Channel 4 faces budget cut

The people at OfCom most likely; lighter workload during the Summer!


I guess so; but look at the 2004 'revamp' (not sure if that's the right word to use) that brought Big Brother back to the top (although I guess it could be to blame for the freakshow we have now!) - If another big 'revamp' was to happen I think it could save Big Brother.

Some of the ideas that fly around different forums are perfect and it makes me wonder why the producers don't use some of them!

Ideas like what?

As I said earlier in the year - there's nothing wrong with the format. It was the twists and turns that put me off. Secret couples, late entries, only women to start... all dreadful ideas - born out in the viewing figures.

There is a reason people say, "keep it simple, stupid".

I agree. When it was first on, it was interesting as a novelty, especially as the contestants didn't know the response they'd get. Over the years it's just become an opportunity for irritating attention-seekers to become J-list celebrities for about five minutes.

Viewing figures are falling every year as people become less and less interested in it, and no amount of tinkering with the format and 'shocking twists' have helped. It's definitely a programme past its sell-by date.

It'd take too long to list all the ideas but on a forum called ThisIsBigBrother; the FanMade section has loads of excellent ideas, worth checking out if you get some time.

The twists have turned out to be pretty dire in recent series; especially the all women launch.

Look at BB4; that was kept quite simple and "back to basics" - That didn't really work (but maybe the cast was more to blame?)

Better they do something than do nothing though, even if it is simply stripping it back to basics. And even if C4 want it axed next year regardless (which IMO is probably for the best), surely it's better to at least ensure the last couple of series are half decent rather than effectively just burning off the episodes.

What would you do to make it 'half decent' then?

Big Brother was an experiment when it started in 2000 but now it's nothing more than watching 12 desperate people clash then become depressed all in the name of fame seeking. Then watching them slowly melt as they worry about how they're perceived on the outside and in the media (which in itself is a vicious cycle). It's the same year after year now and that's the only thing keeping it going which is why it's a dying and lazy format.

In light of this, (I'm now speaking in the "third person"), we still continue to tune in year after year purely because there are a bunch of new strangers getting together and we always wait for: that major misfortune (i.e the freakshow side of it in the sense most of the British public like to see people fail), something unpredictable like somebody setting the house on fire or killing someone with a kitchen knife because I think that must be the expectancy of reality entertainment we crave now. Of course that would never happen as petty complaints by viewers / TV watchdogs over petty things have spoilt the limits to how far things can go (besides we wouldn't really want to see a Deadset scenario..would we?). Or perhaps it's just become something to highlight how boring our own lives are that we enjoy watching people just bicker with each other on TV about who is doing the shopping list.

It's watchable because its unscripted realism but again, when it becomes a parody of itself, it's time to call it a day and I think relatively speaking, we want it to end because we feel annoyed with the fact we waste our Summer evenings by watching it everyday even though we don't want to but somehow crave it.

Only 12? You haven't watched for a while, obviously. With all the late entrants and re-entrants it's normally more like 25 by the time they've finished!

I'm surprised they are axing it. It has been said many times that Channel 4 make a lot of money from Big Brother that helps to pay for PSB programming. With no new hits waiting in the wings to replace BB this surely leaves a large hole in Channel 4's finances.

True, thats another point i've missed - if the housemates get boring they just chuck more in.

The general consensus on the BB fan boards is pretty much for a complete overhaul, moving away from the traditional format and to the more game-play focused Head of House format, changing the emphasis of the show completely. Yes, it may upset some purists, but most now agree it's a necessary change.

The other option is basically remaining faithful to the original format and stripping it back to what is should be, and then rebuilding it again. The real issue here isn't so much toe format itself IMO, it's how that format is presented - both in the promotional campaigns and image in the press, and in the programme itself, which I think is pretty poorly produced for a flagship entertainment show, and as you say is now somewhat a parody of itself especially with Marcus Bentley's increasingly annoying narration.

As others have said here twist after twist after twist doesn't do the show any favours at all, or chucking in extra housemates - what it needs really is a couple of key changes to strengthen the core format and keep viewers coming back week after week for more.

Whatever they do though they need to do it well - something they simply haven't been doing for the last couple of years.