It was inevitable, eventually Big Brother was going to return to Australian screens. About 4 years after it’s slow trainwreck demise on Network Ten, the series has been confirmed to be resurrected on the Nine Network in the new year.
I don’t know how to feel about this, which probably owes to the fact that Nine have released very little information about it so there’s not much to go on, but by my standards they’re not exactly off to a great start. First there were rumours of Nine bringing it back as Big Brother: Secrets a gimmick used in other countries localisation’s where each housemate has a secret and everyone else has to guess it and basically it’s a really stupid idea that I really don’t think I could stand watching – but in their small releases of information recently (on their website, and this promo for 2012) there’s no more mention of the “Secrets” tagline (which, of course, isn’t to say it won’t still be there as one of their “twists”).
What the promo also reveals is the logo, which is probably the biggest letdown for me:
I feel like it could have been revamped a little better for this new series, rather than see it basically return to the old logo. I know it’s been changed slightly, but they somehow actually managed to make the logo uglier than it already was.
The only useful bit of solid information released so far is that the new host will be Sonia Kruger. I honestly only know her as Daryl Somers sidekick from way back when I still watched Dancing with the Stars - but there’s a chance she’ll do a good job, and after all these years I’ve managed to come to terms with the fact that Gretel will never come back.
Finally, the compound. I know it shouldn’t matter where the house is actually located, but reports (and I’m not saying they’re accurate) that Nine may be looking to have their compound in Sydney to “separate it from Ten” make me more than a little sad. There was something I loved about it all being on the Gold Coast: a place that, although pretty far away from me, was still inside my home state, and in a city I occasionally visit. There is absolutely nothing actually confirming a compound for the series, but I think that if separating the series from the one that Network Ten ran was really a priority for them the logo (instantly recognisable from a fair chunk of Ten’s run) would have been the first thing to go, not the compound. The house was never that iconic and with a little bit of work most ignorant viewers won’e even realise the Dreamworld Stage is the same stage they used to use. Still, it will not surprise me one bit if they do move it to Sydney – anything at all being shot outside of Sydney or Melbourne these days is a long shot to find.
But don’t let all my negativity mislead you. There is a chance that Nine will pull this off, maybe someone high up there knows what they’re doing and will make this a great series of Big Brother. There’s just not enough confirmed information out there yet, even though every other website I find making out like they know every detail exactly despite none of them being confirmed by Nine or Endemol, or even a hint of a reliable source.
As always, we’ll never know until it actually hits the screens, even if they did do everything else perfectly, the actual content of the show (or something like the editing) could end up being awful and unwatchable. But by the same token, even if they move it to Sydney and do really stupid things I would never dream of doing, it might just work accidentally and be the greatest show on Channel Nine (although, to be fair, that wouldn’t be too hard)
