'BIG BROTHER 2': IF THE HOUSE IS A-ROCKIN' ...Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer A double bed in one room decked out in animal prints with heaps of pillows. A tropical-themed water bed in another room. A room-for-two hammock hammock, suspended bed, usually of netting, canvas, or leather. The hammock and its name were introduced to Europeans by Christopher Columbus, who learned of them from Native Americans. and a hot tub in the yard. Occasional treats of beer and wine. And a brimming jar of condoms in plain sight in the bathroom. Now if all that doesn't make ``Big Brother 2'' more exciting to watch than its first season, who knows what CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. will try next year. ``Big Brother 2,'' debuting at 8 tonight, puts 12 total strangers in a secluded, specially built house on the CBS lot in Studio City for 11 weeks, cutting them off from the outside world while 38 cameras and 62 microphones document their every word and move. The most interesting moments and weekly evictions are compiled into three hour-long shows a week, airing Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and the last houseguest remaining claims the top prize of $500,000. The CBS Web site (www.cbs.com) says a 3-D virtual house tour, chat rooms and 24/7 live streaming video A one-way video transmission over a data network. It is widely used on the Web as well as company networks to play video clips and video broadcasts. Computers in home networks stream video to digital media hubs connected to a home theater. are under construction. The first season of ``Big Brother'' gave CBS better-than-usual summer ratings among young viewers, but for some reason, in terms of overall popularity, the U.S. reality TV show couldn't hold a candle to its counterparts across Europe. That prompted CBS and Netherlands-based Endemol Entertainment to break with the European formula and give veteran producer Arnold Shapiro Arnold Shapiro (born 1941) is an Academy Award and 16-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and writer. His best known work is the 1978 Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary, Scared Straight! His other productions include the CBS reality series, (``Rescue 911,'' ``Scared Straight!'') license to rework it for an American audience. As a result, the house has been completely redone re·done v. Past participle of redo. , the rules revised, and the show schedule scaled back from six episodes a week last year. Shapiro said the biggest problem he saw in the first season was uninspired casting, as many TV critics and columnists complained at the time. What a group John de Mol
Johannes "John" Hendrikus Hubert de Mol (born April 24, 1955 in Hilversum) is a Dutch media tycoon and billionaire. In 2005, Forbes magazine named him as one of the 500 richest people in the world. of Endemol gushed last summer over the first 10 soon-to-be- houseguests: ``I can tell you they are very motivated people, very interesting people that you will mostly love and sometimes hate ... and I'm sure they will turn into huge stars over the summer.'' But in online chats about the show, viewers routinely groused about how boring the houseguests were. Most of them dropped completely off the pop-culture radar within weeks after leaving the CBS lot. Let's see Let's See was a Canadian television series broadcast on CBC Television between September 6, 1952 to July 4, 1953. The segment, which had a running time of 15 minutes, was a puppet show with a character named Uncle Chichimus (voice of John Conway), which presented each ... Eddie, the big winner, got a part in an independent film that is said to be struggling for distribution. Punkster-turned-actress Brittany hosts an AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. interview show called ``New Music Tuesdays'' and filmed a TV series pilot that may get syndicated someday. Beauty queen Jamie's hopes for stardom? We're still waiting to hear. Jordan's book? Never saw it. We hear George sold his truck on eBay. So Shapiro will have to forgive reporters' cynical reception of his raves about how fascinating, uninhibited uninhibited /un·in·hib·it·ed/ (un?in-hib´i-ted) free from usual constraints; not subject to normal inhibitory mechanisms. , intelligent, shrewd and ``delightfully quirky'' this new crop of 12 ``Big Brother'' contestants is. There may be more inherent conflict this time in discussing musical tastes (Autumn loves Madonna, Hardy can't stand her), sports (most houseguests favor football, except Bunky, who lives for pro wrestling) or what to fix for dinner (several mentioned meat, fish or poultry as their favorite foods, but personal chef A personal chef is a chef that goes to a client's home and prepares meals for their client based on their needs and personal preferences. Unlike a private chef that purchases the ingredients, prepares the meal, and cleans up after the dinner, a personal chef will leave meals and apparent vegetarian Nicole prefers ``anything without a face or a parent''). Then there's always politics. Based on who they declared as their heroes, look for a line to be drawn between Kent (Ronald Reagan), Shannon (Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan Dr. Greenspan is Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Greenspan also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's principal monetary policymaking body. ) and Sheryl (Dr. Laura) in one camp and, well, most anybody else in the other. If a civil war erupts, the Southerners outnumber those from the North and West eight to four. Larger and overall prettier cast of characters aside, Shapiro has made significant changes in the format, borrowing some of the ideas from CBS' phenomenon ``Survivor.'' For example: The houseguests will vote to evict someone each week instead of viewers casting ballots every other week. (But don't look for a torch-snuffing ceremony on the patio. Shapiro says it will be different from that trademark ``Survivor'' ritual.) The challenges will be more frequent and more directly tied to life in the ``Big Brother'' house, as opposed to, say, identifying which individuals on a list of famous names are still alive. The groceries, including beer and wine, will come as rewards for successful competitions rather than purchased with a per-person allowance. Better surroundings The home decor is vastly improved over last season, with warm polished woods replacing the splinter-inflicting raw pine chairs, tables and bed frames. The dining table is round rather than rectangular (large enough for 12 now but to be replaced with smaller-diameter ones as the group shrinks). The living room furniture is more comfortable, the house expanded from 1,800 square feet to 2,400, and the palette far easier on the eyes than the Crayola meltdown of