Celebrity Big Brother 2009

It started in the Netherlands on 16th September 1999, so it wouldn't be so far off 10 years - I assume the 10th series of the original show will be the "important" one.

Edit: The eye isn't any different to expectations...

Edit 2: So nobody changes the eye to some "hilarious" image...
The eye

Good point- never thought of that. I'm assuming the final is going to be on either the 23rd or 25th January as its rumoured to be 3 weeks long and sometimes the final for CBB is held on a Sunday. By having it on a Sunday it means they could well be having 2 evictions per week, 1 during the week (most likely Tuesday or Wednesday) and one on the Friday. That would use up 4 out of 5 non-Friday shows and 8 out of 22 (?) live shows. That could work, of course unless they are going to do the token eviction with no crowd, which would take the non-Friday shows down to 3 out of 5 leaving way for the BB10 launch and a midweek eviction.

They would generally save at least two for the summer - one for launch and an extra if required.

Based on recent series I expect as usual they won't bother doing enough evictions - so the first one will probably be a week in on the Friday, then two midweek editions, probably on the Wednesday, with the final on the Friday - or possibly Sunday - as you say.

Sunday finals never rate too well though - not that Friday finals are lately either. This really is a make or break series for Big Brother. If it succeeds, there is a chance it could go on beyond 2010, but if it doesn't I think regardless of what happens during BB10 that BB11 would be the final series.

CBB6 will be of wider interest to viewers who wouldn't normally watch the show so it really is their last chance to regain some lost viewers. Depends entirely on who they get in there though.

On what do you base that statement?

I worded that incorrectly. What I was trying (and failing) to say was that those who previously watched Big Brother but drifted away from the show after the combination of a racism row and a watered down Big Brother 8 may be tempted back by a couple of well-know faces - particularly if they're controversial figures.

CBB4 is the best example of this working in the past. The addition of Michael Barrymore and George Galloway provided a lot of press interest and that particular series averaged strongly, well up on CBB3 and BB6 and becoming one of the most watched series of Big Brother overall. The lasting effect of that was the summer series experienced an unexpected boost, with BB7 averaging far more than BB6 - the live launch was the most watched ever and the first week was the most watched first week ever - it probably would have rated higher overall had it not lasted a painfully drawn out 13 weeks.

Big Brother 10 could experience a similar boost if CBB6 is a success. It depends entirely on the cast though. If they can get at least one big name that viewers will tune in to watch out of curiosity, then they could be on to a winner.

Celebrity Big Brother attracts a slightly different audience to Big Brother itself. If they get the names and the mix right, people who might not necessarily watch Big Brother will watch it.

I'm assuming Sharon Powers is producing this series. She was also responsible for CBB4 and BB9. I have every faith in her to pull out all the stops in January.

Couldn't help but laugh when I read about the show's hip new sponsor

How embarrassing. Didn't they used to sponsor Heartbeat!?

I think its quite a good link, and moves away from people thinking about phones = voting.

Yeah embarrassing, because we know no-one under 50 sleeps.

It's still a bit odd none the less, I wonder how they will link CBB to beds in the sponsorship bumpers

It's like that car sponsoring Paul O'Grady, that's always seemed an odd fit too

Tenuous...