While every BB season has had its detractors, charges the producers are screwing things up, assurances that any idiot could do better etc., it does seem to me as if the attacks are more vociferous this season, and that the charges that the entire show is fixed are more insistent. Perhaps I’m guilty of the same shortsightedness I often caution others about, and it really is this bad every year. But it does seem worse to me, and I wonder if Grodner herself is part of the reason, in that she seems to be more of a target for abuse than Shapiro ever was. A disturbing number of the comments I read about her on various sites make reference to her personal appearance (Ironically, many of those mad at her are accusing her and the show of tolerating Dick’s misogyny). There’s always room to criticize the producers–not a season has gone by where I haven’t done a lot of it myself–but the harshness of the attacks is indicative of some people taking the game a bit too seriously.

Grodner gave an interview a few days ago to Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly, which probably didn’t satisfy her biggest detractors of last week (that is, those upset at the show for its allegedly separate treatment for Dick’s transgressions and for Jen’s, and those upset that Jen was given one penalty and then had it amended only hours later). I thought at the time the changing of the rules made sense because the original penalty paradoxically improved the chances Jen could stay in the house for an additional week. She’s somewhat less convincing on the whole question of Diary Room manipulation, but that charge can’t be proven or disproven unless the hamsters themselves start talking.

I was thinking about possible reasons for the increasing amount of scrutiny of production this year, and this opinion piece by Andy Dehnart on msnbc.com, on the subject of the “competing realities” (TV show vs. feeds) of Big Brother, suggested an answer to me. The feeds vs. show duality is nothing new to those of us who have watched the feeds for years; in fact, it’s always been a leading subject for discussion along with the game itself. But Showtime’s Big Brother After Dark has brought a whole new audience to the feeds this season, and I’m sure anyone who has watched BB on CBS for years but had been a feeds virgin is no doubt surprised by what they see. The reality of life in that house has always been more complex than can be depicted in any depth by 3 hours on CBS every week. A certain amount of storyline-ization is inevitable–and even necessary if the truth be told (haul out your BB1 tapes if you want to see it tried the other way, but don’t operate heavy machinery immediately after viewing). But the extent of the simplification can be jarring–and that’s why following this show without feeds, or at least getting the skinny from those who have the feeds, is pretty futile.

One more piece of media news: also on ew.com, you can find one of the many Jen post-eviction interviews she gave last Friday. She’s not exactly in fence-mending mode, basically accusing Big Brother of sandbagging her by suggesting destroying the cigarettes would be allowed, and then coming back later and saying no. Personally, I find it hard to believe BB would ever really countenance the destruction of cigarettes. We have a little experience by now with what happens when someone runs out of nicotine in the house, and it just seems that the last thing you need in there is to give someone another reason to freak out. I’ll be charitable and assume that Jen heard what she wanted to hear in regard to the cigarettes, and isn’t deliberately lying. I enjoyed her interviews more than most; she’s clearly very smart, and seems to have the houseguests’ personalities nailed. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find a way to put those skills to good use while still in the house. I have a feeling the postmortem I write for Jen will be as enigmatic as the woman herself.
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