The one hundred and fifty-eighth TV show: #575 Big Brother
I remember the first Big Brother season. Not - probably - the one you know, but the very first Dutch season that became a larger hit than anyone expected. It was meant to be a social experiment, I believe they marketed it with some strange events happening in the house messing with people's minds, but those were quickly dropped when it turned out people enjoyed just seeing these people hang out. I even remember going online on a dial up connection (or did we have cable at this point?) and watching grainy black and white footage of these people. It was mostly a normal, but large house, with a fence to keep people out, but no luxuries and no have-not bedrooms or similar. Their budget varied based on how well they did but, as I suppose it was partially improvised, most of the show was about the participants hanging out and the going-ons between them. I guess it seemed boring now, but having two of the house guests have sex under the covers and the betrayal of a secret nomination for elimination was shocking at the time. There are no head of house votes, no battles, just the experiment of having people together, see who votes who off, and where all of this goes.
Watching some episodes of Big Brother US and Canada as this viewing, the show feels so different. Contestants are really producing themselves, aware of what's happening and what the consequences of their actions are, playing a game and talking about strategies, rather than the far more interesting story of how they live their life. You get cronies around the head of household, alliances that go far beyond what stays interesting, and it lost that charm of people just living their lives. It's obnoxious and hard to watch, and I'm going to say that the original formula - although it didn't hold much interest after a first season - is better than the mess this show became at this point.