Big Brother Season 14 Premiere

I’m writing this based on what airs on CBS. I have the feeds, but will not post spoilers. If you want spoilers, you should subscribe to the feeds from SuperPass. It’s well worth it. While you’re at it, you should be checking out Reality Nation. They’ve got the skinny not just on Big Brother, but on EVERYTHING when it comes to reality television. They’re in the know because they’ve been there.

Last night was the premiere of Big Brother Season 14. I have been a fan of the show since the beginning, but lately it seems like the show has been a rut. I think a show loses a lot when the players, who are supposed to be expecting the unexpected, can pretty much predict every little thing that is going to happen on the show. Also, when you keep bringing in the same contestants over and over again, it gets old. I was very skeptical about this season of BB. There were A LOT of rumors floating around before this season about possible changes and story lines. I tried to not pay attention to them, but when they are all over, it’s hard to avoid them all without going dark.

Last night’s episode began with Julie Chen promising all new twists and changes for this season’s houseguests.  I’ve heard that one before, but I’m obviously not going to give up on the show five minutes in. The show starts with everyone filing into the house and picking their bedrooms. They enter 4 HGs at a time which puts the last 4 at an immediate disadvantage. The first in get first crack at the best beds and more importantly, the best bedroom. The HGs all introduce themselves (you can meet them here) to each other and that’s when gameplay begins. A few start with the first lie when telling everyone what they do for a living. Everyone was happiest when Joe said he was a chef. This was a huge contrast to when Ashley said she did spray tans. It got quiet and you could hear someone say, “That’s it?”

After the HGs got settled, Julie addressed them to let them know about the first twist of the season. There would be four returning BB HGs. The returning players would not be competing against the new HGs (thank God), but would be there to coach them. The four returning represent three of the top 5 players of all time. Boogie, Janelle and Dan were back in the house. The fourth was Britney. I have nothing against Britney, but she’s not a person I think of when I think of some of the best players of all time. The returning players will be playing for their own prize of $100,000, if one of the players they’re coaching wins BB14. 

Julie then let everyone know that the coaches would be picking their players and the first competition would be that night. The second big twist was announced as well. Someone would be going home that night. A draft was held where the coaches picked their players one at a time. I’m kind of surprised, in today’s society, that they actually let someone be picked last, but they did and that person was Jodi. The teams were:

Team Britney:  Shane, JoJo and Willie

Team Boogie:  Frank, Ian and Jenn

Team Janelle:  Wil, Ashley and Joe

Team Dan:    Kara, Danielle and Jodi

Now it was time for the first competition. HGs would have to run and climb over three moving beds to get to a big bin filled with giant stuffed teddy bears and return with a bear. Each player would have to get their own bear and the coaches would not be competing. Julie informed them that after 20 minutes, if a team hadn’t finished, they could substitute one player who had finished for a player who hadn’t. She also let them in on the third twist of the night. The coach of the winning team would select one of his or her players to be the first Head of Household and that the losing coach would be sending one of their players home for good (no Redemption Island here). The game begins and it’s rough going for everyone. Britney’s team takes an early lead as Dan’s team struggles. After 20 minutes, no team had finished and teams quickly switched out players. Team Britney pulled out a win over Team Janelle with Team Boogie finishing third and Team Dan bringing up the rear. (It should be noted that Britney picked first and Dan picked last. Did that have anything to do with it? I don’t know. Just pointing it out.)

Britney now needed to pick someone from her team to be the first HoH. She selected Willie. Willie is the brother of Russell Hantz of Survivor fame. A few people have picked up on the fact that Willie looks and sounds just like Russell, but he’s not saying anything. BB gave Dan some time to figure out who he was sending home first. He told the Diary Room that he would not be sending home Kara and that it would be between Jodi and Danielle. He talked to the two of them and they, unsurprisingly, threw each other under the bus. Julie gathered everyone back in the living room for Dan to announce who he was evicting. Dan selected Jodi and she was out the door.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the first episode. Big Brother delivered. I’m not too keen on the idea of having coaches, but I’m willing to give it a chance. What I do like is that the coaches picked their own players after it looked like some of the players had started forming unofficial alliances based on the group they entered the house with. I also like that someone went home the first night. In the previews for the rest of the season, it sounded like there could be a time when the Power of Veto will not be able to save someone. If that’s the case, I will be quite happy. 

