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Zakaccino
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 9,967
Favourites (more):
CBB19: Kim Woodburn CBB18: Saira Khan
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Zakaccino
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 9,967
Favourites (more):
CBB19: Kim Woodburn CBB18: Saira Khan
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Article - Why Big Brother 2016 shouldn't have celebrity housemates.
Quote:
Channel 5 is reportedly planning to feature ‘civilian’ AND celebrity contestants on Big Brother 2016 – but would that be the right move for the show? Here bbspy explains why it’s a bad idea…
With the regular version of Big Brother UK having slumped since the excellent Secrets & Lies three years ago, avid fans have suspected it is being marginalised in favour of the Celebrity version.
Today, their fears took one step closer to becoming a reality, as it was reported that regular, ‘civilian’ housemates will live alongside celebrities in the upcoming series as part of a house divide twist.
At the moment, that’s only a rumour – but it’s a frighteningly plausible one. Although it took a slight dip this year, the winter Celebrity Big Brother remains C5’s highest rating programme of the year, so it’s possible that bosses think a few well-known names would help shore up the summer run, which hit record lows last year.
It’s not an unheard-of move. The Philippines traditionally had regular, celebrity and teen versions of Big Brother, but in 2014 they were combined for a new series named ‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’.
However, BBUK needs far more sweeping changes – and as BB die-hards we’re naturally against the idea of stars invading normal BB. Here are six reasons why we think it should be avoided.
There’s already two Celebrity Big Brothers per year
When the Filipinos did ‘All In’, it was the only series of Big Brother they produced that year. In the UK, in addition to the regular series, we get two Celebrity editions.
Last year, when Channel 5 renewed its rights to Big Brother UK until 2018, it said in a press release: “Under the terms of the extended deal, Channel 5 will continue to broadcast two series of Celebrity Big Brother and one series of Big Brother each year.”
Therefore, it’s safe to assume that CBB will be back for a full run in August as usual – so if the producers do decide to add famous faces to the civilian run as well, C5 will essentially end up airing three series of CBB in the space of nine months.
Two series per year already borders on overkill, so three would no doubt tip the show over the edge.
The celebrity pool is drying up
With two series in the calendar and up to 16 housemates taking part a time, Celebrity Big Brother is now going through up to 32 stars per year.
Yes, the show has been turning to smaller names and obscure reality stars to fill spaces – and it’s only a matter of time before the producers target internet personalities (word on the grapevine is they’re even considering that bloke that took a picture with a fake hijacker).
But if they start adding celebs in with the normals, the speed the talent pool dries up at will only accelerate – and the quicker that happens, the quicker Channel 5 will put the golden goose that is the winter CBB at risk.
The lines have already been blurred
The days when Big Brother focussed on regular, average joes are long gone. It already has enough contestants with a claim to fame without adding a load of potential CBB candidates to the mix.
Recent series have featured countless models (one of whom even appeared in a Calvin Klein campaign), former X Factor, Shipwrecked, Hell’s Kitchen and Deal Or No Deal contestants, a featured rapper for Kylie Minogue, and even Pop Idol finalist-turned-musical theatre actress Zoe Birkett.
A celebrity would probably win the show
The civilian housemates’ chances of winning would be diminished if they were competing against celebrities. How many would have bothered to pick up the phone for Chloe from Doncaster if she’d been up against Scotty T?
Remember that ‘All In’ series of Pinoy Big Brother? It featured ten regular contestants, five teens, and four celebrities, making the latter the least represented group in the house – and yet one of them still managed to win. The chances of that happening in the UK would undoubtedly be high.
Let’s not forget last year’s Time Warp twist, when some viewers accused bosses of sidelining the actual housemates and focussing too much attention on the ‘legendary’ special guests.
Imagine making it to the final two with a celeb. You’ve spent ten gruelling weeks on TV and have the £150,000 prize in your sights, and then your famous rival – who’s probably bagged a five-figure fee to be there while you’ve barely been paid enough to cover your expenses – takes the crown.
With very little chance of making money from media opportunities now, would it be worth it at all for the civilian housemates to bother putting themselves through the Big Brother machine?
We want to watch Big Brother, not TOWIE
Now Magazine, which first broke the rumour of celebrities joining Big Brother, quotes its source as saying: “The producers have been approaching people from Gogglebox, TOWIE and Ex On The Beach and have some great names lined up.”
While there is an expectation that these people may turn up in Celebrity Big Brother, we certainly don’t want them popping up on the regular version.
People tune in to Big Brother to watch Big Brother, a social experiment-slash-gameshow, not The Only Way Is Essex and its ‘structured’ take on reality TV. BB has already lost so much of what makes it unique through the dilution of its rulebook, and filling it with characters from TOWIE and Ex on The Beach may be the final nail in that coffin.
Big Brother needs a proper relaunch
As we well know, Big Brother is in dire straits at the moment. It needs a revamp, and not a half-baked effort: it has to be a proper, ‘boring’ BB4 to ‘evil’ BB5-style revitalisation.
Thankfully, it looks like Channel 5 and Endemol recognise this. Yes, it seems like they make big promises every year. However, this time they’ve actually put their money where their mouths are by investing in an extension to the Big Brother house – its biggest change in well over a decade, and something that never seemed to cross Channel 4’s mind.
This has resulted in a lot of optimism from fans – bbspy included – that, when C5 boss Ben Frow promised big changes last year, he was actually being serious.
The Big Brother team now have a golden opportunity to make everyone sit up and take notice again by producing a fresh, exciting, new spin on the format. If they can pull it off, the show’s lifespan could stretch well beyond even 2018.
However, if they just go for lazy twists once again – and putting celebrities in with the civilians is one of the laziest twists imaginable – then that goodwill will disappear in an instant, and it’s likely even more long-term fans will turn their backs on Big Brother.
http://www.bbspy.co.uk/bb17/features...#ixzz46lapG7WZ
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I initially posted this in the main rumour thread but felt that it warranted a thread of it's own. There's a lot of valid points raised in this article.
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Alex,
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