Radio Times

Ah, summer. British men baring their bellies, oppressive heat on public transport and flash floods. But no amount of sandbags at the door can stop the onslaught of Big Brother and all its bast*rd offspring as they arrive to pay an unwanted three-month visit. Yes, it's the time of year when the press vents its spleen about previously unknown people saying vaguely racist things; there's nothing that suits the season better than finding a fresh bikini-clad pariah. In fact, the only person who must be looking forward to the new series is Gordon Brown - at least he'll get a break from red-top vilification.

This year, the producers of Big Brother have promised a surreal Alice in Wonderland feel to the event. So that'll be the Lewis Carroll story in which Tweedledee gropes Tweedledum in a hot tub and a drunken Cheshire Cat makes a fool of herself wearing nothing but a wide smile. The only sop to surrealism I've seen amid the hype is a giant ashtray structure in the garden - although that's more like irony, seeing as BB is the dog-end on the TV landscape.

There are many reasons to hate it. The cynicism, the exploitation, the cheap investment for maximum profit. But it's the format that reeks the most. Incarcerated 20-somethings deprived of culture, given restricted access to food, ritually humiliated for the pleasure of others - who came up with this stuff? But what's really done it for me is the yanking of Desperate Housewives from the schedule to make way for this depressing spectacle.

Before you accuse me of hysteria over Wisteria, I'd like to point out that Desperate Housewives has reached a particularly exciting point in its run. The houses have been levelled by a tornado, Carlos has been blinded by flying debris - what is going to happen next? Well, we'll have to wait to find out, because now the show has to make way for the sight of Davina McCall standing among the baying masses with her gurning face and yelling "yay" a lot.

Oh, but Big Brother always has such good characters, its supporters will no doubt reply. Yeah, only in the sense that you wish the housemates aren't actually real. Seemingly chastened by past events, programme-makers assured us that there wouldn't be any freaks and wannabes among the line-up. So how does the supposed Stallone lookalike with the shovel-shaped face fulfil that quota? And we even got the double whammy of near-nakedness and tears when Jen and Steph did a Cheeky Girls routine in frilly knickers, which resulted in Jen being branded a tart. I know what you're thinking: it could have happened to any of us.

If they really wanted introverts, people who wanted to stay out of the limelight and be recognised for their achievements rather than just their so-called personalities, then they should have filled the house with serial killers. They could have all slaughtered each other on the launch show and Channel 4 would have been back to normal service within the week. Such a missed opportunity.

I actually found the first series quite interesting (what I saw of it) as it seemed to be quite normal people. Then it got silly as they tried to find people who would rub eachother up the wrong way or be as shocking as possible.

I don't like it so don't watch it.

I think BB makes a wonderful contribution to world peace, human kindness and er, um… general goodness within us all. When can we export it? Preferably to Mars, without spacesuits, or sunscreen… in fact anyone connected to the show's production should be fired from the end of a giant cannon into space - I'D WATCH THAT!

Big brother is the most annoying, offensive program you could think of.

Also, where the hell do they find the 'housemates' for it?!

I agree with some people's opinions on BB and respect them. However if you don't like the programme don't watch it, it's pretty simple really! But nevertheless, it's apparently the last series so you don't need to worry about it for too long. Hang in there people!

I THINK BIG BROTHER IS THE BIGGEST WASTE OF LIFE EVER. I REALLY REALLY HOPE THAT THIS IS THE LAST SERIES SO I CAN EVEN DARE SWITCH CHANNEL 4 ON.

i hate bb it's exploitive, demeaning, degrading, and does not have any self respect!!!!!

this mind numiing drivvel should be stopped before tv companys decide its ok to make only cheap crap programs that only mind numb people want to watch, its even worse than football and nearly as bad as darts

The only time I would watch the BB garbage would be if they gassed all the contestants, now that would be good viewing ! Oh, and that screeching harpy Davina too.

if you dont like it dont watch it !! SIMPLE !!!!

