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Big Brother 2023
Oct. 28th, 2023 03:00 pmThey brought back Big Brother! It is simultaneously as good as ever and not very good. We are at the halfway point so thortz:
a) They put too many housemates in to start. We could live without Tom who is basically just what happens when you put Paul and Matty in a blender and lose interest before you press the button. At only six weeks long, it's weird that they're doing one eviction per week as with the original series, meaning they'll either have to speed up from this point on or there will be ten people in the final. Doing two evictions per week and perhaps saving a couple of housemates to add in now to shake things up might have been better.
b) There are lots of other decisions they've made that suggest they didn't go back and look at what works. They had the first eviction before anyone really had a chance to get to know the housemates properly; in the original series the first set of noms was in week two (usually or perhaps always, I can't be bothered to check). AJ and Will are both adequate presenters - Will more than AJ, I think, who can be a bit wooden when faced with an autocue - but they don't really gel together.
c) They've kind of smushed the main show and sideshow together, for example the eviction interview is held in the sideshow. This seems unfair to the housemates who get the limelight for all of a few seconds before they're whisked to another studio. That said, old eviction interviews could be hard to follow if the crowd were very lairy or unsupportive, so I guess it makes sense.
d) Main episodes seem oddly edited for pace at times. Shots will jump around haphazardly and then we'll get longueurs. It feels a bit like they've given the footage to film school students for an assignment and not given them much direction. In particular, the eviction episodes drag on. Half an hour of recap before the boot is enough, any more and one can get fidgety waiting for the inevitable.
e) Far too much of the livestream is censored, and there's no particular reason that the livestream always has to be the same time window since it's online only so it isn't pre-empting any other programmes. They may not have the budget for 24 hours livestreaming but I'd like to see a few morning or early evening sessions, I think the vibe could be very different. I think part of the issue is that Big Brother seems to be doing a large number of shorter tasks rather than a smaller number of longer tasks, and thus there are more potential "spoilers" on the livestream, but I'm not sure I think that's all that important.
f) There's a lot of inconsistency regarding rule breaks, and it seems more like Big Brother decides on a punishment based on what will be most entertaining rather than what is proportional to the offence. I suppose you could argue that that Old Testament capriciousness is fitting, though.
g) Onto some positives: I love the design of the house. It's colourful without being a mess, the geometric shapes and use of the eye motif in unexpected places really works. They usually change the house every year but I'd be OK with them sticking with this one longer term.
h) The housemates too are a consistently good bunch. It's interesting that so far there's been no overlap between the housemates nominated each week, suggesting no clear villains. It doesn't seem like people have been put in primarily to piss off other people. The vibe is much closer to the first three or four years than the later, more aggressive years. Some people are finding that dull but as someone who thinks year three was the best, it suits me very well. It does mean though we lose great housemates earlier than we might usually. Hallie in particular is a big loss.
PROVISIONAL HOUSEMATE RANKINGS AT THE END OF WEEK THREE:
1) Yinrun. The most multifaceted housemate, she constantly surprises with her attitude and her look. Silly one moment and serious the next, her reactions to things are unpredictable and often adorably funny. She wears her heart on her sleeve but can also be sly and cheeky when she wants to. I only worry that as basically everyone's favourite to win, she may have peaked early.
2) Trish. Comes across as the most honest and trustworthy housemate, she plays a straight bat at all times. Wash your hands after touching raw chicken, though, girl, come on
3) Jordan. At first amusing due to his dry observations and deadpan delivery, he's gradually developing into the messiest bitch in the house, alternating playing hot and cold with those close to him and often failing to maintain his studied aloofness. When I've known people like this in real life they've been infuriating, but he's good telly.
4) Olivia. I'm surprised she's this high, but she's sharp and always has a quick comeback to anything anyone says to her. I thought at first she'd be irritating and an obvious first or second eviction, but she's thrown herself into the experience and won me over.
5) Chanelle. She has the makings of a classic early-noughties housemate with her gently amusing Welsh charm. She's low key compared to others, though, and hasn't been involved in many instantly iconic moments.
