By a 6-to-1 vote, Adam is the winner of Big Brother 9.

Not the most scintillating finale I've ever seen, especially after the jury questions, in which Ryan proved to be unbelievably inarticulate.

The other news of the finale was the winner of the "favorite juror" prize: James. (Meanly, Julie Chen also made sure to tell Sheila that she came in second place, a distinction that brings her a prize of $0.)

So it's all over.  Yay!

What do you think about the winner?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Big Brother 9 finale is in a little over an hour and ... yawwwwn. Seriously, Ryan or Adam? I don't really care one whit.

A friend of mine who keeps up with the live feeds said, though, that they didn't know they were going to get questioned by the jury. That is hilarious -- where have they been? So it might be worth it to tune in tonight for that particular shock.

What do you think about this final two? Reader Rich chimed in on a previous entry:

I do not really care who wins either, between Adam and Ryan. I do not even think there will be much venom. It will be boring. The producers could choose from millions of people, but this cast had an all-white(except for one brother) cast. And he was kicked out early. No Asians, no older people, just a lot of annoying fat white folks (i.e Adam and Ryan and Josh.)

No joke -- this was the most homogenous cast ever. And that soulmate thing really worked out, eh?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

She survived five consecutive trips to the block (not that Block, Baltimore readers), but even a secret alliance could not get Sharon into the final three.

Ryan went on a roll, winning HOH, nominating Sheila and Sharon for eviction and winning Power of Veto. He could basically choose the outcome of the game, and I thought he would probably take Sharon off the block, which would make Adam the replacement nominee. Then Sharon would take out either Sheila or Adam, depending on what Ryan wanted. But so much for their secret alliance -- Ryan left the nominations the same, and Adam voted to evict Sharon.

Even though she was surpprised, Sharon handled the eviction with a little more maturity than Natalie, who seemed to think that God had ordained that she would win and was just flabbergasted that the tide had turned against her.

After that, the three-part final HOH competition started -- we should see the results tonight, and then one last eviction will leave us with the final two.

Who are rooting for, if anyone? I'm not really excited about any of these last three, which I guess means I won't mind too much when the venom starts flowing on the finale next week. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Last night on Big Brother, Adam won the veto, and HOH Sheila put Natalie up as the replacement nominee. Sheila and Sharon were sure Natalie was going to be backdoored. But then Adam and Ryan (the only vote-casters) seemed to be having second thoughts.

On tonight's episode, that was borne out when the guys called a house meeting to lay all the stuff they'd been hearing on the table. They blindsided Natalie with the "meeting" while she was in the middle of dyeing her hair. She claimed her loyalties were with the men, and Sheila was shocked. But the guys were convinced -- and it looked pretty obvious that Sharon was toast and Natalie was sticking around.

The jury house footage was interesting -- James, upon his arrival, blamed his eviction on Chelsia's negative departure from the house. I doubt that's true, but Chelsia did not take it well. But once he said he didn't care about the money and was glad he met her, they were fine. Ah, showmance!

When the votes were cast on the live show, I was shocked: Ryan voted for Natalie and Adam voted for Sharon. I guess they decided it made the most sense to put it in Sheila's hands, which actually wasn't a bad plan. After the break, Sheila evicted Natalie, who looked betrayed and cried.

During the HOH competition, the final question was, "There is still a pre-existing relationship in the house." The answer was fact, but a helpful graphic came up on screen: "(the guinea pigs)." In a tie-breaker, Ryan won the HOH over Sharon. I'm sure the houseguests are going to be driving themselves crazy trying to figure out who that pre-existing relationship is.

Next week: final three and the final HOH competition. We're in the home stretch, folks!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

No shock to see James ousted last Wednesday -- he was right that the whole house had turned against him.

I'm hoping for a surprise this week, though. Sheila's nominated Adam and Sharon with the goal of back-dooring Natalie, whom, finally, people are starting to not trust. For all her "Team Christ" talk, she really has been playing both sides and being remarkably delusional and self-righteous while doing so. Of course, many a plan set forth on a Sunday night has fallen to pieces before the next show, so who knows.

