# I saw Big Brother for the first time last night... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2000, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835 "2000-08-18T10:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/1 "2000-08-18T10:53:32Z")
is it just me or should this show be renamed _The Whining, Wailing, Gnashing of Teeth, Fuck You, Get Outta Here Crap-tactular_? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/2 "2000-08-18T10:56:52Z")
This is what you bastards have ben watching for the last half of a year? I think I’ll continue to skip _Survivor_. ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/3 "2000-08-18T11:04:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChiefScott \* > \*\*This is what you bastards have ben watching for the last half of a year? I think I’ll continue to skip _Survivor_. \*\* I’ve seen about ten minutes of it in totl while channel hopping. I have a theory - to help me prove it, tell me ChiefScott (& any others) do you like soap operas? (other than the sdmb one of course!) & do you like big brother/survivor/whatever it is called in your country? I don’t & I find the programme bores me. Everyone that I know that likes it seems to be an avid soap fan, so they are used to following the trivia of other people’s lives. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/4 "2000-08-18T11:29:53Z")
That _Survivor_ show… Isn’t there one called _Castaway?_ And _Shipwrecked?_ And _Stranded?_ And _Lost in the woods?_ And _I’m stuck in a hole?_ And _Waah, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up?_ ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/5 "2000-08-18T12:12:57Z")
For the record, Survivor is infinately more amusing then Big Brother. The people on Survivor are backstabbing, bloodthirst sons of bitches. The people on Big Brother are apparently all from Wisconsin. (oooooh, yaaaaaa.) Doesn’t make for good drama. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/6 "2000-08-18T12:17:31Z")
I watch them both. I now find conventional tv boring. I want REALITY TV! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/7 "2000-08-18T12:21:27Z")
I’m embarrassingly hooked on Survivor. However, after watching glimpses of Big Brother, I was embarrassed for the hostess and participants. Since it’s live and not able to be edited, they can’t just show us the interesting parts and move on. Instead we get to see the mundane. And, let’s face it, if we wanted mundane, we’d turn off the tube and sit on our front porch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/8 "2000-08-18T12:36:01Z")
Nah, for mundane, we come _here_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/9 "2000-08-18T12:57:40Z")
Survivor’s a lot more interesting than Big Brother. Big Brother is too similiar to Mtv’s The Real World. I watched part of Big Brother last night for the first time and I have a question… what’s up with that chick’s green hair? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/10 "2000-08-18T12:58:11Z")
Pointless too! Do these schmucky schlubs win anything if they don’t get evicted? And what’s the deal with the ostrisized (? Not worried about tracking down a dictionary) member caling back to the house to lament her fate? ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/11 "2000-08-18T13:09:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kellibelli \* > \*\*I watch them both. > > I now find conventional tv boring. I want REALITY TV! \*\* Atta girl…me too. However, I’m ashamed to admitt that I’ve been watching ABC’s"Making the Band" It’s on tonight. Trez Goofy Hi…my name is Jimmy and I have a problem with REALITY TV. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/12 "2000-08-18T13:55:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles \* > \*\*The people on Big Brother are apparently all from Wisconsin. (oooooh, yaaaaaa.) Doesn’t make for good drama. \*\* OUCH! Don’t forget though, Sue (from _Survivor_) is from Wisconsin. Otherwise, I agree with you. _Survivor_ is much better than _Big Brother_. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/13 "2000-08-18T14:34:40Z")
That Julie Chen is one of the devil’s minions, I am sure of it! She is EVIL! And most of Big Brother is edited and compiled for the daily half hour show, only the hour long weekly one is live. I know it isnt wildly exciting, but there is an illicit thrill to watch them, and they dont know for sure if they are on camera at the time. Like Josh rubbing his nipple in the bathroom - YOWSA! I cant beleive Jimmy watches ‘Making the Band’. Oh my god! tee hee… Oh my lord jimmy, tell me it isnt true! you used to be so, so…_cool_! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/14 "2000-08-18T15:06:00Z")
Big Brother is painfully boring most of the time, mainly because these dimwits never actually DO anything. The “challenges” the producers have set up are so asenine, and completely antithetical to good television. Ride a stationary bike for 1000 miles in a week? Is that supposed to be interesting? Whoo boy, after that excitement, I think we all need about five minutes worth of someone washing their face! You know you’re in trouble when the most exciting thing you have broadcast in the six weeks you’ve been on the air is a bunch of dominoes falling over. Survivor!, on the other hand, really is compelling. Since all the footage was in the can long before they started broadcasting it, they have been able to manipulate the audience by creating actual “characters” out of the participants. We’ve got the cranky old man, the redneck, the arrogant naked fat guy, etc. We, as an audience used to identifying performances in simple terms due to our overexposure to fiction film and television, can be pulled into the drama, develop rooting interests in the characters, and so forth. Big Brother, which for the most part is undistilled bilge water sucked up from these people’s daily lives, offers us just a boring collage of conversations we wouldn’t bother to take part in if we were in the room at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/15 "2000-08-18T15:07:50Z")
Big Brother is mind-numbingly awful, but you MUST read the hilarious summing-up of each episode on [http://www.salon.com](http://www.salon.com)—makes watching the show worthwhile! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/16 "2000-08-18T15:09:26Z")
Stupid dashes. Try [http://www.salon.com](http://www.salon.com) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/17 "2000-08-18T15:41:06Z")
Big Brother, the people are ordinary, very. Brittanny & her touchy feeling stuff, come on, major upchuck. Josh playing all the girls & he has a girlfriend outside who has to watch him do that touchy feely with Brit, major upchuck. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/18 "2000-08-18T16:40:38Z")
I can either watch Big Brother or put my finger way to the back of my throat to induce vomiting. They have the same effect except one takes much less time out of my busy day… ---
**Author:** ![eyor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@eyor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eyor)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/19 "2000-08-18T16:47:54Z")
I can not believe how incredibly boring this show is! I couldnt even watch 2 minutes of it, it is so dull! Can anyone honestly say that they enjoy watching this show? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835/20 "2000-08-18T16:54:33Z")
Actually (as I’ve mentioned before), my wife and I enjoy “Big Brother” to some degree. Not because the people are inherently interesting, or because the challenges are compelling, but because the whole scenario is so freakin’ **sadistic** , much more so than “Survivor.” Yes, the stuff they do on that tropical island is difficult, and they have to cope with rain and cold and rats and stuff, but that’s all superficial; you don’t have to re-examine yourself to succeed. The torment on “Big Brother” is much more existential, as the participants are basically laid bare as human beings, their motives and methods and very identities put beneath the microscope. Yes, it’s quite a bit more esoteric than “Survivor,” which is much more accessible because of the very manipulation several posters above have decried, but if you’re a student of human nature, “Big Brother” is more interesting. On one show, for example, they all randomly drew the name of another housemate, and they had to pretend to be that person. Sounds kind of obvious, I know, but after just a couple of minutes it became obvious what a cruel activity it really was. They all got to see themselves pilloried and satirized, and they couldn’t do anything about it, since they had to keep up their own act. The feedback loop was fascinating, as they all got meaner and meaner about making fun of who they were playing. Like I said, though, it’s not as easy to get into, and it’s kind of an acquired taste, but it does have its value… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-big-brother-for-the-first-time-last-night/29835.md?page=2)