Big Brother 25 + Reindeer Games / Survivor 45 / The Amazing Race 35 (2023)

[Timewalker]

Did anyone watch the premiere? It started last night. My TV decided to not work correctly, the telecom customer disservice line oh-so-helpfully texted me instructions to fix it myself - and I don't have a phone that can accept text messages.

So I didn't get to see it.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I watched it. A bit heavy on the gimmicks this year but the cast seems good so far. More older people than usual.

I'm realizing now the reason they started the season later than usual and have it running longer than usual is the writer's strike.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

One thing I don’t like is Cory being dragged off. I think they’re going to put him in a ghost robot like they did with Sam. And I hate that because it shows complete disregard for his mental health putting him in solitary confinement.

I like Cirie being there but so weird they’re doing a secret mother/son.

 

[Danny99]

Cirie is going to have a huge target on her back and probably won't make jury.

So far, I find I dislike many of them based on first impressions.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Cirie is going to have a huge target on her back and probably won't make jury.

So far, I find I dislike many of them based on first impressions.

I like most of the cast so far, I just don’t like the gimmicks.

I hope Cirie gets voted out without hurting her son’s chances.

 

[Timewalker]

TV situation is still unresolved, but I was able to watch it online.

Yikes. The house was nice until they threw it in a blender.

I wonder how the deaf guy is going to be treated. No doubt some of them will deliberately not face him when they speak so he won't be able to read their lips.

Nobody's been obnoxious yet, so I don't have much to say about this bunch.

 

[Timewalker]

Okay, now I've had time to watch the second episode.

People had best not fall for Cory's "innocent kid" act.

If Cirie is #17... who will be #18? They don't have odd numbers in the house at first, do they?

Cirie and Jared won't be a secret for very long.

So far not many of them have made an impression as being people. It's like a bunch of stereotypes were cast, plus the mother/son/reality celebrity gimmick.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It's hard to give us a real sense of 17 people over 2 hours. We'll learn more about them as humans as the show goes on.

I'm kind of excited there will be nearly a 2 month overlap where Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race and The Challenge are going on at the same time, though I know the reason for it is the writers strike.

If we don't see another new person before the first elimination we probably won't see one. They have one more than usual because the show is going 100 days, because of the writers strike. But that's still just 14 weeks. Barely enough time for a single double elimination week.

I agree the secret probably won't last for long. I don't strongly like or dislike anyone so far.

 

[Timewalker]

Yeah, the overlap is going to make scheduling crazy. I have a choice of when to watch some of this stuff as the Canadian channel shows it an hour earlier than the American channel.

 

[Timewalker]

Well, tonight should be interesting. The guy who won the veto competition hasn't made much of an impression so far.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Surprised after last season someone would still just up and say a racial slur and get disqualified.

 

[Timewalker]

It's not on for me for another hour yet.

At least they are disqualifying people for hostile actions. It was sickening to see Evil Dick in the scenes from past seasons, like he's some friggin' hero.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This is the first time I think somebody was ejected for something other than violence or damaging equipment.

But all the previous racists on the show had the self control not to say the N word.

 

[Timewalker]

I've been able to watch it now, but didn't catch exactly which word was said. Was it the n-word? And it was said to Cory?



I'm not unhappy about the eviction, though I suspect there are some fans upset that the first two nominees were black women.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I was just glad the 63 year old didn’t get evicted right away. I like her. But I think the fallout of both nominees being black women is mitigated by the fact all the other black women targeted her.

I didn’t catch what was said either, it might have been bleeped. But it was said when he didn’t realize Jared was in earshot. And I really feel for Jared there, on national TV under the specter of stereotypes, feeling if he responded at all he’d be perceived as confirming a stereotype. I respected his response a lot, nonjudgmental but pointing out it was a clear violation of the rules that were told to everyone. Also the way when Cory tried to make it a house conversation he respectfully shut it down because he wanted to move on instead of dwelling on it.

 

[Danny99]

So far, I prefer the younger people to Cirie's alliance, particularly Jag.

There seems to be a lot of floaters this year, on both sides.

 

[Timewalker]

It took ages for Global to get Wednesday and Thursday's episodes up on the website.

I've just finished watching them, and... yikes. Hisam is one conceited, condescending piece of work. He can't go soon enough.

I'm glad that Cameron didn't get evicted. It's interesting that not one houseguest brought up the point that it would have been beyond unfair to evict him just to spite Hisam.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don’t really prefer either alliance in general. I like that this is the first season with more than one person over 40 so the token old person doesn’t lose immediately. I like Jared and Jag, I like Cirie and Felicia.

The only one I actively dislike is Hisam. But I’m not a huge fan of the younger women. Blue is an ‘Influencer’ and she performs every moment like it’s a tik tok video. Amerykah just seems like an empty person.

Mixed feelings about Izzy and Corey. They seem okay in general but just express themselves in an impulsive fanboyish way.

 

[Timewalker]

I don't like Blue. The only thing she influences me to do is roll my eyes whenever she's on-camera. She's always wearing this gigantic hair curler, and I can't figure out why. She seems like she's a walking, prancing cartoon character with absolutely no depth.

Every time I see America (however you spell it) and Mecole (sp?), I have to remind myself that oh, right, they're part of the game, and then try to remember their names. They just take up room, but invisibly.

My early preferences to win, based on likeability and not being obnoxious or stupid:

1. Cirie
2. Cameron
3. Red

Of these 3, Cirie has the most experience with reality games, and I think people look at Red and see an eccentric farmer-type. I don't remember if they know Red was in the military.

Hisam just gets worse and worse ("Congratulations on winning HOH, and now I'm going to tell you what you're going to do").

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Mecole hasn’t done much yet but she’s one of my favorites to win. Socially smart and well connected but not seen as a threat. She’s not interesting but she is a good player. If I had to make a guess now I’d guess her.

I like Red but don’t see much game acumen yet.

I like this season. Hisam is the worst player and even he’s not that bad.

Whereas this season of Challenge is weak so far. They let in 6 of the people from MTV Challenge and they are acting like MTV people and taking over the show. I do like a few of their Survivor and BB choices but not as good casting as last season. I don’t want the MTV people in the show.