Random question for you Big Brother After Dark and live-feed watchers. I got a call from a reader who regularly watches BBAD and said that night before last, Adam was telling a story about how his grandfather escaped from a concentration camp in Poland, when he reportedly said something anti-Semitic about Jews being "put in a hole." I looked around at a couple of live-feed recap sites and didn't see anything, but if you saw this or saw reference to it somewhere else, drop me a comment or an email. I'm just curious. The caller went on to say that the producers didn't cut away or call him to the diary room or do any of the other things they usually do when problematic subjects come up.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Did I miss the part where Joshuah played an honorable, truthful Big Brother game? I seem to recall a lot of screaming, a lot of lying, selling out his best friend in the house on the last episode and more, so his holier-than-thou exit speech last night was just dumb.

Even his mother, in interview footage, was like, "Uh, I don't think I raised him to talk to people that way, so I realllllly hope it's strategy."

So despite all of Joshuah's maneuvering in Tuesday's episode, Natalie told Sharon about his plot against her, and the tides turned again, and yes, Joshuah was evicted.

In an HOH competition with scintillating questions about things like how many pillows are in the BB house, Adam won the title for the second time. He's allied with a lot of the folks who are left, so I don't think he has a ton of options when it comes to nominees. Perhaps he'll have to turn on someone!

We'll see on Sunday. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Last night's Big Brother was actually pretty interesting.

Poor James was seemingly undone by the departure of Chelsia and was feeling pretty bad, so Sheila gave him a pep talk about how he should get his head back in the game. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, she was talking with Natalie and others about how they had to get rid of James, and when someone suggested he might be able to overhear, she said she didn't care.

He did overhear, and he went on a screaming crying rampage at her. But it was really difficult to take him seriously since he was not wearing pants.

Realizing the whole house was (still) against him, James focused again on the POV competition. When that came around, he won his third consecutive veto and infuriated the rest of the house.

Joshuah realized that Sharon was going to go on the block with him, and that he would most likely get voted out, and then: more tears. He cried and Sharon cried, and even Sheila cried. 

Then another very Big Brother moment: Sharon ran to the bathroom to cry, and Sheila ran to comfort her. They talked about how sad it was that Joshuah would be leaving, but that he was such a good person, and he wants this win for Sharon, and lots of other nice, stoic things about awesome he is. Meanwhile, Joshuah pulled himself together and went upstairs to cut a deal with Natalie, telling her he would have her back for two weeks if she voted Sharon out instead. Meanwhile, Sharon and Sheila cried. Then Joshuah ran around and secured the two votes he needs -- Ryan and James.

Cold! But oh-so-BB. 

Of course between then and tonight's live eviction, things could change. But it made for good TV last night.  

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

So Natalie is HOH on Big Brother 9, and you know why? Because God wanted it, God is on her side, God loves her, etc.

I've long gone on record that God's probably a tad too busy to care about the outcome of reality TV shows (especially the second-tier ones), and I still believe that. I'm not saying don't ask for strength or clarity if you need it or whatever, but Natalie and her alliance naming themselves "Team Christ"? Nuh-uh. No. Come on. Give me a break!

No one gets out of this game without lying and backstabbing, and naming your alliance in such a game after Jesus is just plain crazy talk. Plus, these potty-mouthed, self-absorbed "houseguests" aren't exactly shining examples of Christianity. Or much of anything else.

But whatever.

In the end, Natalie put James and Joshuah on the block. But tomorrow's POV competition could change anything, so why ruminate on that for too long?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I missed Tuesday's Big Brother (since it was on at the same time as Idol and Dancing With the Stars again), so I missed all the fun when Evel Dick terrorized the houseguests. Pity.

But I did catch up last night. Head of Household Adam had nominated James and Chelsia, trying to break up one of the few remaining "couples." But James won the POV competition and removed himself from the block. I didn't see the episode where this happened, but apparently Joshuah talked Sharon into volunteering to go on the block as a pawn.

