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Original Message
"How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Kitty Von Tess on 08-20-07 at 01:07 PM
I keep reading references to the fact that the UK version is without question better than the US version of BB (not difficult to imagine), but I've never seen BBUK and am curious about what the differences would be...?
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Messages in this discussion
"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Dakota on 08-21-07 at 07:34 AM
I'd love to see the UK version. I'm thinking they'd lie and backstab with those cute little accents. Other than that, I don't know what the difference would be.

If you watched the Bears v. Colts preseason game last night, you might know the meaning of these "words to live by":

Don't pat the Queen!

Charter Member: Club Anti-DAW


"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Snidget on 08-21-07 at 08:48 AM
In the UK, like most of the rest of the world, the public votes for eviction like BB-USA did the first season.

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Dakota on 08-21-07 at 10:06 PM
I wouldn't like that. I didn't watch BB until the last year or two, so I didn't know the viewers voted for the evictees that first season. That really changes the game because we see the confessionals but don't see a lot of what goes on beyond the edits, unless we're glued to our computers paying for live feeds.

Cultural and behavioral differences of contestants on reality shows has been discussed many times. I would like to see Survivor or TAR or BB from the UK or Australia to see if contestants do play the game differently.

Charter Member: Club Anti-DAW


"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by vince3 on 08-22-07 at 11:49 PM
and of course, that viewer voting for eviction format is also vulnerable to a VFTW-type faction that will evict the exciting peeps, and/or, more likely, what did happen in season 1......ballot stuffing by the hometowns of the hamsters..........
"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Dakota on 08-21-07 at 11:25 PM
LAST EDITED ON 08-21-07 AT 11:26 PM (EST)

Welcome to RTVW, Kitty! Have a fruit basket!


Charter Member: Club Anti-DAW


"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Kitty Von Tess on 08-21-07 at 11:42 PM
Thanks, Dakota!

I've been lurking (I'm ashamed to admit) for a LONG time, and finally got around to step out from the shadows!

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by tweets on 08-22-07 at 00:12 AM
    Fox Reality Channel has shown other Brit reality shows. I wish they would televise the English version.
"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by pearlgirl on 08-22-07 at 01:17 AM
>
    Fox Reality Channel has shown other
    >Brit reality shows. I wish
    >they would televise the English
    >version.

I've seen the UK version and I actually prefer it. In fact, I saw BB UK before I ever saw BB in the US, and I hated the US format. (I'm still not a huge fan but, like a car wreck, I find myself drawn to the disasters that some of these HGs are.) The UK version shows diary room exchanges so you get a better sense of where people are coming from and how they see what is going on in the house. The UK houseguests are much more diverse...there is a wider age range and they don't go only for the skinny gorgeous model types. I think BB UK is much more a study in how people of different backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities live together than it is about playing a game.

It is true that the public votes on who to evict in the UK, but the houseguests vote on who to put up for eviction, so it isn't a completely random thing. My impression is that there is far less backstabbing and nastiness in the UK version (at least when it comes to "playing the game") than there is in the US version. If they introduced a UK style in the US you would see a completely different game.

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by qwertypie on 08-22-07 at 01:38 AM
LAST EDITED ON 08-22-07 AT 01:39 AM (EST)

Welcome PearlGirl!
I will admit that I was one of the 12 people that actually watched Big Brother 1 and I preferred it to the other seasons (hated when BB tried to change things up in the middle to make things more interesting and get better ratings). There was actually a diverse group of people and if I remember correctly, very little silicone.

Julie Chen still sucked tho'

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by pearlgirl on 08-22-07 at 02:14 AM
>LAST EDITED ON 08-22-07
>AT 01:39 AM (EST)
>
>Welcome PearlGirl!
>I will admit that I was
>one of the 12 people
>that actually watched Big Brother
>1 and I preferred it
>to the other seasons (hated
>when BB tried to change
>things up in the middle
>to make things more interesting
>and get better ratings).
>There was actually a diverse
>group of people and if
>I remember correctly, very little
>silicone.
>
>Julie Chen still sucked tho'
>


I've only seen two seasons of US BB so I don't know how it's changed over the years (agree Julie Chen sucks!). The only reason I started watching the US version was that I liked the UK version and figured it was similar. Sadly, it wasn't. I don't think there was a single bit of silicone in the UK BB season that I saw - totally real (and sometimes deeply disturbed) people. During the season that I saw in the UK there was a Scottish guy in the house (whose name escapes me), mid-30s, who after a few weeks of endless drinking and mindless conversation got so fed up that he tried to "escape" from the house. He jumped a fence, was quickly surrounded by "security", and he begged to leave the house, which request was granted.

