Big Brother 17: Let’s Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer…

by Lisa Marie Bowman on June 24, 2015

Hi, everyone!

Did everyone watch the first episode of Big Brother 17?  What did everyone think?  I just finished watching it and I’m just going to share a few of my immediate reactions.

First off, Chenbot is back!  Yes, I know that Julie has her fans and I will even admit that her stiff delivery has become one of the show’s trademarks.  We (or maybe I should say, I) complain about her but it just wouldn’t be Big Brother without Julie.

Secondly, as always happens at the start of Big Brother, we were promised a summer full of twists.  I have to admit that there’s a part of me that always cringes a little bit when Julie promises twists and tells us the expect the unexpected.  To me, the best twist would be a season that’s just about gameplay and human interaction.  To me, the constant twists tend to get in the way of actually getting to know the houseguests and they also leave the show open to charges of being rigged.  So, I definitely would like to see a summer with no twists.

However, that won’t be this summer!  Julie told us that there would be three twists and here they are:

Twist number one was described as being a “fan favorite.”  That’s right — Battle of the Block is back!  Was Battle of the Block ever a fan favorite?  If I remember last year correctly, I thought it was an interesting idea that didn’t really pan out the way it was supposed to.  (Add to that, Battle of the Block seemed to be mostly be something that was invented to keep Frankie from getting evicted.)

(Speaking of which, was anyone else scared that Frankie Grande was suddenly going to show up during tonight’s show?)

The second twist: BB Takeover.  And I’m still not really sure how BB Takeover works but apparently, every week, a new twist will be introduced.  Will each twist only last a week?  I’m not sure.  But it wouldn’t surprise me if this means that we’ll have all-stars popping up out of nowhere and maybe some coaches will drop by or maybe a random eviction.  Who knows?  BB Takeover sounds like it could be fun.  I just hope that they’re really twists and not just someone having to wear a unitard.

The third twist (which the HGs do not know about): One of the HGs has an identical twin who will be randomly taking his or her place and if the twins survive for five weeks then the twist will be revealed and the twin will be allowed to compete along with his or her sibling…

WAIT A MINUTE!

They did this before!  I can’t remember which season but they definitely did this twist before and it seemed really silly then and I get the feeling it’s going to seem really silly now…

Also, we met 8 of the houseguests.  (The other 8 will move in tomorrow).  Here are a few of my first impressions:

Audrey Middleton is the first transgender houseguest in the history of Big Brother.  She was quick to form an all girl’s alliance with Da’Vonne and Shelli.  Personally, I think she was a little bit too quick to do so.  Personality-wise, she reminded me a little bit too much of Amanda from Big Brother 15 and that’s never a good thing.

Austin Matleson is the pro wrestler.  I think it was very smart of him to admit to being a pro wrestler, instead of trying to convince everyone that he was actually a teacher or a groundskeeper.  I actually like Austin.  He looks scary but he seems to be smart.

Clay Honeycutt is a student at Texas A&M.  As y’all know, I live in Texas and it’s taking all of my self-control not to make an Aggie joke.  As for Clay, he’s hot, he’s athletic, and he’s from my home state!  So, I like him. 🙂

Da’vonne Rogers is a professional poker dealer.  She formed an early alliance with Audrey and volunteered to sit out of the HoH competition, which probably means she’ll get a special reward of some sort.  Judging from how tonight’s show was edited, Da’vonne is being set up to be a power player.  She seems like she could go far but I think her alliance is doomed.  Her strong personality is going to clash with Audrey’s strong personality.

Jace is the cute long-haired skater from California.  Every season has a cute skater from California and Jace is this season’s.

James Huling is funny and I like him.  He seems like he could become another Judd.  He won the first head of household competition so we’ll get to see how good of a player he is over the next few days.

Meg Maley is a waitress from New York.  Her voice is going to drive me crazy.  Hopefully, she’ll be voted out soon.

