The Latest 'Big Brother 8' Cast News - Sunday, July 1, 2007

Graphic artist Zoetawny has made me yet another tag for the show. She rocks, right?

To bring up all of the show posts on this blog, simply use the 'Big Brother 8' label tag you find on the bottom of any show post. I've posted lots o' news already and I'm still scouting for more as the premiere looms on the horizon.

Before I tell you the latest, I want to give a shout-out to the folks at JokersUpdates, Hamsterwatch, and the other fine sites covering the show. I haven't had any "inside connections" to the show since my producer buddy Jym Buss left after season 6, but through the wonders of the Internet, I always have news to share!

Here's the latest buzz from the Internet Fans:

• A poster over at Jokers found an article about houseguest Jessica Hughbanks. It turns out she's a dancer for Wichita Thunder (hockey) and, if you're a fan of So You Think You Can Dance, you know her dancing idol -- Shane Sparks. There's not a heck of a lot of insight, but it's certainly worth a peek. She doesn't like rude people, huh? What's she doing going into the Big Brother house?
• Rumors are all over the web about the America's Player person being male. I think it all stems from Julie and Allison Grodner always referring to the person as "he." That could be just semantics, but I don't think we'll know for sure until next Sunday night.
• Jokers also has a Wichita Eagle blurb about houseguest Carol Journey. She had to forego her first season as a Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader to be on Big Brother.
• You can't get enough show news? The best link sites are Reality TV Links and SirLinksAlot, both set for their Big Brother links. Oh, and is that this blog listed on them both? :-)
• The Entertainment Tonight house tour is scheduled for Monday, July 2. Check your local listings for times in your area.
• Not new season related, but interesting nonetheless -- BB Lane has a recent interview with Season 1 winner Eddie McGee. It really makes you stop and think... eight years ago this all started. It's definitely changed my summers! That first year I was a board host on the AOL Message Boards for the show and they were hopping as AOL was a partner in the show. Big Brother 1 had input from the boards featured on the show each week and the live feeds were through AOL, too. Ah, the memories of the Chicken Coop cam... and the one which was behind the walls with the crew! That would be cool if they brought that camera back!
• An Oregon online newspaper, the Register-Guard, has an article about new houseguest Kail Harbick.
• The Kansas City Star has a blurb about new houseguests Carol and Jessica, but no insight.
• It seems to be real, but I can't say... someone claiming to be houseguest Carol's father has posted about her over at Jokers. Now, that can present a dilemma. Right now all is safe, but things can get rough as the season goes on. It may be hard for a parent to read what the Internet thinks of his beloved child. Eep. That said, it sounds like she's a smart one. We'll see how she does!
• The WeLoveBigBrother site has more house photos online.
• I found the YouTube clip of Julie Chen's appearance on Letterman. They've disabled embedding the clip here, but this is the link.
  

That's it for now, but I'll still be looking for more news. If you're having pre-season jitters and want to list your favorites just like the new houseguests, check out this entry on the blog and jump on in!

Phone Your Pants - This Week on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' - July 2-6, 2007

Yes, use your new iPhone to phone those pants! While I won't be getting an iPhone, I'll probably be watching Letterman this week. Heck, I don't have to pay over $600 for him and I can touch the screen if I want to! But the thought is kind of weird and then I'd have fingerprints all over my TV.

If you like Ryan Adams, take a peek at the Late Show website. He appeared on the show last week and sang one song, but they have him singing another in a video on the site. I looked through the clips they have and don't see the Julie Chen appearance. I'm not surprised. There wasn't much to it.

Who will be on the big shoe this week? Well, I'm glad you asked... we're in for another week of reruns.

• Monday, July 2: Kid Scientists, Luke Wilson, Rufus Wainwright and the Top Ten from Homer Simpson. This was a good show -- Luke Wilson was a hoot and the kids are always fun.
• Tuesday, July 3: Nicole Ritchie, Artie Lange, Chrisette Michele. Dave put Nicole on the spot as he talked about Paris.
• Wednesday, July 4: Stupid Pet Tricks, Rosie Perez, Dr. Dog. We need more CATS on Stupid Pet Tricks!
• Thursday, July 5: Jane Fonda, Tom Ruprecht, Kelly Clarkson.
• Friday, July 6: Teri Hatcher, Jonah Hill, Elvis Costello.

There's your Pants for the week. Wear them well!

The Blog's 'Big Brother' Favorites

This seems like it might be fun. A few folks in this entry told us their favorites as per the list that the new houseguests have to answer.

Here's my list -- if you want to play, jump in with yours in the comments!

FILMS: Any films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Fallen, Rocky Horror Picture Show (only in theaters, though), The Thin Man (1934)

TV SHOWS: Heroes, Survivor, Big Brother, Lost, C.S.I, all Law & Order, The Amazing Race, The Late Show with David Letterman, Hell's Kitchen, The Wire, more and more.

ACTORS: Tom Hanks, I get a kick out of Bruce Willis... anyone but David Caruso.

ACTRESSES: Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep, more.

HOBBIES: Reading, writing, photography, music, messing around with my collection of computers and related gadgets.

SPORTS TO PLAY: Pretending my knee still works here... skiing, rollerskating, basketball, softball, bowling.

