Big Brother Canada
I previously wrote a media post about the reality show Big Brother and here I am talking about it again. Over the last three years, Big Brother has become a big part of my life. I’ve gotten really into the strategy and history of the show and always listen to the recap podcasts on Rob Has a Podcast (Media Corner blog on that coming soon!) . I've learned so much about what goes into being stuck in a house for three months. After this past season of Big Brother, it was announced that Celebrity Big Brother would be coming back in the winter. I had started watching the previous season of Celebrity Big Brother back in 2019 but couldn’t stick with it. This time around, I actually knew more of the celebrities so I decided to give it a chance. The unfortunate thing about Celebrity Big Brother is that these celebrities are not cut out to be stuck in a house and most do not care about winning 250K. This means the gameplay is pretty weak or almost non-existent. While there were some entertaining moments and I always love listening to the RHAP recap podcasts, it just did not hit like a regular season of Big Brother. While watching the finale recap podcast, the podcasters talked about their frustrations with Celebrity Big Brother and how they were excited for BBCAN to come back shortly after Celebrity Big Brother ended. They were adamant that if I’m out here watching Celebrity Big Brother, I clearly love Big Brother enough to watch BBCAN. They also mentioned how BBCAN was now available to watch on Paramount+ (one of the many streaming services I have and a necessity to watch Big Brother live feeds) So with the 10th season of BBCAN having started last week, I spent this past weekend binging the last season of BBCAN and I loved it!
I went in already knowing the winner due to some posts on Reddit and from listening to the Big Brother 23 and Celebrity Big Brother podcasts but even knowing that, I was impressed with how much I enjoyed the Canadian iteration of my favorite reality show. One thing I learned about Big Brother is that most international versions are entirely different from the US version. Most are basically a different show. However, Canada is almost exactly the same as the US version, with a few tweaks here and there. There are some things the US still does better, but Canada does many things that I wish our version could take away from it. So I’ll just go right into talking about the highlights of Big Brother Canada in comparison to Big Brother US.
The good parts…
The Host: Arisa Cox
Big Brother US has Julie Chen and BBCAN has Arisa Cox and I have to say I freakin love Arisa. She has great style, a great presence and while I’ve only seen one season she kills it as a host. Don’t get me wrong, I love Julie as well but recently it’s seemed like Julie has been getting tripped up and has been sharing some interesting sayings. Last season when interviewing an evicted houseguest she called her a child of God even though said contestant is atheist. Like I said both hosts are great but I have to give a slight edge to Arisa as a host.
Diversity
I’ve only seen one season but from what I know about BBCAN it’s better about diversity than BBUS is. BBCAN9 had people representing so many cultures and communities and as a black woman, it’s amazing to see people who I can relate to since many shows growing up did not have that. BBUS is getting better but still has a ways to go.
The Contestants came to Play
One thing that has been a struggle to watch with the BBUS seasons is that there is always a big alliance that dominates the game and the outsiders don’t do anything. While BBCAN9 has an alliance that was mainly running things, everyone came to play and when it got down to the Final 5, I honestly thought every single one of them could make a great case to win the game. This is something I want to see more of with the BBUS houseguests.
Now on to some things I’m not as big a fan of…
The Grand Prize
These people are stuck in a house for 2 months and only get 100K! And that’s around 78K in US dollars. So many people complain about how Big Brother US needed to raise their 500K cash prize (which they finally did in season 23) but we need to start talking to Canada about why they are paying these contestants scraps especially with all the sponsors they have. And speaking of sponsors…
The Sponsorships
I know sponsors are needed to keep things running but it seems like BBCAN is heavily sponsored. In the last season, they mentioned their sponsors soooo many times. Even the grand prize includes a bunch of random sponsored items aside from the 100K. The weirdest sponsor of all is Wendy’s. I don’t know anyone who eats at Wendy and honestly forgot about Wendy’s until I watched this show. The Head of Household even has to choose someone for a Wendy’s date each week just so the show can show the houseguest eating Wendy’s. While I’m glad the show’s getting funding from somewhere all the sponsorship mentions make the show feel tacky at times.
The House
If I were to be stuck in a house for 2-3 months I would have to choose the BBUS house over the BBCAN house.
Big Brother Canada 9 House - Main Area
While the BBCAN house seems like an awesome place to visit and has so many cool spaces, it just does not feel homey. It’s super bright, has a bunch of random themes, and to top it off the big ass Big Brother eye is in the middle of the main room staring at you. I would not be able to relax in that house. I also find it weird that the main door is upstairs so when houseguests get evicted it’s a much more awkward and long walk out of the house. I feel like this makes it harder for dramatic exits.
Big Brother US Season 23 House - Main Area
Even though BBUS has had some weird theming over the years, their house actually feels homey. The US house also has an actual backyard whereas it seems like Canada has a room with a skylight. That would drive me nuts.
Well, I talked a lot about BBCAN but now I’m ready to watch the 10th season. Unfortunately, only the old seasons are available on Paramount+ so I have to use a VPN to watch and haven’t figured out how to watch live yet but for those interested in Big Brother or Big Brother Canada, I highly encourage you to check the seasons out via streaming. Now on to continue into another 2 months of Big Brother obsession!