BB FANS

Thanks Jim

June 06, 2005
From:news.com.au

NAKED and unashamed, the inmates of the Big Brother household parade, unfazed by the knowledge their prejudices and peccadilloes are being recorded and compiled for viewing on Big Brother Uncut.

Are they indifferent to the camera's prying lens?
Or do they actually crave this exposure?

Or does the prospect of winning the cash gleam more brightly for people unable or unwilling to acknowledge the price they pay in lost dignity and self-respect?

Uncut might exasperate and appal but it certainly appeals to the voyeur within.

Full-frontal nudity, soft-core shenanigans and language which spews from right out of the drain.

Even the most half-hearted peep show aficionado couldn't resist such up-front titillation.

And Uncut has been getting the ratings to go with it, averaging around a million viewers per turgid, MA 15+ rated episode.

While these numbers are down a little on Uncut 2004, they still show there's a big market for the ribald and tawdry antics of the young and avaricious.

The public's acceptance of Uncut demonstrates that Australian television has travelled a considerable distance - up towards freedom and enlightenment, or down towards utter debasement and degradation, depending on your point of view - since the 1970s.

Back then it was the inclinations of homosexual Don in Number 96 causing anxiety for those dedicated to the cleanliness of the social fabric and its comparatively fragile moral fibres.

Number 96 featured Australia's first full frontal nude scene.

And doing her part for the ratings and the cause of furthering community unease about depictions of unorthodox sexual behaviour and offensive language was the TV soap's sex kitten, Abigail.

In the 1980s, the late Graham Kennedy uttered the F-word live on his late night news show in response to a letter from a viewer.

It must have seemed to some like the end of civilisation as we knew it.

Fortunately, civilisation has proven more durable than they thought.

These days successful media professionals such as

Andrew Denton regularly allow their guests to drop the odd expletive.

On English interviewer Michael Parkinson's program broadcast last Saturday night, US actor Bruce Willis asked his host if he could use the F-word.

And the first expression out of the mouth of clean-cut variety host Rove McManus when he won the Logie this year wasn't a humble speech of thanks for all those toilers behind the scenes who really deserve to be sharing his worthy accolade.

"F***ing Awesome" the presenter screamed.

Yet civilisation persists.

In fact, programs including Uncut wouldn't exist without it.

They are a barometer of a society's organic evolution, not necessarily to a better place but certainly to somewhere we've both never been and are destined to revisit as long as humans live in groups large enough to require organised entertainment of this ilk.

THE scandalous buffoonery, the bisexual romps and inane yet explicit conversations on Uncut prove only that selected young people in the 21st century will go a long way in the pursuit of money and fun.

If there is a cause for concern, it shouldn't be about the profanity of the inmates and the fact we can watch them taking a shower.

It should be that so many people find it entertaining.

A trawl through the websites dedicated to discussion of the crudities and other highlights featured on Uncut shows there is little sympathy for those on the inside.

How long before the interactive component of the program extends to viewers being able to punish those they detest while rewarding the favourites?

Uncut encourages contempt for others. Maybe they even deserve it, but who is anyone else to judge?

Using the defence that the inmates' consent to the conditions of the program falls over if the particiapants' sense of responsibility can be called into question.

A better defence is that this is what people actually want to watch.

It makes you wonder how many apply for inclusion in the household.

The real program would be to watch them pass through the selection process.

Isolating the more risque images which are recorded by the cameras and packaging them up as a franchise-style, branded entertainment commodity also reeks of callous exploitation.

The creators and the television station owners are making a killing by placing delicate psyches under unnatural pressures.

Sure, the word "delicate" might not seem appropriate for a young bloke who rubs his ***** on the back of a female inmate's head, but indelicate psyches can be exploited too.

Fascinating, maybe, but only if you switch the sympathy button off.

Channel 10 is on a winner, having correctly judged the market for its full-frontal, soft-core snuff.

Ten spokeswoman Margaret Fearne was reluctant to be drawn on the subject of complaints about Uncut, saying that there had been both viewer complaints and compliments.

"We run extensive consumer advice before the show," Ms Fearne told The Daily Telegraph.

"We also show that advice in advertising breaks during the show. It has an adult classification rating and is scheduled in an appropriate time slot.

"We do not advertise the show during normal viewing hours or during programs we think would be watched by children."

Which is exactly why so many children, plenty of them under 15, watch it, either with or without parental permission.

The fragile psyches are both in front of the camera and behind it.

From The Eye
06jun05

THIS year's Big Brother has shown the darker side of humanity, with racism, bullying and stupidity featuring regularly.

BB online forums are awash with chatter from viewers outraged over Glenn's remarks and a seedy incident between Michael and Gianna.

