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Look at it in the description. You say "a manipulative game of Shelly" and then list several major heavyweight players that were all competition hogs. THAT is the problem. It was just her and then all of these 'comp warriors'.
Survivor wouldn't let it get this bad. They always try especially hard to make sure the 'manipulating game aspect' is covered because that's what a lot of people are tuning in for.
We probably don't go around trying to vote people off in real life, the circumstances are dire and for the moolah. That makes it both escapist and voyeuristic. To turn it into "Summer Wipeout 2" by having basically a trumped-up version of Japanese "reality" game-shows where people compete and humiliate themselves is a formula for disaster.
Eventually, fans will grow tired of the vaunted "Showmance Formula" that BB, AG and so forth are using to keep the ratings up. It is called going to the well once too many times and all the signs are starting to show. If these showmances were an addiction, this summer season (13) was actually the first sign of tolerance building rather than it working exponentially better. For what they invested, they should've gotten a lot more back from it.
This brings me back to balance of Houseguests. BB needs to take not just pages, but chapters, books, whole libraries from the pre-AS1 Big Brother seasons on how to cast more social players to offset your standard, big-personality competition monsters. All they do is anxiously lay around in huddles chanting "We have to Win HOH". We Have to Win HOH... -that funny cliche for people who understand the game. At the same time, the majority of HGs do and will play this way; it remains most HGs instinct, one could say, to defend themselves and pick sides quickly and fight hard and whatever games they have. That doesn't mean it's a great show/game to cast the best looking ones you can for your age slots and roll the dice. It is the job of casting to fix this - lower the Mactor standards just a notch or two and you'll probably get a string of epic seasons while still being able to cast several hotties to get the fan buses all full and ready to roll.
Oh, and if you don't play hard for HOH, comps etc..? Then you're often accused of not playing. That's how it is nowadays .. just another card another "side's" fans can play on you to let out their anger about whatever may have happened to their favorite.
The neverending cycle...
...One victim of the cycle this time was Shelly. Look at how she was defended first by supporters of one side, then the other. That's what you WANT. Someone who changes what the sides are! "Team Wipeout" is lame, it sucks, and it's boring. Eventually fans will get just how contrived the showmance formula really is and perhaps many will regret bashing real game-players so hard that it discouraged the future greats from even appearing.
That's what happened to Shelly. She's taken it like a champ and handled it well, better than the best case, at the same time you wonder how many folks saw that and will now decide against being on the show in the future. Especially as these future greats see Pandora's Box swoop in, be taken (of course) and flip the house incredibly to eliminate Shelly. At that point, you just have to tip your cap if you're the player (the show is what it is), and if you're thinking about ever trying that game, you just got a LOT of reasons not to. Not only will they not let you sniff 500k.. you may get haters in real-life if a fan favorite is involved in your game.
Put another way, Shelly's turn back to DPK voting-wise, if you look at it, is clearly prescient. There's no other way to look at it. As bad as BB is played socially now, it looks almost spooky. It's really not if you think numbers, at the same time, it looks more impressive because we're mostly used to a "trench warfare" side vs. side house that just sits there in their groups huddled up, anxious, waiting for HOH.
What great game..! [snore]
What would happen if BB were like the older days...? More social players, sides shifting, better key votes all season...? Fewer people trying to simply power through the competitions from start to finish?
Maybe that's why Banners weren't such a bad idea. (obligatory banners plug)  Hey, it let people collectively express their anger about w/e happened.. and signal-to-noise ratio became such that they affected the game less and less and more just personal stuff that was crazy by our standards now. The bottom line is, sometimes there's a pressure cooker on the outside just as inside.. and they must allow for better ways to have that expressed, and aim for BETTER CASTING that balances these monster competitors with more savvy social gamers... (..and not Ragan and his professor pause, "Summer of Friendship" garbage either).
That, and only that, is the best way to get us back to greatness. To a game that isn't just Summer Team Wipeout 3. I'm serious, a lot of times this season felt like Wipeout: Fans vs. Faves! Shelly suffered from this as aside from her, few committed to playing that game the whole way...shaking up the house at opportune times. My hope is that future seasons will give us a better mix of "comp warriors" and "social competitors."
Thanks for the post...! It really was a good read... oh and here's to having our lives back after BB!Cheers.
-C...
Edited by supercn (09/19/11 10:47 AM)
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One major issue comes out quickly: competitors vs. social gamers ... >
