Big Brother Shenanigans: So, it has begun

Monday, June 24, 2013

So, it has begun

Two more days until the Premiere airs. Two more days of speculation about who is what and what they will do. The hard core fans are like bookies at the biggest race of the summer: laying down bets, deconstructing the breed and lineage of each house guest, haggling over who has the best chances. And the horses, I mean, the house guests aren't even out of the gate.

A slew of investigators have trolled the Internet to find pictures, videos, blogs, manifestos, resumes, tweets, profiles, recipes, pins, tumbls, flcks, whatever, swarming through every bit of information to toss the kerosene into the obsessive drama that inevitably accompanies every season of Big Brother. Family, friends, neighbours, frenemies, haters, grocers, where the HGs get their avocados or tequila, have flooded the social media for their 15 minutes of fame, either promoting or trying to tear down the HGs.

And what makes it worse? This whole MVP twist which, like many previous twists, will serve to further production's agenda. People are frantically voting, tweeting their favorites, bashing the ones who are threatening their favorite, debating, arguing, scoffing, whipping themselves up into a frenzy. And why? Do we even know what this twist is? What the hell are we voting for? Production and CBS know exactly what buttons to push. They know BB fans are starved worse than those on a fad diet or imprisoned in the cargo of a pirate ship. We will DO ANYTHING for BB!

I'm excited for another season. I'm super stoked that it's all newbies! I start the season like any other with hope that there will be some crazy power struggles, big game moves, fierce competitions, fight-to-the-death Endurance comps and alliances worth rooting for. Yet, my excitement is not as it has been in other years. Why? Because of politics, ego, greed and did I mention bullshit politics? I am forbidden from buying the feeds because I live an invisible line away from the power seat of CBS.

It will make blogging the feeds, um challenging. I will have to rely on the awesome sites mentioned in the right side bar which I will update ASAP.

Until then,

Stay Tuned! :)

p.s. Go Arkansaw :-p Jim

Big Brother Lexicon

There are certain terms that have been used in the course of this show that should be clarified. Here is a list:

Team America: Yet Another tool for production to manipulate the game. Three players will be placed in alliance by "America" and will be given tasks that apparently will change the game. So far, it didn't change Joey's game, first member of Team America slated to be evicted first.

Battle of the Block: The 2 nominees of each of the 2 HoHs will battle each other. The winner duo save themselves and dethrone the HoH who nominated them, throwing them back out of power at risk of being a renom.

AGP: Allison Grodner of Fly on the Wall Productions which is the company that has been hired by CBS to produce the show.

PoV: Power of Veto. This allows the holder to save one of the nominations for eviction. The last PoV of the game is the most powerful, as it determines who will be evicted.

HoH: Head of Household. Along with getting a primo suite, a letter from home, pictures and treats, this person decides who will be nominated and renominated should the veto be used.

Floater: This term is often misused. A "floaters" strategy is legitimate way to get through and win the game. A prime example of this is Jun Song (BB4). This strategy allows the player to switch alliances when necessary, win when necessary, but always work under the wire. It doesn't mean just going with the power in the house (let's call those floppers). It means manipulating the house, ergo having the power. In later years, the term has been misused for players who do not make any moves in the game but work for whoever has the power.

Backdoor: This strategy is used when the true target for eviction is not initially nominated, does not get a chance to play PoV, is subsequently nominated and evicted.

Blindside: When a player is evicted without even suspecting that he/she is the target.

Pawn: This is a person who is nominated but is part of the HoH's alliance and is used as a decoy, to ensure that the other person nominated gets evicted. It has often happened that the pawn has been blindsided.

America's Player: This is a player in the game, chosen by the viewing public, who is told how to act and vote in the house. They do this for a separate monetary reward.

Fast Forward: When there are two evictions in one week. Typically they tape an eviction on Tuesday followed by a quickie HoH. They have nominations later that night, followed by a PoV competition and PoV ceremony the next day. The second eviction and HoH comp for that week happens live on Thursday.

Double Eviction: On the live show on Thursday, there is an eviction (sometimes pre-taped), followed by a quick HoH comp, immediate nominations, a PoV competition, PoV Ceremony, followed by another Eviction, culminating in the second HoH comp which is usually a physical skill or Endurance.