Eye reader Peter said he had heard during a live feed Victorian shearer Glenn making several racist comments and jokes over many days, but it appeared to have been ignored by producers of the BB daily shows.

Glenn has only been fined once by BB for racial vilification.

"Tim was explaining to Glenn why his joke was wrong and racist yet Glenn could not see that what he said was wrong - again Big Brother has not seemed to fine or reprimand Glenn over these disgusting comments," Peter said.

Other readers have expressed their discomfort in BB for allowing housemates to use the word "******" or the coded "n-bomb".

Michael has outraged viewers with what appeared to be some serious hypocrisy.

The big burly bloke played the hero when Sydney journo Tim became the brunt of all the jokes.

He told other housemates he would put his foot down and the others "would obey" him if the bullying continued.

Just a few days later, the 27-year-old Michael could clearly be seen pulling his tackle out of his pants and rubbing it against Gianna's hair, as she sat at the dinner table oblivious to his actions.

When Gianna figured out what the laughs were about, she looked mortified.

"It was a cruel and disgusting thing to do to get cheap laughs, and as far as I'm concerned, it constituted sexual harassment," reader Alex said.

Or bullying at the very least.

Single guy

THERE'S been plenty of speculation about Glenn's relationship situation.

We can confirm he was definitely on a break from his girlfriend before entering the house, but she has apparently said she will wait for him.

But there are rumours Dean's girlfriend has decided to break up with him after watching his behaviour in the house.

Blonde conflict

WE'RE wondering what part intelligence played in Big Brother audition requirements.

Intruder Rachael had her first blonde moment last week - "it might cause some confliction" - and we have a feeling there could be more to come.

From Sydney Confidential
06jun05

THE most infamous backside on television made one final appearance last night as Michael became the fifth housemate to be evicted from this year's Big Brother house.

The 27-year-old demolition man, who reckons his rear is his best feature, flashed his plumber's behind when he leaned over to hug his family after being kicked out.
His controversial antics on Big Brother Uncut seemed to sway the audience, with Michael getting 48 per cent of the vote.

Michael, a demolition man, had caused controversy with a practical joke that bordered on sexual harassment.

During Monday night's Uncut program on Channel 10, the pierced joker from NSW was massaging Gianna's shoulders with his fly unzipped and his ***** hanging out.

Michael last night defended his actions and said the incident was one of many playful moments in the house.

"For it to be sexual harassment the other person has to feel harassed," Michael said.

"Gianna did not have a problem with it and if she did I would have done something about it."

Last night's eviction was closely fought with Michael on 48 per cent, Queensland's Dean Glucina, 24, on 43 per cent and Christie, 19, from NSW, on only 9 per cent.

It was a week of disruptions with new housemates Rachael, 22, and Vesna, 28, entering the house, upsetting the dynamic.

They replaced ousted housemates Nelson Russell, 23 and Constance, 21, who were found guilty of lying, claiming they did not have partners.

For the remaining housemate this year's $1 million prizemoney has dwindled to $800,000 after housemates continue to be fined for breaking the rules.

But he was missed by at least a few of his housemates.

Geneva rushed into the bathroom and sobbed for a good 30 minutes and Liverpool girl

Rachael teared up as well.

Geneva and Michael were best friends in the house, while he also confessed to having a bit of a soft spot for Tim.

As for the rest of them, Michael simply said what the rest of us are thinking: "There weren't too many intelligent conversations going on in the house."

Murmurs

WE'VE had a few calls about Big Brother replacement housemate Rachael since she entered the compound last week.

Apparently she was working until two weeks ago as a dancer at the Men's Gallery strip club in the city under the alias Victoria.

Our spy says she was employed there for four months so stay tuned because we reckon she'll be pretty handy with the pole in the house.

June 6, 2005
SMH.com.au

Family organisations and women's groups have slammed the latest season of Big Brother, with one group branding it "sewage" TV.

Evictee Michael created a storm when he dropped his pants during last week's adults-only Uncut version of the Ten Network's reality program.

The 27-year-old demolition man - who was evicted on Sunday night - was seen massaging fellow housemate Gianna's shoulders, his ***** exposed all the while.

The incident sparked cries of sexual harassment and prompted calls for Big Brother Uncut to be pushed into a timeslot later than its current 9.30pm on Mondays.

Yesterday, Michael described the incident as a harmless "practical joke".

He said Gianna had not expressed disgust about his behaviour.

"Sexual harassment is a serious issue and should not be used to describe this," he said.

Michael, who appeared on Big Brother's Live Nominations last night with Gianna, apologised to her on television.