How excruciating is big brother? the launch has been shown around 10 times since yesterday. WHO CARES it is the biggest load of rubbish and a poor excuse for. entertainment cheap tv at its best. Where are all the good shows OH yes they have been stopped because the the bb garbage

I can't believe another series is about to begin. After what's just happened to poor Susan Boyle isn't it time to stop putting ordinary people into the circus? They only do it because they can't afford to pay the real talent the salaries they deserve. Poor show, waste of time & money. Get it off!

Yes! It's Alison Graham

Laid low with man flu, I decided to watch a bit of CBB. What utter rubbish it is. I was so bored I started making paper hats with my tissues. These "inmates" would have been better put to joining me than just sitting there like slobs. This programme should be put in the bin!

Oh, I got more rant.

I rather play a boring game than watch that boring crap...

I rather fall in love with a educational prostitute than watch the crappy show.

I rather watch 1 hour of Sugababes rather this pile of crap.

I try to avoid BB and anything to do with it, but during the series before last I was told by an avid BB fan that they had watched three of the housemates sitting completely enclosed in large cardboard boxes four 4 hours on the live feed.......someone's already said "made by morons, watched by morons", but I think it's worth repeating.

But undoubtedly the worst thing about BB is that (as has been said before) it has become "news".

Why should any "entertainment" show (and I use the word very loosely) be considered news-worthy?

If fans of BB want to watch the show then that's their own sad affair, the rest of us avoid it deliberately and object to having it shoved down our throats the rest of the time.

Anything that is overexposed and over chatted about etc eventually becomes very very sad and thats exactly what big brother is just a bunch off sad losers with no intelligence whatsoever who want to be on TV so they can act like a bunch off idiots iam sick of going too college everyday and being surrounded by simpletons who do nothing but talk about ne-yo's new song (rnb sucks i think aswell as rap) and big brother and heat magazine i just dont know whether to laugh or cry about it the whole pop culture people are all decadent wrapped up in their own little worlds with little sensible direction thats what i think

sometimes i think the reason why big brothers are so annoing is beacuse thy just won't shut up. they think they know everthing but if you think about it all they know how to do is eat sleep and poop. oh yea all youbig bros out there are so smart

I may have watched about 30 mins in total over all the series and have never found anything worth watching. My otherwise intelligent grown up daughter loves it-go figure!

OK, someone said 'all you OLD farts.' I am 13 and I positively hate it. Some of us actually have a brain and a few brain cells that are working and those people would never watch complete drivel like this. What makes me really laugh is that they call it 'Reality TV.' Funny how in real life, most people don't go around swearing at each other for a laugh and wear hardly anything apart from some skimpy bikini and get 'tortured' for food. No, most of us are more sensible than that. It annoys me that the 'contestants' are self-centred brats who behave like 2 year olds and are willing to go on a show like this just to get one minute of fame. If they can't be bothered to work for fame, like acting or singing or something, why even be bothered to live? I HATE, HATE, HATE this show and wish it would just curl up in a corner and never be seen or heard of again. Lecture over!

TV to rot the minds of a nation. If the housemates/talentless morons want to be that famous why not do something interesting.......firing themselves into the sun in a giant rocket for example. Truly mind numbing, spirit crushing TV. It's also near on impossible to avoid with the constant advertising! Luckily C4 redeem themselves with quality TV shows. In the future I hope someone gathers all evidence of BB, I'm a Celebrity and every other horrendous reality crap-fest and destroys the idiotic pile of TV bile in some huge burning mess. That is obviously my opinion though so if you like BB et al then fair enough.

I HATE IT AHHHHHHHH

IM NOW GOING TO KILL MYSELF

Big Brother - a collection of talentless egotistical wanabees who crave celebrity. I watched the first two series and dipped into the third but now avoid it like the plague. I even go so far as to not look at a tabloid newspaper during the run as the 'housemates' do not deserve to be considered page 1 - 5 news.

I don't object to the program as we all have the choice to watch or not. What I do object to is the fact that it is considered so newsworthy. Sad, sad, sad indication of the celebrity culture we all seem to crave and desire - Hello magazine, 5 min Celebrity News Updates etc. etc. The older I get the more jaded I become with the UK and the more I despise our 'Americanisation'

Oh well - Whatever!

That's called irony by the way to all those too American to understand!!!