So with James off and Sharon on, Chelsia apparently realized her time in the house was short. She decided to make the most of it and try to have fun and get to know everyone better and put the game aside. Wait, no, not exactly. Instead, she went on a brat parade and smashed all of Natalie's carefully decorated Easter eggs and snarked at everyone and gave a couple of the dumbest "why you shouldn't vote to evict me" speeches ever.

Which meant that even James voted for her to leave, making the decision unanimous.

The Natalie, of all people, won the HOH competition. She might not know how many letters are in the alphabet, but she better predicted how the viewing public felt about the contestants than any of the others did, and that's all it took.

I expect her Vengeance for Matty campaign to continue in full force. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

James' backdoor situation worked out just fine on Big Brother 9 last night -- Matt was evicted after a tie vote that forced James to break the tie and send him packing.

I was surprised to see Sheila stepping up and trying to manipulate everything yet again -- she really is playing this game. If only she weren't so annoying.

So, Matt is out, and Natalie is mad (or as mad as she is capable of getting, anyway), Adam is HOH, and who knows what will happen next.

Lots of scrambling and lots of lying, of course.

The other news from the episode was that Dick and Danielle Donato, the estranged father and daughter who were on last season, and were the final two, actually, still have a decent relationship. Aww. And Dick, who won last season, will show up in the house some time next week. Creepy!

Is that an upgrade from the mime who tortured the contestants a few years back?

(Photo of Matt courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I just caught up with last night's eventful Big Brother (after three and a half hours of AI and DWTS, I was all tapped out).

Oh, James.

I get that he wants "sweet revenge" on the people in the house who voted him out (he got voted back in on a twist on last week's live show), but he's so easily led. He knew that three people voted against his return to the house, and Ryan and Sheila told him straight-up that they were two of them. Matt was the third, but he decided to lie about it, which made Adam mad, which mad Adam sound unhinged when he tried to tell James he'd voted to bring him back, which made James not trust him. (Yeesh, hope you followed that one.)

Continue reading "'Big Brother': words broken all over the place" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

For the second week in a row, a houseguest who thought he was evicted ended up back in the house -- and becoming HOH.

James, who was lied to by almost everyone and then evicted by a vote of 5-1, got voted back in on Wednesday when a majority of the houseguests went with "the devil you know" strategy when faced with bringing either him or a random previously evicted contestant chosen by viewers.

But they didn't count on an HOH challenge that was all about will and endurance. It came down to Natalie (who was willing to do whatever she could to keep Matt safe) and James (who was out for revenge), who stayed balanced on the disco-ball contraption pictured above for five hours. Natalie was starting to feel ill, and James promised her she and Matt would be safe, winning himself the competition.

The other dramas in the episode included Matt trying to pretend like he was one of the people who voted for James to come back in the house, which made Adam look suspect, and also made Adam mad. Also, Matt finally started to realize that he'd been treating Natalie awfully. We'll see how long his kind(ish) treatment of her actually lasts.

And the nominations? Ryan and Sheila.

Speaking of Sheila, I know the veto competition thing said she had to wear that unitard for a week, but it already seems like it's been years. Can she go back to regular clothes, please? Please??

(Photo of the HOH competition contraption courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Last night, my television was trying to protect me from Big Brother. It was so pixely and jumpy that I missed about half of every sentence and didn't get a clear picture for pretty much the whole show.

But I was able to mostly figure out what happened. After Matt was mean to Natalie, some of the others opted to try to ally against Matt. Unfortunately, when Matt was nice to Natalie the next day, she spilled the whole story to him. He, in turn, told Ryan to expect a pitch to keep Ryan safe for two weeks if he put Matt on the block.

Still, it seemed like he was down with the idea, but at the veto meeting, after Chelsia took herself off the block, Ryan gave a speech that sounded like he was targeting Matt, but he shocked everyone and put James on the block.

Continue reading "'Big Brother': twists and turns" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Finally, the dumb couples' twist is over on Big Brother, which I hoped would make things more interesting.