"I had my mum in tears thinking that people were being mean to me," he said.

"I have a feeling that her (Gianna's) family and she herself were put through the same thing..."

The evictee said if viewers didn't like what they saw, they should switch off their TV.

National vice-president of the Australian Family Association, Bill Muehlenberg, was both disgusted and bored by such antics.

"It's boring and banal sewage being pumped into our living rooms," said Muehlenberg, adding that even 9.30pm was too early to screen the Uncut show.

"Even the ads showing the juicy bits are bad."

Muehlenberg said the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was "too weak" to deal with the situation.

Endeavour Forum, a pro-family woman's organisation, said the incident involving Michael was degrading to both sexes.

"The segment that I saw sends out the message that men exposing themselves is okay and I don't think it is," said Babette Francis, Endeavour Forum's national coordinator.

She said Uncut should be pushed back past 9.30pm.

But the ABA said Ten was responsible for Big Brother and its classifications.

"It's also the role of the broadcaster to accept and deal with any complaints that they get from viewers," ABA spokesman Donald Robertson said, adding that Big Brother was not under investigation.

Robertson pointed out that Uncut, which is rated MA 15+ (for mature adult audiences only) was adhering to classification guidelines by going to air at 9.30pm.

Network Ten was unavailable for comment.

June 07, 2005
Sydney Confidential

BIG Brother evictee Michael said yesterday he would be "devastated" if fellow housemate Gianna felt sexually harassed after an incident involving the pair shown on last week's Big Brother Uncut.

Michael was seen massaging the shoulders of an unsuspecting Gianna with his fly unzipped and what should have been kept inside - hanging visibly outside.
"Since I've come out of the house it's all anybody wants to talk to me about," Michael said yesterday.

"Sexual harassment is a very serious thing and I would be absolutely devastated if Gianna felt harassed in any way but it wasn't like that at all.

"We're all young kids in the house having some fun and, of course, there are some sexual things that go on there but the harassment is something I'd have to talk to Gianna about and see how she felt."

Michael, the 27-year-old demolition man/bartender from Sydney's Northern Beaches, said yesterday he hoped viewers would keep Kate, Tim and Geneva in the house.

"They're not part of the ruling pack and I think the three of them will slowly be evicted but I really hope they're not. They're the only ones in there I could have an intelligent conversation with."

Michael, who joked yesterday he was going to negotiate some kind of promotional deal with Blue Haven because of his love of the house spa, also stood up for intruder Rachael.

"A lot of people have been quite cruel to her. She's a 22-year-old girl who is very out of her depth and I don't think the audience has had the chance to see just how little she's fitted in with the housemates."

Rachael cried uncontrollably when he left on Sunday, despite the fact she was only in the house a few days and hardly knew him.

"I feel sorry for her, people need to give her a chance," Michael said. "The first week everybody was like that, but they had a chance to adapt, and she hasn't."

Michael thinks Centrebet favourite, Kate, will win.

"She is smarter than everybody else, is playing the game well, and she is a really great girl," he said.

June 8, 2005
smh

Some viewers find the 7pm episodes expendable, but they provide vital clues as to which housemate is leaving on Sunday (usually the one who, by midweek, is still in hysterics over being nominated). They're also great entertainment, despite the absence of intelligent conversation. How did Channel Ten unearth this appalling mix of ockers, ditzes, exhibitionists, bullies and brutes?

The Big Brother website tracking poll suggests the race to win is wide open. Of the early favourites, the popularity of the Logan twins is fading as their novelty wears off, while Glenn's rumpy-pumpy on Uncut has provided laughs but probably renders him less electable.

Could a flawed-but-tender-hearted roughie like Christie or Hotdogs emerge from the pack? You heard it here first.

By Natalie Greggthemercury
08jun05

THOUSANDS of children are tuning into Channel 10's explicit MA-rated Big Brother Uncut program.

According to OzTam figures, 3000 children aged five to 12 were among the 159,000 people who tuned in to last Monday's Uncut at 9.30pm.

The late-night format has revealed full-frontal nudity, fondling, lip-locking saliva exchanges and one case of serious groin grinding.

This year, Big Brother producers said they set out to find sexy, single, extroverts and they have delivered.

The Courier-Mail had a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what it takes to put together Channel 10's 100-day series and even had a voyeuristic peek at the housemates.

For the past month the housemates' late-night antics have arguably been the most salacious in the five-year history of the series.

The housemates' privacy has become public property. And so have their sexual exploits.

This year has revealed same-sex and opposite-sex kissing, fondling and **********. The explicit sexual conversations would be educational for many viewers as would Geneva and Glenn's steamy heavy-petting session in the sauna.

