Big Brother 10 - News, rumors, and speculation
Well, folks … it’s countdown time! Big Brother 10 premieres on Sunday, July 13 at 8 PM ET/PT. As I write this, casting has been completed but no formal announcements have been made. I will assure you that I won’t be in the house this season although I’ll be your fly on the wall. You can get your live feed reports here at TV. So, in a way, I’ll be in the house. But not in a way that the folks on the internet can rip me apart!
Despite the show being just two weeks away, there is little concrete news. But there are plenty of rumors and speculations floating about. Read on past the jump for scheduling news and lots of rumors.
Unfortunately, this season will be airing the same nights as last season. I personally didn’t care for the two consecutive nights as the houseguests had a flurry of activity jammed into just a few days with several days of down time. It doesn’t really affect those who just watch the shows, but it makes for very odd and sometimes very boring live feed viewing.
The schedule:
- Sunday 8 PM ET/PT
- Tuesday 9 PM ET/PT
- Wednesday 8 PM ET/PT
Confirmed facts:
Allison Grodner is once again the executive producer of the show while Arnold Shapiro bailed out before the start of last season. Julie Chen remains the host and will be once again handling the live eviction nights. There will be a live audience on eviction nights. If you live in the Los Angeles area or plan to visit there this summer, you can find the information about how to get tickets via Audiences Unlimited. Real.com will once again be offering the live feeds (for a fee, of course). Big Brother After Dark on ShoToo (Showtime sister network) will once again air the feeds nightly from 12 AM ET until 3 AM ET.
Rumors and speculation:
I scoured the internet gathering the most interesting rumors from sources such as JokersUpdates, casting director Robyn Kaas’ MySpace page, and more.
- The rooms will be decorated with themes from various decades from the ’50s to present day.
- Although the theme on recent promos is “Together Again,” that’s referring to Big Brother and the summer season, not that the houseguests will necessarily have any previous relationships.
- This cast will boast more diversity in ages, race, religion, and politics. (One can only pray this one is true!)
- The cast was selected for their strong and often opposing opinions on various issues in hopes of making for a more interesting season.
- There will be another winter season set for 2009.
- One of the finalists has already quit and an alternate was chosen.
- The finalists are expected to go into hotel sequester sometime this coming week.
Are you ready for BB10?
More presenters announced for the Tonys
CBS has secured even more celebrities to grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall next Sunday. Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Julie Chen (Big Brother), Harry Connick, Jr. (Will & Grace), Laurence Fishburne, Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds), David Hyde Pierce, Lily Tomlin and John Waters (Til Death Do Us Part) have been added as presenters. These actors and actresses (and, er, Julie Chen) will join an already stellar list of presenters and host Whoopi Goldberg.
I have to admit it. I’m getting a little excited for The Tonys. I usually find them boring. The performances are fantastic but the awards in between are a bit of a snore. However, this cast of presenters is intriguing. I’ll at least be flipping back and forth hoping to catch the performances and my favorite stars.
The 62nd Annual Tony Awards will be held on Sunday June 15th from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
Big Brother 9 winners talk to Julie Chen
Last night Adam won $500,000 on Big Brother 9. Now, I know I heard Julie Chen tell them she’d be giving Adam his check and Ryan his winnings of $50,000 on The Early Show as is the standard practice. So, I turned on TV as I was heading out the door to my day job only to hear them say that Julie Chen has the day off today. Huh? I didn’t bother recording as they didn’t mention BB9 at all.
But there they were — taped after the finale last night. I found the video of the interview on the CBS website. It’s not embeddable, but if you follow me after the jump, I’ll bring up some of the main points … or, at least the ones I found interesting!
If you watch the video linked above, be warned — it repeats itself. It’s all very strange. There’s another video on the same site which is a mini-version of the one I linked. But this one includes all the content of that one and more. I suppose a strange check-giving presentation and interview is apropos for a strange season.
Here are some of the points brought up which caught my attention:
- Adam still declares he’ll be giving a portion to charity.
- Ryan is taking second place very well.
- Adam insists he didn’t throw the last part of the final HOH comp.
- Adam admitted had he won the last HOH, he would have taken Ryan to the final two.
- Adam thinks the house was very hard for Sheila and she’s probably a different (and better) person outside of the game.
- Heh. Adam mentioned that Sheila worried about too many “scenarials” — yes! He nailed her accent!
- In the article about the interview on the CBS site, it’s mentioned that Adam is planning to give $100,000 to the same autism group, Autism United, which led the outcry against him.
- Ryan said he left the game with his head held high, he wasn’t evicted out of there.
- Er, wait! He was indeed evicted early in the game!
The new season, Big Brother 10, is slated to start on July 13. Let’s hope for better hamsters!
