So if someone told you in 1999 that the top rating TV show for almost seven years would be a program where people sit around a house and are filmed doing nothing and talking shit, what would you say?

Well that’s the format of the reality show Big Brother, which has been a ratings and financial success in Australian TV since it first hit our screens.  Some of the best minds in television said it would never work and have been proven wrong several times over

While Big Brother may have lost some of its audience glow and sizzle in its current ratings, although still High during peak eviction episodes.  This is a social and broadcasting phenomenon, loved by teens, despised by many parents and politicians alike.  The producers try to keep it interesting with twists and format changes trying to outwit the contestants ( not hard), that appear to be clones from all the previous series

But we cant help but watch, as in some sad way it gives us a window into today’s popular youth culture.  We have learned about being gay in the bush, fish n chip shops, and the infamous turkey slap.

Our Sunday night screens flicker with anticipation of who may be voted out next, and what vacuous answers they may give to our den mother and host Gretel, as the contestants re-enter the atmosphere of everyday life under an intense media spotlight.

Recent pressure from government has made it harder to show the more interesting interactions from the show, but  is it time to go Big Brother?  I think not.