A programme about morons for morons

i hate big brother cos they dont hav talent.i rule

BB is quite clearly for retards with no imagination who can only operate a conversation by talking about other people.

I can't stop laughing at this Big Brother T-shirt! Think I might get one for my husband http://www.teetshirts.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=66

A lot of emphasis on Big Brother. Yes, it's not a program for intelligent viewers, but what is these days?

The reason BB chooses "strange" people is that it is more entertaining watching mentally ill people confined with other lunatics. Lets hope they don't get on and we can all watch them (racially) abusing each other. This is like when people used to go to asylums on a weekend when the cinema wasn't invented.

The problem is that most people would rather watch this than shakespeare. Anyone that wants TV to educate and enlighten should remember that TV is a business and BB is a moneyspinner (cheap to produce and rip people off with the phone vote.

Noone ever went broke underestimating the low tastes of the general public who will line up in droves to watch crap like this..TV critics and intellectuals love period drama shakespeare etc but most members of the general public don't even understand plot and character in Eastenders.

I agree with the hatred of BB but I'm afraid that is not the reason Desperate Housewives is off the air - it's summer, no good tv may be aired in summer, it's pointless because the ratings slide - I admit having a mid season break is an American rather than British concept but that was the writer's strike's fault, or channel 4 getting more American, either way you weren't going to see a top US show in July when viewers out or on holiday

Why does it p*ss you off? I watch it religiously for 3 months but once it ends the 'celebrities' don't even enter my radar. Who cares if one of them makes a guest appearance in a Wigan disco on a wet wednesday? And dont be so dramatic. Its on for one hour every night except Friday. Hardly makes the whole of channel 4 a right off. I hate sport and the olympics will be dominating the screen soon but you wont hear me moaning.

BB makes celebrities out of pathetic wannabees. But while this might p*ss me off, and while I might find it an appalling spectacle, it still comes down to viewing numbers, and as long as there are enough equally stupid people who choose to watch it then it will stay on. I'd keep it on if I were running C4 and it makes large amounts of money. Just means that my viewing choice is reduced by 1 channel every night.

I LOVE it! Love watching the shifting relationships, lies, attraction and repulsion to each other. It's a microcosm of life. All the cool people I know watch it. Shut up you old farts and go listen to The Archers. zzzzz

Um, Desperate Housewives was taken off because of complications involving the writer's strike.

For someone who can't stand the program the original poster seems to know an awful lot about what has been broadcast :-)

I do not watch big brother, although I aggree with most of the comments that the BB programme is taking up a lot of air time that could be allocated to a better class or type of family entertainment, I watched one BB episode about a year ogo, I think anyone who watche's BB is lacking in brain cells or has had a partial labottomy!

Those who watch BB don't have a life, simple!

Thank you! Cant stant it either, even more when they move good shows for big brother. If you actualy enjoy watching it then your life must be very bad, maybe its a way for you to feel good about your life?

Yes i like BB but only because it makes me feel better that im not weird, although it is the worst thing to be blessed with a long holiday after exams finish and have it filled by BB- why is it on everyday???

all the people that complain about big brother are weird. if you don't like it just don't watch it. omg so annoying.

I agree big brother is just a way for a load of rude and big headed,immature and self opionated people to make it in the world by saying they've done something with there life,how sad they must be.

BB is a tedious drag. If I wanted to watch "people being people," I could simply go to a park, beach, bar or anywhere that they normally gather - and watch them, with the added bonus of not having to listen to the shouting, gesturing Davina McCall (I presume she is still doing that?) At the first sign of BB, my trusty channel-zapping-finger, clicks into action.

TV used to be entertaining - anyone remember that concept?

It is hilarious, so many people moaning about Big Brother. There are a lot of shows on TV and schedules get moved all the time. However for some reason everyone feels that because it is Big Brother and a soft target that it means the demise of culture and mankind. I would suggest people grow up, millions of people love it, and of course there are those that don't. So what? You are kidding yourself if you can talk about it in any detail and still pretend that you don't like it, at least admit that to yourselves!

