CBS v. ABC: Glass House

21 June 2012
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I remember watching the first season of Big Brother and wishing America would actually vote for entertaining television. They never did. The mean people were voted out as soon as they were up for eviction and the cruel game choices were never selected. CBS remedied that for season 2 by removing the audience vote on all but the most up with people elements. Who wins a call home to mommy and daddy? Who gets an extra pillow to sleep with? Positive things were voted on, not twists to make the show better.

Somehow, ABC gathered together a large group of former Big Brother producers and show people to cobble together a totally not stolen at all show called Glass House. A group of contestants from all over the country are forced to live together as America watches in real time. They compete in challenges to determine who goes into Limbo and who is sent home. America votes on everything–what color umbrellas for the drinks, pool party or pajama party, carbs or protein–and the contestants have very little free will.

glasshouse CBS v. ABC: Glass House

See through walls means its totally not the same as Big Brother

Did I mention it takes place in a house with see through walls everywhere? Totally different.

CBS tried really hard to stop ABC from airing the show and they failed. Frankly, when you’re fighting over the rights to a show you licensed from the UK that was pretty clearly a rip off of The Real World, you’re on shaky ground.

So, CBS is trying a new tactic. According to Deadline, CBS has announced an exciting new addition to their fall line-up. The show is called Dancing on the Stars and the press release has all the maturity of a sexist troll claiming I’m the idiot for not predicting the arguments against game stereotypes in an educational web series funded by Kickstarter.

CBS ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF “DANCING ON THE STARS,” AN EXCITING AND COMPLETELY ORIGINAL REALITY PROGRAM THAT OWES ITS CONCEPT AND EXECUTION TO NOBODY AT ALL

The dazzling new show, DANCING ON THE STARS, will be broadcast live from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and will feature moderately famous and sort of well-known people you almost recognize competing for big prizes by dancing on the graves of some of Hollywood’s most iconic and well-beloved stars of stage and screen.

Read the full release here.

While I applaud the creativity of the CBS employee who drafted that satirical press release, I question its necessity. Glass House is terrible. The contestants are boring and the vote on everything format is dull as dishwater. It really is The Real World with eliminations and that show hasn’t felt fresh in a decade, at least.

I mean, Big Brother isn’t exactly must-see TV, but at least they cast some fun people and come up with cool twists. Glass House, so far, is completely shallow. CBS put more effort into Dancing on the Stars than ABC did with Glass House.

What do you think? Sound off below.

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One Response to CBS v. ABC: Glass House

  1. Riley on 21 June 2012 at 3:19 PM

    I love that CBS said they’re making a show called “Dancing on the Stars”. As for Glass House, Alex said that he was going to be the most villainous person ever on prime time. Well, he sure got the most annoying. One of my Dish co-workers suggested that I watch Glass House since I am a fan of Big Brother. My receiver already recorded it with PrimeTime Anytime, and since I enabled Auto Hop, I didn’t have to skip the commercials manually. I still thought Big Brother was the better show, but I did like Glass House, and I hope that Alex gets voted off this week.

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