Shelli is an interior designer from Louisiana.  The show is obviously setting her up to be cougar and for Clay to be her prey.  Shelli formed an early alliance with Audrey and Da’Vonne.  I’m not sure if Shelli actually sought out the alliance or if she just happened to be in the room at the time the alliance was made.  

I always think it’s a mistake to form an alliance on the very first day.  As well, there’s a general rule to reality TV: all-girl alliances work on Survivor but they always fall apart on Big Brother.  On Survivor, everyone’s too busy trying to survive to get catty.  On Big Brother, on the other hand,  there’s really nothing else to do but get catty.

The other 8 houseguests will move in tomorrow!

So, what did everyone think?  As I said, I’m not excited about the nonstop twist idea but I do think that this season does have a promising group of houseguests.

We’ll see what happens!

Lisa

 

KevInDenver June 24, 2015 at 10:51 pm

The guests all seen likeable to very likeable so far and very real. I love James the most I think. Down home nice country guy in an asian package, unique and homey. This will be interesting!

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Timothy Gillenwater June 24, 2015 at 10:51 pm

Hey everyone if you have Facebook you can come join my big brother group don’t miss out on this season we would love to have you Lisa is even in my big brother group on Facebook I have attached the link for you so it will be easier for you to find

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1566699480225000/

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Jeanne June 24, 2015 at 10:55 pm

As a Mom, I afraid they were going to get Tomato juice all over the carpet. It was a good first day. Looking forward to this season.

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jolee June 24, 2015 at 10:56 pm

A good report Lisa. I agree with you on everything! I think the waters are a little muddy right now. I am glad they only brought in 8 HG’s tonight. It gave us a chance to get to know them better. I do not like them bringing back BOTB again! Too confusing and, as you said, can be manipulated towards keeping HG’s that would otherwise be gone (like Frankie last season). Looking forward to tomorrow night. I guess Liz and her twin will be the “twin twist.” Have a good evening everyone! 🙂

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Janice June 24, 2015 at 11:06 pm

I enjoyed the show. So far the house guests seem very likable. I’m not a fan of BOTB either but we will learn to endure it. Looking forward to the next 8 house guests. As for the “Twists” they will either give us something to enjoy or complain about. Time will tell.

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tendr June 25, 2015 at 12:43 am

i just wrote so much in an old blog………tonight’s show…..’what Lisa said’…..ditto.

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Sirrock June 25, 2015 at 12:44 am

For some reason, this premier kinda fell flat for me. Maybe because it’s being stretched out over 2 nights (just do a 2 hr premier CBS, it’s easy!) or if its because I watched BBCAN3 and I’m kinda BB’d out, but I’m just not as excited as usual. That said, I’m a BB fan since day one, never missed an episode, so I’ll be going down with the ship.

Lisa, The twin thing was from Season 5? The DNA (Do Not Assume) season twist. That was the one with Cowboy and Nakomis were half siblings and there were two other HG’s that had twins in the house but their siblings were not part of the game. There were other things but I don’t remember them off the top of my head.

If I had to make a guess, I think the twist will be a weekly thing and BB will be all the twists from all the seasons. The only reason I say that is because of the lack of creativity on the part of CBS. I totally expect coaches, (returning players for ratings), a saboteur, maybe even Americas player and the Coup d’Etat (yes I Googled the spelling of that 🙂 )

Here’s a link of the past twists, I’m guessing they’re all fair game and there may be a few new ones, hopefully. http://bigbrother.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Twists

Another thing Chenbot said was it was going to be a record breaking year for the length of the show. That means two things. People will be added during the game (coaches, former players) OR they’ll have people voted back in or they compete to get back in like season’s past. I’m not totally against it, but it give production way to much leeway to manipulate the show.

When BB got picked up for 2 seasons at once, I assumed this would be a regular season and next season would be another All Stars type of thing….which would be cool. Just my gut feeling, I have no knowledge either way. If they do that, they should really try and limit the former HG’s angle. I mean, say Frankie comes in for something this season and next season is and All Star season, you KNOW he’ll be back again. OK, I rambled on long enough….