As to who I like and who I think has a chance to win, I’m not completely sure yet, but I kind of like Danielle and Frank. I have a strong feeling JoJo and Jenn will wear on me because they will try too hard to play a character. Joe is someone I could see flying under the radar, but he’s on Janelle’s team and she was never one to do that. Of course Janelle could have her two other players take the heat to let Joe coast and win the whole thing. Boogie has three distinct personalities on his team. That could help his team build relationships in the house. Britney has what I believe to be three dominating personalities that could try and run rough over the rest of the house. Ironic based on Britney’s play when she was on the show. Dan’s team, well, they’re in trouble. They are already down a person and based on one episode, don’t have a physically dominating type of team. The flip side is that they may not be targets early since they’re already down a player. He’s also got two smaller girls which tend to do well in endurance competitions.

Overall, I was very happy with last night’s episode and am looking forward to the rest of the season.

Big Brother Season 14

Season 14 of Big Brother starts in a week and not a moment too soon. I’m a fan of the show, always have been (I’m not a super fan though), but all the stupid rumors on Twitter are driving me crazy. Just STFU people, the show starts soon enough. With that being said, it looks like the cast has been announced today. That’s nice. I don’t need to know who is playing ahead of time. I like to be introduced to them as they enter the house. I don’t want preconceived notions about who they are or who this season’s Dr Will, Janelle, token gay guy or psychotic are. I like trying to develop my own opinions about each houseguest and if I want to try and decide if I’m going to like a houseguest based on their CBS profile, I can do that on Match.com.

I love that CBS and Julie Chen remind us “to expect the unexpected” during Big Brother. Seriously? The unexpected? You mean how HGs can pretty much predict what competitions are coming up and what to expect from them? Or how some players miraculously always seem to escape eviction? Oh sure, BB will throw in some twist like a coup d'etat, a golden veto or something like that, but it’s always the same. You know what else makes the show somewhat predictable? Bringing back former players. I hoped that BB wouldn’t be like Survivor and keep bringing contestant back until they win (Boston Rob). It’s not that I don’t like former HGs, but I only want to see them in an All-Star format. Can you picture Rachel going up against the screaming rants of T̶a̶n̶i̶s̶h̶a̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶B̶a̶d̶ ̶G̶i̶r̶l̶s̶ ̶C̶l̶u̶b̶ Evil Dick?

Word on the street is that BB14 will have 4 former HGs come back to mentor current HGs and/or compete themselves in a separate competition. Wow! What a great idea BB. That’s the most brilliant thing since...since, I have no idea. Here’s a good idea BB, how about a season without any former HGs in ANY capacity. Do you remember when you used to do that? No? Neither do I. (As I type this, I see on twitter that Allison Grodner says no returning HGs this year) If BB really wanted to change things up and return to “expect the unexpected”, how about during predetermined weeks, eliminating the Power of Veto in two or three different times? That would seriously mess with the HGs and make them rethink strategy after if happened the first time. 

I’m not writing this to trash Big Brother. I really do like the show and would love to be on it. I’m just hoping that they would go back to basics and make it about gameplay and not  who America likes the most. Obviously that’s not the way to do it or Big Brother wouldn’t have stopped having fans vote people out like they did in the first season.

I wrote about ABC’s The Glass House previously and the BB nation jumped all over how bad the show would be. I’ve watched it and while parts of it are just horrible (like the first season of BB), there are parts that I like and I think BB show look into doing, particularly the live confessionals/diary room sessions. GH takes live questions from twitter and asks the contestants. That’s something I think BB should do. I don’t know how long GH will last, but I think that once it goes, BB will definitely s̶t̶e̶a̶l̶ implement some ideas from it and that’s a good thing.

Check back throughout the season as I hope to write recaps of the broadcast episodes and give you my biased, unprofessional views of what is going on in the house. If you won’t more, you should head over to Reality Nation and subscribe to the live feeds on Super Pass. You won’t be disappointed. Lastly, one of the rumors has Rachel coming back as one of the mentors. Thank you Big Brother and CBS for being so unbelievably stupid and ignorant and jamming her down our throats for yet another season of reality television. This has nothing to do with Rachel as a person. It has everything to do with the bitchy, whining, hypocritical persona that has appeared on my television for the last two seasons of Big Brother and most recent season of The Amazing Race. Enough is enough. Just give her and Brendon 250K for their wedding and be done with them.

*note Just saw that CBS is confirming 4 returning HGs as mentors

UPDATE: I just saw that Russell Hantz's brother will be on this season of BB. Seriously? Come on people. Another Hantz family member? MOVE ON!