Paige Albiniak

Big Brother Takes Orwell Literally
February 11, 2008

                I’m not sure how much Big Brother anyone really wants to watch, but if you are into it, you can really watch it A LOT. I don’t want to spend as much time with anyone – including myself – as I can spend with these Big Brother folks.

                Just in time for the strike to end, CBS is premiering the show’s ninth edition tomorrow night at 9 p.m ET. Maybe Big Brother’s mid-winter arrival depressed/alarmed the writers so much that they put down their picket signs and went immediately back to work.  Big Brother is the poster child for why TV writers are less valuable than ever:  It has no writers and approximately one million digital extensions, so there’s pretty much no reason to watch it on TV.

    So here goes. If nothing else, CBS gets kudos for taking this Internet thing really seriously.      
                   Over at CBS.com, fans can get all the regular online stuff (wallpapers, ringtones, videos, blogs) as well as watch full episodes. There you can also download a widget so you can take the Big Brother House with you wherever you go on the Web. Whew. I was worried I might have to spend one minute without them.

                Once you are done dragging these guys around with you on a widget, you can watch Gretchen Massey and Big Brother 8 winner “Evel” Dick Donato (is this guy’s name actually Evil Dick? Hmmm) chat about every little thing that happened that day on House Calls. The Web show, now in its fifth season, streams live every Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

                For a mere $40 ($40?!?!?), subscribers to Real Networks’ SuperPass can watch Big Brother’s housemates walk around in their underwear and get in petty squabbles 24/7. Hooray!

                Showtime subscribers/insomniacs/unfortunate people who work the night shift can watch Big Brother late-night, in the hopes of catching people behaving badly. Big Brother: After Dark airs on SHO2 from midnight to 3 a.m. If CBS were airing Paige: After Dark, we would basically be watching a three-hour show about a lump snoring in a bed, but I’m assuming the Big Brotherites do something more interesting than that. It might be a big assumption, however.

                If that’s still not enough Big Brother, you can set your cell phone for a Big Brother barrage. Once the show premieres, you can take a live video stream with you via CBS Mobile and the MEdiaFLO TV service, watch simulcast episodes on your mobile phone so you don’t miss a minute even if you are having dinner with mom, and get all sorts of insider goodies, such as video clips, photos, live alerts and daily news summaries. You can also text in your vote as to who gets booted and who stays. I vote to boot all of them right now.

                For the atavistic among us, the show will air on regular old television Tuesdays at 9 p.m., Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 8 p.m.

                 I’m worried about the day a show I actually like goes crazy multiplatform. I might never do any work again.

Posted by Paige Albiniak on February 11, 2008 | Comments (0)