OK Captain, you asked for it! And like Captain, I dip into a lot of foreign versions too, though in the last year or so less than previously - I've given up tracking most of them after their first few days.
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Originally posted by Captain.Remy
In my opinion, the most outstanding will have to be Big Brother UK because it has brought new dimensions to the show which have been taken over by many countries. Foreign people love the UK series for its freshness and its creativity. But (there's always a But), the UK series is falling apart a bit and is now more and more criticized. This is all in favour of the US version.
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Agreed.
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The US version is now a deep value and a great entertainment resource. It fits well to the competitive type of shows American people like to watch...but it only works in USA, it wouldn't work in an European country. People may think the US version is fake and a bit too 'soap' edited but it has been much more consistent than the UK version these last 2 years. BB USA has a lot of series going on, it's the less likely to be axed. Then again, fans are now starting to criticize the same format and routine week after week. Time for a change maybe
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I wouldn't say it couldn't work in Europe - but just as our format needed adapting for a US audience, theirs would need adapting somewhat for us.
I agree with your last point though and have been saying it since BB6. Their series is good - but far too predictable. The "houseguests" are never surprised in the same way as ours have been, and just keeping the same play but upping the twist count to throw in more surprises both for the players and the viewers along the way would really lift the series to the heights BBUK enjoys creativity wise at least around BB5-BB7.
(I've got a format I did a few years back which I'll post in Fan Designs!)
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Now the Australian version. Well, the 09 series was supposed to be on this year but due to the intelligent Channel Ten crew, we're screwed and got us away a good TV show. Let's face it, BB Australia has been rather a disaster for about 2 series which was not good for the ratings. People made jokes about it and never took it seriously due to the lack of creativity.
But, it provided great entertainment with its own twists. BB08 proved Ten could make efforts with a new format, new hosts etc..
BB Australia also had the best advertising campaigns in the world which is something the UK producers needs to look at.
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They did get a lot wrong last year, and nobody was surprised really at the axe - though I do think they should have got a final chance to sort things out this year as there were some moments of inspiration last year, notably the Kombi and the Hand Grenades, plus the "Ignore the Obvious" task. (Watch out for that one this year folks!)
However, Masterchef is now storming the ratings for Ten, so any chance of a revival are now incredibly slim.
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One other version proved that BB can have a major makeover and still be a huge success in the ratings after 5 years off the screens...it's of course the French version, called Loft Story then Secret Story out there. The producers managed to find something to stand out from the crowd...secrets. People love it, and the 3rd series is now on its way, launching next month.
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The first Secret Story was very good, but I was surprised they could stick with the format another year - and some of the secrets were pretty lame. I think evolving it so rather than secrets about the housemates, it's secrets about the house, the game and things like secret missions which become the driving force of this series would be good.
For the UK though taking the Secret Story format of letting every HM have a secret could work for us. We've not had a twist which is all about the casting, so it would be a new development for BBUK.
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What can I say about the other version, all of them are also very different, the Brazilian version stands out very well too, being very competitive but at the same time keeping the old fun.
Spain and Italy have generally the same format and the same look at their versions, which proved to be a phenomenon in both countries....like it was in Germany.
The German version had some of the best ideas (2 years non stop, new divide Rich/Average/Poor and a village which is the biggest house in BB history) The show was huge in Germany but people got bored of it, which is rather a downfall considering that 5 out of 9 series are Rich vs Poor like. Need to change the format don't you think ?
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Spain and Italy both saw ratings up for their latest series. Italy didn't really have a big twist either, but Spain did have two houses, including a replica of the GH1 house, to celebrate 10 years - but I'm not sure how crucial that was to the success.
I'm quite a fan of the Brazilian version, and always use it as an example of how HoH could - and should - work if we did it in Britain.
As for Germany - well their series are just simply too long. It's been running about 5 months now and the end still feels a long way off (I think it's July). They need to move on from the Rich/Poor reliance though. One thing I did like though was how after a lack-lustre start (the ratings were so bad the channel chief got fired) they held their hands up and said it's not working, and relaunched the show mid-series with BB Reloaded. Personally I think the format has kind of fell apart since then - but the ratings did turn around so I guess it did it's job.
21-05-2009, 08:22 PM
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