And Michael's practical joke – having his ***** hanging out while massaging Gianna's shoulders – caused controversy with the story broadcast on talkback radio and A Current Affair after its airing.

Channel 10 is not commenting on the issue but has said no punishment had been meted out.

A Ten spokeswoman said the network had received "quite a few" complaints about Uncut from the older demographic.

Ten's production and development chief Tim Clucas defended the Uncut program as a "duty" to the audience.

"One of the housemates will win the cash prize and if the public only make that decision based on cleaned-up family-friendly vision, they may be doing the wrong thing," Mr Clucas said.

Executive producer Kris Noble said this year's housemates were much more volatile and had kept producers on their toes.

"They are much more unpredictable and at every moment something could happen," he said.

The most intelligent of the bunch appears to be leftie journalist Tim Brunero, 28, who has educated his ignorant housemates about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Of all the housemates it is Tim who has been subject to bullying. The situation has improved but producers were so concerned, Big Brother intervened more than once to ask Tim if he was handling the harassment.

While the spontaneous interaction does provoke interesting viewing, it is not enough to create 7½ hours of Big Brother programming.

The 150-strong production team has 24 hours to collect, collate, censor and organise the previous days' footage from 38 cameras into a half-hour daily show, as well as a live eviction show, live nomination show, Friday Night Live and Uncut.

Big Brother supervising tasks producer Jonathon Summerhayes has taken care of tasks and house logistics since the inception of the series.

He comes up with the wacky activities housemates must complete to earn their weekly grocery money and helps invent the equally silly challenges for Friday Night Live.

"We can use activities if we feel like changing the direction of the show or want to help create a storyline," he said.

Mr Summerhayes said the Friday Night Live challenge was an effective tool to draw out personalities.

"The activities bring out the natural leaders, the obviously lazy people and getting them to work together as a team exposes weaknesses very easily.

"Every housemate comes in with a mask and it takes a while to chip away at the facade."

Production executive Monique Hennessy led the behind-the-scenes tour through the blacked-out corridors, through which camera operators film the Big Brother house.

While peering through a black curtain covering the 360m of one-way mirrors spanning the Big Brother house, the concept suddenly becomes real. The voyeuristic feeling of watching the program on television is magnified. It is reminiscent of a human zoo and resisting the temptation to tap on the glass is difficult.

Mr Noble explains housemates do actually forget they are being watched because all the cameras are hidden.

"Also, they are very outspoken people and it is easy to forget the cameras are there – with the social pressure in the house."

I have to say that I don't think the uncut footage would go down too well over here. It would draw in the viewers but I'd think it'd get too many complaints. Besides we have never had a group of contestants anything like the current OZ ones and they would struggle to find footage to create an Uncut show people would want to watch.

They show lots of shower sences (ref - full frontal nudity) ,there are lots of very explicit discussions mainly from the girls. And it has to be said the girls have been shown more than the boys when it comes to releaving the sexual tension and they have been quite inventful at times. The boys haven't escaped in this department but as in the UK they can't show more than the back of someone standing in the tollets releaving their tention.
I haven't watched last weeks Uncut but both parties where on Yesterdays (Monday) Uncut and both are comfortable with what was meant to be a joke. Gianna saw it in the context it was intended and was in no way felt harrassed by it.

The uncut shows are available the same day or the day after in the alt.binaries.tv.big-brother newsgroup and the Efnet #big-brother IRC via the Brobot server so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
This show is so much better than UK BB6 it's a shame the coverage isn't more readily available though free streaming is possible after signing up on the homepage.
Everybody who I've introducted to it who's watched it so far prefers it to the UK show.

From Sydney Confidential
10jun05

THERE have been rumours of a celebrity Big Brother intruder for some time, but at last the name of a celeb tacky enough to actually enter the house has been attached: Paris Hilton.

Rumours suggesting Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman seemed far-fetched, but the fact Hilton's horror flick House of Wax has its Australian premiere next month has added weight to the talk.


Paris hasn't confirmed her attendance at the film's premiere, but she was keen to be part of the German Big Brother.

10jun05
QUEENSLAND NEWS

BIG Brother producers were encouraging impressionable young fans of the reality TV show to break the law to attain their "five minutes of fame", a Gold Coast court was told yesterday.

Friends Joshua Edgar, 17, and Kyle Hunter, 18, faced Southport Magistrate's Court charged with trespassing after trying to break into the Big Brother compound at the Coast's Dreamworld theme park last month.

They scaled a fence on the night of May 10 and were close to the house when they were detained by security guards including Edgar's godfather, the court was told.

Barrister Deborah Kellie, for Edgar, argued that her client should be admonished rather than punished by the court because of the hype generated by Big Brother.