But instead, on last night's episode, the guys got all macho and "bros before ..." well, you know, and decided they would dominate this place. Except maybe James and Chelsia, who either have feelings for each other and are still secretly allied or are both playing each other.

I suppose everyone else could unite against the dudes and try to take them down, but I can't really see them getting that plan together.

Speaking of which, Nataile is totally coming off as a stalker and dumber than a box of hair. She managed to say in the course of about five minutes that there were three colors on this thing in the guinea pigs' cage (there were four) and that there are 27 letters in the alphabet (she was counting the "and" in "y and z," and seriously, I wish I were making that up).

But the season is going to become even more boring if the guys just railroad all over everyone else. Yuck.

Oh, and let's not forget: Sharon and Chelsia are on the block. And on Wednesday, one of the evicted houseguests gets to move back in. I suspect it will be Parker or Alex, since they are the ones who really got kicked out because of their partners. Tomorrow: POV, etc.

I do hope it's not Allison who returns, although it might be funny to see her get evicted for a third time.

This show is making me mean.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Tuesday night on Big Brother, the big news was Matt and Natalie winning the veto, and also that a twist was in the air. The houseguests learned that when they heard an alarm, they were to gather in the living room and wait for more information.

Shelia and Adam were put on the block in place of Matt and Natalie, going against Ryan and Allison.

It was pretty obvious tonight that Ryan and Allison were out, since everyone had turned against Allison. And indeed, they were evicted. But when they tried to leave, the door was locked, and the alarm went off.

Then it was time for the big twist. The players are now playing as individuals, and only one of the members of the evicted couple would actually be leaving.

Funniest thing? When the alarm went off, Allison went crazy, thinking she was saved in the game. But as host Julie Chen explained the deal -- that the houseguests would immediately cast individual votes for either Allison or Ryan, and one would be out right then -- you could see it dawn on Allison that she was still going to be out. This came to pass pretty easily, as it was a 6-0 vote.

It was Ryan's lucky day, since he finally got separated from his partner who everyone hated and then he won the first individual HOH competition.

Before the show ended, though, Julie told the audience about one more twist. Viewers can vote on which of the evicted houseguests gets to come back in the house, and that person will let back in next Wednesday.

I don't really want to see any of the people back in -- that'll just make the show longer!  But I'm glad no one will be stuck with a partner they don't want anymore because all that whining was getting old. 

What do you think about the twists? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

The more I see of this season of Big Brother, the more I really kind of hate everyone.

I'm tired of Joshuah going on diatribes and screaming at his target of the day. I'm tired of Allison acting like she's smarter than everyone and this manipulative player. I'm annoyed by Natalie's total vacancy (and annoying representation of my second home state of Oregon -- seriously, first Kail and now Natalie??). I'm grossed out by Matt's attitude toward Natalie (last night's footage of him lecturing her about not getting emotionally attached was immediately after she gave him a sexual favor, if what I saw on live-feed recaps is correct). Sheila's a huge complainer and so insecure. Adam's obnoxious, crazy-eyed and insensitive. Ryan's a lump; Sharon is kind of a nonentity. I guess James and Chelsia are OK, but the few minutes I watched of them on Big Brother After Dark were a big snooze. Not a lot of depth here, either.

The latest in the game is, Alex and Amanda were voted out, Sharon and Joshuah won HOH, the food competition was a huge waste of asparagus (long story) but no one is on slop, and the nominees are Ryan/Allison and Matt/Natalie. Yawn.

Host Julie Chen said "the game will change" on Wednesday. I assume that's when the couples will be split up since otherwise, we're closing on the finals.

Have you found anyone left to root for in this game?

(Photo of yelly Joshuah courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

This season of Big Brother is just not working for me.

I don't really keep up with the feeds because I just don't have that kind of time, but so much interesting has been going on that I keep finding out about things ahead of time. 

