Big Brother (Australian TV series)

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Big Brother Australia Logo

Big Brother is a reality TV series shown in Australia on Network Ten. The Australian version is based on the popular Big Brother international television series produced by Endemol where a number of contestants, usually 14 or more, live in an isolated house for anywhere up to several months. Housemates are at all times under the control of Big Brother, a rule enforcing authority figure who monitors behaviour of the housemates, set tasks and punishments and provides the mechanism for contestants make external requests. Housemates are filmed 24 hours per day with edited highlights broadcast during prime time slots, and late night footage broadcast live. Live footage is also broadcast via the internet using internet streaming.

Housemates must remain in the house, and avoid being evicted by viewers of the show with the aim of winning a substantial cash prize at the end of the series. The cash prize decreases as housemates violate Big Brother's rules. All series in Australia have rigidly enforced the rule that nominations are not to be discussed amongst housemates, and that collusion between housemates is forbidden. Big Brother is hosted by Australian author Gretel Killeen.

All houses have been at the same location, the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The house is extensively re-modelled between each series and is often re-configured mid-series to allow for additional function rooms or private areas.

In order to support the housemates' emotional well-being, all participants have access to the Big Brother psychologist Carmel Hill at all times.

After the series, housemates are required to attend regular promotional appearances around Australia at nightclubs in most capital cities.

With Dreamworld, Network Ten and Gretel Killeen's contracts expiring after the current 2006 season, there is some doubt as to whether the show will return for 2007 and beyond. At this point it time, it is uncertain whether all parties will resign.

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Gretel Killeen, host of the Australian series of Big Brother

Series

• Big Brother Australia series 1 (2001)
• Big Brother Australia series 2 (2002)
• Big Brother Australia series 3 (2003)
• Big Brother Australia series 4 (2004)
• Big Brother Australia series 5 (2005)
• Big Brother Australia series 6 (2006, Current series, started April 22, 2006)

Shows

During each series, several shows are shown over approximately 16 hours per week. The only day Big Brother isn't shown at all is Saturday.

Daily Show

Shown each Monday to Friday and most Sundays, the Daily Show reports on the day-to-day happenings in the house. Narrated by Mike Goldman.

Evictions

Regular weekly eviction shows are held on Sunday nights in front of a live audience at Dreamworld. Special eviction shows are sometimes held on other days. Hosted by Gretel Killeen.

Big Brother Nominations

Nominations are a special show shown on Monday evenings where housemates nominate other housemates for eviction. In the first series of Big Brother there was no special nomination show; nominations were simply shown as a part of the daily show on Tuesday evening.

Big Brother: Up Late

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Mike Goldman during an episode of Big Brother: Up Late

Big Brother: Up Late is a late-night television show hosted by Mike Goldman which began with the third series of Big Brother. The show features a large amount of live streaming from the house, and interviews with evicted housemates, as well as the nightly Brain Teasers -- where viewers have to guess a jumbled word and phone in for a chance to win AUD$1000.

Big Brother : Adults Only

Formerly named Big Brother Uncut, Big Brother: Adults Only (BB:AO) is adult content that usually includes footage of the housemates showering and some of the more risqué dialogue that cannot be shown on the prime time shows. It also shows the sexual action that occurs in the house, this is used to help show the relations in the house. It is hosted by Gretel Killeen.

The fifth (2005) series of Big Brother was heavily promoted with a "sexy" theme, featuring young, good looking housemates who were willing to have relations in public. Alcohol was readily provided on occasion to generate footage for the Big Brother: Uncut show. The actions of the housemates gave rise to complaints from politicians and conservative family groups. In 2006, the series was renamed to Big Brother Adults Only.

The following instances of Uncut footage gained the most publicity:

• On Day 4 during a birthday party for housemate Michelle, many of the housemates had a game of "spin the bottle" in the spa while drunk. The game featured same-sex kisses.
• Many of the male housemates casually told racist jokes until viewers complained and producers put a strict ban on racist language.
• Housemates Michelle and Glenn spent a night in an isolated room and bathed together naked. Endemol Southern Star released a press statement suggesting the couple may have had sex. It was later revealed they did not.
• Housemate Michael massaged housemate Gianna's shoulders while standing closely behind her and exposing his penis.
• Some of the male housemates created a crude song about scat sexual fetishes.

Following complaints by the Australian Family Association, parliament member Trish Draper voiced her concerns over the show's influence on children. The story was quickly scooped up by mainstream media and rival commercial networks Seven and Nine, who used the opportunity to launch attacks against their competition. Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Helen Coonan quickly followed the complaints with a formal letter to Network Ten.

Shortly after show producers removed the "Uncut" section from the official Big Brother website, with a statement that the removal was to appeal to the show's broad audience. This part of the site is now only available to fee paying "Premium" members.

After the 2005 series concluded, further complaints prompted the Australian Communications and Media Authority to launch an investigation into Big Brother: Uncut. The main complaint was that Network Ten had breached the industry code of practice by broadcasting footage that went past the maximum MA15+ rating for Australian commercial television.

The ACMA found Network Ten had breached the code on two occasions: the airing of housemate Michael massaging Gianna with his penis exposed and the song about sexual fetishes. The ACMA did not impose any direct punishment on Network Ten, however outlined requirements for the 2006 series of Uncut. Included in those requirements is a commitment by Network Ten to compile show footage far enough in the future so that censors can edit it if necessary. Two censors will be taken on by the network specifically for Big Brother and crew will be trained on the restrictions of the MA15+ television rating.

