Celebrity Big Brother, why bother?
Over 6.5 million of us tuned into see the start of what will be the last ever Celebrity Big Brother. Whilst Channel 4 was raiding its coffers to pay for its inevitable round of Z-listers – from Vinnie Jones to Dane Bowers and Alex Reid, who let’s face it is only famous because he’s gone out with someone who is – we were mournfully told that this would be the reality show’s last gasp.
But will you be sad to see it die? Big Brother was the godfather of reality TV. It gave us the opportunity to sit in our houses and watch a group of other people sit in a house, 24 hours a day. We watched the housemates every move, from the intimate to the not-so-intimate. We watched them bitch and bicker, fall in and out of ‘love’ (well, for as long as the magazine deals kept rolling in) and argued amongst ourselves whilst frantically dialling premium rate phonelines to keep our favourites in the running for the ‘prize’.
But ask yourself this – can you name even the first winner of Big Brother? Because whilst it was original in the beginning, it’s now completely boring. We tune in at first and then rapidly switch off when it become obvious that any of the interesting bits of tittle-tattle are censored out by Channel 4 bosses. Nowadays, if we want to know the ins and outs of a celebrity’s life, we follow them on Twitter. But Big Brother’s legacy is not to be sniffed at. It paved the way for TV schedules for the past decade with endless rounds of reality TV shows; From I’m a Celebrity to The Family.
What we should be wondering is what’s next….what will be the defining TV moment for the next decade? Perhaps reality will, like everything else, become online-only, where viewers subscribe to watch through webcams. Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll all return to good, old-fashioned entertainment. Why else have channels like Dave done so well?
But if you really can’t bear the thought of no more Big Brother, don’t panic. You’ve got the public show to come yet. Roll on 2010.
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