Posts Tagged ‘Zingbot

26
Oct
24

What I Learned From Watching Big Brother USA, the AI Season (2024)

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Nothing.

But, I witnessed one more season of a show I know I should just give up watching, completely, ending unpleasantly with a vague staged feeling. The unpleasant aspects are not new, thus I learn nothing. But, the overwhelming amount of LOVE tossed around and deceptively suppressed negativity (from a person chosen to win almost as much money as the runner-up by being a lousy person, a huge troublemaker and, somehow, the favorite houseguest) was a new wrinkle, I suppose.

I get the feeling some talk was had about a need to really showcase the motto of the hostess, Julie Chen-Moonves.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

So, everyone kept pitching the LOVE to the point that it felt almost as sickening as the Jankie AI they tried to make sound amusing when it wasn’t. [Heck. Paul once pitched FRIENDSHIP and couldn’t get enough people to back that pitch…and got screwed out of the big prize in the end of his season.] Everyone goes home with a traumatic mindset and a ticket to see a therapist. I’m pretty sure they all need therapy after this season, which is oddly Alanis M. ironic. Yes, I think.

I can now confirm the show fails on one promise. It doesn’t end the unexpected way…not anymore or in any way. Who I want to win never has, which makes every winner expected to be someone I don’t want. And, even in a season when I didn’t bother to talk online about the season in progress, a season that didn’t breed any particular hatred except for a few people who were eliminated before the jury stage (thankfully), I still feel ill in the end.

It was the first season of Big Brother to not make me violently ill and furious…yet I’m not satisfied and feel a little sad for watching, at all. I feel like it just keeps seducing me to enter some seedy bar and get wasted just to regret my decision the next day. So, it’s like a trip to Las Vegas? That’s what I get, Katy Perry?

So, I will chalk this moment up as predictable and expect more of the same next summer’s end. I will have even less motivation to write about the show and, God help me, go without watching (even if I like to see the comic-book covers and Zingbot). [After-thought-regret zing!]

I also can confirm one conclusion: The humiliation is not worth the prize.

Anyone who is seduced by this show and somehow sucked into that universe via some southern California mega-mall or Mr. Rourke portal to fantasy-fail island is a tragic soul, indeed. As much as I might want to play in some of the games, as much as I see certain faces and wish I could know them…there is far too much disrespect and humiliation of people pitching themselves to represent this and that and talk about resumes that make no sense.

Each season injects way too much excessive drama and gossip for anyone to tolerate; Julie Chen even sadly participates in trying to cast shades on various incidents that might be very minor…but she can’t let them go quietly. I don’t know who the target audience is, but I will admit to being a fool for watching…watching for reasons probably few if any would express.

It is not worth breaking a leg or trying to find yourself in a feast of forced humiliation and social discomfort on many levels. CBS can offer every fool a contract to keep them as pawns in whatever reality circus they pitch, and that’s just as damning as the worst Big Brother puts out. It’s a deceptive horror movie. The prize money is tainted. And, if any of it is really staged, I’d be beyond livid to know and retaliate, for sure.

I will miss out on meeting Julie Chen (unless she gets off this ride and makes a nice appearance somewhere else I can appreciate her), among other nice faces (Makensy, T’Kor, Reilly, Nicole A., Bowie Jane, NYC Meg, America, Christmas, Kwanza–just kidding) that come and go in a blink unless they reappear on some other season or crappy-er reality-TV show…..but that’s okay because I will avoid a heap of added trauma on my already weighted plate.

I don’t need to take responsibility for partaking in some sort of Hunger Games with “have-nots” I just met, who will no doubt act like cross family members in a bad dream. I don’t need to choose myself over some more deserving soul or sacrifice myself after being humiliated and tortured. I wouldn’t be much fun as HOH, anyway, nor would any family moments be worth putting on TV, unless CBS really wants to torture me…and then I’d really have reason to tear the network a big one and unleash uncivil armageddon. If my life at home is really as messed up as some contestants make it seem…even when they are showing smiling faces full of support…I don’t want to pretend everything is great while I chase a hoop dream on TV in front of too many cameras in creepy places and a staff bent on torturing others when their gorgeous and typically graceful hostess pitches love.

I think what every participant learns from submitting themselves to the torture is that they all lack friendship, which is what Paul was trying to tell them, back when. You all need a good parent and friend…not a showmance…definitely not any alliance doomed to fail. You need a ride-or-die and to know what that really means, not get dazzled by some prize on a string while your spouses, (former) jobs and children wait for your return. I think that should be on the contract.

[It still astounds me how people who claim to know a show so well and be super fans still cave to peer pressure and make the same dumb mistakes with alliances eeeevery season.]

[If you can leave a spouse and/or children…or give up your duty as a policeman…for 90 days…and humor a statement about not coming back home if you don’t win…you don’t need to be on TV, and your current slot in life is tragically flawed.]

23
Sep
22

Big Brother USA 2022 Update; Cousin Conspiracy

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Latest Big Brother USA 2022 news…

It’s down to the final four, Monte, Turner, Taylor and Brittany.

Monte and Taylor are suddenly the African-American Adam and Eve in the house, and poor “meathead” Joseph, in the jury house, is distraught. [But, no, Kyle, there’s nothing suspiciously race-related about that. Not at all. Just very convenient from a TV-show-plot perspective. How convenient that two people of the same general nationality (color) who show no chemistry the whole time they’re among X number of players…suddenly are romantically charged and ready to play the steamy TV couple of the season, considering the other couples have been broken (perhaps a bit too soon). It’s a show about nothing; not that there’s anything wrong with that.]