Friday Night Live

On Friday Nights at 7:30pm during the 2005 series, a new show was hosted by Mike Goldman, and former 2004 housemates Ryan Fitzgerald and Bree Amer. The housemate evicted the previous week sometimes makes a guest appearance on the show. The show features a live competition in a secret part of the Big Brother compound. The winner of a set of three tasks is rewarded with three prizes:

1. Two nights in the rewards room with a fellow housemate of their choice,
2. Assigning the chores for the week (eg. Shopper/Chef, Farmhand, Housekeeper, Gardener), and
3. Removing three nomination points from a housemate who is nominated for eviction.

With the return of Big Brother for the sixth series (in 2006), Friday Night Live also returned. A fourth prize was added for the winner, in addition to the three prizes as before; allowing them to choose a prize from boxes numbered from 1-3. The winner can only choose 1 box.

The Friday Night Live format was used in February 2006 when the Ten Network launched Friday Night Games. The weekly program was filmed at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, and features two teams of celebrities (who are joined by members of the public) to compete in a series of games. The program was hosted by Goldman, Fitzgerald and Amer, like the original series.

Big Brother Insider

A half-hour, Friday evening panel show hosted by Tim Ferguson during the third series of Big Brother in 2003.

Big Brother Saturday

During the first series of Big Brother there was a one-hour Saturday evening show with Gretel Killeen presenting an overview of press discussion of the series that week, interviews with fans, and footage of what evicted housemates were up to. This show featured little actual footage originating from the Big Brother house itself.

Sponsorship

The show attracts major sponsorship from large Australian telecommunication companies hoping to gain promotion from the many telecommunications tie-ins during the series. Sponsorship deals have also included the naming rights to the bigbrother web site domain name. The current website is: bigbrother.3mobile.com.au, but past web sites were: bigbrother.optus.com.au and bigbrother.iprimus.com.au.

Other major sponsorship comes in the form advertising space and product placement. During the 2005 series almost all food products in the house came from a food company with commercial agreements with the show production company. Any food that did not have a sponsorship agreement had its label removed.

Big Brother also receives substantial grants from the Queensland tourism board.

Criticisms

Many criticisms are aimed at the program including:

• The use of product placement, examples being

• In 2001, a preview of The Secret Life of Us that was shown to the housemates late in the first series. The Secret Life of Us, another Network Ten programme, was preparing to make its premiere immediately after that Big Brother season ended. The housemates' seemingly ingenuine positive reaction to the new show was aired during the prime time daily update show.
• During the 2003 season, housemates were given a task to count a large bowl of M&M's, a major sponsor for the season.
• During the 2004 season, the entire backyard of the house was filled with snow, to tie in with a special viewing of the film The Day After Tomorrow.
• During the 2005 season, housemates were required to take Tango dancing lessons and were treated to a special viewing of the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Other 20th Century Fox tie ins included a "favourite fantastic four" housemates competition, linked to the Fantastic Four film. In one episode, approximately ten minutes of the Up-Late show focused solely on the use of a mobile phone which had been provided by one of the show's major sponsors.

• Home viewer competitions not being open to the residents of South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia due to timezone differences. However this has been rectified with a new competition in the 2005 series called Hammer Down which enables all residents of Australia to enter. In 2006, there was a new website which enabled S.A., N.T. and W.A. veiwers to participate with live streaming of Uplate over the web. The site is http://www.quiztv.com.au
• Telephone costs associated with housemate evictions.
• The content of its Uncut shows, which during the 2005 series was said by some commentators to border on pornography, with graphic depictions of masturbation (the girls used a hose in the sauna to "get themselves off"), constant nudity, and mistaken allegations that one male housemate rubbed his penis in a female housemate's hair. These criticisms were even made by Federal Government Parliamentarians led by Trish Draper.
• The advertisement content of the Up late shows, particularly during the 2005 series. The show featured increasing numbers of premium charge SMS and telephone competitions. On some nights less than half the show was footage from the house.

Former housemates who found fame

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Simon "Hotdogs" Deering, on The Uplate Game Show.

• Bree Amer, regular co-host of Big Brother Friday Night Live and Friday Night Games.
• Regina Bird, filmed a pilot for her own show for Network Ten which never made it to air. Was a frequent guest on Big Brother Uplate, and a contestant on 2005 Nine Network celebrity skating competition series Skating on Thin Ice.
• Simon Deering, host of The Uplate Game Show (2005 - 2006)
• Wesley Denning, co-host of children's television show, Totally Wild
• Sara-Marie Fedele, enjoyed significant celebrity status after the series, and was a celebrity contestant in Dancing with the Stars in 2005
• Ryan Fitzgerald, hosted Big Brother special shows and regular host of Big Brother Friday Night Live and Friday Night Games he is also a radio host on the breakfast show on Nova 91.9 in Adelaide, and appears frequently on Network Ten's Before The Game.
• Blair McDonough, had an on-going acting role with daily serial Neighbours from 2001 to 2005, now working in the United Kingdom.
• Nathan Morris is now a host on the Nova 93.7 breakfast show in Perth.
• Pete Timbs is a journalist for Tv Week.

See also

• Friday Night Games - a spin-off from Big Brother's 2005 Friday Night Live show
• List of Australian game shows
• List of Australian television series

External links

• Official Australian Big Brother website
• Big Brother at IMDb
• Behind Big Brother — most popular unofficial Big Brother Australia fan site
• Google Directory - Big Brother Australia — a directory of Big Brother Australia fansites.