BIG BROTHER 9

No, it isn't summer time yet, but thanks to the writer's strike, which is thankfully finally over, CBS decided to throw together a shorter season of it's hit reality show BIG BROTHER. Now, when this show first came on the air, CBS had high hopes it would hit the same ratings bonanza that SURVIVOR did. Unfortunately, the first cycle of BIG BROTHER was painfully boring to watch. The premise is much the same as MTV's jugernaut, THE REAL WORLD. You put total strangers in a house together and watch the fireworks start. The difference between the two is that in THE REAL WORLD, you can't be older than 25 and they get to be part of the world around them. in BIG BROTHER, they are in a house on the CBS lot, they are allowed no outside contact, which includes TV, newspapers or phone calls and they are in a competition to be the lone survivor.

Like I said, the first installment of this show was slower than molases. Originally, the show was on the air five days a week, it was unedited and the evening broadcasts were clips of what happened during that same day. After seeing how boring that was, they revamped the show and made it a little edgier. Now, it is on three days a week and it is a compelation of edited clips from the previous several days. Oh, and in the beginning, BIG BROTHER had a pretty fair mix of young and old contestestants, now 99 percent of the cast is good -looking and in their twenties. However, there is usually the obligatory older person, and by older I mean in their early 40's, thrown in to mix things up a bit.

While I give CBS credit for making BIG BROTHER more excited with these changes, I can't help but be a bit resentfull that they turned it into a network version of THE REAL WORLD. Even more depressing is the fact that this has made a difference in their ratings. I guess our society doesn't want to see middle-aged people on TV. I see their point, I mean if you filled the house with experienced adults you wouldn't get the catty bitch-fights or bed-hopping that you do now, and really, that is more exciting to watch.

This season BIG BROTHER had has tried to ensure we get even more of that, by pairing the contestants up with their soul mates. After taking personality tests, the producers matched up the people who they thought would click and are making them play the game together, which includes sleeping together in the same bed, being put up for eviction together and winning or losing together. Pretty interesting twist, I admit, but I'm afraid it will hamper people's game play. The show just started last week, so we'll have to see if this premise works out, but even if it doesn't, we still have the Summer installment to look forward to.