6) Henry. Made it this high because he's a central part of the Jordan Experience, which is good for him since I suspect he'd otherwise be a bit dull and one note. I'm glad he survived the week two eviction, though.
7) Kerry. I have mixed feelings here. She's a big-headed busybody who's often inserting herself into other people's drama, to the occasional bemusement of other housemates, and she is generally unwilling to throw herself into tasks without a lot of moaning and pessimism. You can't deny, though, that she's got under the viewer's skin, as evidenced by her already being an entire sub-category of memes.
8) Noky. She offers something unique in this house, someone who after three weeks still appears completely two-dimensional. If she were a fictional character I'd be screaming "cardboard!" at the telly. She gives off a rather snot-nosed VIP vibe despite contributing not very much. She is easy on the eye, though.
9) Dylan. Someone on Twitter pointed out that whenever there's a wide shot of the kitchen he's always in there. He's appointed himself lord of the food budget and cooking and gets the hump when someone isn't as grateful as he thinks they should be. It's a shame as his spats occasionally make good telly, but he's not very good value to the viewer.
10) Matty. I can't say I've noticed anything about him other than his involvement in The Jordan Experience. I can't really get a read on his personality, other than his taste in haircuts and clothes is very bad. He's another one where you occasionally think he could break out and become iconic and he just never does. But then, Jordan calls him "Myatteeh", like Ian Richardson in the original House of Cards, and he goes up a place for that.
11) Paul. I don't think I'd like Paul at all on the outside, but to be fair to him he does throw himself into the experience - takes it a little too seriously at times, if anything. He's oddly thin-skinned for a lairy scouser, so here's hoping he explodes at some point and becomes interesting.
12) Jenkin. Tis perhaps telling I failed to include him in the first draft of this ranking. He showed early promise as a potential bag of fun and games, but he's another one that moans his way through tasks. Very occasionally you glimpse his potential - twerking at the Free Yinrun rally, for example - but given there were 18,000 applicants one can't help feeling his place could have gone to someone who would actually enjoy being there some of the time.
13) Tom. Has made almost no impression on me at all, other than sharing Matty's penchant for 80s footballer style. There's still time for him to improve, though.
So the moral of this story is: white men suck except messy ones
a) They put too many housemates in to start. We could live without Tom who is basically just what happens when you put Paul and Matty in a blender and lose interest before you press the button. At only six weeks long, it's weird that they're doing one eviction per week as with the original series, meaning they'll either have to speed up from this point on or there will be ten people in the final. Doing two evictions per week and perhaps saving a couple of housemates to add in now to shake things up might have been better.
b) There are lots of other decisions they've made that suggest they didn't go back and look at what works. They had the first eviction before anyone really had a chance to get to know the housemates properly; in the original series the first set of noms was in week two (usually or perhaps always, I can't be bothered to check). AJ and Will are both adequate presenters - Will more than AJ, I think, who can be a bit wooden when faced with an autocue - but they don't really gel together.
c) They've kind of smushed the main show and sideshow together, for example the eviction interview is held in the sideshow. This seems unfair to the housemates who get the limelight for all of a few seconds before they're whisked to another studio. That said, old eviction interviews could be hard to follow if the crowd were very lairy or unsupportive, so I guess it makes sense.
d) Main episodes seem oddly edited for pace at times. Shots will jump around haphazardly and then we'll get longueurs. It feels a bit like they've given the footage to film school students for an assignment and not given them much direction. In particular, the eviction episodes drag on. Half an hour of recap before the boot is enough, any more and one can get fidgety waiting for the inevitable.
e) Far too much of the livestream is censored, and there's no particular reason that the livestream always has to be the same time window since it's online only so it isn't pre-empting any other programmes. They may not have the budget for 24 hours livestreaming but I'd like to see a few morning or early evening sessions, I think the vibe could be very different. I think part of the issue is that Big Brother seems to be doing a large number of shorter tasks rather than a smaller number of longer tasks, and thus there are more potential "spoilers" on the livestream, but I'm not sure I think that's all that important.
f) There's a lot of inconsistency regarding rule breaks, and it seems more like Big Brother decides on a punishment based on what will be most entertaining rather than what is proportional to the offence. I suppose you could argue that that Old Testament capriciousness is fitting, though.
