DAVID BIANCULLI

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REALITY CHECK: Bye-bye, 'Big Brother'
August 31, 2009  | By Diane Werts
 

Could it be that the lowest of the low has actually hit rock bottom?

big brother uk.jpgBritain's hit Big Brother "reality" franchise is being dropped by Channel 4 next year after a 10-year run. It's part of a "creative overhaul" described in this Financial Times article as C4's decision to focus "more on its public-service broadcasting responsibilities." Channel 4's own announcementcited its "public remit to champion new forms of creativity."


Which apparently don't involve locking strangers in a house under constant camera surveillance and waiting for the bad behavior to begin.

How will Britain survive without all the backstabbing betrayals, violent brawling, racist bullying, personal spitting, sex-for-cameras and other obnoxious activity devised to turn oneself into a reality show "celebrity"?

Oh, wait. Britain won't go without. Some other channel will doubtless pick up the Big Brother franchise and let the humiliations start anew. But at least a "prestige" broadcaster like Channel 4 has said enough is enough when it comes to "unscripted" seaminess. Could a U.S. broadcast network be far behind?

Probably. (Not.)

 
 
 
 
 
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