Same Formula, Different Season

After weeks of promotion, Summer of Sabotage finally got underway but instead of true suspense and anticipation, it felt kind of like I was watching a re-run.

The premiere episodes of "Big Brother" always have the same "flavor" — a little bland. Why? Because producers rely heavily on the formula-based format, and if it aint broke, then don't fix it.

Julie Chen's back to open the show with the "twist" which is touted to be new but seems to be more of just a re-working of the old America's Player twist. It has potential to make the show interesting, but revealing it to the cast was probably not the best idea.

Meet the Cast!

Then we get to the montage of this year's cast supposedly getting their keys and realizing for the first time they have finally made it into the Big Brother House. Really? Do they really think the viewing audience has a collective IQ of about 90? Is anyone really fooled into thinking that they arrive at someone's place of work (in this case Andrew's) and hide a key in a file folder for him to find in full view of a camera?

Granted, it does give the audience a glimpse into the personal lives of each cast member but it is a very scripted glimpse at best. Personally, I would rather see a few seconds of the video they made to get on the show then these contrived moments.

Monet's opening reminded me of Jen Johnson, BB8. According to Monet, she prefers not to be around anyone who is "gross and nasty." Okay, for the record, show of hands please: who among us prefers to be around people who are gross and nasty? Yeah, I thought so BUT most of don't say it.

Speaking of Big Brother 8, Hayden is totally a throwback to Nick Starcevic. From his strategy of flirting with girls and guys, to his looks and his athletic background, he's totally the reincarnation of Nick. Wonder if his gameplay will work out better? He does not seem to have any prior knowledge of BB.

Still on BB8, Matt kind of reminded me of a smarter version of Eric which makes me think that he's the potential saboteur.

Kathy reminds me of Tonya, BB3, and resident gay Ragan, reminds me of a combination of a few past players (he was wearing BB8 Dustin's grey shirt).

Okay, enough with the comparisons.

Just a few other words about the cast. Rachel stands out for her boobs more than her brains. In fact, her boobs are ginormous and are quite possibly the biggest in the history of the game. I will admit under normal circumstances I don't notice another woman's boobs, but did I mention, they're ginormous!! I even found myself wondering whether her dress would contain her enthusiasm!
The saboteur twist seems a little forced. Letting the house guests in on it definitely heightened the paranoia but I would have preferred to see someone work extra hard to disrupt the flow of the house in a subtle way. More on that later.

But first, the HOH competition. In a house like BB, who volunteers without first hearing the task. Andrew does (which puts him on the saboteur radar immediately). Because of the odd number of players, Julie needs a mascot that just happens to be a hotdog costume for the orthodox Jew.

After the teams are divided, they go into the backyard where a large grill is set up over which hangs a large wiener. We find out that a.) the wiener is slippery, b.) Rachel likes to jump on large wieners, and c.) it was more difficult to hang on to this wiener than say, an average wiener.

After the task, it seemed that the number of candidates for saboteur had risen dramatically. Was it Britney who "injured" her knee while attempting to cross? Could Kathy, who showed a startling lack of athleticism for a deputy sheriff and could not seem to hang on to the wiener, be the saboteur? Could it be Brandon who complained that his teammates began pulling him across really fast and he wanted to go back to the other side? (Ummm, Brandon? Why didn't you just jump off instead of yell at them to send you back????) Or could it be Annie or Monet who both went for the $10,000 prize to be the first across?


Who would have guessed that Hayden would take the first HOH? But he did and it could be interesting having a novice BB player in control during the first week.

Back in the house, the producers decide to help out the saboteur by dousing the lights. Andrew and Brandon are seen wandering the house. Brandon apparently employs robotic like qualities when the lights go out as he immediately went for his toothbrush. Really.

Andrew, on the other hand, saw the opportunity for some fun and games and tried to pull a few pranks. It made him seem like the obvious suspect when the lights came back on and the storage room was locked, but I think the room was locked by production staff, allowing the saboteur to remain seated on the couch.

All in all not a bad start to the season, but I'm kind of wait and see on the twist. My money is on Matt as saboteur right now, but that may change in the coming days.