There are rumors flying around the internet this morning that a certain BBUS player might be departing the country tomorrow to film the next season of Survivor.
Click here for the spoilers.
Not sure if I buy it, especially because that list is missing one high-profile cast spoiler that's almost definitely confirmed after last night.
It would make sense though, especially since the BBUS contestant in question was originally supposed to be cast for Survivor in the first place.
We shall see.
Showing posts with label BB12. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BB12. Show all posts
Monday, May 13, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Big Brother New York City Premiere Party
Season 15 of Big Brother US is rapidly approaching, more quickly than usual, since they've moved the premiere up to a surprisingly early Wednesday, June 26, 2013.
If you're looking for a good way to ring in another season of live feeds and controversy, look no further than New York, where I'll be throwing down at Murray Bar 34, at the second annual Big Brother 15 NYC Premiere Party.
I helped organize the debut of this event last year with BB13's Adam Poch, and a great time was had by all.
This year, the Facebook page is already boasting of appearances by BB8's Eric Stein and Carol Journey (did we know she's a Knicks dancer now? guess she made it home for that barbecue), as well as Jenn, Joe and JoJo from BB14, BB4's Michele, and Jeffrey Marx from Glass House. Alex Coladonato of BB9 (as in "dammit, why did they vote for the box with Crazy James instead of the box with Alex?") will be offering his DJ services once again. Enzo and Annie (BB12), Monica (BB2) and Crazy James (BB9) also made appearances last year and might turn up again this year. I also met BB14 Wil's personal fan club, consisting of his cousin and other friends who made a very conspicuous debut cheering on his every appearance on last year's premiere.
I can't say I heard much of the premiere last year, but that's what DVR is for, and it was entertaining to watch the vets' reaction to the episode. I also did some interviews with the vets at the party for the Big Brother Gossip Show, available here.
This year's party should be bigger and crazier than last year - so East Coast, represent! Drop me a comment if you're planning to be there.
If you're looking for a good way to ring in another season of live feeds and controversy, look no further than New York, where I'll be throwing down at Murray Bar 34, at the second annual Big Brother 15 NYC Premiere Party.
This year, the Facebook page is already boasting of appearances by BB8's Eric Stein and Carol Journey (did we know she's a Knicks dancer now? guess she made it home for that barbecue), as well as Jenn, Joe and JoJo from BB14, BB4's Michele, and Jeffrey Marx from Glass House. Alex Coladonato of BB9 (as in "dammit, why did they vote for the box with Crazy James instead of the box with Alex?") will be offering his DJ services once again. Enzo and Annie (BB12), Monica (BB2) and Crazy James (BB9) also made appearances last year and might turn up again this year. I also met BB14 Wil's personal fan club, consisting of his cousin and other friends who made a very conspicuous debut cheering on his every appearance on last year's premiere.
I can't say I heard much of the premiere last year, but that's what DVR is for, and it was entertaining to watch the vets' reaction to the episode. I also did some interviews with the vets at the party for the Big Brother Gossip Show, available here.
This year's party should be bigger and crazier than last year - so East Coast, represent! Drop me a comment if you're planning to be there.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Gary: What I Like About You
While we've got some time on our hands, I wanted to devote a few minutes to Gary "Glitter" Levy, one of the more interesting products so far from Big Brother Canada.
I admit, I didn't expect much from Gary in the beginning. Maybe the fact that he was neither the only minority nor the only gay cast member should have tipped me off - Big Brother Canada has been more diverse from the jump, and many of its star characters have proven to be much more complex than they seemed at the first impression, for better or for worse.
Gary defies the stereotypes - he knows his role on the show and plays into it with glee, but there's far more to him than meets the eye.
Gary is a complex character - one moment he's immature and selfish, the next he's surprisingly thoughtful and insightful. Part of this may be due to his age. At twenty-one, Gary is still on the cusp of childhood, and it shows. One minute he's creating a fake party task and pissing everyone off, the next he's astutely calling Alec out for his machinations with Topaz, the next he doesn't understand why the Have Nots are upset to be giving him a pedicure, the next he's standing up to the house's herd mentality to support Suzette on her way out the door.
Those glimmers of strategy and guts are what make Gary so interesting as a player. The first hours of his Head of Household reign were incredible to watch, as he subtly manipulated information out of the entire house and used it to push for what he wanted (Tom's eviction) while making everyone else think it was their idea (no, Alec and Peter, it wasn't).
In many ways, he reminds me of Daniele Donato, who I found to be extremely immature and whiny on Big Brother US Season 8, but transformed into a gutsy, self-assured rebel by Big Brother 13. Britney Haynes also showed a great deal of growth as a player between her young appearance on Big Brother 12 and her slightly older one on Big Brother 14.
I don't think Gary is going to win this season - he can't, from the outside of the herd mindset in this house - but I could easily see him owning a future All-Stars season once he gets some more life experience under his belt and figures out how to wield his skill set to his advantage. And this guy is a shoo-in for All-Stars.
