Big Brother: All-Stars - Aired August 4 to Present - Commentary

As you may or may not have noticed, I'm a little backed up on Big Brother updates. Most of the episodes I did have on tape, but at this point going back to them and updating them all is a little too daunting, and not just for the sheer amount of time it would take. You there, there's a problem with Big Brother: All-Stars... It's the worst season of the show ever. I wasn't a fan of the All-Stars concept to start with, I watched the Survivor version, but I gave it a chance.
I can live with stupid decisions from novice players. That's part of the fun. But when everybody knows what Will's gameplay is like and they still let him get away with it? Un-freakin'-believable. There is no excuse for them to be letting them play them like he has been. In fact, this is so bad that for the first time I'm left wondering if the producers really are manipulating the season from behind the scenes, trying to give us what they think we want. And I'm not normally paranoid that way (but Dick Cheney really is trying to listen to my brain).
Big Brother would be a painful enough show to recap at the best of times. Back and forth strategy talk is fun to watch, not so much fun to write. But if things actually happened, I could live it it. Thinks aren't happening though. It's the Will and Janelle Show, which may be a blast for the die-hard Will and Janelle fans, but a yawner for the rest of us.
How bad is this season? I've watched from Big Brother 1, episode 1, and in all that time the only episodes I've missed were by accident, forgetting to set the VCR and such. The last episode of All-Stars I've watched was when James was evicted, and for the first time ever I'm deliberately not watching. Not even the lure of a double eviction and a week's worth of competition in one hour was enough to get me to watch again. Who was evicted? Danielle and George. Why? Because once again, everyone is playing for a Will/Janelle final two! Erika just finished watching her alliance turn on James then Danielle, but she still trusts them! Janelle watched Pinky and the Brain orchestrate the ousting of everyone else from Season Six, she vowed revenge, then she put Erika and George on the block!
None of this makes any sense! How dumb are these people?
I've heard that this is the lowest rated Big Brother in years. I can believe that. While a large number of internet viewers are hardcore Janelle fanatics (hey, I was a fan last year myself, but I found myself worrying about saying anything negative this season because of the backlash that could create), a lot of people are more keen on an interesting season than the predictable stupidity-fest we've gotten. Even Dr. Will, who has been running the show, isn't immune from bizarre strategy has his desire to take Janelle to the final three is inexplicable, especially if he wants himself and Boogie in the final two.
Two of the biggest contributers to breaking this season were the pre-game alliances and all the talk of sharing the prize money. Sure, the absolute fear people had of being voted out at the beginning didn't help out, but how exciting can a final two or three be if none of the players really care who wins because they'll all be getting the same money? This was strictly prohibited in previous seasons, but that rule seems to have been discarded for All-Stars.
So what did Realivision miss? Kaysar's record setting third eviction, a title that will like go forever unchallenged.
Marcellas being evicted after being assured by Janelle that he was safe. He told her repeatedly that if she put him on the block, he would be evicted. He also told Season Six repeatedly during their run of four consecutive Head of Household runs that they need to get rid of Chill Town. They didn't listen, with the men focuses on their insane floater fetish and Janelle driven to get rid of the women in the house. Of the lot, the only one left is Janelle, and she's there with, you guessed it, Chill Town. Marcellas made some bad moves, alligning with Janelle at the start being one of them, but he knew what was happening and what should happen.
Howie eviction was a classic of poor sportsmanship when he grabbed Boogie's hat and threw it, then got in his face. People have been stabbed in the back and blindsided in 6 previous seasons of Big Brother and 12 seasons of Survivor, and most of them take it either good-naturedly or they let a few choice words out. This is the first time I've seen it get close to physical like this. What's been amazing online is watching his fans excuse this attrocious behaviour, much like they pretty much ignored him calling Nakomis a "fat, ugly freak".
I'm sorry, but as cheerful as Howie is when everything is going his way, he turns into a bully when it's not. I was a fan last year, but I've seen the light and am very much an ex-fan. How much he bothers me is evidenced by how I'm wording all this. I never get this personal in these pages, and I hope to never get so again.
Even worse, I feel very poorly for Marcellas. Here he thought he had a week in sequester to himself, and of course it's Howie who showed up 24 hours later. It was pretty obvious these two men don't like each other. What was best was when we saw them watching the DVD (they've gone high class this season) of the competitions following Marcellas' departure, the reactions Marcellas had to Howie's classless comments were priceless as they communicated exactly how I was feeling. It sucked however when we were shown Howie apparently getting the last word in, insulting Marcellas. That's not how we roll at Realivision. No, we get the last word in here, HurriLame Howie.
James, on the other hand, took his eviction with much aplomb. People were waiting for him to snap on his ouster, but nope, he let them down by taking it like an adult! Once his name was read, he put the game behind him. Kudos, James.
And that was the last episode I watched this season. I know Danielle and Chicken George are gone because I'm still online, but them leaving only emphasized why I quit watching.
The only way I'll watch the finale is if it's Erika vs. Boogie in the final two. Then for one more brief shining moment, Big Brother will be interesting again.
What can Big Brother do to redeem itself next season? Twelve to fourteen perfect strangers. Don't give us any more twists with people related to each other in any possible way. Try to recruit them all from those who apply for the show, and don't worry about everyone being beautiful. George may be strange, but he has more character in his little toe than many House Guests throughout the series have had period. And please get back to the rule banning the sharing of prize money! The thirst for blood needs to go down to the end!
But the complete strangers is the most important part. Do that and you'll win me back.
I apologize for the lack of humour in this post, but what's being done to a show I love is no laughing matter.
Stay tuned though, because not only am I going to finally get the season finale to So You Think You Can Dance done very, very soon, but I will also be recapping Celebrity Duets!
And in just a couple of weeks, Survivor returns as does The Amazing Race which will get the full treatment, and both series are promising to be interesting and both offering more diversity in the players than every before (Survivor is being particularly controversial by dividing tribes based on ethnicity). Now those are going to be fun shows to recap!
As for Last Comic Standing, I know I recorded the season finale. I just need to find the damned tape.
For those of you still with me, thank you for your patience. If you enjoyed my Treasure Hunters coverage, please stick around because the fun ain't over yet, baby!