g) Onto some positives: I love the design of the house. It's colourful without being a mess, the geometric shapes and use of the eye motif in unexpected places really works. They usually change the house every year but I'd be OK with them sticking with this one longer term.
h) The housemates too are a consistently good bunch. It's interesting that so far there's been no overlap between the housemates nominated each week, suggesting no clear villains. It doesn't seem like people have been put in primarily to piss off other people. The vibe is much closer to the first three or four years than the later, more aggressive years. Some people are finding that dull but as someone who thinks year three was the best, it suits me very well. It does mean though we lose great housemates earlier than we might usually. Hallie in particular is a big loss.
PROVISIONAL HOUSEMATE RANKINGS AT THE END OF WEEK THREE:
1) Yinrun. The most multifaceted housemate, she constantly surprises with her attitude and her look. Silly one moment and serious the next, her reactions to things are unpredictable and often adorably funny. She wears her heart on her sleeve but can also be sly and cheeky when she wants to. I only worry that as basically everyone's favourite to win, she may have peaked early.
2) Trish. Comes across as the most honest and trustworthy housemate, she plays a straight bat at all times. Wash your hands after touching raw chicken, though, girl, come on
3) Jordan. At first amusing due to his dry observations and deadpan delivery, he's gradually developing into the messiest bitch in the house, alternating playing hot and cold with those close to him and often failing to maintain his studied aloofness. When I've known people like this in real life they've been infuriating, but he's good telly.
4) Olivia. I'm surprised she's this high, but she's sharp and always has a quick comeback to anything anyone says to her. I thought at first she'd be irritating and an obvious first or second eviction, but she's thrown herself into the experience and won me over.
5) Chanelle. She has the makings of a classic early-noughties housemate with her gently amusing Welsh charm. She's low key compared to others, though, and hasn't been involved in many instantly iconic moments.
6) Henry. Made it this high because he's a central part of the Jordan Experience, which is good for him since I suspect he'd otherwise be a bit dull and one note. I'm glad he survived the week two eviction, though.
7) Kerry. I have mixed feelings here. She's a big-headed busybody who's often inserting herself into other people's drama, to the occasional bemusement of other housemates, and she is generally unwilling to throw herself into tasks without a lot of moaning and pessimism. You can't deny, though, that she's got under the viewer's skin, as evidenced by her already being an entire sub-category of memes.
8) Noky. She offers something unique in this house, someone who after three weeks still appears completely two-dimensional. If she were a fictional character I'd be screaming "cardboard!" at the telly. She gives off a rather snot-nosed VIP vibe despite contributing not very much. She is easy on the eye, though.
9) Dylan. Someone on Twitter pointed out that whenever there's a wide shot of the kitchen he's always in there. He's appointed himself lord of the food budget and cooking and gets the hump when someone isn't as grateful as he thinks they should be. It's a shame as his spats occasionally make good telly, but he's not very good value to the viewer.
10) Matty. I can't say I've noticed anything about him other than his involvement in The Jordan Experience. I can't really get a read on his personality, other than his taste in haircuts and clothes is very bad. He's another one where you occasionally think he could break out and become iconic and he just never does. But then, Jordan calls him "Myatteeh", like Ian Richardson in the original House of Cards, and he goes up a place for that.
11) Paul. I don't think I'd like Paul at all on the outside, but to be fair to him he does throw himself into the experience - takes it a little too seriously at times, if anything. He's oddly thin-skinned for a lairy scouser, so here's hoping he explodes at some point and becomes interesting.
12) Jenkin. Tis perhaps telling I failed to include him in the first draft of this ranking. He showed early promise as a potential bag of fun and games, but he's another one that moans his way through tasks. Very occasionally you glimpse his potential - twerking at the Free Yinrun rally, for example - but given there were 18,000 applicants one can't help feeling his place could have gone to someone who would actually enjoy being there some of the time.
13) Tom. Has made almost no impression on me at all, other than sharing Matty's penchant for 80s footballer style. There's still time for him to improve, though.
So the moral of this story is: white men suck except messy ones
