Sadly, the second part of that headline was a lie, but rejoice! The first part was true! Big Brother has been lumbering to it’s death like a drunken elephant staggering towards a cliff face for several years now and, thanks to the plummeting ratings and complete disinterest from the tabloids, next year’s Big Brother will be the very last one.
I’m not usually one to celebrate a show getting the axe. I always argue that hey, if you don’t enjoy a show, just don’t watch it. But reality TV is something very different. It’s tacky, and easy, and cheap. It’s a way for broadcasters to avoid having to pay all those annoying costs (like, oh, writers and actors and directors and special effects artists and the like) and just fill their schedules with programming whose sole purpose is to attract advertisers. The more reality TV appears, the less we see decent scripted material on television; hopefully, if reality TV starts to die off, we might see things shift the other way.
Of course, I’m probably speaking too soon. Just because Channel 4 aren’t extending the show doesn’t mean that Five or Sky One won’t try to pick up the rights and welcome another mob of media-hungry attention-hounds into the Bungalow of the Damned (thanks to Marina Hyde for that one.)
Well that’s good news I must say, about time too, even my kids think its time to put it to rest and they have been big fans ever since it started all those years ago when they were glued to the screen day and night, now its just a cursory glance to see if anything of “interest” is going on. I hope it doesn’t get picked up by anyone else, it needs to go along with all the other reality crap, then, as you say we can get back to something worth watching.
That shits was still on?