BB death could see swing back to drama
July 20, 2008, 7:06 am
Big Brother's demise marks the end of an era for Australian TV.
But it could be the start of new period of high quality local drama, a TV expert says.
After eight years, 1,316 episodes, more than 100 housemates, and a number of controversies, Network Ten announced last week it was canning the reality TV program after its finale on Monday.
The news left fans devastated and media experts pondering what happened to the program that brought in millions of viewers in its hey day and became the benchmark for all other reality TV programs.
Media expert Jason Sternberg from the Queensland University of Technology believes its demise shows that Australian viewers no longer want "cheap TV".
Sternberg believes there is a swing towards quality drama among the Australian public.
"We haven't had Australian drama on TV for a while and we're now going back to things like (gangland drama) Underbelly, which is everything reality TV isn't," Dr Sternberg told AAP.
"It's stylistically sophisticated, it's well written, it's well acted, it's very, very carefully planned and polished TV.
"Maybe we're seeing a swing back to those types of things."
Sternberg believes Big Brother's death started years ago because the novelty of watching people in a house with cameras on them 24 hours a day wore off.
"I think it's a case of the format has run its course. Popular cultural forms, TV genres by their very nature have a use-by date," Sternberg said.
"They get tired, producers can no longer inject life into them."
Vincent O'Donnell from Melbourne's RMIT University agreed.
"It's highly contrived reality and I think many people start to realise that," Dr O'Donnell told AAP.
When Big Brother launched in 2001, it attracted more than two million viewers, but was soon on a downward spiral.
It struggled to reach the one million mark many times this year.
Producers tried every year to revive the format.
Attempts in some years included bumping up the prize money to $1 million, having two houses that were later merged into one, twin contestants passed off as one person.
In 2006, a mother and daughter entered unbeknown to the other housemates. The following year, a secret couple were in the program.
Up Late programs and Adults only shows have come and gone.
This year was widely regarded as the show's last shot at making it work.
Producers brought in new hosts, radio shock jocks Kyle and Jackie O to replace Gretel Killen, who had hosted the program from the beginning.
But it backfired as loyal Killeen fans voiced their dislike and promised to boycott the program.
"Kyle got sick for a while, and Mike Goldman took over, and people clearly preferred Mike Goldman," Sternberg said.
"On the internet and in the chat rooms people weren't that impressed with Jackie O either.
"So stunt number one failed."
This year's group of contestants was dubbed a "freak show" when revealed.
It included the oldest ever housemate, a bimbo, a bricklayer, a surfer, a dwarf and a UFO-believer.
Sternberg says the decision to have housemates that people couldn't relate to was a bad idea.
"We like to see reflections of ourselves, not caricatures, not stereotypes," Sternberg said.
Apart from the brief appearances by party punk Corey Worthington and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, nothing seemed to work.
Sternberg believes the series hasn't been helped by scandals over the last few years as it had become increasingly "low brow".
Among them was the infamous "turkey slap" incident in 2006 when housemate Camilla Severi was pinned down while two male housemates rubbed their crotch in her face.
This year, the adults only content was shown on a panel show Big Mouth, hosted by Rebecca Wilson and Tony Squires.
Sternberg said it was perceived as "grotty and tacky".
"There was one night there where we saw someone get masturbated on national television, it left nothing to the imagination," he said.
"It's a million miles away from the dancing doona days in the first episode. This was there for everyone to see."
Since debuting in the Netherlands in 1999, Big Brother has gone on to be a staple of TV in dozens of countries.
In the UK, The Daily Mail newspaper has suggested that British BB could be the next to go with ratings plummeting.
Bookmakers slashed the odds from 16-1, to 8-1 for the show to be axed.
In South Africa, the show was also canned but came back three years later.
There is also speculation that Australia could follow its lead, with Nine saying it would consider the series but in a very different format, and most likely a shorter form.
Whatever the fate of the series, there's no doubt that Big Brother has been an institution, and will be studied for many years to come.
"It's set the trend for other reality TV shows," Sternberg said.
"It's kind of the model by which all other reality TV shows have kind of developed and by which they're still judged."
