[A-List] SSA: "reality" shows & social darwinism as entertainment

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Small, ugly, evil: welcome to Big Brother 5
By Jenifer Johnston
The Sunday Herald, 23 May 2004

Viewers have had their first glimpse of the Big Brother house - and it has
sent shivers down their spines. After falling ratings last year, and
accusations that the programme-makers were too soft on contestants, the
house design is billed as "pure evil".

The fifth series of Big Brother starts on Friday, with 12 new contestants
rumoured to include a witch, two couples and a male stripper.

The 12 inmates, some of whom will surely go on to become C-list celebrities
like Nasty Nick, Jade Goody and Scottish winner Cameron Stout, will have to
exist for 10 weeks in a much smaller space than previous years.

A spokesman for Big Brother told the Sunday Herald: "Nastiness is the
catchword of the show. I wouldn't say the design is ugly, but we have made
the ceilings lower and the floor higher so it feels more claustrophobic.

The space is so small that designers had to create a table which can be
folded up and pushed away.

"We have also included a lot more mirrors, not all with cameras behind them,
to confuse the contestants." the spokesman said.

The walls have been painted with a lurid mix of green, grey and white to
make the atmosphere even more intense than previous years, and the stylish
interiors of the past have been replaced with a beige carpet, stark
lighting, and intrusive decorations. Artwork has so far been compared to "a
bad sixth-form project".

Designer Markus Blee, also behind Gordon Ramsay's newest restaurant for the
ITV1 reality show Hell's Kitchen, has been told to create "evil" for the
inmates.

Programme-makers want big rows within the group this year. "This year we
want to challenge the housemates' preconceptions," Executive producer
Shirley Jones said.

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And if you think this is bad, try
http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/

Never to be outdone, Rupert Murdoch's Fox TV has its own "improvement" show:
http://www.fox.com/swan/home.htm

Meanwhile, following Donald Trump's "Apprentice", "Sir" Richard Branson
might be looking for you: http://www.fox.com/billionaire/