I could possibly put up with BB if it ran for 3-4 weeks...max. Whilst i recognise some people like to watch it (tip: get a life!), its the pulling of other programs that annoy me, such as scrubs which i used to watch at lunch time and friends (or some such comedy) in the morning when i get up!

BB and other reality shows conform to the modern notion of telly i.e they're cheap to make, pretend to be 'scientific', 'hold up a mirror to the general public' etc and the format can be sold to other countries. For as many people watch to see the mindgames the producers play, there are those who want to participate. In 2008 anything and anyone can become a reality tv star and it's now obvious that people see it as a route to (unearned) riches. Would Jade Goody have her large house etc if she'd not been on BB? No, of course not.

BB feeds our celebrity-obsessed nation. As a metaphor for British society, it's unsurpassed and rather depressing.

There must be other, less humiliating ways to earn a hundred grand...

I totally agree with the part about Desperate Housewives. I was so upset, I had to download the rest of the series. It is really a very good rest of series. They are on series 7 (I think) of BB, isn't one series enough?

i hate bb, i really do!

they replaced my favourite shhow in e4 with bb: SCRUBS!

cant wait until it ends!

The government must watch its namesake - Big Brother - and look for insights. Both can lock people up for weeks, and video them without their consent. The idea of electrocuting people who fail to work properly and giving them less food - genius! watch out for similar at a job centre near you!

I completely Agree, big brother is lame brains watching lame brains, when I hear a conversation start with "Did you see Big Brother last night" I walk away.

I think they have missed some good tricks though. how about 2 hours of gunfight sounds and riots on the outside of the house for two to three hours. then cut-off all outside sound and contact for a day or two, see what happens.

if they moved the show to E4 i would be happier. The fact it dominates 4 freeview channels sometimes all at the same time is what gets my goat.

Like tommy said, every time I do find BB on my screen I tend to switch the tele off

Such a shame Grace Dent has taken the devil's shilling and defected to the official Big Brother site to write her usually excellent, but now no-doubt heavily neutered columns. Is this the best the RT website has to offer now on Big Brother?

Torturing people for food, whatever next? Locking people up for 42 days, while videoing them - oh. hang on, we do that to everyone nowadays!

Well I like it. I find it fascinating to watch people being people and seeing the added 'games' that the programme plays with their minds and the various reactions just add a different dimension to the process. In the first ever Big Brother we were content just to watch how people interacted with each other, coped with the situation and worked together to get through the tasks etc. Now, it's moved on. Of course it has. Life has. Naturally, every year it attracts some unattractive people as well as some attractive ones, but it warms my heart that these people never win. Like others say - you don't have to watch it - just like I don't watch the inordinate amount of Football that's being shown. I don't like it so I don't watch it. Nuff said.

Every bloody year this happens...

Look, Big Brother is great. It gives us all a chance to be holier than thou from the comfort of our armchairs to watch people that readily VOLUNTEERED to take part in a COMPETITION that could earn them ONE HUNDRED GRAND if they win (that's outside all of the nonsense they'll get paid for stories, photo shoots an public appearances after the show. Quite a few ex contestants, ironically underdogs have goner on to make millions :)

It's a game show; it's better than Family Fortunes, Bullseye and anything with Edmonds in it. It's fun because precisely because people argue, squabble and are thoroughly unpleasant to one another and Channel 4 have wisely chosen a cross section of players (don't forget, that's what they are) to maximise public interest.

If I had my way, I'd arm them...

While people such as yourself are happy to give it publicity, even if it is of the negative variety, the producers will continue to believe that it it is still important enough to show.

"But what's really done it for me is the yanking of Desperate Housewives from the schedule"

Are there ANY straight men work for the RT??? Serious question.

The popularity of the programme reflects on the demand for such reality T.V shows in a British culture. If no-one watched it. It wouldn't be screened.

It's just a tired show that has been way beyond milked for all it's worth.

Please, please, can someone - preferably a C4 executive - come out and claim to like Big Brother? Of course you hate it! We (the British nation, that is) all hate it....don't we?

Yeah, whateveah... Why are you criticising BB now? Yes, we all hate BB and the reason is, it's been going for too long. A bit like New Labour then. Just let it die quietly. Don't give it another thought and avoid pressing 4 on your remote until September.