Big Brother

The appeal of “reality TV” is quite insidious, isn’t it? We used to dismiss such shows quite derisively, but have gotten caught up in them later. The first of them, Survivor, was the creation of friends of family members; some of you will remember I was dismissive. Later, I watched one entire season, and enjoyed it, though that one hasn’t captured me in subsequent seasons.

It took a few years to be captured by American Idol, but it got Jeannie and me in 2005. To be honest, the biggest hook was – and continues to be – the widely panned “train wreck” initial auditions. Is watching people make fools of themselves our equivalent of the Roman’s coliseum entertainment? Is watching some overweight middle-aged red neck prove he can’t carry a tune in a bucket serving the same primordial need in us once satisfied by lions munching on our Christian forebears? If so, I suppose it’s an improvement, but I’m not entirely sure. Summer seems to be reserved for not-ready-for-prime time (or at least winter prime time) fare like America’s Got Talent (which, having seen the show, is debatable). Ok, we liked the turtle who could imitate the frog imitating the famous crooner, but who was that guy standing next to him?

Anyway, we were visiting in Wisconsin, and Kelly and Phyllis had gotten into Big Brother 8 (the “8” standing for the eight season’s it’s survived). We admitted we’d seen the first episode of this season, but hadn’t returned to watching. We were sure we couldn’t get caught by this one. We did join them, of course, and I opined that I “liked Dick.” He’s the freak with the daughter. They were watching because Dustin, another of the competitors (quite gay, but as they said on Seinfeld, “there’s nothing wrong with that, of course") was a high school friend of their daughter and (my niece) Stacey. They were quite sure that Dick would soon be gone, since he was very much disliked by the other “house guests,” and that Eric, “America’s Player,” was ineffectual.

Well, I had my doubts, because it's not popularity that determines who stays or goes, but gamesmanship. Not to crow, the very next week, Dustin was evicted, and Dick and his daughter were in the catbird seat. Jen went the next week, and here we are, checking listings for the next episode – which is tonight. First we’re going to watch Daniele (Dick’s daughter) and Amber, “the crier,” (she cries through every show, honest) compete on The Power of Ten. Good gawd, there she is, crying again. We’re stuck.