So, Big Brother 2008 - will it be the same? I don’t think so. Mmmm, time will tell.

Intro from the hosts Kyle and Jackie. They say there’s new hosts, new house, new set. Wooo woooo.

They showed some auditions that didn’t make it, the typical get naked I’m so out there auditions.

The housemates are corralled together, actually they’re separated in small cubicles so they can’t see one another or talk with each other. The camera scans all the housemates. Kyle makes a comment - ‘hallo baby look at that one’, puhlease, do we need these type of remarks.

I think Kyle will be the bad loudmouth cop and Jackie will be the reasonable good cop.

Tour of the house with Jackie - combi van, tree swing, small pool, door of clouds (mystery), animal farm - plastic animals, the actual house is taped and locked up so no tour there. Gates aren’t just locked for us, but probably the housemates by the sounds of it.

Terri, grandmother, 52, likes Pauline Hanson. Was a single mum for a long time - one good parent is better than two crappy ones she says. Her grandson is the light of her life. She’s the oldest housemate ever in BB Australia. Everyone thinks she’s a cranky old grandmother but she thinks she’s nice. Kyle reckons they’d get on well. She has very strong opinions about everything.

Saxon, council worker, 22. He’s into conspiracy theories. He once saw a UFO and comes back to the same spot once a week to have a look for another one. His mates thinks he’s out there, but he thinks the truth is out there. He’s a council worker and admits he doesn’t do much work and says it’s not hard work at all. I’d say he’s out of a job when he gets kicked out the house. He’ll do what he wants to do. Nobody’s going to stop him.

Terri enters the house. Kyle says, ‘Nana, straight to the kitchen.’

Confidential info from BB who says that one of the housemates will get evicted from the house TONIGHT.

Saxon enters the house and meets Terri. Terri comments on Saxon’s tattoos and muscles and shows him her biceps.

Tour inside the house with Jackie - diary room (complete makeover). The lounge - question mark shaped lounge. Dining room - meals delivered on a conveyor belt and they have to be there in time to catch the food. Housemates have a locker with a false back so BB can take stuff when he pleases. The bedroom is just one giant bed.

Bianca, student, 18 - describes herself as more than bitch boobs and brains. Some men trip over things when they see her walking down the street (because her boobs are huge). Her boobs are not fake! Wiser than most 18 year olds she reckons. She’s a bit mumsy but can also dance for hours around the pool table. Kyle is speechless when he sees her, I mean her tits. She puts Kyle in his place when he asks her if she’ll be sunbaking - calls him creepy.

Back at house - Terri also thinks there’s something out there. Bianca walks in. Saxon’s very pleased with her (boobs).

Nobbi, student, 21. Has a daily facial routine which he thinks will be a problem in the house. Afraid of spending a long period of time in the house with girls because of the bitchiness but he wouldn’t mind Victoria Secret girls.

Nobbi enters the house. That’s an unusal name Terri says.

Brigitte, waitress, 20. Barbie because of the say she looks (long blonde hair). She’s a Paris Hilton wannabe. Her most prized possession is her boobs. She likes her hair extensions and makeup. Kyle thinks she’s hot too. I’m going to get sick, no - I’m already sick, of Kyle’s sexist remarks.

Back at the house, the tattoo on Saxon’s neck says dirt instead of warrior according to Nobbi.

BB says the rules are that there are no rules. And the eviction will happen overnight.

Brigitte enters the house. Saxon is again very happy and looking for very smug. Terri wonders if her dress could have been shorter.

Alice, doctor, 24. She’s a vet and always wanted to be a vet. Lazy people annoy her. She thinks BB will be an amazing experience. She has a very shiny face. She hates spiders.

Travis, marketing coordinator, 22. The one with the high pitched annoying voice. He gets a lot of comments about his voice. He’s self-described as very upbeat and positive. Kyle asks him why his voice is so high and Travis says he’s happy with it. Jackie says his voice is endearing. He’s not allowed to talk until he gets to the house.

Alice and Travis enter the house. Saxon has yet another big smile, at Alice this time.

Rory, bricklayer, 21. Maaate! He’s going to do a trip round Australia pub by pub when he finishes his apprenticeship. He wants a wife and a mistress one day and wants to succeed.

Rory enters the house. Admits he’s terrible with names and straight away Brigitte introduces everyone.