SPORTS TEAMS: New York Yankees, New Jersey Devils, no basketball or football faves at this time. I used to like the Knicks but they need some tough love now.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: Again, pretending the knee isn't wrecked -- Hiking, camping, mountain climbing, hangliding, spelunking, whitewater rafting/canoeing.

BANDS/MUSICIANS: Dave Matthews Band, Blue Man Group, Simon & Garfunkel, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Tom Waits... more and more and more.

SONGS/CDS: Too many to name. I love some of all types of music and my collection shows it.

FOODS: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, meats, potatoes, vegies, seafood.

CEREALS: I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs but don't have them often.

COOKIES: Freihofer or Entenmann's chocolate chip, my own chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, my own double chocolate cherry bourbon balls, Girl Scouts Thin Mints.

CANDY BARS: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, any good quality dark chocolate bars

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS: Screwdriver, rum and Coke, frozen strawberry daquiri

NON-ALCOHOLIC: Trader Joe's Expresso soda, milk, white grape juice, water, ginger beer.

Uh-oh. It appears I have a huge chocolate problem, don't I?

'Big Brother 8' - CBS Show Website Now Updated

The official CBS Big Brother 8 show website has been updated, but I don't think it's quite finished right now.

However, they have the favorites lists up for the new hamsters!

So, let's take a gander...

I'm finding this all a bit odd. Usually when the website pops up, it looks complete. This season, it's going up piecemeal for some reason. There also seems to be a huge difference between the hamsters themselves.

For example, Amber's page versus Carol's page. Amber's is to the point of being loquacious while Carol has barely answered the questions. Also, what's the "bio_soft" in the URL? I've never seen that during previous seasons. Will we have a "bio_hard" soon?

Eric seems to be a reality television show buff and I like his choice of cookies. I always look at their cookies, y'know. I find them very telling. Entenmann's chocolate chip is a fine choice indeed. Anyone liking them (or Freihofer's of the same ilk) has to be a good person. Right? With the exception of listing Pee Wee's Big Adventure in his film choices, he's fairly spot on with some of my own favorites.

Although she's the odd man out (or woman, that is), Kail lists Big Brother in her favorite shows. She might know what she's getting into. But, I don't know. She also lists "work" as her favorite hobby. So it's unlikely that she has been into the whole aspect of the show from the feeds standpoint. I've never just watched the show -- I've always had the feeds from the house, too. If she's just watched the show on television due to her personal love of work, she may be in for a surprise. Right now, she's a bit like a fish out of water -- conservative, married and a mother, and older (if you can be "older" at 37). I think she's going to be one to watch. She'll either really clash and crash, or she'll be so out of any in-fighting that she'll go under the radar.

I find Jameka's favorite list interesting. She lists Big Brother in capital letters, no less. She's also a big reality television buff with some of the shows I enjoy. Looking at her list, I see a lot of diversity. I think perhaps the promos might have overplayed the "99%" of interactions with only black folks angle. I mean, sheesh... she likes John Mayer and The Golden Girls. She'll do fine interacting with any normal white folks, I'm sure.

But then there's Dick. Oh, my. His favorites list looks fairly normal. But I've read his MySpace page -- this guy is the one who's "out there." If you go to the MySpace page, beware... there's very adult content there. How can he look so normal on his Big Brother page? He even lists Cocoa Pebbles as a favorite! What an innocent, huh?

Now, Executive Producer Allison Grodner said that Joe is the one who's "out there." Other than some bands and musicians I've never heard of, Joe's favorites list is rather tame. In lieu of Cocoa Pebbles, he likes Fruity Pebbles. He seems to be into the clubs scene, but that's not surprising me.

I'll be looking more into these favorite lists as time goes on. I may have to do personality profiles from their favorite cereals. That, of course, is quite a science in and of itself.

'Big Brother 8' - The Official CBS Site is Live, Plus a Spoiler for You!

Finally, the CBS Big Brother 8 website is up and running. Right now there's very little there -- photos of the new houseguests with less information than I posted about many of them, an explanation of the "America's Player" twist, and the information about the "enemy" twist almost verbatim from the press release I posted yesterday. There's a cute little Fun Facts section with four fun facts. I see no linkage for previous houseguests blogging, nor the HOH blog. There are no favorites lists or any other information regarding the houseguests... and no last names.

You can still get the feeds on the Early Bird Special at real.com. I don't have a deal with the feeds for you, but I recommend getting them through the hamsterwatch.com site if you're so inclined. That Dingo runs a tremendously creative and thorough site each year and getting the feeds through there helps support the site. Oh... and before you ask, no. I'm not affliliated with That Dingo, just an admiring addict of hamsterwatch.

Oh, yeah. I promised you a spoiler, didn't I? Remember when I said that Daniele had to have something to do with the twist because she's too young? Well, Internet scouts found the answer. Her name is Daniele Donato. Dick is Dick Donato. On his MySpace page, there are a few messages from Daniele, his estranged daughter. This could be a bit too uncomfortable.

And, thanks to the Jokers site, I found out that Dustin is indeed gay. Although living in Chicago (same as Joe), he's originally from Minnesota. Lots of Minnesota going on as in Nick, too. Hmmm... the plot thickens. Jokers also has a cute foiler-take on the enemies twist. Jessica's a Crip and Joe's a Blood? Who woulda thunk it, eh?

Now that you know a bit about the cast (a very little bit, yes)... who do you think is our mole? I mean, our America's Player?