The (TV) Show Must Go On...

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Big Brother 18: Season Premiere Blog Party

Yes, it's a sure sign that summer is here! Tonight is the season premiere of Big Brother 18. We've checked out the new hamsters and we're ready for this! I am expecting four returning hamsters, as well. But, since they've kept them (and exactly their roles in the game) under wraps, only the new hamsters were included in the blog pool.

Tonight's show is two hours. The season premiere continues with another episode (eviction? who really knows?) tomorrow at 9pm ET/PT. The live feeds don't get turned on until after tomorrow's show airs on the West Coast. So, we're talking 1am here in the good ol' East Coast time zone!

Here are the random picks for the blog pool as we head into this:

Tiffany Rousso - meb, SueGee, David, Jessica UNderwood

Natalie Negrotti - Sharon N, Jackie P, QuixoticElf, Orkmommy

Jozea Flores - Sasha, Merrilee, Tammy, Petals, JonMD1267

Bridgette Dunning - Brian, Indiana Jane, Caela, Chauncey, Paula Bell

Paulie Calafiore - Joel, Chacha, Sally, Ed In Ohio, Buzzmaam

Glenn Garcia - Sharon C, uncartie, Dennis Comfort, Delee, Donna in Alabama

Bronte D'Acquisto - Jean in Tampa, elee86, Russ, Cheryl, Donna in FL

Zakiyah Everette - Tilde, Jo C, Jenng326, Ayana, jennifer

Corey Brooks - Fred aka TwoBlackAces, Barbara B. W., Dierdre, Cheryl in NC

Paul Abrahamian - Jackie, Arf Barf, WolfpackRed, chrob61

Victor Arroyo - Helenann2K, RBennie, Janice, Monty924

Michelle Meyer - Rich, Chase, Glenn, Anonymouse

As the show airs, I'll be live updating the happenings right here -- refresh the page to get the latest! As always, the real party is in the comments area. Come watch and talk about the show with us! And, but of course ... bring snacks and tasty beverages.

From inside the empty house, Julie Chen warns us to fasten our seatbelts as it will be a bumpy ride. One hamster will go home tomorrow night. There are four stowaways secretly tucked away in the house. New comps.

Into cast promo clips as they find their keys.

Finally, all the intros done and the hamsters are on stage in front of the house. The craziest summer vacation ever. Natalie, Victor, Michelle and Paul go in first. Next is Bronte, Zakiyah, Glenn and Paulie. Last are Corey, Bridgette, Jozea and Tiffany.

Champagne all around as they introduce themselves to each other. Let the lies begin. It seems the Victor is smitten with Natalie, but Natalie is smitten with Corey. They catch on that there's only twelve of them and think they can expect the unexpected.

Julie promises them twists. She tells them they're not alone -- there are four stowaways in the house since they first moved in. They haven't seen them, but will compete for the half-million dollar prize.

The first one to pop out is Nicole from BB16. Then James from BB17 comes out of a trunk. I'll enjoy watching him! Next is Da'Vonne also from BB17! Last to pop out is Frank Eudy from BB14. (Thankfully, not FrankIE. I couldn't take that again!) He cut his hair and doesn't even look like himself.

Already the new hamsters want the return hamsters out. The returnees feel the pressure. Jozea, Paul and Zakiyah seem to be forming an early alliance.

Paulie confesses that he's Cody's brother. Paul seems right through it with the timing. Now, will Tiffany reveal? Not yet. But Da'Vonne is onto her.

Uh-oh. Julie tells them this summer they will play in teams of four that they will pick for themselves. The first comp of the summer is about to start.

The backyard has four huge rockets and an aerial feel about it. The teams, each former player will be on a different team and they get first pick. Opposite sex, next player picks the next player.

Not really in this order:
James - Natalie, Victor, Bronte
Nicole - Corey, Tiffany, Glenn
Frank - Michelle, Paulie, Bridgette
Da'Vonne - Paul, Zakiyah, Jozea

At stake -- cash, punishment and safety. "Ride the Rocket" -- if all four fall off, eliminated. First team out, Have Nots. Second, Mystery Land with a mystery punishment. Third team, Cash City - ten grand to be split between them. Winning team, Safetyville -- safe from the next two evictions.

The rockets are only moving slightly when a storm moves in.

Tiffany falls off first, then Glenn. Nicole isn't too happy. Then she falls off. It's only Corey left on that team on the rocket.

Michelle, Bridgette and Frank go down. So it's just Paulie there for that team.

Zakiyah and Da'Vonne both go down. Paul down. Jozea is down. Their team are Have Nots.

James is down. Natalie is down. The birds go on them. Bronte is down. Paulie is out and his team is in Mystery Land. Corey is down.

Victor, James, Natalie and Bronte are safe!

Julie bids them adieu and reminds them that one will be leaving the game. The newbies are still conspiring against the returning hamsters. Da'Vonne tries to work her way in with her team and the "vets."

The winning team wants to come up with a name. Paulie's team calls themselves Category Four like the storm. Glenn, etc. are Freakazoids. Paul and those folks are Big Sister. Victor's team settles on Team Unicorn.

Tiffany (and Petals) think that Michelle is Nicole's sister. Michelle confronts Tiffany and asks if she's Vanessa's sister. Tiffany admits it to her. They pinky swear that Michelle won't tell.

Julie appears, calls them to the living room and has them sit by team. Team Unicorn won't compete in the next comp -- Hit the Road, three rounds. Only one team will be vulnerable, then they compete individually against each other.

The backyard is done up like a beach. Round up -- build a fifteen piece pyramid sand castle. It's a bit complicated; reminding me of a Survivor challenge.

