Guilty Pleasure: Big Brother 7
In the pantheon of reality TV, I’m not quite sure where Big Brother ends up – but it’s got to be higher than I usually want to put it. At the top, the Big Daddy is Survivor, the mother of all reality TV, and I still hold a special place in my heart for The Amazing Race, despite it not really being as great as it used to be. But Big Brother – or, this season, BB7 – is probably next.
And this season looks pretty good. I’m generally averse to All-Star shows, first and foremost because it somewhat reinforces the notion that these people are stars in any way, shape or form. But also because for games that rely on strategy, such as Survivor and Big Brother, not knowing your fellow cast members that well is a major part of the game. Everybody here knows each other – they likely spend time doing idiotic Big Brother publicity stuff, and certainly they are all fans enough to watch each season.
Except, perhaps, Chicken George who seems as shocked as anyone that he’s there. Unfortunately, he seems so minor a threat that he’ll inevitably stick around far too long as a result.
One big benefit of an all-star show is that I have opinions on most of the contestants from the start – aside from Will, Mike Boogie and Chicken George, I’ve seen all these folks before. (And…I don’t think there’s too much mystery with those three guys, frankly.) Perhaps some of them are different – Jase may not be a different guy, but he does strike me as someone’s whose utter douchebaggery might be contained without a guy like Scott around. I don’t know if there is someone else there to push his buttons like that.
But the reason I’m optimistic is the results of the first show – Danielle and Alison, two of my least favorite BB contestants ever, started scheming way too early, showing their cards as manipulators as well as people who will take both sides. And the editing made it look like they might have convinced Jase to do the idiotic – put himself and Janelle up for eviction. But, either because he’s not quite as stupid as he looks, or (more likely) because Janelle, James, Kaysar and Howie aren’t that dumb, Jase and Janelle (love the dual Head of Household) put up Alison and Danielle. I suspect that if either wins Veto, they’d put Will up in their place, and that’s fine too. So, assuming one of those three is gone, that’s a great start to the season.