[Bombardier]

Was thinking about this. I have some highlights episodes from BB5 so I put them on as a test.

It was amazing, the cohesion of the group by comparison. Even with all ****ing drama and the massive barney and the seriously mentally unstable housemates, they were a group who were so much more cohesive and capable of dealing with each other. The problem ultimately was alcohol, or lack of tolerance thereof.

The BB5 crew could still really get together on tasks (I really like seeing housemates trying really hard to win things, something the American series does well, possibly the only thing it does well).

There were some actual diplomatic people (Dan), some soppy people (Shell), some people who really had no idea what they'd signed up for (Ahmed), and some people with delusions of charisma (Victor) that all worked to tie together the more individualistic characters.

Another thing I like to think about is the technical aspect of how we watch Big Brother. In 2004 Big Brother was still being shot in 4:3 aspect ratio. A taller, narrower picture made some kinds of shots harder to do. Widescreen with better, higher-definition cameras seems to have changed the game and there is less of the CCTV-style filming we used to see. All I seem to see on this year's Big Brother is gigantic close-up of Marcus's face or a widescreen panorama of Lisa and Karly smoking at the bus stop. I don't quite know what I mean by this but I think Big Brother LOOKS different and that is contributing to our sense of division or isolation in the house.

I said I thought Big Brother looked either claustrophobic or a totally empty house this year and I'm trying to figure out why.