Renee, Abattoir worker, 22. Loves playing footy. She’s loud, talks a lot and doesn’t like dishonest people. Doesn’t like princess type girls because they’re usually bitchy.

Renee enters the house. Introductions all round.

Rima, Belly dancer, 25. She’s a normal person but shrunk (1 metre tall - she’s shorter than my son). Married to Karl (full size). Honesty gets her into trouble sometimes. She has a potty mouth.

Rima enters the house. Housemates are talking to plastic animals and Rory gets told to pull up his pants. Terri’s concerned that the toilet will be too high for Rima.

Cross to Mikey and Bree to talk about Friday Night Live but they can’t say anything anyway. Bree reckons the housemates are on an even playing field but I’m wondering about Rima. Fitzy comes out and spills some ’secrets’.

Ben, student, 19. Smart student with good marks throughout school. Self confessed stereotypical geek. Success with girls? Needs women with depth. He’s done pretty well in the past with some dry patches. He thinks people will like him because he has an ability to keep his shirt on unlike many other Aussie blokes.

Ben enters the house. Others more interested in talking to everyone else than him, but they do introduce themselves.

Dixie, Mental Health Worker, 21. Loves tomato sauce and has with salads. She’s Australian Aboriginal. She’s not just a black fella, but also an Aussie. Apparently Dixie knows Renee, but neither know that each other is in the house.

Dixie enters the house. Dixie and Renee kiss and hug and Dixie introduces herself to everyone else.

Rebecca, Waitress, 22. Loves motivating other people. She doesn’t hate fat people (awful laugh). SHe doesn’t like showering without her thongs (flipflops) on. Give everything 100% and you’ll be sure to dominate. She reckons she’ll fix people’s dirty habits.

David, Fire Fighter, 32. Was raised in a religious sect (Exclusive Brethren) for first 19 years of his life. He’s ready to be incarcerated again. He can’t share a meal with his family anymore but his freedom is priceless. He was a cop but is now a firefighter. He was married for two years but is now divorced.

Rebecca and David (the last two housemates) enter the house. Actually they haven’t entered the house yet. BB welcomes the housemates. He points out that the house is out of bounds. He tells them the first surprise is a bad one. BB tells them that they must decide whose experience will be over by tomorrow. They have to decide who must be evicted. The house will remain closed until they decide who will be evicted. This is the first of several snap evictions.

Jackie doesn’t want anyone to go, but perhaps Brigitte will go because the girls might turn on her. Kyle doesn’t want any of his favourites to go (read any gorgeous girls).

Over and out for the launch show.

The likes of Big Brother and the various Idols have been around for a few years now and every year as I sit down to watch them I remember what I didn’t like about them. Usually they follow the same old format even while promising something you’ve never seen before. Big Brother Australia has got two new hosts this year from radio which I don’t think will help revive it at all and they keep putting the same types of people into the house which does not add any interest whatsoever.

Australian Idol’s losing its popularity and there’s only so many singers available in Australia to make it any good so they’re expanding their search for Australians in Los Angeles and London, which I wrote about over on the Aussie Bloggers blog.

No doubt I’ll watch some of these shows, but not fanatically. I reserve my fanaticism for The Amazing Race.

My second post on the Aussie bloggers blog is now up. It’s about So You Think You Can Dance - the Australian version with a bit about reality tv thrown in. Those who regularly read this blog might know that I’m a bit of a reality tv tragic.

At the moment I’m watching The Amazing Race. This would have to be my favourite reality tv show. I love the dynamics between the teams and I hope ‘Bama’ win. I think this series was shown ages ago in the States because some of the people in this series were in the all stars series which I’ve already seen. I could go online and see who wins but the anticipation would be taken away from me.

Big Brother will start in the next few months or so and, yes, I’ll admit I’ve watched the Australian version since its inception but how will it be this year with the two new hosts? At least they won’t contaminate the daily show and the eviction show normally bores me to tears anyway.

With a bit of trepidation I watched Kath and Kim last Sunday night. The trepidation was because of the move from the ABC to Channel 7. I needn’t have worried. Apart from the unwelcome ads it was its usual brilliant show.

I love the language, and I don’t mean bad language. I mean clever use of wordplay. For example last night Kel won the Best retailer of the year award. He said:

‘This goes to you Kath Day Knight. You are the wings beneath my wind.’