One of the other big differences between the UK and US versions is that the UK house is accessible to fans - on the first day when the HGs enter the house they walk a red carpet of fans, and when they are evicted from the house they run the gauntlet of fans cheering and jeering them as they walk from the house to the studio. If I'm not mistaken, on the day that the Scottish guy escaped from the house there were fans outside shouting "Run, ___ (insert name here), RUN!" I tell you, it was hilarious. We don't need the fabricated drama of alliances and backstabbing and sniping...oftentimes people just being themselves is pretty damn funny.

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Dakota on 08-22-07 at 05:04 AM
Escaping from the Big Brother House? Oh, if only some of the U.S. BB houseguests would do that! That's too funny.

And a hearty welcome to you too, Pearlgirl. Feel free to swipe something from Kitty's fruit basket. I happen to know she got another one on a thread buried deep in Other Shows. That's where we discuss shows that we don't want anyone to know we watch.

Charter Member: Club Anti-DAW


"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by qwertypie on 08-22-07 at 11:42 PM
If I remember correctly, when a house guest got booted in season one, there were a whole throng of family, friends and fans to greet them. The house guests quickly saw how happy the evicted were, so BB quickly forbade them from sending their fallen comrades off.
"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by observer on 08-23-07 at 01:34 AM
I saw the first season.

I voted a couple of times. Then I found a website which always predicted who would be voted out. Their prediction came out within an hour of the nominations. It was always accurate. I stopped voting.

The winner was a one-legged 21-year-old white man. (He participated in square-dancing)! The first runner-up was a young white man who brought a box of condoms to the house. (He didn't need them). The second runner-up was a young lawyer of Asian descent. There was a black woman in her thirties. There was a white, female, 26-year-old virgin. She was short, overweight and dyed her hair green. (She had a crush on the guy with the box of condoms). There was a young white woman who always wore make-up. There was a middle-aged white man and a middle-aged white woman. The woman smoked. The first person voted out was a black man. The second person voted out was a young white female exotic dancer.

I watched the feeds for a couple of weeks. The last three men left in the house visited with each other and sang songs, including Elvis songs.

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by LenYJr on 09-03-07 at 06:59 PM
The UK version is also better in that the housemates CANNOT talk about voting/evictions, etc. It is against the rules and when the rules are broken there are (gasp) consequences.

This means that you actually get to hear conversations and not endless repitions of "I got your back", "I won't backstab you", etc.

The tasks are much more enjoyable and Big Brother actually becomes a character. You hear the voice calling housemates to the diary room.

One of the best things about the UK show are the evil, evil things that Big Brother does to the housemates just to get on their nerves. Example - one person this year basically took over the cooking & cleaning, she was made to wear boxing gloves for 2 days and could not cook & clean. It made her get out of the kitchen & interact more with the others. Another example - two very, very different housemates had to move into a very small camper together for 2 days.

Big Brother in the UK is as big as or bigger than American Idol is here. Other posters are right, there are huge crowds for every house entry and every exit. The highlights show is on 6 nights a week and two companion shows are also on 6 nights a week)

Oh I should also mention that most seasons there are housemates who enter 2, 3, 4 weeks into the run. The run lasts about 90 days and 6 housemates are left in for the final - guaranteeing that there will be something watching. The lowest vote getter to win comes out, gets their interview, etc.

I'd love BB US to go back to the "real" format. I've stopped watching it since discovering the UK version.

"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by Jubilayhee on 09-07-07 at 11:02 PM
The first season of US BB was so boring and I glad they changed the format!
"RE: How would doing a UK version in the US make this show better?"
Posted by mattben on 09-08-07 at 05:08 AM
I'd watch it just to enjoy the accents.