a year ago. The yard still features that dinky, shallow pool, but the patio is more inviting with flagstone flagstone: see silt. , nicer furniture, a basketball court and an outdoor shower. Julie Chen Julie Suzanne Chen (born January 6, 1970) is an American television personality, news anchor, journalist, and producer for CBS, and is the wife of Leslie Moonves. She has 12 years of newscasting experience. is back as the Thursday night live show's host, but she will be hanging out in a small studio in the new, improved front yard of the house rather than a nearby soundstage with a live audience. The Red Room (could they have picked a more antagonistic color?) is larger, redone in shades of Noun 1. shades of - something that reminds you of someone or something; "aren't there shades of 1948 here?" reminder - an experience that causes you to remember something navy and royal blue velvet, and has been renamed the Diary Room. Houseguests are required to enter it once a day for solo interviews with producers, and are welcome to go in more often as needed as needed prn. See prn order. . Shapiro also has added a ``Mystery Room'' to the house, although he wouldn't show it off during a personal tour last week and refused to disclose its purpose. The contestants no longer have to tend chickens or a vegetable garden nor do they have to bake their own bread. But that's not to say it will all be easy. If their food is not properly rationed or they lose a food-reward challenge, the houseguests will subsist sub·sist v. sub·sist·ed, sub·sist·ing, sub·sists v.intr. 1. a. To exist; be. b. To remain or continue in existence. 2. on the suburban equivalent of roasted rats - warehouse-brand chunky peanut butter and grape jelly. As for the sleeping arrangements sleeping arrangements sleep npl → Bettenverteilung f , the men's and women's dormitories with their egalitarian bunk beds bunk beds bunk npl → lits superposés bunk beds npl → Etagenbett nt bunk beds npl → letti mpl are history. The sleeping areas are less private than ever, and only a lucky few will enjoy the luxury of those two double beds. The rest will have platform bunks and Army cots. The disproportionate size of the doorless bedrooms guarantees that, even if they rearranged the furniture, it would be impossible to divide the group by gender. So coed sleeping is inevitable. ``We don't have to mandate it,'' Shapiro said. ``These people would want it.'' Reminded that de Mol had promised great things of last year's cast (remember Cassandra, Karen and Curtis?), Shapiro was sorely tempted to tip his hand early about his houseguests' identities to drive home his point that they are much more compelling. He didn't. From `out there' to ...? What if all these people who were so ``out there'' during their auditions and interviews get settled by 11 weeks of isolated existence and calm down considerably? They had better calm down some, he said. ``If they don't, it would be like too much icing and not enough cake.'' As for those inviting double beds (who knows how far Brittany, the self-declared virgin, would have strayed from her practically platonic cuddling?), eight or nine of the group are currently not involved with anyone, and Shapiro expects the two married houseguests, Kent the mortgage broker and Nicole the newlywed, will behave accordingly. ``I believe these two people are not going to have a problem being true to their marriage vows Marriage vows are promises a couple makes to each other during a wedding ceremony. Civil ceremonies often allow couple's to choose their own vows, although many civil marriage vows are adapted from the traditional Catholic wedding vow "To have and to hold, from this day . That's my feeling,'' Shapiro said. ``If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.'' Who knows whether any hanky-panky will take place. It probably depends on whether they believe sex can help them win. Last year's bunch seemed motivated by future celebrity (they were sadly mistaken), public appeal (they were at the mercy of viewers' votes to keep them in the house), philanthropy (Eddie planned to share his winnings with his whole family) and just the challenge of that unique situation. This year, Shapiro insists, the houseguests have their eyes on the prize Eyes on the Prize is a 14-hour documentary series about the American Civil Rights Movement that aired in two parts. Part one, six hours long, originally aired on PBS in early 1987 as Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). . ``To a person, the 12 people we've selected have said that he or she will win,'' Shapiro said. ``Because they are so outspoken and because they are so determined to win at any cost, I can only imagine the sparks that are about to fly on many levels.'' MEET THE HOUSEGUESTS Name: AUTUMN Occupation: Accountant/singer Age: 28 Hometown: Irving, Texas Irving (pronounced 'er-ving') is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 191,615; the 2006 estimate was 201,927 according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and 196,084 according to Name: BUNKY Occupation: Technical writer Age: 36 Hometown: Harrisburg, N.C. Name: HARDY Occupation: Account executive Age: 31 Hometown: Philadelphia Name: JUSTIN Occupation: Bartender Age: 26 Hometown: Bayonne, N.J. Name: KENT Occupation: Mortgage broker Age: 46 Hometown: Powell, Tenn. Name: KRISTA Occupation: Waitress Age: 28 Hometown: Opelousas, La. Name: MIKE Occupation: Bar owner Age: 30 Hometown: Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Name: MONICA MONICA Cardiology A WHO initiative–Multinational Monitoring of Trends & Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease–which evaluated the effects of various factors on mortality in Pts MIs Occupation: Candy store manager/adult literacy teacher Age: 40 Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y. Name: NICOLE Occupation: Personal chef Age: 31 Hometown: Atlanta Name: SHANNON Occupation: Realtor/boat captain Age: 29 Hometown: San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. Name: SHERYL Occupation: Interior designer Age: 43 Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Name: WILL Occupation: Physician Age: 28 Hometown: Miami ``BIG BROTHER 2'' What: Reality TV. Where: CBS. When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, beginning tonight. CAPTION(S): 14 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) House PARTY 2 `Big Brother' returns tonight with an all-new cast, coed sleeping arrangements and an anything-goes attitude (2) New on ``Big Brother 2'': comfy living room furniture and a more visually pleasing color palette. (3) AUTUMN (4) KENT (5) NICOLE (6) BUNKY (7) KRISTA (8) SHANNON (9) HARDY (10) MIKE (11) SHERYL (12) JUSTIN (13) MONICA (14) WILL Box: Meet the Houseguests (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion