CBS Buys Out Boring Big Brother Players?
September 5 -- CBS is reportedly so desperate to inject some life into its failing reality show Big Brother that it's offering to buy out one of those oh-so-dull contestants and replace him or her with a "very attractive" woman.
According to the New York Post, the show's producers are offering the six remaining housemates $10,000 in cash to walk out of the house on Wednesday's episode — and forfeit their chance to win the $500,000 jackpot.
They've reportedly already lined up a more exciting replacement player, 22-year-old Beth from Florida. Producers are drawing on the show's rules, which allow for players who leave voluntarily to be replaced by substitutes. Network spokespeople did not immediately return calls to Mr. Showbiz.
Since the most confrontational Big Brother players have already been booted off, the only suspense on the show is which self-involved contestant will be the next to go. Yawn.
Big Brother, which has been a hit all over the world except in the United States, has never come close to rivaling the success of CBS's other reality show, Survivor, which was the talk of the summer.
The show, in which 10 contestants are sequestered in a camera-laden house/TV studio for 90 days, faltered in its uninspired choice of contestants and in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-like programming overkill.
At least someone is watching the show: A Chicago attorney is suing Big Brother for infringing on George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, 1984. Orwell's 1948 masterwork described a nightmarish, totalitarian society and coined the phrase "Big Brother is watching."
The attorney, Marvin Rosenblum, who acquired the motion picture and television rights to 1984 from Orwell's estate, alleges that producer Orwell Prods., CBS, and corporate parent Viacom have intentionally created a show that viewers will believe is connected to or approved of by the owners of Orwell's novel.
According to the complaint, Rosenblum produced the 1985 movie 1984, which starred John Hurt and Richard Burton. In addition, he has developed computer games based on the book and has attempted to sell a television show based on the novel.
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