Friday, August 31, 2007
Many fans watch the
unedited version on the
Internet and Showtime Too.
By DERRIK J. LANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW YORK — It’s just another summer in the “Big Brother” house. Or is it?
Bloggers have condemned scandalous remarks about incest, race, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation made by contestants. Message board posters have debated about a physical altercation involving two participants and a lit cigarette. And thousands of YouTube watchers have eavesdropped on one contestant’s unfiltered thoughts about Jewish people.
Should viewers be shocked? The CBS reality show’s motto is, after all, “expect the unexpected.”
For the past eight summers, “Big Brother” has isolated contestants (or houseguests, as they’re referred to on the show) from the outside world, while under constant surveillance. Once a week, they vote to evict one another. The “Big Brother 8” winner will be selected live Sept. 18.
With several versions of the show broadcast in countries, the made-for-TV claustrophobia has proved endlessly fascinating across the globe — and so has its voyeuristic peep show.
In the United States, outside the edited prime-time airings is the mostly uncensored access to the house’s cameras on the Internet for $14.99 a month and, for the first time, for three hours every night on Showtime Too.
Not seen on TV
It’s there that viewers can listen to 44-year-old bar manager Richard “Evel Dick” Donato’s unbleeped expletive-filled tirades against his fellow houseguests.
And it was on the live Internet feed that Amber Siyavus, a 27-year-old cocktail waitress from Las Vegas, told fellow contestant Jameka Cameron, a 28-year-old school counselor from Waldorf, Md., that Jewish people tend to be “really money-hungry” and “selfish.”
YouTube videos of that conversation ignited controversy on the Web and beyond, prompting CBS to issue a statement condemning her remarks and refusing to air them in prime time.
“The producers are operating essentially two different realities,” says Andy Dehnart, who blogs about reality TV at realityblurred.com. “One is for the feed watchers and the Showtime Too watchers at night. The other is on TV. They’ve condensed things that aren’t really representative of reality. We can show that Amber has said anti-Semitic things without having to repeat them. We can show Dick is a horrible person without including the words he’s using. But the producers choose not to.”
Press restricted
If Siyavus, who’s nominated for eviction this week, is booted from the house, she won’t have to answer to the media about her comments. That’s because the reporters granted access to houseguests-turned-jury members have been told by CBS they must agree not to ask Siyavus or Cameron about the controversial remarks.
Traditionally, reporters interviewing the six sequestered evictees who will make up the show’s jury and decide the $500,000 grand-prize winner usually agree to only ask houseguests about conversations that they were physically present for in the house.
This season’s drama has boosted “Big Brother” ratings. Thursday’s episode, which featured a physical altercation between “Evel Dick” Donato and 23-year-old nanny-model Jen Johnson, drew 8.1. million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Donato has taunted Johnson verbally all season.