Gary is extremely confident in his own skin. That goes without saying, of course, but there's another layer to it. We've seen so many openly flamboyant men on these shows who harbor insecurity based on years of being bullied and ridiculed for their fabulousness. That kind of thing leaves bitter scars into adulthood, but if Gary wears those scars, he doesn't let them show. He loves who he is, and expects everyone else to love him until they say otherwise. He's not bitter or resentful as a result of his uniqueness, which is probably a credit to his family, who seem to be supportive of him.
Gary does possess one of the fatal flaws of big characters on reality television - he wants to be famous, and discusses it frequently on the feeds. (Seriously, we hate that shit.) When he discusses the fame he wants, though, he often frames it in terms of wanting a platform and a message, instead of wanting to just soak in attention. Obviously he wants the attention, too, but he wants to be a role model.
And he should be.
I admit, I didn't expect much from Gary in the beginning. Maybe the fact that he was neither the only minority nor the only gay cast member should have tipped me off - Big Brother Canada has been more diverse from the jump, and many of its star characters have proven to be much more complex than they seemed at the first impression, for better or for worse.
Gary defies the stereotypes - he knows his role on the show and plays into it with glee, but there's far more to him than meets the eye.
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| Gary and Luxury (RIP) |
Those glimmers of strategy and guts are what make Gary so interesting as a player. The first hours of his Head of Household reign were incredible to watch, as he subtly manipulated information out of the entire house and used it to push for what he wanted (Tom's eviction) while making everyone else think it was their idea (no, Alec and Peter, it wasn't).
In many ways, he reminds me of Daniele Donato, who I found to be extremely immature and whiny on Big Brother US Season 8, but transformed into a gutsy, self-assured rebel by Big Brother 13. Britney Haynes also showed a great deal of growth as a player between her young appearance on Big Brother 12 and her slightly older one on Big Brother 14.
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| Pwned |
Gary is extremely confident in his own skin. That goes without saying, of course, but there's another layer to it. We've seen so many openly flamboyant men on these shows who harbor insecurity based on years of being bullied and ridiculed for their fabulousness. That kind of thing leaves bitter scars into adulthood, but if Gary wears those scars, he doesn't let them show. He loves who he is, and expects everyone else to love him until they say otherwise. He's not bitter or resentful as a result of his uniqueness, which is probably a credit to his family, who seem to be supportive of him.
Gary does possess one of the fatal flaws of big characters on reality television - he wants to be famous, and discusses it frequently on the feeds. (Seriously, we hate that shit.) When he discusses the fame he wants, though, he often frames it in terms of wanting a platform and a message, instead of wanting to just soak in attention. Obviously he wants the attention, too, but he wants to be a role model.
And he should be.
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| Seeing beyond the obvious |
Gary has seen his closest friends go out the door, back to back - Danielle, Suzette, and now possibly Topaz, depending on the outcome of the veto(*)
(*)If you're Alec, who do you get the house to go after, between Topaz and Gary? Both probably hate you to an equal enough extent now, but Gary is the bigger competitor. At the same time, Gary isn't going to freeze you out for the next week, but that may make him more dangerous, so yeah, Gary is probably the target right now.
Despite pressure from the house last week, Gary refused to join the group that was isolating Suzette. As depressing as he found her in the last week, and as much as he knew it was risking his own game to spend time with her, he was unable to adopt Alec's strategy of forgetting that people are human, and did his best to keep her from being entirely isolated during her last days in the house. He knew better than to try and flip the game to save her, but he couldn't bring himself to mix the personal and the game and cut her out like the others, as hard as it was for him.
Despite pressure from the house last week, Gary refused to join the group that was isolating Suzette. As depressing as he found her in the last week, and as much as he knew it was risking his own game to spend time with her, he was unable to adopt Alec's strategy of forgetting that people are human, and did his best to keep her from being entirely isolated during her last days in the house. He knew better than to try and flip the game to save her, but he couldn't bring himself to mix the personal and the game and cut her out like the others, as hard as it was for him.
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| I've got a golden ticket |
So where is Gary now? As we saw last night, he now seems to realize that the "Fourgy" alliance he thought he had with Topaz, Peter and Alec is worthless. Either Gary or Topaz will probably go home this week, and Gary has his veto replacement power to play on this week. During last night's feed leak he seemed to be trying to strategize with it, but he and Alec disagreed on its nature, so look for the interpretation of the power to be something Gary plays to his advantage.
If Gary does succeed in rolling through this week, he's got to get over his annoyance with the other houseguests and use his house knowledge to assess the power dynamics and try to forge an alliance from what's left. Peter and Alec aren't going to do it for him, Gary and Talla don't seem to get along, and Emmett and Jillian are untrustworthy. Andrew and Gary have a very weird relationship and Andrew seems to be targeting Gary at the moment, but Andrew's flipped all over the place with Alec and might be willing to work something out. Who knows?
In the meantime, as much as I like both Gary and Topaz, I'm not sure that Topaz has much more to offer to the game once she's unleashed her fury on Alec. Her bridges will be burnt, and her options will be limited. Gary, on the other hand, has the ability to try to slip his way a little closer to the end if he thinks it over and draws on his skills.