She said the show had been branded as irresponsible in several countries "and some would see the Australian show as bordering on the same".

Psychological research suggested Big Brother had "a lot of aspirational effects" on its viewers, who were encouraged to seek their "five minutes of fame" at the weekly eviction shows, Ms Kellie said.

She said a rule that housemates were to have no contact with the outside world was well publicised, and claimed there was "an expectation by the promoters of the show that people would try to get into the house".

Ms Kellie said Edgar was a Big Brother "devotee" who had never missed an episode of the show and discussed the goings-on in the house with his security guard godfather.

"It's not surprising a young boy, for a lark one evening, decided to try to get into the house," she said. "But his court appearance today is not the five minutes of fame he was hoping for. It's his five minutes of infamy and Joshua seriously regrets it."

Ms Kellie said Edgar, a TAFE multimedia student, had acted immaturely and should be treated as an "Australian larrikin" rather than a criminal.

Magistrate John Costanzo told Edgar and Hunter they needed to protect their reputations if they wanted to get somewhere in life, before placing them on six-month $150 good-behaviour bonds. No convictions were recorded.

Big Brother producers Southern Star Endemol declined to comment yesterday.

12jun05
The Sunday Mail (Qld)

BIG Brother has been slammed as "toxic TV" after two housemates appeared to have sex in a bath at the series compound on the Gold Coast early yesterday.

After five seasons of the high-rating Channel 10 program, country boy Glenn, 21, and Gold Coast promotions assistant Michelle, 25, were reported to be the first couple to have sex in the house at Dreamworld.
"In the early hours of Saturday morning, it looks like Glenn and Michelle took their relationship to another level," said David Brown, a spokesman for production company Endemol Southern Star.

Angry family groups and community leaders immediately called on parents and children to boycott the show.

Family Council of Queensland president Alan Baker said: "This act sinks Australian broadcasting to a new low. It's toxic TV. We don't need this sort of thing broadcasted where children have the chance to see it."

Australian Family Association president Bill Muehlenberg said Ten should be "ashamed of themselves".

"They put together hormonally charged kids in a hothouse and plied them with alcohol.

"It is Big Brothel – money and sex. It is bottom-of-the-barrel television. We don't need it at all, but especially not on prime-time TV."

Survey figures show thousands of children, aged five to 12, have been watching the adults-only Big Brother Uncut at 9.40pm on Mondays, where sexual antics are on show.

Gold Coast City Councillor Rob Molhoek, a senior elder at the Southport Church of Christ, called on Ten to cancel the show.

"The show is pushing the boundaries," he said.

Last Sunday's evictee, Michael, created the first wave of bad publicity when he dropped his pants during Uncut.

ninemsn

Network Ten seems to have abandoned any sense of morality and decency with its Big Brother Uncut show, claims a South Australian MP.

Family First Legislative Councillor Andrew Evans has called on the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) to investigate if the producers are deliberately promoting acts of sexual harassment.

Mr Evans said he had received a number of complaints about nudity and other behaviour displayed on the show which he said aired at 9.30 pm (CST) when many school children were still watching television.

He also pointed to one incident in which a Big Brother evictee was shown massaging the shoulders of an unsuspecting female housemate with his fly unzipped and a part of his anatomy hanging out.

"If that type of behaviour had occurred in a pub involving a football player, the police would have been called in," Mr Evans said.

"Why on earth the television station is allowing this type of behaviour that encourages sexual harassment to air at a time when school children are often still up and doing homework is beyond me."

The MP said he believed it was time for the authorities to intervene.

"Channel Ten seems to have abandoned any sense of morality and decency by promoting such appalling behaviour and the appropriate authorities must now take action," he said.

Row over Big Brother bath scene

The original complaints over the live coverage forgot to mention that it took place in the early hours of the morning (think it was something like 4am) when I wouldn't expect the viewing levels to be that high and certainly not minors.
I'd say there was a higher possibility of minors in Europe watching the live scene than there was in OZ.

Secondly at the start of the Uncut show there were plenty of warnings as to the shows content and advice to change channel if you would be offended . The show carries a 'MA' rating (Mature Adult) which would be the same as an '18' in the UK.

The bath scene did look rather intense but Michelle insists that they did not have sex.

Why do people watch something they find offensive ?
And where were the parents of these young children who were watching ?
They should carry some of the responsibility for allowing them to watch it in the first place. I know you can't control everything they do but with the claimed viewing ages I know I wouldn't allow unsupervised Internet usage.

They should think themselves lucky that they don't broadcast footage like some of the European BB shows have in the past ,and some fined as a result.