BB5 - Your opinion ?

stuartfanning

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Special report: Big Brother | Television
8am

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Big Brother veteran warns new stars

Dominic Timms
Friday May 28, 2004


Big Brother: 'not so much as a thank you'

A former Big Brother star has urged the contestants who will join the fifth series of the show tonight not to go ahead because they will live to regret the move for years to come.
Dean O'Loughlin, who says he has had to bear the tag of "the boring one from Big Brother 2" says he deeply regrets joining the series and the pain it has caused his family.

He said he got nothing out of the show and while "Big Brother has earned 16 industry awards to date, and presenters and producers accept plaudits" there had never been "so much as a thank you to the people inside the house".

O'Loughlin said the show's production company deliberately sets out to follow prescriptive storylines in order to maximise ratings, pays "peanuts" to contestants and "coerces" family and friends into appearing on the show.

"I feel for my newest kin, about to sacrifice themselves on the altar of entertainment. I feel like I'm watching kids on a lilo paddling into a tidal wave. If I knew who they were and could give them advice, it would be simple: don't do it unless you have to. And if you have to, ask yourself why."

He said the majority of past Big Brother contestants though the show's producer, Endemol, has portrayed them "inaccurately'" or "unfairly".

He conducted a poll among 51 of the contestants to have taken part since the reality show made its debut four years ago. All but two said they, or another housemate, had been misrepresented by Endemol.

"Quite simply, the success of this multimillion pound TV production has nothing to do with chance. It's not allowed to hinge on incidents that may or may not happen.

"Housemates are carefully chosen to fill roles and directors follow specific story lines to give the show form. If housemates are lucky they might be seen as a likeable, fluffy, laugh-a-minute clowns. But if they are not, then they may well be carrying the mantle of boorish villain around for the rest of their lives."

O'Loughlin is the first former housemate to break the embargo on writing stories not vetted by Endemol about the show, and the first to pen a book. Contestants must sign away all rights in the show in perpetuity before they are allowed into the Big Brother house.

He said while success stories connected with the show did exist, they were few and far between.

"Even a conservative estimate results in 75% of ex-housemates struggling to adapt and get on with their lives," he said.

"Ex-housemates live in a curious no man's land. The frustrating limbo wherein most housemates are forced to reside can be a very disheartening place," he adds in his book, Living in the Box: An Adventure in Reality TV, which he is selling on internet auction site eBay.

Calling for some sort of regulation of reality TV, he said until such programmes offered contestants at least minimal amounts of protection, TV companies would be free to continue to take advantage of contestants.

"Somewhere in the future, when television companies are bound by law to limit their exploitation of the subjects at its centre, reality TV will be able to grow up. However, until there is some sort of body like Ofcom actually regulating Big Brother, most contestants will leave the show with a legacy of misrepresentation and misery."

A spokesman for Endemol said it was well known that O'Loughlin had an axe to grind against the show.

"It's not been a secret that he has been complaining about the show for years. We see no foundation in the allegations but have not see the book."

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Charles Slane

Well it's kicked off again !!

And what a ragtag bunch !!

For some reason there seems to be a lot of people who are involved in "law" !!

Already the odds are up on the digitalspy site http://bigbrother.digitalspy.co.uk/news/

So has anyone got any opinions ? Do you hate it ? Love it ? Loved it before but hate it this year ??

Who is the new Jade ? Who is the new Brian ? And why is that guy sitting around with no shirt on - he's sure to catch a cold in his kidneys and he'll be sorry then !!

And the biggest question of all ..... who will win ???

Early prediction (subject to change) - Daniel (the guy in the hat).

stuartfanning

When the voting for Evictions come will they be Posting Irish phone numbers for the vote on E4 Ireland? Anyone heard?

All Big brother threads merged and moved to broadcasting.
I notice that you cannot access live Big brother feeds on the channel4 website if you have an Irish ISP!!
WTF???
It says service not available outside the republic of Ireland...
Very discriminatory considering they get E4 advertising here.
Not to mention the Repulic of Ireland advertising revenue on Ch4 NI...

C'est la vie
I'll just have to settle for Big Bro interactive on E4 on my UK sub

mike65

Somehow I dont feel I'm missing anything!

Mike.

BuffyBot

I notice that you cannot access live Big brother feeds on the channel4 website if you have an Irish ISP!!

I'm on a UK ISP and it's telling me that

mickeyboymel

Originally posted by BuffyBot
I'm on a UK ISP and it's telling me that

You can access the feeds as far as I know, with a real one superpass account which requires a subscription.

sceptre

Originally posted by Charles Slane
For some reason there seems to be a lot of people who are involved in "law" !!

Ah it's the classic "I don't know what to do, I'm an idiot, I'll keep my options open" kind of course. I should know.

Or worse, maybe people think it sounds good.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Originally posted by mickeyboymel
You can access the feeds as far as I know, with a real one superpass account which requires a subscription.

Yes I did that last year.
With broadband, the feeds filled the entire pc screen.
Plus of course there were the other things on superpass aswell.
Won't do that this year

TVDX

Does the superpass really get you the feeds?.
I know its more expensive but i would be willing to get it,
and why have they restricted access to UK only?

Did someone else mention they are on a UK ISP and it doesnt work?.
What the hell is that about?, maybe they havent got the feed up or something is going wrong?.

Regarding Dean, i think what he says is fair, he and others havent got any thanks for their participation. They make the show what it is and yet dont get any awards.

Originally posted by TVDX
Does the superpass really get you the feeds?.
I know its more expensive but i would be willing to get it,
and why have they restricted access to UK only?

It did last year, four in all.

Apple_A_Day

I was honestly surprised to see Big Brother back on TV this year. Personally I believe with the flood of similar programs, Celebrity, Gordon Ramsey etc, this had run it's course.

It would appear the producers believe this too, look at how they've changed the vetting methods for the contestants, would Kitten have gotten through the selection procedure last year or before that ? I doubt it. The inclusion of the sex change sheman is obviously to stir up emotions and opinion because they have not informed the other housemates know about his/her secret.

One of the past contestants of the show published a book about his experiences of the show - it wasn't very complementary of Endemol.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a courtcase arising out of some of the methods the producers have used to sas up the program.

Have an Apple !

thejuggler

AFAIK Big brother is contracted to run each year until 2005 so its there for this year and next at least - possibly more if the next two series are a success. They've certainly thrown a good mix of people in this year - much better than last years effort.

Apple_A_Day

Better for the viewer yes, but some of the contestants in this years show are well "odd" for want of a better word and are likely to be ridiculed by a public hungry for any excuse to put someone down for being different.

What about the family and friends of the sex op bloke? Are all his relatives aware of the what he did, is this his way of letting them know? People have commented on Kittens demeanor so far, that girl has issues that need sorting out in private not in fron of an audience.

I personally think the show is moraly wrong and the people who participate are in need of guidance not money. The format of the show is no different to the gladiators of Roman times except the lions are the viewers and the producers in this case.

Have an Apple !!

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by Apple_A_Day
The format of the show is no different to the gladiators of Roman times except the lions are the viewers and the producers in this case.

a fight to the death might make it watchable

Apple_A_Day

Judging by the contestants this year that is very possible !!

Have an Apple !!