Should Gary walk out the door on Thursday, I don't think it will be his last time on reality television. And I'm just fine with that. This world could use few more Garys in it.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Charge of the Brigade-Light
Big Brother Canada's four-man Quattro alliance was clearly patterned after Big Brother US Season 12's Brigade, one of the most successful alliances in Big Brother history. Yet three weeks (four evictions) into the series, their so-called "leader" is posed to walk out the door in an exit orchestrated by his own team.
Why did Quattro fail at doing what The Brigade did so well? The easy answer to this is "Tom", but let's go a little deeper than that.
First, let's talk about what Quattro was missing from day one. This is the one time I'll give credit to Enzo, so pay attention. Yes, we all know, Enzo was a terrible player, who never conceived a single move other than (maybe) naming the alliance. Sure, Matt was the strategist, Hayden was the executioner, Lane was the silent but deadly ally. But Enzo, fame-hungry, overconfident Enzo, did do one thing very well: he was an effective hype man.
Enzo spent Season 12 hyping the Brigade, until all of them truly believed what he was selling. Matt got along better with his "side alliance" Ragan, but because of his strategic single-mindedness and his belief in Enzo's hype, he never allowed himself to consider breaking the alliance. Lane considered it, and wisely kept it silent. Hayden never wavered either, allowing Enzo to take his athlete's team pride and wrap it up in the banner of their alliance. All four genuinely believed in the alliance and what it stood for.
Quattro lacked hype from the beginning. They rarely had group meetings. They aped the Brigade's general strategy, roping in two pairs of men, with Peter playing the dorky strategist role (Matt), Alec as the shirtless thinker (Hayden), Emmett as the hunky farmboy (Lane), and Tom as the bully and hype man (Enzo).
Quattro also successfully copied the Brigade's strategy of branching out and forming side alliances, in Topaz (Alec), Jillian (Emmett), and Liza (Tom). Poor Peter tried and failed to develop an effective side partner, but hey, Enzo never really had a true side alliance, either. So far, so good.
Still, the alliance crashed and burned by week three. Why? For the same reasons any alliance fails. The men grew suspicious of each other and began to think about outplaying each other. Tom refused to listen to his teammates, and Peter and Alec increasingly disliked his arrogance.
The classic Brigade strategy also contains a serious vulnerability in that side alliance concept: what happens when members spend more time with their side alliances and start to like them better? That's what sunk Matt in Season 12, the boys decided he was too close to Ragan and had to go.
The remaining members of Quattro will be at risk of this. If Topaz ever really opens up to Alec, will he start to be more interested in her than in the boys? If Peter ever finds a side alliance, will he get over his Liza funk and finally master the art of a secret alliance? What happens if Liza survives the double eviction and becomes his side alliance, given her tension with Emmett and Alec? And Emmett is awfully close to Jillian, to the point that he wants her in Quattro to replace Tom. Can the Brigade strategy work with members getting swapped in and out?
Moral of the story: On Big Brother, the strategy matters less than the execution. The Brigade was a brilliant strategy, only because the players were able to play it well.
The best Big Brother players are the ones who can read their housemates and adapt their strategy based on what they have to work with. Alec, Peter and Emmett seem to be doing this by pulling the plug on Tom earlier than planned.
Will it work to their advantage in the long run, or will Quattro become just another forgettable Big Brother alliance?
Why did Quattro fail at doing what The Brigade did so well? The easy answer to this is "Tom", but let's go a little deeper than that.
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| Big Brother 12's Brigade - note the hype man. |
Enzo spent Season 12 hyping the Brigade, until all of them truly believed what he was selling. Matt got along better with his "side alliance" Ragan, but because of his strategic single-mindedness and his belief in Enzo's hype, he never allowed himself to consider breaking the alliance. Lane considered it, and wisely kept it silent. Hayden never wavered either, allowing Enzo to take his athlete's team pride and wrap it up in the banner of their alliance. All four genuinely believed in the alliance and what it stood for.
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| Which one is the hype man? |
Quattro also successfully copied the Brigade's strategy of branching out and forming side alliances, in Topaz (Alec), Jillian (Emmett), and Liza (Tom). Poor Peter tried and failed to develop an effective side partner, but hey, Enzo never really had a true side alliance, either. So far, so good.
Still, the alliance crashed and burned by week three. Why? For the same reasons any alliance fails. The men grew suspicious of each other and began to think about outplaying each other. Tom refused to listen to his teammates, and Peter and Alec increasingly disliked his arrogance.
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| Watch your back, Tom... |
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| Big Brother's Bit on the Side? |
Moral of the story: On Big Brother, the strategy matters less than the execution. The Brigade was a brilliant strategy, only because the players were able to play it well.
The best Big Brother players are the ones who can read their housemates and adapt their strategy based on what they have to work with. Alec, Peter and Emmett seem to be doing this by pulling the plug on Tom earlier than planned.
Will it work to their advantage in the long run, or will Quattro become just another forgettable Big Brother alliance?
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