Evidence shows Turner has been more impressive and deceptive all season than I was aware. He lives up to his name (not his first, which is Matt?)…exceptionally. …AND Monte. I guess I missed a few competitions in which he won. So, Turner AND Monte both HAVE earned some stripes…and just coasted up and down the waves throughout the season. Interesting.

A scene between Monte and Taylor…in a bathtub…in a swimsuit…feels just a little staged. First, what is the benefit of bathing in a bathing suit? Second, her somewhat wounded reaction–which is hard to believe from an “ice queen” to begin with–swiftly turns into a bitchy response about her focus on the prize money. Is she rrrreally that heartless? Or, is this a soap opera? Am I just missing rehearsals by not watching “live feeds?”

Now, they just showed the “touching video” package with the final four’s family/loved ones. And, I am severely shocked at how three out of four segments felt…wrong.

1) Taylor’s…mom? and…grandmother? It’s a fair resemblance…but not just in physical appearance. The two older women exhibit the same icy personality! The older of the two cannot even look the camera in the eye. Cold! family. Brr!

2) Monte’s Dad. He’s definitely not too affectionate, just enough emotional distance to respect his son. But, what a resemblance.

3) Turner’s…Mom? and……WHO is the young woman? The latter says she cannot wait to hug and kiss “Matt,” again. But, she doesn’t look like a girlfriend (of a bisexual something-or-other). Oh, he just said her name is Megan. SHE LOOKS LIKE A SISTER!!! How does a guy who looks like Snoopy’s desert cousin hook up with a girl who looks like him? Freakyyy.

4) Brittany’s husband?! Is it just me or does the guy look like her brother? Honestly. That was NOT her husband. ‘Can’t be.

Next, the “Cookout” from last year returns to…discuss the current season. I’m sorry–no I’m not–but this also feels vvvvery staged, stiff, formal and awkward like a bad beauty pageant. Even the guys in the group look like they’re looking over their shoulders at the women, feeling a little strange about the formal answers to Julie’s questions. Each person gets to give a little speech. A very formal presentation on race with Kyle put into the ugly position of 3K villain. Tacky, Big Brother. Very tacky. [Now, I feel tacky.]

And, wait. Julie is actually HUGGING the Cookout folks? Were they “certified clean” before the hugs? Julie has been so cautious about touching people since the Covid-19 situation began. Now, she’s hugging, again? That, I guess, isn’t as crazy as the other stuff…but it still strikes me a little odd.

The best moment of this recent episode was seeing Joseph genuinely disappointed from missing out on BB Comics night. At least, it looked genuine. Who knew. The muscle-head likes comic books. [And, no, I’m not being heartless. I would have felt disappointed, too. As much as I might not like the guy, I feel a twinge of pity for him…if him and Taylor don’t reconnect. And, if they do, I like the guy less. Ha. She’s cold…but she is fine.]

So, the final three…are Turner, Monte and Taylor. This sounds about right. Not good. But right. Monte is certain to be in final two. No doubts. The question remains if he saves Turner (upholding that old two-person alliance promise) or sticks with the Adam-and-Eve plan. If Taylor does NOT get to be the first black female winner, she either goes home a sore icy loser or gets “saved” by her humble chocolate prince, Monte Buchanan. [I’m just adding the “Buchanan” to give this plot a more substantial soap-opera foundation.] If Turner isn’t the sore loser who just dribbles away into the shadows, still smiling and claiming he loves everyone, he either gets a shot at the big prize, stiffing Prince Monte (or Taylor). Or, he goes home with the consolation prize (and something extra?).

[Wait. That leaves at least one scenario. If Monte goes out in third place, that leaves Taylor and Turner and makes Monte look rather sad. Is Taylor going to pick up Monte Reese’s pieces and put him back together. Unless the ice-queen bit is an act…nooooo. Now, let’s say Turner, the slimy weasel, pulls out the win. Why? Because this may be one of those seasons in which the biggest jerk or other annoyance gets the big prize, upsetting the game. B-But…he was so good at playing weasel. But, a game is a game. And, I didn’t make the rules. And, I don’t like staged games, either. So, if Turner is the big winner, that puts Monte and Taylor, the remaining two “people of color” out in one last sweep. What kind of statement does THAT make to the audience…including the “Cookout” you had come back just to talk about race in this season’s game? Oh, CBS, what a tangled web you weave. You cannot win, either way. Your “try-hard” efforts at racial equality are doomed to backfire. Ehem… ZING!]

[IF Taylor and Monte do not come out on top, get ready, people. They’re bound to get put on another reality-TV show, probably The Amazing Race or whatever that new “challenge” thing is. And, when that happens, I’m really going to be sick…of reality-TV. People are being used like pieces in a game of Monopoly, in a world being swallowed by monopolies. I need to find a place to park and call my own away from all of the money games…if that’s possible and not destitute.]

Let’s not forget the “favorite houseguest” prize. Julie said they get a sum…and something extra? for the first time in BB history? Oh. I cannot wait to see who wins this. I smell stage…I lost count. How many staged events have there been?…since last year?

After twenty-some years?? of this “game,” I’m starting to think Julie really needs to backdoor herself and find something more respectable to do with her talents (and beauty). I stopped watching my “guilty pleasure” for a number of seasons, as I did with the other CBS giant, Survivor. I can stop, again, if I must. I think the last stop was the warning I should have heeded. But, I’ve been weak.

Okay. That’s it. Vent over. Talks amongst yourselves. Discuss. Or, share your thoughts below.

[Just….wow.]




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