Big Brother 9: Season Finale
(S09E35) Since Big Brother 9 is so into recaps at the beginning of each show — and they briefly recapped the whole season at the start of tonight’s finale — I think a recap of what it’s been like for an observer is in order, don’t you? Let’s see how quickly I can do it:
Oh, no! Writers on strike! Quick, get together a Big Brother winter season, make it couples, make it all about sex, get those ratings! Oh, no! The couples are flopping, go to singles, lose the “Til Death Do You Part” titling, sex isn’t working, horrible hamsters! Make Sheila cry some more! Phew, it’s D-U-N.
Read on past the jump for the full review of tonight’s finale.
Now, I really shouldn’t be the one to critique Julie Chen’s wardrobe. After all, I’m a jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers kind of person. But someone has to do the dirty work. What the heck was that she was wearing tonight? It was a white shell with designs on it topped by an odd little dark jacket-sweater trimmed and ruffled with the same design as the shell. Did it really need the ruffles? Wasn’t the trim enough? I guess it’s better than the biker mama boots she wore during the winter months of the season.
As I mentioned, they started the show with a brief recrap of the entire season. You would think that they’d realize that most folks watching the season finale are aware of what’s happened throughout the season. Since it’s only an hour long finale in a world where many shows have huge extravaganzas, I personally would have preferred them showing something new in the seven minutes or so they spent on it. Heck, let Parker, Amanda or Alex say something. They ended up being very neglected tonight.
When Julie announced to the viewers that we had a chance to vote for our favorite juror to win $25,000, I immediately thought … “Well, anyone not in this time zone won’t get a chance to vote.” Sure enough, the voting on the CBS website was very fluky and short-lived. Since they made the winner announcement at the end of the show here, I guess they forgot half the country exists. Obviously it didn’t affect me. I didn’t vote and I’m in the Eastern Time Zone, but I think it was a bad move on the part of CBS. They should have had the voting open over the weekend and promoted it.
They already had the jury gathered for questioning when Sheila walked in and, from my understanding, the jurors were separated after they asked their questions. They had it edited so that the jury was talking about who would make the final two. Natalie was liking Ryan’s chances of making it. Joshuah said that Ryan had a backbone and he didn’t think Sheila would win anything because “she can’t fight her way out of a wet paper bag.” Oops, there’s Sheila! Thankfully someone drove her there and they didn’t just set her down in a wet paper bag at the sequester house, eh?
To a degree I can sympathize about Sheila. But the common sense in me quickly takes over. Perhaps being a single mother wasn’t her personal choice, but she and only Big She is responsible for the decisions she’s made during her life. Having made decisions to quit high school, pose for Penthouse, bad choices in men … they were all her decisions. As I watch her, I can’t help but think that she seems to think she has some sense of entitlement. I may be reading too much into things, but it’s like she thinks she deserved to win the game based on how she’s screwed up her life. Say what? Instead of going on a reality show, perhaps she should have just worked at developing a real career, one which will support herself and her son.
Dang, she’s bitter about Adam being in the final two and not her! She told the other jurors that Adam threw the final part of the HOH comp. He later vehemently denied throwing it although he did throw the first part to Ryan. I think they both did horribly on the final part. Maybe they both were trying to throw it! It’s sour grapes on Sheila’s part. She told them that Adam deliberately threw it so that Ryan would do Adam’s dirty work and vote her out. As I watch the feeds, I’ll admit it was talked about. But since they couldn’t see what the other was answering and they both were horrible, I don’t think it mattered. Had Adam won, I think he would have brought Ryan to the final two with him thinking he’d fare against him better. Sheila would get sympathy votes.
As Natalie sat with her typical glazed, dazed, and confused look, Sheila said she had a moral dilemma with either of the boys winning. Matt, once Ryan’s best bro-friend, thinks that Ryan won more comps, but that Adam played a smart game. Natalie finally came out of her frozen face mode and said that no one figured out that Ryan had deals with everybody. That garnered an eye roll from James, big time. Sharon, now burned on Ryan turning on her but nowhere near as bitter as Sheila, thinks that Ryan is only where he is because of Adam.
Then it was time for the jury questioning of the final two.
- Matt asked them what they would do with the winnings. Adam told him he’d give $100,000 to after school programs for autistic kids, start a business, get a car, help children and save lives. (I hope he realizes that the winnings are only about $250,000 after taxes!) Ryan said he’d help his Mom out (Sheila smiled), do something nice for Jen (Chelsia gasps), probably give something to some charity. Joshuah said that Ryan’s answer was the worst.