Category Four is SAFE. Lots of friction between Paul and Da'Vonne. On the other hand, Corey wants to work with Nicole. Da'Vonne is already all emotional. Sigh.

Round Two has them working together (the teams) must build a sandcastle puzzle -- there are decoy pieces that won't fit and only one solution.

Team Big Sister is safe.

Tomorrow night will show the third round tomorrow with Nicole, Corey, Tiffany and Glenn competing against each other.

BB18 on Jackie's TV Blog - What to Expect ...

... THE UNEXPECTED!!!

Bwahahahaha!

No, that's them. We're us!

A bit about me and my Big Brother background:
I started out writing about the show, monitoring the AOL Big Brother message boards and chat rooms for the show way back in the beginning -- season ONE. When a knee surgery knocked me out of work one summer, I started blogging the live feeds in addition to working as a freelance writer for AOL Television writing show recaps. Unfortunately, my earliest seasons blogged went away when AOL sunsetted their blogging platform -- AOL Journals. I then moved to Blogspot for blogging and continued the freelance gig until Ariana Huffington shut out all the paid freelancers when the Huffington Post took over AOL TV. (Grr.)

Since then, I've been "working" for myself, blogging both live feeds reports and live-blogging the shows right here on this blog. I also work a "real" full-time job and don't get a heck of a lot of sleep all summer, every summer! Technically, I don't get paid to do this -- I do receive some ad revenues, but receive no monies for any CBS All Access referrals. (Not sure how to get in on that or if the blog would qualify!) I really appreciate any donations made to the blog -- money is always welcome, but it also gives me the feeling that folks actually are entertained and enjoy the blog. The Paypal link is in the right sidebar if you feel so moved. Not that you have to, mind you.

A bit about YOU:
Many folks involved here have "known" me from the early AOL days, some even from the first season! Many others are new to us each season. The community here continues to grow each season and we welcome people to get into the spirit! I do monitor comments and those disruptive troll ones will vanish. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions of the house hamsters without being "attacked" by fellow commenters. Not that that happens a lot ... but it will get squashed if I see it.

This blog is generally a friendly place! And, that's due to the community we've built here and the great folks who are a part of it all. Hate speech, slurs and such will be removed and I do ask that things stay on a PG-13 level for the most part. I know it seems like a lot to ask of you, but it seems to work for having the best blog community around! There are plenty of other places where it's the Wild West; I'd rather things remain friendly here. Merci in advance!

Without you, I wouldn't be doing this!

What to expect from the blog:
THE UNEXPECTED!!! Oh, wait. I need to stop that.

REGARDING LIVE FEEDS:

A minimum of two live feeds reports a day. I'm on the East Coast (and have to work for a living), so it's likely to be early morning and late evening in my time zone.
My live feeds have been compared to Reader's Digest Condensed. Heehee, but it's kind of how they are!
Each live feeds report will contain some screen caps. I have to admit that sometimes I like to go for the unflattering ones. I'm mean like that.
If time and action allow, there may be more live feeds reports within a day, but never less than two (even if they're boring hamsters).
I'm only one person and have to work to keep the roof over my head, so I can't post every breath the hamsters make and I sometimes am not available to post some events as they happen. But I do flashback on the feeds to see what I might have missed!
The commenting community here will pitch in with comments for exciting action during times I may be at my workplace or in the rare event that I actually might be sleeping.
Comments will be monitored to make sure they're truthful and false reports will be taken down.
In the event of an endurance comp after a live show that plays out on the live feeds, I will make every effort to hang in with them watching, posting what's going on and providing screen captures of the comp. One of these days I might conk out, but so far it's never happened. I'm just really sleepy at work the next day!
Keep in mind, the live feeds often run things a few days before the shows air. They are SPOILERS and intended as such. If you don't like spoilers, you probably won't like the live feeds!

REGARDING THE HAMSTERS:

First off, it's traditional that they're called hamsters because it's like watching hamsters in one of those Habitrail cages.
The hamsters have put themselves in the public eye, so they're opening themselves to public opinion. Yes, they can be mocked (unlike fellow commenters).
That said, comments which go too far might be removed. Hate speech, concentrating on weight and other things a bit beyond their control such as looks will all be monitored.
Now, if they do weird stuff to their hair or cry all the time or something like that, that's something easily controlled and that could certainly be mocked! :)
Please call them by their names, especially at the start of the season. While some nicknames can be funny, it's often hard to know who you're talking about!

WHAT ARE BLOG PARTIES?:

Back when I was a paid freelancer writing show recaps for other venues, I wanted to provide something for my own blog community as I couldn't post the recaps here as well due to copyright issues. Thus, I came up with "blog parties."
They're basically a live blogging East Coast time of every episode (typos and all) with all the community partying in the comments.
They can be considered spoilers for those in other time zones.
Everyone is invited to watch the show and join in on the fun with us real time!
We like cyber beverages and snacks.

I realize this is quite long. But I know there are some new hamster watchers out there and think they should know what to expect! (THE UNEXPECTED!!!) Plus, I'd like to encourage lurkers to come on out and join in! As Dr. Will once said, "We don't bite ... HARD!" Okay, we don't bite at all. We're in it for the fun!

All BB-related posts made here on the blog will be linked at my Big Brother on Jackie's TV Blog Facebook page immediately upon posting. So, if you never want to miss a post, like that page to get notifications!

Big Brother 18: Blog Pool Picks Announced!

While some latecomers were added in, the pool sign-up is now closed and ready to be exposed! If you didn't get in, please feel free to cheer on your favorite hamster and take part in things anyway! As the season goes on, I'll be posting the current pool standings in blog party eviction night posts and after eviction. May the best hamster win!