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Timothy Gillenwater June 25, 2015 at 12:56 am

I just watched the big brother 17 season premiere! I loved it was great! I loved the first hoh competition! One thing them girls better watch out forming a girl alliance on the first day it could back fire on them! Cause this is simlar last year when they tried to form a all girl alliance I can’t wait to see more hope everyone has a great night and remember if you have Facebook I have a big brother group you can join also look in the comments above and you will find the link

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Craig Long June 25, 2015 at 1:26 am

Hi All! I’ve been looking forward to this blog starting up again! Thanks Lisa!

bbigbbob: Just so you and others know, I have two transgender friends and several gay couples including my minister and her wife. I take exception to the term “tranney” or any other disparaging remarks or names for member of the LGBT community. ‘nuf said.

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joanne June 25, 2015 at 1:53 am

Looking forward to tomorrow night and watching Big Brother! I am off to bed! 🙂

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Craig Long June 25, 2015 at 2:02 am

I just read the previous post by BBBlogger and while I still hold the same opinion, I appologise to bbigbbob and others for voicing them in this blog.

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Gina rizzo June 25, 2015 at 5:49 am

Lisa I agree with you too. And I too was thinking the same thing about the tomato juice all over the new furniture lol

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dom June 25, 2015 at 7:53 am

Lisa, Meg seems like a sweet down to earth person, going by just a voice to boot someone is not fair. As for the Big Brother female houseguests are very attractive this season but too soon to tell how smart they are. At this point there are no male standout house guest.

One can guess Big Brother wants to promote Battle of the Block, which did not seem to be fan favorite last year. The new twist (BB Takeover) is a way Big Brother has more control of who moves forward in the game, hey its called BB Takeover. It also sounds like they are going to bring in former BB players once again. I agree, it needs to be more game play by the houseguest then BB gimmicks.

Once again we have to watch and see how it pans out!!!

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Fannie B June 25, 2015 at 8:04 am

Well they are off and running! Lisa great recapp and I agree with you. But all the twists might be a bit to much let them play the game!!

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Rich Florida June 25, 2015 at 9:51 am

Liz, who we will meet tonight, has a twin named Julia. What did BB do have a tranny on hold incase Bruce Jenner made a splash. BB producers: Bring in the Tranny Stat! Tonight will we have a white player insist that they are black? All the twists that happen are so the BB production has some control over who stays or goes.

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BBBlogger June 25, 2015 at 10:29 am

Craig, you are fine. Thanks for the response though and reading my desired rules. Please know that I will be addressing things shortly!

Peace, BBBlogger

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Snakebit Sal June 25, 2015 at 11:58 am

<<<<<<<<<<<<<< —————————- Me in TEXAS ……..ALSO

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Snakebit Sal June 25, 2015 at 2:03 pm

The best name I have for a transgendered person is Sue, Gina or whatever name their known as!

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macy June 25, 2015 at 2:12 pm

MY TEXAN BUDDIES – ye haw – I was born in Ft. Worth – as Texan as you can get!

LISA – thanks for the summary!

Hope SOMEONE shakes things up!

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bobovnvet June 25, 2015 at 3:57 pm

:mrgreen:

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Dr. James A. Lee June 25, 2015 at 4:20 pm

I am pleased at the House Guest selections thus far in the game. I hope that the second group are just as nice or on the other hand more controversial. I hope the guys come up with an alliance. I look forward to great show and blog.

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tendr June 25, 2015 at 9:55 pm

I’m wondering if those who sat out of the comp will be HoH’s? Just a thought.

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bobovnvet June 25, 2015 at 10:15 pm

Is this the right page??

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Lisa Marie Bowman June 25, 2015 at 10:25 pm

Hi, everyone! I know between me and BBBlogger, we’ve posted a lot of different posts over the past two days. The current post, the one dealing with tonight’s show, is http://www.big-brother-blog.com/big-brother-17/big-brother-17-i-love-phil-but-was-that-really-a-twist/

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