The huge fight that centered on Amanda last week was showing up on YouTube -- though the clip that I saw cut off before the worst of it. Joshuah said she needed a halo, someone else said "or a noose," and he replied, "Just like her dad." Amanda had revealed to her housemates that her father had hanged himself. She managed to deal with all the other horrible things hurled at her, but once they crossed the line into that personal territory, she finally (and justifiably) lost it.

Last night, the show revealed that two contestants -- Amanda and Allison -- had gone to the hospital at the same time after Amanda had a hypoglycemia attack, passed out and convulsed, and Allison had an allergic reaction that puffed up her face and made her throat close. (These were unrelated but happened nearly instantaneously.) I heard about this on Saturday, but it didn't make the broadcast show until Tuesday.

The way the show is set up, it seems to steal its own thunder at times, which leaves the broadcast show foundering -- and pretty boring.  

Although it was pretty interesting last Wednesday when Jen, posturing and trying to stay in the house since she was on the block, turned on her real-life boyfriend Ryan and started telling people that he was a racist. (And then when he caught wind of it and confronted her about it, she claimed she hadn't said it. Um, hello, it's on tape, it's on the Internet and there are people keeping transcripts of the live feeds. So, sorry!)

Since then, Jen and Parker were voted out, James and Chelsia won HOH, Amanda/Alex and Matt/Natalie were nominated for eviction, and Sharon and Joshuah won POV and elected not to use it. Meanwhile, Sheila and Allison took back their lie about being a couple outside and house and got into a huge fight when Sheila (the oldest person in the house) went all seventh-grade on Allison and decided that Allison didn't like her anymore.

I also think this couple thing has got to end soon because after tonight, there will only be five couples left, and that makes the season pretty darned short. 

Is anyone else watching? Are you checking out the feeds or the Showtime 2 footage? If so, how has that affected your enjoyment of the regular broadcast show? 

(Above: A nurse and James help Amanda after her attack // Courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

I watched Sunday night's Big Brother 9, but I didn't have much to say about it because really, not a lot happened. (Well, other than everyone finding out that Ryan and Jen are dating, and Allison and Sheila deciding to tell everything that they are a couple outside the house, too, just to throw everyone off.)

Yesterday, though, it became clear that a lot was going on on the live feeds. Gossip blogs were posting links to huge fights and also to footage of sexual activities grabbed during the hours that the contestants are shown live on Showtime every night. (Do these people not realize that 1) their grandmother could be watching and 2) these videos are going to live on in the perpetuity that is the Internet? Yuck.) I don't want to give too much away since hardly any of it has been aired, but hopefully tonight's episode will elucidate some of what's going on behind the scenes.

The other BB news that broke yesterday involved Adam. Last week, my cable was out for a bit, and I came in in the middle of a fight about something he had said about the autistic kids he works with. A national autism group is now calling for an apology from CBS. Read more about that here.

Let's see what goes down on tonight's episode:

Continue reading "'Big Brother 9': controversy behind the scenes" »

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

So what do you all think about this season's Big Brother twist?

The houseguests were all paired with their "soulmates" (as determined by the producers), with a couple of notable exceptions.

Ryan and Jen are a pre-existing couple who have to play the game without letting anyone know they are boyfriend and girlfriend. But they aren't paired up -- Jen's with paparazzo Parker and Ryan's with pharmaceutical rep/recovering compulsive gambler Allison.

Also, Sharon and Jacob are exes -- they started dating in eighth grade and were together 12 years, including while Jacob was in the Marine Corps. But he cheated, she said nuh-uh and split, and now they are playing the game as a unit. He seems to want to make amends, but thus far, she's not having it.

The other unhappy match is Sheila (former Penthouse Pet of the year, by the way, albeit not recently) and Adam. She doesn't think he's her type, and she was totally rude about it. For his part, Adam didn't appreciate being bad-talked immediately, so that wasn't pretty.

Anyway, the pairing up was the main drama, followed by one competition, for "power couple." Jen and Parker were the ultimate winners, and tomorrow night, they will choose who is first out.

I'd go for Adam and Sheila to decrease the whine factor, but I don't have to live in the house.

(Photo of Sheila Courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)