school, I had heard of Nepal. I couldn't have told you where it was, but we learnt that the highest mountain in the world is Everest, and that it's in Nepal. Also recent news items about Ghurkas... how can anyone not have heard of Nepal? Most of the others were no better.

I'll have to exempt Carole from this, and possibly Tracey. They seem to "go along with it" but express a high level of suspicion.

BB got them singing a song which repeated "Peace Off" (hmmm).

As for the twins, I am told they are at University. Either the entry requirements are well down these days, or they have completely faked the personalities we see.

BB: You are about to receive the gift of knowledge
Brian: I'd rather have some cider.

That summed it up...

[Sunny_01]

welcome back oldgit - so nice to see a long term member return to their roots!

I agree with a lot of what you say, many of the more recent HMs appear to be less well educated. Even those that are off to uni etc. Is this that the bar of what is expected is lower in HE establishments or are we just losing touch with what it was like when we studied at a higher level.

It all seems to be about the fame these days rather than the experience. I preferred the good ole days of BB like in BB1 & BB2.

I suppose we have to consider change though and remember that all things evolve into something more and that is what has happened on BB.

[cc100]

Its just pure ignorance- nobody is that thick.

[Abraxas]

I agree oldgit but I think a lot of the housemates also pretend to be stupid because for some reason, this seems to get them more magazine deals.

Originally posted by Abraxas
I agree oldgit but I think a lot of the housemates also pretend to be stupid because for some reason, this seems to get them more magazine deals.

That's what I meant about the twins...

[Tanser_Man]

I suppose if you take a look at it from the producers point of view, people like Brian aren't going to be a burden on the series and can only entice viewers by his stupid outbursts.

But then if you think about it, each series has had not so bright charactors in the house...

BB1 - Tom
BB2 - Helen
BB3 - Jade
BB4 - Tania & Anouska
BB5 - Emma & Michelle etc

[bananarama]

Originally posted by Oldgit
I used to post here a lot, a few years ago, but BB has lost its roots since the first 2-3 series, now it's just a bunch of showoffs and wannabes. But there is something even more noticeable about this year's bunch, and it reflects what I see in the street these days, and a fair number of posts on this forum.

Tony Blair initially promised that his top priorities would be "Education, education, education". Judging by the housemates on BB8, he failed miserably.

Welcome back..I also believe the points you raise include the standard of behavour from the audience on eviction nights...

I long for the days when an eviction was more a celebration and very few boo's ..Now it's more like party time for mob mentality making animal noises..

[James]

I think in the early series the contestants were still fame-hungry but the difference was that many of them thought they would get media-jobs out of it. The housemates now know they won't get presenting work out of Big Brother but still want the red-carpet, famous-for-being-famous z-list status.

If the producers want a wider range of personalities there has to be more incentive for people to apply for the show in the first place e.g. financially. At the moment, for example, there's no reason why anyone with any kind of career would go on Big Brother - especially with the series running for longer.

[Matt08]

I think contestants in the early years did it more for the experience than the fame, but I think from Big Brother 3 onwards the majoritty of the housemates were mainly on the show for the fame, although every year there's still contestants who are in there for the experience. I think that it usually ends up being a better series if the contestants are "fame-hungry".

[James]

I wish the public gave the cleverer housemates more of a chance in the voting instead of always going for the 'naive' housemates. It's either that or the 'on a journey / discovering themselves' housemate that usually wins.

[Matt08]

Originally posted by James
I wish the public gave the cleverer housemates more of a chance in the voting instead of always going for the 'naive' housemates. It's either that or the 'on a journey / discovering themselves' housemate that usually wins.

Yeh I totally agree. Nadia in Big Brother 5 won because she went on a journey. I think Glyn should have won BB7 because he went on the biggest journey in the house.

[spitfire]

Sum peaple cnt spel!big deal!its know problem?