- Sharon called Ryan out for betraying her and getting her evicted. Ryan lied to her, telling her first it wasn’t his plan, then changing his story to it was something which happened last second. He all but pointed his finger at Adam and said it was all Adam’s doing. (Although that should make Sheila feel a bit better.)
- Chelsia only questioned Ryan. She claimed that Jen was a “hatred person.” Ryan defended his Jen and that was the wrong answer according to Chelsia. That was just a very odd exchange. I really can’t grasp what it really had to do with winning anything.
- Joshuah got Adam all hot, bothered, and screaming as Adam is wont to do. He questioned him about throwing comps. Adam gets loud when he goes on defensive, truly an excitable boy. Joshuah didn’t like his screaming at him that he didn’t throw the last comp and only threw comps in the beginning of the game. (Josh is one to talk about that. When he thought he was safe, he threw comps all the time!)
- James said that Adam is a better competitor and questioned why he was in the final two instead of Sheila. Adam told him he played as a straight-shooter, turned negativity into positivity, and minimized his risks. (Sheila made faces of disgust during this.)
- Natalie introduced herself as Chatty just in case Ryan and Adam forgot who she is. She asked Adam why he didn’t take her into the final three which makes no sense as she didn’t make it to the final four, but that’s Natalie! She liked Adam’s response which basically sucked up to her skills, then turned to Ryan. She wanted to know why he didn’t keep his word to her and voted her out. He told her it was one of the hardest decisions he ever had to make. She smiled her vacant smile.
- Sheila lit into Adam, not unexpected. She claimed he lied to her face and said he would take her to the end of the game. Adam told her he did certain things to get her to the final three (he did). He said it was up to her to win comps (it was). She is such a miserable sore loser!
Both Adam and Ryan were given a chance to make one last statement to the jury. Ryan said that he did many things in the house that he wouldn’t do outside of the house. He claimed he played a stand-up game and won’t say anything bad about Adam. Adam said the jury should make their decision based on personal feelings, game play, and the plans for the money. Joshuah sneered all through Adam’s short speech as Sheila looked disgusted. They both later said Adam was too cocky.
Then it was time for the jury to cast their votes on the live stage. They used their house keys with their names and inserted them into the round box used for nominations all season. Each juror was allowed to say a brief statement as they voted.
- Matt - Misses them both, great job, one of them is taking him to Vegas.
- Natalie - Misses them, loves them even if they sucker-voted her out, going with her gut instinct.
- Joshuah - Will vote for the person who played best at every comp and has a backbone.
- Sharon - Will vote for the one most loyal in the game.
- Sheila - Said she knows it’s just a game but hopes loyalty, trust, and honesty had something to do with it.
- James - Hopes “you” party away the money.
- Chelsia - Hopes “you” hold the deal, what you promised at the round table is what you’re going to do. (Hey, don’t ask me. I wasn’t a Knight at that round table at that particular night.)
Is it time to reveal the vote? Nope! They bring out the evicted six so that Julie can get Allison and Jen into a spat. Jen reminded me of why I didn’t like her when she was in the house. On the other hand, I thought Allison handled herself fairly well in defense of Jen’s nastiness. Parker, Amanda, Alex, and Jacob were practically invisible. Julie also told Natalie that she might want to know Matt’s real reaction to her. He apologized for everything she might see.
Is it time to reveal the vote? Nope! Jule shows a clip showing Adam telling Natalie he voted to keep her. Adam wasn’t too upset — he said Ryan already knew about it even though he tried to lie and say he didn’t say it. Then they showed a clip of Joshuah’s fake crying and Adam falling for it. Now, that surprised Adam!
Is it time to reveal the vote? Nope, Julie tells them that the audience is voting for their favorite juror to win $25,000 and that it will be announced at the end of the show. Sheila looks excited. After all, she’s the most deserving, right?
Is it time to reveal the vote? YES, finally! Keep in mind that this is the vote for the win.
- Matt voted for Adam
- Natalie voted for Adam
- Joshuah voted for Ryan
- Sheila voted for Adam
- Sharon voted for Adam
At that point, Adam was declared the winner of Big Brother 9. Julie later revealed that both Chelsia and James had also voted for Adam, so all Ryan had was Joshuah’s sole vote for him to win. It’s a landslide. Adam once again promised money to autistic children. He doesn’t realize he has lots of damage control to do for calling them retards, does he?
Then Julie announced that Sheila came in second place for the favorite juror win and James was the winner. He was ecstatic while she just deflated, again like the Wicked Witch of the West — “I’m melting, I’m MELTING!”
And there we go, it’s D-U-N. I found one of the most appropriate images of Adam from the live feeds to accompany this review so we can all think of him in his true glory. As Natalie prepares dinner, he picks his nose. Hey, it could be worse. I could have used one with his hand down his pants!