Is Big Brother Canada the best reality show spin-off we have?

11:19The legacy of Big Brother Canada with KC Hoard

No matter where you are in the Big Brother house, someone is always watching. Namely, KC Hoard, a pop culture journalist and reality show junkie.

Hoard joined host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about why he feels Big Brother Canada is — and has been for some time now — the best reality show spin-off in Canada.

Plus, Hoard gets a Big Brother-esque surprise of his own from Big Brother Canada Season 9 winner Tychon Carter-Newman.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: I don't watch a lot of reality TV, but KC Hoard recently wrote a piece for The Walrus digging into why he feels Big Brother Canada is the most successful reality spin-off franchise in Canada to date. KC, I'm so happy that you're here. Can you just start by maybe reminding us, how does Big Brother Canada work?

KC: Sure. So 12 to 16 people are thrown into a house completely outfitted with cameras, their every move broadcast live to the nation, and they've just got to vote each other out one by one until one stands. The person left wins $100,000 and a gift card or something — that changes depending on the sponsors.

Elamin: Do you think I would win?

KC: I think you'd have a really good shot.

Elamin: Thank you. What do you think would make me a good candidate for winning?

KC: You're affable, you're likable. I don't think you'd betray too many people. Who would want to vote you out?

Elamin: Okay, that was a trick to get you to say nice things about me. Thank you for falling for that trick.

KC: You're welcome.

Elamin: You grew up watching Big Brother Canada. Can you tell me why this show resonated with you?

KC: I watched Big Brother US forever. I've always been a reality TV junkie; I loved American Idol as a kid. But Big Brother Canada came around … and it was just incredible. I instantly related to all the people on the cast. Everybody is really bombastic. They reminded me of really elevated versions of the people I went to high school with. It just had this certain je ne sais quoi to it, that I attempted to burrow into in my piece.

Elamin: I like that you're getting at that idea of elevated versions of characters you kind of already know and live with in your life, because there's something about that. We recognize these characters, but obviously turn them to 11 because cameras are watching. Can you tell me who's been your absolute favorite Big Brother contestant so far?

KC: There's this girl, Betty. She's from Edmonton. She was on season ten, and she's this tiny, tiny girl. You would think she's just this little nerdy girl, but the second she opens her mouth, she can't help but say the thing that's going to cut deepest into your soul. But, she's just so real that you can't help but accept it. She was my absolute favourite — so watchable.

Elamin: Now, in the piece you single out season nine of Big Brother Canada as this other turning point. What made that season so important in your mind?

KC: Well, in order to talk about why season nine was so important, you have to first talk about Arisa Cox, the host of the show. She came on as an executive producer and when she did that, she instituted a diversity mandate that essentially said that 50 per cent of the cast in perpetuity would have to be people who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.

Elamin: Shout out Arisa.

KC: Shout out Arisa. And what it did is, it evened the playing field. Before that, people of color would be on the show and there may be two or three, and then most of them would be white people — and they would just get picked off. They had no shot to get far in the game. And so season nine, that changed and it produced the franchise's first ever Black winner, Tychon Carter-Newman. It was just a great season — one of the best.

Elamin: What made the season so good?

KC: You know, there's a little bit of discomfort that would come with watching the previous seasons because it was always great melodramatic, high-stakes, exciting TV, but it would be a little icky to watch the worst of us when it came to things like racism and homophobia and transphobia come out in the decisions that people made about other people's lives. And so watching that season, it was nice that although you're never going to be fully rid of prejudice, it minimized it. And I think it made for a more exciting season. Casting people from a greater diversity of perspectives is just going to make for more exciting television.

Elamin: You mentioned Tychon, why do you think Tychon won that season?  

KC: Tychon won that season because he knew exactly who he was, and he was able to maximize that for the purposes of the game. He was a tall, handsome, jock-y guy. He got along with everybody, and he insulated himself in this alliance of people that were bigger threats than him. And so towards the end of the game, he was able to activate his inner chess player and pick off his allies and leave himself in a winning position at the end.

Elamin: I'm so glad that you mentioned Tychon, because in true Big Brother fashion, guess who's on the line with us? Tychon himself. Tychon, what's going on, man? 

Tychon: Hey!

Elamin: Thank you for being here. I want you to take a look directly at KC. 

KC: Hi Tychon!

Elamin: What a delight that we have both of you guys here.

Tychon: Hey KC, what's up?

KC: Not much. How are you? 

Tychon: Couldn't be better. 

Elamin: Tychon, you were listening to KC just talk now about winning that season. Also, you read the piece. I'm curious what you think sets Big Brother Canada apart from other Canadian- produced spinoffs.

Tychon: I think for me, it's really your ability to get to know the houseguests. I think everybody sees themselves in at least one of the houseguests when they watch the show, and being aired three times a week — you've seen their interviews, you've seen people at their highest, their lowest — you really get to know them. On other shows, you don't have that. You even had live feeds back in previous seasons, and people really felt so invested in you. They fell in love with you. They felt like they knew you. So it's really just that feeling of familiarity with the houseguests and the characters.

Elamin: You mentioned the live feeds. Live feeds were something that they used to have for Big Brother Canada. KC, do you want live feeds back?

KC: Yes, I want live feeds back.

Elamin: Can you explain the concept of live feeds? 

KC: This is a central tenet of Big Brother: every move is broadcast live on the Internet, 24/7 via live feeds on the Big Brother website. This season they got rid of it; they said it was to protect the houseguests' mental health — I have my own theories about why they got rid of the live feeds. 

What it's done, I believe, is not only is it less content, less excitement for hardcore viewers like myself. What it used to do is, it would hold producers accountable for the story decisions that they made. You know, they could produce a manipulative edit for the show based on what happened in the live feeds. But people were able to watch the live feeds and be like, "No, that's actually not what happened. Here's what we saw happen." And I think it would prevent the producers from making some problematic story decisions.  

Elamin: Tychon, let me ask you: Big Brother Canada is airing right now. You've been singing its praises, but is there anything that you'd like to see the show do differently this season?

Tychon: Honestly, I'd like to see them bring back the live feeds — and it's not even because I watch them. It's more so because on Twitter and online people would talk about them, and it makes the show that much more entertaining before you watch it or while you're watching it, because you're getting to know these houseguests at a different level and people are able to take deeper perspectives on what's actually happening. 

Elamin: KC, you've written about the success of Big Brother Canada and how it stands apart from other reality TV programming. Are there any other things you think that other shows can take away from the success of Big Brother Canada?

KC: Big Brother Canada is so successful to me because it is cutthroat. It's high stakes. You have moments that are just excellent, juicy, dramatic reality TV. But at the end of the day, Big Brother Canada is a showcase for humanity, to me. It's an opportunity to watch real people interact with each other, and see what they'll do for each other and how they'll treat each other…. There's nothing like it in the world to me. And so I think taking a more humanistic approach to reality television like the one that Big Brother Canada has taken would make reality TV writ large much better.

Elamin: KC, were you surprised enough by the fact that we brought Tychon in halfway through the conversation? What was that like for you?

KC: You know, it's wonderful. I actually interviewed Tychon for the piece, so it's nice to see him again. And it was a very pleasant surprise. Always nice to see my king.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.