theage
By Amy Fallon
August 12, 2005 - 4:08PM
After five years Big Brother is still watching - and so are viewers.
The 2005 instalment of the reality TV phenomenon will go down as the most controversial yet.
This Sunday night, viewers will choose to oust bubbly hairdresser Vesna, aspiring journalist Tim or one half of the Logan twins, sales representative Greg, with voting being neck and neck at the moment.
The runner-up will then be evicted the following night.
If you thought you'd seen it all in the fifth version, the show's host Gretel Killeen says there is room for another Big Brother and it could bring with it even more surprises.
The 2005 Big Brother was controversial right from the very first episode.
It included lying, allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, animal cruelty and homophobia, full frontal nudity and sexual antics and even a parliamentary debate.
Killeen agreed the 2005 version of Big Brother "got off to a bang right from the start".
In the first week, housemates Constance and Nelson were booted out of the Gold Coast compound after it was revealed they had lied about having partners to scrape through their auditions.
Nelson later apologised to Australia's Jewish community for calling Big Brother "a Jew".
This was just the beginning of the troubles.
After five years of near-matches, it appeared a pair of love-sick housemates finally had sex in the Gold Coast compound in Big Brother Uncut, the late night risque version of the show.
Country boy Glenn and Gold Coast model Michelle were filmed getting hot and steamy in a bath.
Both later denied they did the deed.
But their antics, along with other incidents such as Michael massaging Gianna's shoulders with his ***** exposed, got the show in hot water with viewers, community groups and also federal parliament.
The Australian Family Association labelled the show "sewage television", while the Endeavour Forum, a pro-family woman's organisation, said Big Brother was degrading to both sexes, especially females.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan later asked the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) to investigate whether Uncut complied with the TV industry's code of practice, and to check whether current mechanisms were enough to deal with reality TV shows.
This week, the ABA said it was still investigating three episodes of Big Brother Uncut.
Ten later apologised for the attitudes of some of its male housemates towards women, and attempted to tone down Uncut.
But the network was adamant the entire way through the show was never in danger of being taken off air.
The Uncut controversy died down slightly, but it didn't stop the housemates from getting into other trouble.
The RSPCA announced it would investigate Glenn, who became known as Shearer, over his alleged on-air boasts that he bashed a kangaroo to death.
Meanwhile, Kate denied she was homophobic despite saying the sight of two guys kissing in the reality TV compound was "disgusting" and made her sick.
Despite all the criticism, Killeen still thinks Big Brother is one of the greatest shows on the box.
"I think technically it's great television," the host said.
"Storyline wise, I think it's great. Characters, I think it's great."
Killeen said the beauty of Big Brother was that it also allowed people to discuss issues that mightn't ordinarily come up.
"It's reality television," Killeen said. "If reality television gives us a format, the different ways that people think and the different values that people have, then let's watch and let's talk about it.
"Everybody doesn't have to agree."
Producers of the 2005 Big Brother drew criticism after allegations they selected housemates which were mostly single and outspoken in order to create as much controversy as possible.
But Killeen denied this.
"The intention is not to be controversial," the show's host said.
"I think that was accidental."
However, she agreed the housemates were quite outspoken.
"They had a lot of dimensions," Killeen said. "There were a few exhibitionists.
"You could see from the minute they walked in there was just a little bit more of an edge."
The daily episodes of 2005 Big Brother drew over a million people, while the live evictions were watched by an audience of 1.5 million viewers.
Although Ten is still in negotiations about a 2006 Big Brother, Killeen said the show could keep going for a while to come.
"I think the beauty of the format is that I think it does allow the housemates and the style of the show to evolve," she said.
"That being the key to it, it's really quite open in terms of how long the show will actually be on for, because theoretically it will always channel into something fresh."
Killeen said Big Brother always had new tricks up his sleeve.
The 2005 Big Brother included a number of surprises such as the house's first set of twins, the Logan pair, several intruders including the last minute arrival of a Portuguese transsexual who won last year's UK show and double evictions.
And for the first time, housemates were fined by Big Brother for slip-ups, losing $5000 for each breach of the reality show's rules.
The show's prize money started out at a million dollars, but currently sits at $600,000.
Killeen said there was always room for new things on the show.
"Five years in now, housemates think they know what to expect," she said.
"They think they're understood. That gives Big Brother a lot more room for surprises."
- AAP
