Big Brother Craze

..,rumor mill keeps on burnin… ROLLIN… ROLLIN… Rollin on the 9th season…
(Doot doot do do doot doo…)

Ahem. Sorry, bout that, I couldn’t resist channeling a little Tina. The rumor mills are still going strong concerning Big Brother 9 - the commercials asking for applications are still playing, the open calls are still going on in select cities, and though there was a new contract placed on the table today, the Writer’s Strike is still going strong.

So what’s all that mean? Networks are going to run out of scripted shows. There’s nothing they can do to change that without, you know, coming to terms and stopping the strike - and while on one hand it sucks the big one, on the other, things are looking brighter and brighter for an early season of Big Brother!

In fact, it seems over at BB9Dish, Carolyn has got a new rumor/scoop posted yesterday that if true, well! It will make for a very interesting season.

Or an annoying one. Whatever. Here’s what she got in her email:

The season will be called, “HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES”. It will be 6 celebrities (paid a handsome fee for their appearance) and 6 non-celebrities. The celebrities would live in plush surroundings at one end of the house and the non-celebrities would live in the other end in “basic” surroundings, complete with mechanical rats and roaches. They unwittingly vote each other to move back and forth between the areas until they are merged. Alice Cooper is one of the celebrities under consideration-so is George Michael. 3 nights a week starting Sunday Jan. 13, right after AMAZING RACE finale.

….Alice Cooper and George Michael? Oh my. And Evel Dick posted on his MySpace that when he went to an open casting call to check it out and say hello to folks, Joey Buttafucco was there, which Joey confirmed in an article posted in part at Reality BBQ:

“Joey Buttafuoco was one of about 70 houseguest hopefuls who participated in an open casting call this weekend in Los Angeles for CBS’ Big Brother. While waiting in line before his audition, Buttafuoco chatted with BB8 winner Dick Donato (yep, he was there, too). “I support the writers strike because they’re entitled to get what they work for,” said the 52-year-old, who’s appeared in such films as Finding Forrester and Mafia Movie Madness. “I don’t believe in crossing the picket line or anything like that because this program isn’t going to be happening for quite some time. Am I right?”

Nope, Joey, I think you’re wrong. Clearly Celebrities would mean D list (Where’s Kathy Griffith? Now THAT would be fun!) or worse. Or, the occasional b-list model, as one of the comments at BB9Dish said:

Joanna Krupa, a B list model, was on Howard Stern a couple of weeks ago. She said she was going to be on a major reality show on a major network but couldn’t give anymore details about it. Joanna is also Janelle’s #1 myspace friend. I have no doubt in my mind she’ll be on the new BB.

Of course, the other date everyone is flinging around with glee is February 7th. Keep in mind that CBS has refused to either confirm or deny any of this! All we have is their casting director’s assurance on her MySpace blog that they are indeed coming back early for BB9 and to get their applications in ASAP.

And hey - That’s not ALL the rumors - here’s even MORE about possible twists….

So - if that is INDEED what the new season will entail, what’s your take on it? Love it? Hate it? CAN’T WAIT for Big Brother no matter WHAT twist Grodner puts on it all? Hit the comments button and let me know! On your mark, get set…. Discuss!