BB

I'm going to make a confession. We are really into Big Brother. Not the one that watches me even though I think I'm alone, the reality show on CBS.

Quick description of Big Brother:
If you are unfamiliar with it, the premise is that 14 or so people start off in this house. They are cut off from the outside world, no tv, no internet. There is not much entertainment in the house (this year they have chess and foosball). They have no pre-determined teams. Each week someone wins "Head of Household" (HoH). That person nominates two people for eviction and then the rest vote one of them out.

It started the same summer that Survivor did (what a great summer of reality tv that was) but I like it a lot more. I don't even watch Survivor any more but we haven't missed a season of BB.

For one thing, it is currently going on right now. There is no worrying about anyone spoiling who wins because it is still happening. Oh, and it's on three times a week, so get a little closer to the people. (The first season it was on like five times a week which was cool if you were into it but they figured out that there was only so much television generated in a day.)

The producers also like to mix it up a quite a bit, they call it "the twist" (even though there are usually a bunch of different "twists" throughout the season, everyone likes to declare "This is The Twist"). As an example, this year, everyone started out knowing one other person in the house but thinking that they were the only pair. This really puts a different spin to the game unlike Survivors twist of having gender specific tribes.

The strategy is interesting because a lot of power is held by the HoH but that power switches week to week. Plus, the only thing they really have to do is plot and gossip. They are really stuck in this house (well, there is a back yard area, too).

That is another part of watching BB, the people really wind up suffering from cabin fever. They literally only get to see the other people in the house. They don't see the camera men, all the cameras are build into the house. The host does talk to them during the live show but that's it. They start going a little nuts (although if they get too nuts, they kick them off the show).

To top it all off, once a week they have to compete for food. Sometimes, only half the house gets good food, and sometimes the whole house competes as a group but if they lose or fail, they only get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the week.

You might say "on Survivor they have to live on rice and the gunk they find under their toe nails". Well BB isn't a show about starving people. It is all about the strategy.

Anyway, they certainly hate being on the PB&J diet. Some have claimed that they lost weight on it. I'm not sure if it is because PB&J is good for you or because there is only so much of it that you can stand to eat.

Either way, I've decided to try out the PB&J diet. Partly because I want to find out if it really is as bad as they make it out to be and partly because I want to lose a little weight. I'm thinking about it as a television supplement to enhance my understanding of what I'm watching.

I'll let you know how it goes.

mwz
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