Another few Kath and Kim’isms include ‘My clowning glory’, ‘it’s got pneumonia in it’, and of course ‘foxymorons’ - which very accurately describes Kath and Kim.

Kath is permanently decked out in very bad 80s gear and Kim always tries to be up to the minute with fashions not suited to her at all but both think they look absolutely gorgeous - hence the term foxymorons.

I’ve loved Kath (Jane Turner) and Kim (Gina Riley) since their early days on in Fast Forward and Big Girl’s Blouse so when the show Kath and Kim first aired on the ABC I was an instant convert. The supporting characters Sharon, Kel and Brett all do a great job and none of them mind making absolute fools of themselves on the show.

I don’t know if it’s showing internationally at all, but if it does I recommend it.

If you watch it, what do you love about it?

Heroes - episode 23 - finished for us on Wednesday night. If you haven’t seen it don’t read on because there might be spoilers.

As I sat watching it, I felt sadder and sadder with each ad break knowing that the end was closer and closer. It’s not many television shows I’ve enjoyed so much.

I wondered how it would end, would New York blow up and would Nathan Petrelli become President and lead everyone through the hard times? Who would be killed? Would Sylar’s life finally end?

Heroes had it all for me. It had drama, thrills, love, action in the present time, past and future, and I always eagerly anticipated watching it each Wednesday night. I had the chance of getting all the episodes on DVD but declined the opportunity because I wanted to spread it out over the 23 weeks, not watch them all in one weekend and then not have anything to look forward to on Wednesday nights.

So at the end of the last episode when they informed us that the next season would be shown here in a few months I yelled out with glee. I can wait a few months.

So back to the last episode. The belief in me that good will triumph over evil came true. New York did not blow up. Nathan came good in the end by helping Peter out because he was about to blow up. We had been led to believe (in a flashforward) that Nathan went to the bad (self-interest-serving) side and was glad that New York had been decimated so he could become President and ‘help the people through the bad times’.

Hiro finally killed Sylar with his sword, although the scene at the end where they showed the blood near the drain and the drain cover partly off with a cockroach crawling out of it left me wondering if Sylar had disappeared somehow. It remains to be seen in Volume 2.

Even though Sylar was evil, and I almost jumped every time he creeped up on people, I thought he was a great villain. Having the powers that he did made him almost indescructible and luckily he hadn’t killed Claire because otherwise Hiro couldn’t have killed him. As a viewer I almost need a flowchart of who had what power just to keep up.

I like how Peter Petrelli absorbed Jess/Niki’s power to beat up Sylar towards the end. It’s a pity Peter was decimated, or was he as he is indestructible. When the body landed with a thump on the ground at the end I initially thought it was Peter coming back down all healed up but it wasn’t. It was Hiro giving us a taste of what’s to occur in Volume 2.

Heroes back in the 1600s? They said something about generations so is it different generations of our current Heroes? Oooh, there’s so much scope and so much to look forward to when it comes back on television. Do you watch it? What do you think?

When I admit to people that I watch Big Brother, I jokingly say that because I’ve watched Australian Big Brother since it’s inception, I’ve just about enough fodder for a PhD thesis.

I mentioned this the other day at a work lunch and someone thought I was actually doing my doctorate on Big Brother. I did set them straight.

I wonder if someone’s already doing it?

Nearly 20 years I started watching an Australian sketch comedy show called Fast Forward. It introduced me to comedians like Jane Turner and Gina Riley who are now famous for Kath and Kim. When Fast Forward finished, Full Frontal took over with a similar format. One of its, now more well known, comedians was Eric Bana. The show was hilarious, and must see viewing for me and many peers.

Whenever I see a newer Australian sketch comedy I think fondly back to those days because the new shows have a lot to live up to and generally don’t.

The other night I was relaxing in front of the television and my nephew passed through the lounge and told me that he’s been watching Full Frontal sketches on YouTube. He said that I probably used to watch it on television.

It made me realise that because of applications like YouTube, a whole new world has been opened up to people who weren’t around or didn’t have access to rediscover shows like Full Frontal.

This one is Eric Bana doing a parody of a current affairs presenter here at the time called Ray Martin. There’s even a bit of ‘Fabio’ in here.

What was your favourite sketch comedy?